Genetics News and Research

Latest Genetics News and Research

Brain scans may detect neurological decline in normal people

Brain scans may detect neurological changes in people who exhibit no outward signs of cognitive decline but who later develop dementia or mental impairment, according to the results of a new study led by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

16 Feb 2006

Cost of sexuality in microbes

The next time you mutter about the high cost of relationship maintenance, take comfort in knowing that microbes share your pain.

16 Feb 2006

Less is more hypothesis - gene loss may explain unique human traits

Humans and chimps share most of their genes, yet they differ dramatically in many ways - their walk, the sizes of their brains and their capacities for speech and language, for example.

16 Feb 2006

Causes of type 1 diabetes

Scientists are casting a wide, tightly woven net with the goal of catching the causes of type 1 diabetes.

16 Feb 2006

New insight into pathogenic mechanisms underlying basal-like breast cancers

Basal-like breast cancers (BLC) are highly aggressive tumors with a relatively poor prognosis that account for approximately 15% of sporadic human breast cancer.

16 Feb 2006

X chromosome dosage compensation proven in germ cells

X chromosome dosage compensation does occur in germ cells. A study published today in the open access journal Journal of Biology reveals that expression of the genes on the X chromosome is doubled in Drosophila germ cells to compensate for the missing second X chromosome.

16 Feb 2006

British woman loses Herceptin court battle

A mother of three in the UK suffering from the early-stage of an aggressive form of breast cancer, has lost her high court battle to force her health authority to pay for the potentially life-saving drug Herceptin.

16 Feb 2006

Study provides animal model of depression

A Florida State University scientist used a gene transfer technique to block the expression of a gene associated with clinical depression in a new study of mice that could lead to better treatment of human beings with this condition.

14 Feb 2006

New understanding of the molecular genetics of successful fertilization

A new paper in the February 15th issue of Genes & Development lends novel insight into the cellular changes that occur in sperm while they reside in the female reproductive tract - providing a new understanding of the molecular genetics of successful fertilization.

14 Feb 2006

Non-BRCA1/2 hereditary breast cancer linked to new cancers

The risk for a new cancer in the unaffected breast substantially increases in women diagnosed with unilateral, hereditary (non-BRCA1/2) breast cancer, according to a new study by researchers working at Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden.

14 Feb 2006

Gene therapy cures depressed mice

Researchers in the U.S. say that deleting a specific gene in the brain of mice that have been conditioned to be depressed, has the same effect as antidepressants.

13 Feb 2006

Genzyme launches test to monitor Gleevec resistance

Genzyme Corporation has announced the availability of an important new test to monitor drug resistance in chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) patients who are treated with Gleevec (imatinib mesylate).

13 Feb 2006

Grants bring Mesothelioma research to over $3 million

The Mesothelioma Applied Research Foundation has announced thrilling news for all who care about eradicating the vicious disease. MARF has awarded nine new grants of $100,000 each for exciting research projects commencing in late 2005 aimed at curing mesothelioma ("meso").

13 Feb 2006

Protein associated with growth of tumors may prevent the spread of cancer

A protein associated with the growth of head and neck tumors may be a tumor suppressor that could prevent the spread of cancer when it is expressed above normal levels, according to a study published in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute (JNCI).

13 Feb 2006

Gene mutation discovered that causes a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease

A multi-national research team that includes a Saint Louis University neurologist has discovered a gene mutation that causes a rare form of Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease, an inherited progressive nerve disorder. The findings are published in an advance online issue of Nature Genetics

13 Feb 2006

Common genetic variation increases SIDS risk in African Americans

About five percent of deaths from SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) in African Americans can be traced to defects in one gene and half of those deaths result from a common genetic variation that increases an infant's risk of developing an abnormal heart rhythm during times of environmental stress

13 Feb 2006

Chink in cancer's armor

Much as the famed starship Enterprise would deploy a deflector shield to evade enemy attack, tumor cells are capable of switching on a molecular force field of their own to fend off treatments aimed at killing them. Now University of Florida researchers have found a chink in their armor.

13 Feb 2006

Rett disease progression altered by changing expression of gene

Scientists from the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Brandeis University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology report in the journal Neuron that increasing levels of brain derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) alleviates symptoms in a mouse model of the childhood disorder Rett Syndrome.

13 Feb 2006

Changes in the tissue environment of the breast that occur after pregnancy promote the metastasis of breast tumor cells

Changes in the tissue environment of the breast that occur after pregnancy promote the metastasis of breast tumor cells. The paper by McDaniel et al., "Remodeling of the mammary microenvironment following lactation promotes breast tumor cell metastasis.

12 Feb 2006

Alzheimer's disease appears to be highly heritable

In a large study of twins, Alzheimer's disease appears to be highly heritable and genetic factors may also influence timing of the disease, according to an article in the February Archives of General Psychiatry.

9 Feb 2006