Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Scientists create leaner and meaner E. coli

By stripping the E. coli genome of vast tracts of its genetic material - hundreds of apparently inconsequential genes - a team of Wisconsin researchers has created a leaner and meaner version of the bacterium that is a workhorse of modern biology and industry.

3 May 2006

Identification of CPT1c gene that the brain needs to manage body weight

Working with genetically engineered mice, Johns Hopkins scientists have interfered with the brain's ability to control an animal's response to a high-fat diet.

3 May 2006

Researchers recommend national uniform newborn screening tests

In a new study, conducted for the federal government and published in a supplement to the May issue of the journal Pediatrics, Stephen M. Downs, M.D. and Aaron E. Carroll, M.D., of the Indiana University School of Medicine, recommend a national uniform panel of newborn screening tests which they found to be cost saving as well as life saving.

3 May 2006

Comprehensive analysis of the human and mouse transcriptomes

An international consortium of scientists, including a team from The University of Queensland's Institute for Molecular Bioscience (IMB), is a step closer to the next generation of treatments to combat disease, after publishing a comprehensive analysis of the human and mouse transcriptomes.

3 May 2006

Scientists discover a master key to microbes' pathogenic lifestyles

For some microbes, the transformation from a benign lifestyle in the soil to that of a potentially deadly human pathogen is just a breath away.

3 May 2006

Risk of secondary malignancies in testicular cancer

While in the United States the preferred treatment for stage I mixed germ cell tumors has been retroperitoneal lymphadenectomy, adjuvant chemotherapy has been more commonly used in Europe.

2 May 2006

Possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease

Researchers at Oregon Health & Science University's Neurological Sciences Institute (NSI) have located a possible target for future therapies aimed at delaying or stopping Alzheimer's disease.

2 May 2006

Study investigates early biology of HIV infection

In July 2005, the race to find a vaccine that would stem the worldwide rate of 13,000 new cases of HIV infection each day moved from competition among research institutions to a strategy of cooperation.

2 May 2006

DNA taxi

Despite few successes to date, gene therapy is a highly promising approach for medical therapy in the future.

1 May 2006

New approach to treating breast cancer uses existing chemo drug

British scientists say women who develop breast cancer because of two common genetic mutations could have their treatment transformed by a chemotherapy drug which already exists.

1 May 2006

Method by which Caspase-12 shuts down the body's immune system discovered

Caspase-12 is a molecule with a death-wish. Found only in people of African descent, this protein shuts down our body's immune system, opening the door to potentially lethal infections. In a groundbreaking new study published in the prestigious journal Nature this week, the team that first discovered the role of caspase-12 in humans has now uncovered the mechanism by which it sabotages us, allowing researchers to develop methods to counter its damaging effects.

28 Apr 2006

Tumour specific drugs may render therapies based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete

The results of a new study at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis could eventually have oncologists removing their specialties from their shingles by making therapy based on a tumor's anatomical location obsolete.

28 Apr 2006

Amyloid protein content in the brain linked to Alzheimer's disease risk

Researchers from the Flanders Interuniversity Institute for Biotechnology (VIB) connected to the University of Antwerp are the first to show that the quantity of amyloid protein in brain cells is a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. Amyloid protein has already been known to be the primary component of the senile plaques in the brains of patients. The new discovery demonstrates that the greater the quantity of the protein that is produced, the younger the dementia patient is.

28 Apr 2006

HCM detection rates doubled when genetic testing and imaging information are combined

Currently that genetic test correctly detects HCM only 40 percent of the time. But coupled with imaging information, the detection power of the test nearly doubles, to 79 percent, says Steve Ommen, M.D., director of Mayo's HCM Clinic and co-lead investigator of the Mayo Clinic research team.

28 Apr 2006

Ancient rodent DNA being used to identify the cause of its low genetic diversity

A rare Patagonian rodent known as the colonial tuco-tuco fascinates biologists because it seems to defy all odds. This threatened species has so little genetic diversity that the slightest whiff of climate change or disease should have wiped it off the face of the earth long ago. Yet the hearty gopher-like creature has not only managed to survive for thousands of years in the harsh climate of the Argentine highlands, it has evolved a complex social structure that's unique among the more than 50 closely related tuco-tuco species.

28 Apr 2006

Finding indicate why some kinds of Leukemia are more aggressive than others

New clues to why some kinds of leukemia are more aggressive and deadly than others are coming from research examining the types of genetic damage that allow some blood cells to grow out of control, scientists report.

28 Apr 2006

Discovery brings embryonic stem cell medicine a step closer

A team of scientists announced a critical step on the path of realizing the promise of embryonic stem (ES) cells for medicine. The researchers have discovered unique molecular imprints coupled to DNA in mouse ES cells that help explain the cells' rare ability to form almost any body cell type. These imprints, or "signatures," appear near the master genes that control embryonic development and probably coordinate their activity in the early stages of cell differentiation. Not only do these findings help to unlock the basis for ES cells' seemingly unlimited potential, they also suggest ways to understand why ordinary cells are so limited in their abilities to repair or replace damaged cells.

26 Apr 2006

Studies indicate stem cells are flexible enough to become any cell in the body

Two studies in the April 21, 2006 Cell report new details of the "genetic program" that affords embryonic stem cells the flexibility to give rise to any cell type in the body. Both groups identified mechanisms by which the embryonic stem cells of mice or humans keep from going down any one particular developmental path--that of muscle or nervous tissue, for example--while remaining "poised for activation."

26 Apr 2006

Studies indicate stem cells are flexible enough to become any cell in the body

26 Apr 2006

New technique to speed discovery of drug targets in chemical genetics

Researchers at Fox Chase Cancer Center have developed a new technique to speed discovery of drug targets in chemical genetics. Fox Chase researcher Jeffrey R. Peterson, Ph.D., and his colleagues describe a new way to swiftly find the proteins targeted by small molecule inhibitors during high-throughput screening (HTS) experiments. The new work offers a critical solution to a common stumbling block in this booming field of drug discovery.

26 Apr 2006