Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

DNA vaccines may offer hope in multiple sclerosis

Authors from the VA North Texas Health Care System Neurology Section and the Department of Neurology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have highlighted the potential benefits for DNA-based vaccine administration in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).

24 Apr 2008

New insights into early history of human populations before they moved out of Africa

A team of Genographic researchers and their collaborators have published the most extensive survey to date of African mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA).

24 Apr 2008

Breast cancer subtypes originate from different biological pathways

There is a biological distinction between breast cancers that depend on hormones and those that do not, according to research published Friday, April 25th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.

24 Apr 2008

Pralatrexate for T-cell lymphoma

The fifth leading cause of cancer in the United States, lymphoma is made up of more than 40 rare and highly diverse diseases that target the body's lymphatic system. Lymphomas include both one of the fastest growing cancers -- Burkitt's lymphoma, which can double in size in as little as a day -- and one of the slowest, chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

24 Apr 2008

Mitochondrial dysfunction and redox signaling in atrial tachyarrhythmia

Researchers at the University Hospital of Magdeburg (Germany) have discovered that atrial tachycardia is associated with mitochondrial dysfunction and oxidative stress followed by the activation of the NF-kB signalling pathway with induction of NF-kB target gene expression in atrial tissue.

24 Apr 2008

Research reveals the signature of 70 genes controlled by two microRNAs

By restoring two small molecules that are often lost in chronic leukemia, researchers were able to block tumor growth in an animal model.

24 Apr 2008

Metabolic genes tied to inflammatory predictor of heart disease and stroke risk

Two new studies provide evidence that differences in people's blood levels of C reactive protein (CRP) stem in part from natural variation in known metabolic genes. The researchers report their findings in the May American Journal of Human Genetics, a publication of Cell Press.

24 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene behind new form of intellectual disability

The Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) has discovered a new form of intellectual disability involving mental retardation (MR) along with the eye defect retinitis pigmentosa (RP).

24 Apr 2008

Do patients have equal access to coronary angiography?

Seven in ten patients who have suspected angina are not given appropriate testing and are more likely to suffer from serious heart problems as a result, according to a study published on bmj.com (25 April).

24 Apr 2008

Scientists determine molecular structures of bacterial AlkB protein and its corresponding human protein, ABH2

A team of University of Chicago scientists has shown how two proteins locate and repair damaged genetic material inside cells.

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene behind clefting disorder Branchio-Oculo-Facial syndrome

In a collaborative effort, researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) have discovered that deletions or mutations within the TFAP2A gene (Activating Enhancer-Binding Protein) result in the distinctive clefting disorder Branchio-Oculo-Facial syndrome (BOFS).

23 Apr 2008

Discovery of new cell targets for preventing growth of breast and other tumors

Researchers at the Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have discovered new targets for cancer treatment aimed at blocking a key step in tumor progression.

23 Apr 2008

Functional magnetic resonance imaging reveals brain circuitry associated with social status

Human imaging studies have for the first time identified brain circuitry associated with social status, according to researchers at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) of the National Institutes of Health.

23 Apr 2008

Pin1 is beneficial in Alzheimer's disease, detrimental to some forms of dementia

The most common form of dementia, Alzheimer's disease, and a relatively rare hereditary form of dementia, frontotemporal dementia with parkinsonism-17, share a common pathology: Both are the result of an overaccumulation of tau proteins, which form tangled lesions in the brain's neurons and eventually lead to the collapse of the brain cells responsible for memory.

22 Apr 2008

Environmental factors weigh heavily in modulating gene expression in humans

Score one for the nurture side of the nature vs. nurture debate, as North Carolina State University geneticists have shown that environmental factors such as lifestyle and geography play a large role in whether certain genes are turned on or off.

22 Apr 2008

Scientists solve mystery about critical mechanism of gene expression

Although letters representing the three billion pairs of molecules that form the "rungs" of the helical DNA "ladder" are routinely called the human "genetic code," the DNA they comprise transmits traits across generations in a variety of ways, not all of which depend on the sequence of letters in the code.

22 Apr 2008

Mechanism discovered that can send cells on the road to cancer

Using a common virus as a tool for investigating abnormal cell proliferation, a team led by scientists at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) has succeeded in clarifying an intricate series of biochemical steps that shed light on a way that cancer can begin.

22 Apr 2008

New advance in use of oncolytic viruses as novel cancer treatments

Combining a herpes virus genetically altered to express a drug-enhancing enzyme with a chemotherapy drug effectively and safely reduced the size of highly malignant human sarcoma grafted into mice.

22 Apr 2008

Discovery of gene that may influence metastasis risk in breast cancer

Researchers have identified a pattern of gene activity in mice that may help to predict individual risk for breast cancer metastasis and survival in humans. A single gene, called bromodomain 4 (Brd4), regulates the expression of this pattern, also called a signature.

22 Apr 2008

Gene mutation helps protect against malaria

New research suggests that not everyone who is bitten by a malaria-infected mosquito develops life threatening health problems according to scientists at the University of Toronto.

21 Apr 2008