Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Breakthrough for Huntington's disease

A major breakthrough in the understanding and potential treatment of Huntington's disease has been made by scientists at the University of Leeds.

24 Aug 2007

Discovery of new gene family essential for embryonic development

The family controls the expression of genes crucial for stem cell maintenance and differentiation, and the results may contribute sig-nificantly to the understanding of the development of cancer.

24 Aug 2007

Potential new strategies for treating obsessive compulsive disorder

Using genetic engineering, researchers have created an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) - like set of behaviors in mice and reversed them with antidepressants and genetic targeting of a key brain circuit.

24 Aug 2007

Gastric bypass reduces mortality risk in severely obese patients

Severely obese patients who undergo gastric bypass surgery significantly reduce their risk of death from coronary heart disease, diabetes, and cancer, according to research published in the Aug. 23, 2007, issue of The New England Journal of Medicine.

24 Aug 2007

New ways to control fever-induced seizures

When your body cranks up the heat, it's a sign that something's wrong and a fever is designed to help fight off the infection.

24 Aug 2007

All eukaryotic kinases share 1 common set of substrates

Kinase mediated phosphorylation is generally recognised as the major regulator of virtually all metabolic activities in eukaryotic cells including proliferation, gene expression, motility, vesicular transport and programmed cell death.

24 Aug 2007

Cancer stem cell scientists get $1.7 million to develop new leukemia drugs

"Modern cancer treatments fail to get to the root of the cancer - the stem cells - which is why many cancers recur despite aggressive treatment."

23 Aug 2007

Migration of antibiotic resistance from animal feeding operations into groundwater

The routine use of antibiotics in swine production can have unintended consequences, with antibiotic resistance genes sometimes leaking from waste lagoons into groundwater.

22 Aug 2007

Genetics determine optimal drug dose of warfarin

Genetic testing can be used to help personalize the therapeutic dosage of warfarin, a commonly-used anticoagulant, according to research published in the September 1, 2007, issue of Blood , the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

22 Aug 2007

Traffic and childhood asthma

Children who carry variations in specific genes that metabolize vehicle emissions are more susceptible to developing asthma, particularly if they live near major roadways, a study led by researchers at the University of Southern California (USC) suggests.

22 Aug 2007

Exhaust fumes increase risk for asthma in genetically susceptible children

Exhaust fumes heighten the risk of asthma in children who are already genetically susceptible to respiratory disease, indicates research published ahead of print in the journal Thorax.

22 Aug 2007

Claims of sex-related differences in genetic association insufficiently documented or spurious

A review of previous research suggests that prominent claims of sex differences of gene-disease associations are often insufficiently documented and validated, according to an article in the August 22/29 issue of JAMA.

22 Aug 2007

Discovery of molecule in the intestine that can 'taste' the sugar content of the diet

Diabetes patients could benefit from new research at the University of Liverpool that has identified a molecule in the intestine that can 'taste' the sugar content of the diet.

21 Aug 2007

Genetic testing can be used to help personalize the therapeutic dosage of warfarin

Genetic testing can be used to help personalize the therapeutic dosage of warfarin, a commonly-used anticoagulant, according to research published in the September 1, 2007, issue of Blood, the journal of the American Society of Hematology.

21 Aug 2007

What's making you fat? - the answer could be a virus!

According to researchers in the U.S. a common virus (adenovirus-36), that causes throat and eye infections may play a part in obesity.

21 Aug 2007

Proteins involved in fragile X syndrome identified

The interplay of two proteins that bind to messenger RNA, a molecule that mediates translation of the information encoded in genes into proteins, triggers the appearance of fragile X-associated tremor/ataxia syndrome (FTAX), a late-life disorder associated with the gene that causes fragile X syndrome in children, said researchers from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and Emory University School of Medicine in a report that appears today in the journal Neuron.

17 Aug 2007

New understanding of how HSV-1 attacks cells

A team of University of Kentucky researchers has identified the roles that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) proteins play during the invasion of cells and the formation of skin lesions known as cold sores and fever blisters.

17 Aug 2007

Reactivating a critical gene lost in kidney cancer reduces tumor growth

Researchers at Mayo Clinic Jacksonville, have found that a key gene is often silenced in clear cell renal cell carcinoma, the most common type of kidney cancer, and when they restored that gene in human kidney cancer cells in culture and animal experiments, tumors stopped growing and many disappeared.

17 Aug 2007

Scientists discover new mechanism for viral replication

Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine have identified a new strategy that Kaposi's Sarcoma Associated Herpesvirus (KSHV) uses to dupe infected cells into replicating its viral genome.

17 Aug 2007

Scientists describe a new way of creating novel enzymes

The intricate interplay of proteins and other chemicals that underlies most biological activities requires the participation of enzymes, specialized molecules that accelerate chemical reactions between molecules.

17 Aug 2007