There are promising results from the first-ever use of a virus-based gene therapy for a neurodegenerative/neurological disorder. The therapy was given to 19 young patients with Canavan disease, a devastating inherited childhood condition.
Autism sequencing consortium discovers six new drug targets through large-scale studies.
Scientists at Tufts University have discovered a new gene mechanism that appears to regulate triglyceride levels. This pathway may protect carriers of a gene variant against cardiovascular disease.
Is homosexuality genetic? It's a long-running debate. Now researchers at the University of Tennessee, Knoxville, say they've found a clue that may unlock the mystery. It lies in something called epi-genetics—how gene expression is regulated by temporary switches.
Stroke the soft body of a newborn fruit fly larva ever-so-gently with a freshly plucked eyelash, and it will respond to the tickle by altering its movement—an observation that has helped scientists at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) uncover the molecular basis of gentle touch, one of the most fundamental but least well understood of our senses.
A new method for detecting abnormalities in unborn children is providing physicians with more information to analyze the results than conventional, microscopic testing, according to two George Washington University researchers.
The Archibald Lab at Dalhousie led a team of researchers from across the globe that decoded the genetic blueprints of two tiny organisms, shedding light on a major feat of evolution.
A large, multi-center clinical trial led by Columbia University Medical Center shows that a new genetic test resulted in significantly more clinically relevant information than the current standard method of prenatal testing. The test uses microarray to conduct a comprehensive examination of a fetus’s DNA. Results will be in the 12/6/12 issue of NEJM.
Our bodies contain far more microbial genes than human genes. And a new study suggests that just as human DNA varies from person to person, so too does the massive collection of microbial DNA in the intestine. The research is the first to catalog the genetic variation of microbes that live in the gut.
Genetics study shows promise in feeding the world in spite of heat and drought.
Techniques used in breeding programs meant to yield the perfect dairy cow may soon more accurately predict a person’s genetic risk for skin cancer.
Using powerful gene-analysis tools, researchers have discovered mutations in two related genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, that are involved in the most aggressive form of the childhood cancer neuroblastoma.
Researchers have discovered four new gene regions that contribute to low birth weight. Three of those regions influence adult metabolism, including outcomes such as adult height, risk of type 2 diabetes and adult blood pressure.
In a genome sequencing study of 74 neuroblastoma tumors in children, scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center and the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) found that patients with changes in two genes, ARID1A and ARID1B, survive only a quarter as long as patients without the changes. The discovery could eventually lead to early identification of patients with aggressive neuroblastomas who may need additional treatments.
Using genetic analyses, scientists have discovered that Northern European populations descend from a mixture of two very different ancestral populations, and one of these populations is related to Native Americans.
Scientists seeking to develop treatments for Huntington’s disease just got a roadmap that could dramatically speed their discovery process. Researchers at the Buck Institute have used RNAi technology to identify hundreds of “druggable” molecular targets linked to the toxicity associated with HD. The gene RRAS, involved in cell motility and neuronal development , was among the diverse range of modifiers identified. RRAS was revealed as a potent modulator of HD toxicity in multiple HD models.
Vanderbilt biologists have discovered mosquitoes possess a previously unknown mechanism for destroying pathogens that takes advantage of the peculiarities of the insect’s circulatory system to increase its effectiveness.
Scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center have identified two genes involved in establishing the neuronal circuits required for breathing, findings which could advance treatments for spinal cord injuries, ALS.
Scientists at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center have combined the ability to detect cancer DNA in the blood with genome sequencing technology in a test that could be used to screen for cancers, monitor cancer patients for recurrence and find residual cancer left after surgery.
Researchers led by Stephan Kissler, Ph.D., have demonstrated how a genetic variant associated with type 1 diabetes and other autoimmune diseases influences susceptibility to autoimmunity.
A University of Utah study produced new mathematical support for a theory that explains why men in some cultures often feed and care for their sisters’ children: where extramarital sex is common and accepted, a man’s genes are more likely to be passed on by their sister’s kids than by their wife’s kids.
An international consortium of more than 60 scientists from the United States, China, and Europe has published the genome sequence of watermelon — information that could dramatically accelerate watermelon breeding toward production of a more nutritious, tastier and more resistant fruit.
Researchers at McGill University and the University of Montreal uncover a crucial link between protein synthesis and autism spectrum disorder.
Previously discarded, human-specific “junk” DNA represents untapped resource in the study of diseases like Alzheimer’s and autism.
International team finds genes associated with condition that causes premature skull fusion.
Changes in how DNA interacts with histones—the proteins that package DNA—regulate many fundamental cell activities from stem cells maturing into a specific body cell type or blood cells becoming leukemic. These interactions are governed by a biochemical tug of war between repressors and activators, which chemically modify histones signaling them to clamp down tighter on DNA or move aside and allow a gene to be expressed.
A new discovery concerning a fundamental understanding about how DNA works will produce a “180-degree change in focus” for researchers who study how gene packaging regulates gene activity, including genes that cause cancer and other diseases.
Insights from a genetic condition that causes brain cancer are helping scientists better understand the most common type of brain tumor in children.
An international scientific collaboration that includes two Kansas State University researchers is bringing home the bacon when it comes to potential animal and human health advancements, thanks to successfully mapping the genome of the domestic pig.
About 10 percent of kids born with kidney defects have large alterations in their genomes known to be linked with neurodevelopmental delay and mental illness, a new study by Columbia University Medical Center (CUMC) researchers has shown. The study was published today in the online edition of the American Journal of Human Genetics.
New research at the University of Adelaide has revealed a genetic link in pregnant mums - and their male partners - to pre-eclampsia, a life-threatening complication during pregnancy.
A gene so powerful it nearly triples the risk of Alzheimer’s disease has been discovered by an international team including researchers from Mayo Clinic. It is the most potent genetic risk factor for Alzheimer’s identified in the past 20 years.
Research led by the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital – Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project has identified a fusion gene responsible for almost 30 percent of a rare subtype of childhood leukemia with an extremely poor prognosis.
An international research team co-led by a scientist at Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center has identified two genetic factors behind the third most common form of muscular dystrophy. The findings, published online in Nature Genetics, represent the latest in the team’s series of groundbreaking discoveries begun in 2010 regarding the genetic causes of facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy, or FSHD.
Although schizophrenia is highly genetic in origin, the genes involved in the disorder have been difficult to identify. In the past few years, researchers have implicated several genes, but it is unclear how they act to produce the disorder. A new study by researchers at Columbia University Medical Center identifies affected gene networks and provides insight into the molecular causes of the disease. The paper was published today in the online edition of the journal Nature Neuroscience.
The American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics (ACMG) released a new official Position Statement on the Public Disclosure of Clinically Relevant Genome Variants. This important new statement addresses the problems resulting from gene patent monopolies that have allowed some to develop proprietary databases of the clinical meaning of the variants in particular genes.
Johns Hopkins researchers have succeeded in teaching computers how to identify commonalities in DNA sequences known to regulate gene activity, and to then use those commonalities to predict other regulatory regions throughout the genome. The tool is expected to help scientists better understand disease risk and cell development.
In her lab, MHC biochemistry professor Megan Núñez has discovered a way to inhibit the ‘stickiness’ of a strain of the E. coli bacterium, possibly changing the way infection is treated.
In one of the largest studies of its kind ever conducted, an international team of scientists has thrown new light on the genetic basis of the inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD).
Genetic test results for Lynch syndrome often prove inconclusive, but two new studies show that two-thirds to three-fourths of genetic variants can be classified into categories that indicate the most appropriate screening and treatment guidelines.
Completing the second phase of the 1000 Genomes Project, a multinational team of scientists reports that they have sampled a total of 1092 individuals from 14 different populations and sequenced their full genomes. The researchers described the feat as a collegial effort to equip biologists and physicians with information that can be used to understand the normal range of human genetic variants so that a patient’s disease genome can be interpreted in a broader context.
By decoding the genomes of more than 1,000 people whose homelands stretch from Africa and Asia to Europe and the Americas, scientists have compiled the largest and most detailed catalog yet of human genetic variation. The massive resource will help medical researchers find the genetic roots of rare and common diseases in populations worldwide.
“After five years of treatment, no trace of the disease can be detected in the liver of newborns who were treated starting from the first month of life – So shows our 25-year study.” – Dr. Grant Mitchell, CHU Ste-Justine and University of Montreal
• Researchers compared triple-negative breast cancer samples from African-American and East African women. • Ethnic-specific differences exist in genes expressed in breast cancer tissue. • Data may advance knowledge of genetic/genomic basis of breast cancer.
• Certain genetic variations exist only in African-Americans. • Some of these variations led to higher colorectal cancer risk. • One variant was linked to decreased risk for cancer of the left side of the colon.
A large international study has identified three new gene variants associated with body mass index (BMI) levels in adults. Genome scientists who led the study say the findings may provide fundamental insights into the biology of adult obesity.
The genes responsible for inherited diseases are clearly bad for us, so why hasn’t evolution, over time, weeded them out and eliminated them from the human genome altogether? Part of the reason seems to be that genes that can harm us at one stage of our lives are necessary and beneficial to us at other points in our development.
A large-scale analysis of Y chromosomes from more than 20,000 men finds that two spontaneously recurring deletions along a complex region of the Y chromosome are responsible for approximately 8% of cases of failed sperm production, according to Whitehead Institute researchers.
Whitehead Institute researchers report that common assumptions employed in the generation and interpretation of data from global gene expression analyses can lead to seriously flawed conclusions about gene activity and cell behavior in a wide range of current biological research.
A gene linked to the risk of developing Alzheimer’s, heart disease and diabetes becomes less important to quality of life once people hit their 90s, a Mayo Clinic study shows. At that point, good friends and a positive attitude have a bigger impact, the researchers say. The findings are published this month in the Journal of American Medical Directors Association.
RSS
Medicine keyboard_arrow_right
Sciencekeyboard_arrow_right
Life keyboard_arrow_right
Business keyboard_arrow_right
Journal News keyboard_arrow_right
By Location keyboard_arrow_right
Meetings, Grants, and Events keyboard_arrow_right