Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Edible vaccine for HIV AIDS

Scientists from Novosibirsk are engaged in the development of an unusual vaccine which, apart from being less expensive to produce, safe and painless to administer, is also edible.

22 Sep 2004

NIH opens new hospital totally dedicated to clinical research

This new hospital totally dedicated to clinical research — research involving patients — is the most significant addition to the NIH campus in more than 50 years and provides a unique opportunity for scientists, clinicians, and patients to study and conquer both chronic and acute disease in the 21st century.

22 Sep 2004

Fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk

Researchers who found that fish oils appear to reduce breast cancer risk have now discovered that the oils may especially benefit women with particular genetic makeups.

21 Sep 2004

Experimental drug PKC412 may be the key to treating myeloproliferative disease

Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Brigham and Women's Hospital have prolonged the lives of mice with a rare blood disorder by using an experimental drug that blocks signals promoting runaway growth of blood cells.

21 Sep 2004

New gene therapy technique may help treat Alzheimer's disease

Investigators at Rush University Medical Center have successfully initiated a new technique that uses gene therapy to deliver nerve growth factor into regions of the brain where neurons are degenerating, in order to prevent cell death and reverse cell atrophy, two hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

21 Sep 2004

Novel strategy for stimulating the production of utrophin

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine report a novel strategy for stimulating the production of utrophin – an important muscle protein in young mice – for muscular dystrophy therapy.

21 Sep 2004

Streptococcus bacteria uses sword and shield to fight white blood cells

A single gene called cylE within the important bacterial pathogen Group B Streptococcus (GBS), controls two factors that act together as a “sword” and “shield” to protect the bacteria from the killing effects of the immune system’s white blood cells

21 Sep 2004

Certain cancers might one day be cured without the use of toxic chemotherapy and radiation

The eradication of brain tumors in mice following treatment with a novel drug suggests that certain cancers might one day be cured without the use of toxic chemotherapy and radiation.

20 Sep 2004

New anti-inflammatory strategy for cancer therapy

A new strategy for cancer therapy, which converts the tumor-promoting effect of the immune system’s inflammatory response into a cancer-killing outcome, is suggested in research findings by investigators at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine.

20 Sep 2004

Research may provide a better understanding of the mental retardation observed in Cri-du-Chat Syndrome

By specifically deleting the adhesion protein d-catenin, which is found exclusively in the brain, researchers at UCLA have found evidence that loss of d-catenin produces severe cognitive and synaptic dysfunction.

20 Sep 2004

Vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease

In addition to its popular role in flavoring ice cream, fudge and cake frosting, vanilla may have a future use as a medicine. Recent laboratory research has strengthened the possibility that a form of vanilla may become a drug to treat sickle cell disease.

20 Sep 2004

Discovery of dopamine terminal injury in brains of people with HIV dementia

Scientists at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory have discovered a key mechanism in the brains of people with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) dementia.

20 Sep 2004

Tarceva plus Gemcitabine improves survival compared to Gemcitabine alone

OSI Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Genentech, Inc., and Roche announced today that results from a randomized Phase III clinical study of the investigational drug Tarceva (erlotinib HCl), in combination with gemcitabine chemotherapy met its primary endpoint of improving survival.

20 Sep 2004

Resveratrol in red wine, is thought to contribute to improved cardiovascular effects associated with moderate consumption of red wine

Researchers funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and affiliated with the Salk Institute in San Diego, Calif., have succeeded in converting chalcone synthase, a biosynthetic protein enzyme found in all higher plants, into an efficient resveratrol synthase.

20 Sep 2004

Genome researchers to look at 1918 Spanish flu

University of Washington researchers will be taking part in a multi-site project examining a portion of the genome of the strain of influenza responsible for the "Spanish Flu" outbreak in 1918.

20 Sep 2004

Protein points to anticancer drug targets

A unique tail at one end of a protein called Ubc12 stabilizes a molecular workshop that assembles the “on-switch cells” used to accelerate cell replication.

20 Sep 2004

New insights into ancient mating and migration patterns in humans

Men have been tomcatting around since time immemorial, and some traveled far from home to do it, new research suggests.

20 Sep 2004

Link between eosinophils and asthma

Mayo Clinic researchers have used a comparative genomic strategy to demonstrate a causative link between eosinophils, a rare type of white blood cell, and asthma.

18 Sep 2004

New culprit behind the brain injury suffered by stroke victims

Researchers have uncovered a new culprit behind the brain injury suffered by stroke victims. Their new study, published in the Sept. 17 issue of Cell, links brain cell damage to a rise in brain acidity following the oxygen depletion, or ischemia, characteristic of stroke.

18 Sep 2004

Jellyfish advance science

Salmon fishermen trolling along the waters off Puget Sound in Washington are often witness to an awesome sight when they haul in their catch: salmon captured in nets that glow brilliantly against the nighttime sky.

16 Sep 2004