Gene News and Research

Latest Gene News and Research

Antibodies from tobacco plants protect against anthrax

Scientists have produced, in tobacco plants, human antibodies that could be used to treat anthrax exposure. They reported their findings at the 2005 American Society for Microbiology Biodefense Research Meeting.

23 Mar 2005

Gene named ATBF1 may contribute to the development of prostate cancer

A gene named ATBF1 may contribute to the development of prostate cancer through acquired mutations and/or loss of expression, according to research at Emory University School of Medicine and its Winship Cancer Institute.

23 Mar 2005

Preventing eye disease in retinitis pigmentosa

Retinitis pigmentosa (RP) is an inherited eye disease that causes visual disability leading to blindness. Over the last 15 years, researchers have pinpointed defects in dozens of genes causing different forms of RP.

22 Mar 2005

Study suggests combination therapy could stop spread, halt growth of melanomas

Researchers at Penn State College of Medicine have identified the mechanism by which the most mutated gene in melanoma, called v599EB-Raf, aids melanoma tumor development demonstrating its importance as a therapeutic target.

22 Mar 2005

Oral contraceptives may protect against breast cancer

Women at high genetic risk of breast cancer could reduce their risk of developing the disease at an early age by taking oral contraceptives, a new study has found. The findings contradict previous studies, which suggested oral contraceptive use would increase the risk of developing breast cancer.

22 Mar 2005

Tiny scaffolding allows stem cells to become working fat cells

Researchers here have used a new microscopic, three-dimensional scaffolding to coax mouse stem cells to transform themselves into fat cells, and then to function identical to how fat cells naturally do in the body.

22 Mar 2005

Genes TEL2 and MYC cooperate with each other to promote pediatric cases of the immune system cancer B-cell lymphoma

The genes TEL2 and MYC cooperate with each other to promote pediatric cases of the immune system cancer B-cell lymphoma. This finding, from investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital, is published in the current issue of Molecular Cell Biology (MCB).

22 Mar 2005

New findings about the spread of HIV in the UK

Contrary to the prevailing belief that the HIV epidemic in the UK can be traced back to one source, a new study by Oxford and London scientists suggests that HIV spread via at least six independent virus introductions and subsequent transmission chains.

21 Mar 2005

African-American women with advanced endometrial cancer have more aggressive tumors than Caucasian women

In two studies of African-American women with endometrial cancer, a group of investigators from Walter Reed Army Medical Center and the National Cancer Institute has found that African-American women with advanced endometrial cancer have more aggressive tumors than Caucasian women, potentially leading to worse outcomes.

21 Mar 2005

New research in mice sheds light on the causes behind male infertility

For 40 percent of the estimated six million American couples battling infertility, the problem lies with the man. But help may be on the way.

21 Mar 2005

Scientists find microRNA regulates Ras cancer gene

Research in the laboratory of Assistant Professor Frank J. Slack at Yale University has identified a new way that a familiar gene is regulated in lung cancer, presenting new possibilities for diagnosis and treatment. The work is reported in March issues of the journals Cell and Developmental Cell.

21 Mar 2005

Genomic analysis may one day be a primary diagnostic tool for physicians deciding on a course of treatment for trauma

The researchers showed that state-of-the-art techniques for rapidly analyzing changes in activity of all human genes will likely produce useful insights into the health of critically ill patients. The findings, which are available online and will be published in the March 29 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, make it possible for physicians to begin answering important questions about critical care through genomic analysis.

21 Mar 2005

Chemists say they have identified a gene that appears to play a key role in the development of type 1 diabetes

In the current study, the researchers focused on the formation of the MIF protein (macrophage migration inhibitory factor), a proinflammatory protein that they showed in previous studies is elevated in diabetic animals and may be involved in the cascade of immunological events that leads to the destruction of the pancreas and the subsequent onset of type 1 diabetes.

21 Mar 2005

Discovery of a single mutation responsible for a number of blood disorders

Myeloproliferative disorders form a range of haematological malignant diseases, with three main members: polycythaemia vera, essential thrombocythaemia, and idiopathic myelofi- brosis. The disorders are characterised by overactive production of blood cells and can lead to thrombosis, haemorrhage or acute myeloid leukaemia.

21 Mar 2005

Dental researchers map the gene that causes dentinogenesis imperfecta

Dental researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center are the first in the world to successfully map the gene that causes dentinogenesis imperfecta (DGI) Type III, a disease that affects tooth density and color and over time can cause teeth to wear to the gum line.

16 Mar 2005

RNAi Consortium to accelerate genetic research

Whitehead Institute has joined ten other leading biomedical organizations in an $18 million, three-year public-private consortium that will create a comprehensive library of gene inhibitors to be made available to the entire scientific community.

16 Mar 2005

Q. What turns an obese person into a person with diabetes? - A. Leptin

Twin epidemics of obesity and type 2 diabetes are bearing down on the world's population, threatening the lives of hundreds of millions of people. But scientists are still trying to determine how the two conditions are linked, and what it takes to turn an obese person into a person with diabetes.

16 Mar 2005

Diabetes Busting Burgers!

Chemists with the U.S. Department of Agriculture recently presented a preliminary report to the 229th national meeting of the American Chemical Society, in which they say they have discovered a form of soluble cellulose that, if added to high-fat food. The new finding could soon benefit people who regularly eat fast-foods that are high in fat.

16 Mar 2005

Drug combo gives lung cancer patients longer life

Preliminary results from a large randomized clinical trial, sponsored by the National Cancer Institute (NCI), by a network of researchers led by the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group. Genentech, Inc., have shown that patients with previously untreated advanced non-squamous non-small cell lung cancer who received bevacizumab (Avastin) in combination with standard chemotherapy lived longer than patients who received the same chemotherapy without bevacizumab.

15 Mar 2005

Mountain dwellers live longer

People who live in mountain areas live longer than those living in lowland areas, according to research from Greece, which has the lowest death rate from heart disease of any developed country.

15 Mar 2005