Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms

McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) scientists have discovered that our body's own defense mechanism causes some of the most serious asthma symptoms.

13 Aug 2005

How negatively charged lipids stick to negatively charged DNA and self-organize into structures

Scientists studying the structure and interaction of negatively charged lipids and DNA molecules have created a "cookbook" for a class of nontoxic DNA delivery systems that will assist doctors and clinicians in the safe and effective delivery of genetic medicine.

13 Aug 2005

Findings could lead to gene therapy cure for childhood blindness

In findings that could lead to curing some forms of congenital blindness through gene therapy, researchers at UCLA have discovered that RPE65, a gene missing in infants born with the blinding disease Leber congenital amaurosis, is also a key enzyme in the visual cycle. The identity of this enzyme has long been a mystery to scientists.

11 Aug 2005

Pre-mRNA that codes for inflammatory protein identified

In a discovery that upends a longstanding tenet of human biology, University of Utah School of Medicine researchers have shown that a key process in gene regulation can occur in human platelets, unique cells that are unusual because they don't have a nucleus (anucleate).

11 Aug 2005

Protein that protects the body from tissue damage also increases the risk of tumors

You win some, you lose some. A protein that protects the body from tissue damage also increases the risk of tumors, according to a study conducted at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Moderate reduction of the protein level protects against tumor formation but increases susceptibility to tissue injury.

11 Aug 2005

How some antibiotics kill bacteria

Researchers have uncovered how members of one family of antibiotics kill bacteria that make people sick.

11 Aug 2005

Genes interact with behavior to affect how well people move

Genes can keep elderly people from benefiting equally from exercise, no matter how much effort they expend, according to research findings published in today's (Aug. 10) Journal of the American Medical Association.

11 Aug 2005

Defect in the gene that makes YAP might contribute to cancer

Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a protein in fruit flies whose counterpart product in humans may help cause cancer.

11 Aug 2005

Introgen announces additional broad patent in China

Introgen Therapeutics has announced that a patent with broad claims directed to combination therapy with the p53 gene and conventional chemotherapy or radiation was issued in China.

11 Aug 2005

Pig brain cell transplant looks hopeful for treating Huntington's disease

According to researchers at Australian bioscience company Living Cell Technologies (LCT), if approved, pig brain cells wrapped in a seaweed derivative could be implanted into human brains by sometime next year to treat Huntington's disease.

11 Aug 2005

New study points to new treatments for some forms of Lou Gehrig's disease

A new study indicates that mutant Cu/Zn superoxide dismutase (SOD1) enzymes that are associated with an inherited form of Lou Gehrig's disease cause the protein to become sticky in tissues. Partial unfolding of the mutant protein can expose hydrophobic residues that may promote abnormal interactions with other proteins or membranes in the cell.

11 Aug 2005

Hangover gene may be to blame for alcohol addiction

By studying the effects of alcohol on fruit flies, scientists have discovered a gene that could lead to alcohol addiction.

11 Aug 2005

As many as one in 25 men in the UK could be raising another man's child

In rather disconcerting news, it appears that as many as one in 25 fathers, could unwittingly be raising another man's child.

11 Aug 2005

Blondes may have fun but redheads can take the pain

According to a new British study, blondes may have more fun, but redheads are less likely to feel the pain.

10 Aug 2005

New prostate cancer test could save thousands from unnecessary surgery

Doctors at present lack a test that can distinguish fast-developing tumours that need urgent attention from slow-growing ones that are not a threat and need only watching, and as a result many men have operations that can leave them impotent and incontinent for prostate tumours that would never have killed them.

10 Aug 2005

Certain gene variation associated with better mobility for older individuals who exercise

Older individuals with a certain gene variation who exercise are less likely to develop mobility limitations than individuals without the gene variation, according to a study in the August 10 issue of JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association.

10 Aug 2005

Important breast cancer discovery

Scientists at the McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) have made an important discovery that will advance our understanding of how the female hormone estrogen causes growth of breast cancer cells. The research, in collaboration with scientists at the Institut de Recherches Cliniques de Montreal (IRCM) identifies 153 genes that respond to estrogen and one in particular that can be used to halt the growth of breast cancer cells.

10 Aug 2005