Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Green tea may help prevent bone destruction in arthritis

In rheumatoid arthritis, a person's own immune system attacks the joints by activating the synovial tissue that lines the body's movable joints, causing inflammation, swelling, pain and eventually erosion of the bone and cartilage and deformation of the joint.

30 Apr 2007

Exercise pill switches on master regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat

By giving ordinary adult mice a drug - a synthetic designed to mimic fat - Salk Institute scientist Dr. Ronald M. Evans is now able to chemically switch on PPAR-d, the master regulator that controls the ability of cells to burn fat.

30 Apr 2007

Environment rich in sensory stimuli restores memory in mice with neurodegeneration

Mice whose brains had lost a large number of neurons due to neurodegeneration regained long-term memories and the ability to learn after their surroundings were enriched with toys and other sensory stimuli, according to new studies by Howard Hughes Medical Institute researchers.

30 Apr 2007

Chinese herb Lei Gong Teng stops formation of cysts in polycystic kidney disease in lab

Using a compound from a centuries-old Chinese traditional medicine, Yale University researcher Dr. Craig Crews has been able to prevent the formation of kidney-destroying cysts in a mouse model of polycystic kidney disease.

30 Apr 2007

Respiratory control in insects: integration from the gene to the organism

Because of new imaging technology, researchers are getting a better understanding of a physiological paradox: how insects, which have a respiratory system built to provide quick access to a lot of oxygen, can survive for days without it.

30 Apr 2007

Small amounts of stem/progenitor cells from bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues

New studies in the laboratory of Dr. Darwin J. Prockop, Director of Tulane University's Center for Gene Therapy, are shedding light on the previously mysterious mechanism through which even relatively small amounts of stem/progenitor cells taken from a patient's own bone marrow enhance repair of damaged tissues.

30 Apr 2007

New drug as effective at fat burning as a good work out at the gym

A scientist in the U.S. has developed a pill which has the same calorie-burning effect as a good work out at the gym.

30 Apr 2007

Keeping the mind busy and occupied restores memories lost to dementia

Scientists in the U.S. believe that mental stimulation along with drug therapy may help people with diseases such as Alzheimer's and dementia regain some of their lost memories.

30 Apr 2007

Big win in the battle against diabetes

In newly published research scientists have revealed that they have discovered more genes linked to Type 2 Diabetes.

29 Apr 2007

Ten genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes

Ten genetic variants associated with type 2 diabetes, a disease which impacts more than 170 million people worldwide, have been identified or confirmed by a U.S.-Finnish team led by scientists at the University of Michigan School of Public Health.

27 Apr 2007

Sangamo BioSciences starts phase 2 trial of therapy diabetic neuropathy

Sangamo BioSciences has announced that the company has initiated a repeat-dosing, multi-center Phase 2 clinical trial of SB-509 in subjects with moderate to severe diabetic peripheral sensory motor neuropathy (DN).

27 Apr 2007

New genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes

In the most comprehensive look at genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes to date, a U.S.-Finnish team, working in close collaboration with two other groups, has identified at least four new genetic variants associated with increased risk of diabetes and confirmed existence of another six.

27 Apr 2007

Gene CHD7 linked to idiopathic scoliosis

Researchers at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC), one of the nation's leading pediatric centers for research and the treatment of orthopaedic conditions, have identified the first gene - CHD7 - associated with idiopathic scoliosis (I.S.), the most common spinal deformity in children.

27 Apr 2007

New mechanism identified for resistance to targeted lung cancer drugs

An international research team, led by investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Cancer Center and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (DFCI), has found a new way that some lung tumors become resistant to treatment with targeted therapy drugs like Iressa and Tarceva.

27 Apr 2007

World's first microRNA knockout mouse

A role for a microRNA in the immune system has been shown by study of one of the world's first microRNA knockout mouse, reported in Science.

27 Apr 2007

New gene discovered in human stem cells may benefit transplant patients

Oxford scientists have revealed a link between a gene and the activity of human blood stem cells, giving hope that stem cell transplant success for blood cancer patients may be significantly improved.

27 Apr 2007

Researchers find clear genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes

Scientists from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Lund University and Novartis have announced the discovery of three unsuspected regions of human DNA that contain clear genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and another that is associated with elevated blood triglycerides.

27 Apr 2007