Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for vomiting

James Cook University microbiologists have characterised the DNA in bacteria responsible for one of the world's most common forms of food poisoning.

16 Apr 2004

New forensic tool to detect infectious diseases

Tests for the detection of infectious diseases in North Queensland will be faster and cheaper, thanks to the purchase of new equipment in James Cook University's School of Biomedical Sciences.

16 Apr 2004

Computer technology helps to make sense of human brain

Through the HBP, federal agencies fund a system of web-based databases and research tools that help brain scientists share and integrate their raw, primary research data. At the conference, eminent neuroscientists and neuroinformatics specialists will recap the field's achievements and forecast its future technological, scientific and social challenges and opportunities.

16 Apr 2004

Scientists discover gene for Parkinson's disease

UCL scientists have discovered a new gene implicated in the early development of Parkinson's disease. In a study of families with early onset disease, Professor Nick Wood and colleagues at University College London's Institute of Neurology identified a novel gene which produces a malfunctioning protein that could pave the way for new treatments for Parkinson sufferers.

16 Apr 2004

Free software helps capture the molecular signatures of cells

A new, free software package developed by the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard makes it easier and faster for scientists to capture the molecular signatures of cells in a particular state--information that's crucial to disease diagnosis and prognosis.

14 Apr 2004

Muscle stem cells morph to resemble nerve cells

Taking a major step forward in stem cell biology, researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center have turned muscle progenitor cells — stem cells that are “committed” to becoming muscle tissue — into cells that look and act like neurons (nerve cells).

14 Apr 2004

Cancer could be inactivated by RNA library

CANCER RESEARCH UK and the Netherlands Cancer Institute have completed the first stage of a landmark initiative to systematically uncover the function of our genes, the charities announce today.

14 Apr 2004

Genetic mutation raises interesting questions about the evolution of the Y chromosome

The names and dates comprising a family tree contain branches that can extend backward centuries in time. People use these diagrams to discover their ancestral origin. Scientists use them to study the genealogical origins of entire species, tracing evolutionary history down to changes in a single gene.

14 Apr 2004

Autism gene discovered

Researchers at Mount Sinai School of Medicine are first to strongly link a specific gene with autism. While earlier studies have found rare genetic mutations in single families, a study published in the April issue of the American Journal of Psychiatry is the first to identify a gene that increases susceptibility to autism in a broad population.

14 Apr 2004

Strongest evidence yet for the role of genetic factors in smoking addiction

In the first study to analyze the impact of genetic factors on multiple stages of tobacco use in both men and women, a team of researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University has found some of the strongest evidence yet for the role of genetic factors in smoking.

13 Apr 2004

Protein sequences harder to predict than originally thought

Scientists have believed for decades that the sequencing of the human genome would automatically yield the sequences of proteins, the functional products of genes, and thus lead to the unraveling of the mechanisms behind human cell biology and disease.

12 Apr 2004

Gene therapy helps damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally

Researchers at Jefferson Medical College and Duke University have used gene therapy to help damaged heart cells regain strength and beat normally again in the laboratory. The work takes the scientists one step closer to eventual clinical trials in humans.

12 Apr 2004

Surprises found In gene variation associated with schizophrenia

Approximately two percent of Caucasians have a gene segment variation that can cause a certain form of schizophrenia. Most people with the variation, known as a polymorphism, do not have the disease. A University of Iowa Health Care study reveals a good prognosis for people who do have this form of schizophrenia.

12 Apr 2004

Unmarried women do not feel comfortable at doctors

Regardless of sexual orientation, unmarried women ages 40 to 75 voiced reluctance to undergo routine cancer screening tests, feeling out of place or misunderstood in health care settings, according to the first wave of information from a five-year Brown University Cancer Screening Project for Women.

12 Apr 2004

Researchers isolate gene responsible for Chron's disease

Crohn's disease is an inflammatory bowel disease and its prevalence is increasing in industrialized nations. Existing treatments are considered unsatisfactory, often requiring recurring hospitalization and surgeries.

12 Apr 2004

US Study Suggests New Approach to Breast Cancer Needed

Women with early-stage breast cancer face three late breast cancer consequences: disease recurrence within the conserved breast, development of a contralateral breast cancer, and manifestation of distant metastases. Although local therapy with surgery and radiotherapy is used to minimize the first possibility, adjuvant systemic therapy may theoretically reduce the likelihood of all three events.

11 Apr 2004

University of Florida researchers have used a common gel to successfully deliver gene therapy to the diaphragm

The technique, described in the current issue of Molecular Therapy, could eventually lead to a method to correct genetic conditions in humans that cause diaphragm weakness and respiratory failure -- a leading cause of death in tens of thousands of patients with forms of muscular dystrophy, including Pompe’s disease. Thousands of Americans with muscle-weakening diseases are placed on ventilators each year, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

7 Apr 2004

The Cambridge-MIT Institute has launched a project to tackle the bottlenecks that slow development of new drugs

The Next-Generation Drug Discovery Community will unite researchers at Cambridge University and MIT with partners from the information technology, pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries to find ways to speed up development of the next generation of drugs--particularly those that treat diseases with complex causes such as cancers, arthritis, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.

7 Apr 2004

Protein kinase complex influences the outer layer of skin to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull

Continuing studies about an important regulatory protein kinase complex called I-kappa-B kinase (or IKK) have now shown that a subunit of IKK – IKK alpha – influences the outer layer of skin in developing mice to control the eventual shape of the full-grown skeleton and skull.

7 Apr 2004

Genetic trick makes gene therapy vectors more versatile

A genetic trick used by viruses to replicate themselves has been adapted for laboratory use to build complex protein structures required by immune system cells, according to investigators at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital.

7 Apr 2004