Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Researchers determine why gene therapy treatment caused leukemia in some X-linked severe combined immunodeficiency patients

Scientists at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital have developed a mouse model of a severe disease of the immune system that helps explain why gene therapy used to treat children with this disease at an institution in Europe caused some of them to develop leukemia.

2 Aug 2006

Mice more complicated than humans when it comes to telomeres

In terms of their telomeres, mice are more complicated than humans. That's the finding from a recent Rockefeller University study.

2 Aug 2006

Oral cancers - smoke and drink and up goes the risk!

Scientists in the UK have discovered that mouth cancer develops in two distinct ways which decides just how the serious the disease will be.

2 Aug 2006

Innovative approach for creating a cytomegalovirus vaccine

Each year, about 40,000 children are born infected with human cytomegalovirus, or CMV, and about 8,000 of these children suffer permanent disabilities due to the virus - almost one an hour.

2 Aug 2006

Strong link between specific genetic variations and an increased risk of stroke in younger women

University of Maryland researchers have shown a strong association between specific genetic variations and an increased risk of stroke in younger women, adding to the growing evidence of possible genetic influences in stroke.

2 Aug 2006

New genetic model for Parkinson's disease

Researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden are homing in on mechanisms that may explain one set of causes for Parkinson's disease.

1 Aug 2006

New way to assess pandemic potential of influenza viruses

Study provides first assessment of the risk of an H5N1 pandemic strain emerging from the combining of avian and human influenza viruses.

1 Aug 2006

Knee bone marrow lesions may be hereditary

Bone marrow lesions in the knee, a cause of pain in patients with knee osteoarthritis, may be hereditary.

1 Aug 2006

Creating your own pandemic virus is not so easy

A team of scientists at the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have developed a new research method that may help identify the types of genetic changes that would be necessary for the avian influenza virus (H5N1) to be more easily transmitted among people.

1 Aug 2006

Vegan diet best for diabetes

Researchers have found that people who followed a low-fat vegan diet, cutting out all meat and dairy, lowered their blood sugar more and lost more weight than people on an American Diabetes Association diet.

30 Jul 2006

Promising therapy for Lou Gehrig's disease delivers antisense drug directly to nervous system

Researchers have designed and tested a molecular therapy in animals that they hope will be a major development in the fight to treat amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig's disease.

27 Jul 2006

Genes may be responsible for obsessive-compulsive disorder

Obsessive-compulsive disorder tends to run in families, causing members of several generations to experience severe anxiety and disturbing thoughts that they ease by repeating certain behaviors.

26 Jul 2006

Research findings may speed the development of vaccines for Chlamydia and other STDs

Using a novel mouse model that allows scientists to study how the immune system’s fighter cells respond to invaders in the genital tract during the initial stage of infection, researchers have found a way to track immunity against Chlamydia trachomatis.

26 Jul 2006