Copyright 2009 Medical News Today Latest Genetics News From Medical News Today. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/genetics/ admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin) editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors) en-us Fri, 20 Nov 2009 11:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171697.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171697.php A community in Papua New Guinea that suffered a major epidemic of a CJD-like fatal brain disease called kuru has developed strong genetic resistance to the disease, according to new research by Medical Research Council (MRC) scientists. Kuru is a fatal prion disease, similar to CJD in humans and BSE in animals, and is geographically unique to an area in Papua New Guinea. CJD / vCJD / Mad Cow Disease Fri, 20 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171726.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171726.php For the first time, scientists have successfully used a method called exome sequencing to quickly discover a previously unknown gene responsible for a mendelian disorder. Mendelian disorders, such as cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease, are the result of one or more mutations in a single gene, typically a gene that makes a protein. All of the regions that code for proteins taken together are called the exome. Cystic Fibrosis Fri, 20 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171617.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171617.php WaferGen Biosystems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: WGBS), a leading developer of state-of-the-art genetic analysis systems, announced a new, innovative service for gene-expression profiling of thousands of genes using the SmartChip(TM) Real-Time PCR System. By taking advantage of the SmartChip Real-Time PCR system, WaferGen will offer universities, pharmaceutical and diagnostic companies a service that utilizes pathway-specific gene panels to discover and validate new biomarkers. Genetics Fri, 20 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171585.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171585.php An analysis of patients with a syndrome similar to the genetic disorder, neurofibromatosis type 1, indicates that diagnosis may be difficult because of shared clinical findings, such as certain pigmentary characteristics, according to a study in the November 18 issue of JAMA. Genetics Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171554.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171554.php Quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) technology is experiencing a surge of interest and rapid expansion as a result of advances such as instrumentation that pushes capacity to 1,536 wells and optimization-free multiplexing, reports Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News (GEN). The technique's ability to both detect and simultaneously quantify specific DNA sequences is increasing its use in basic research and diagnostics, according to the November 15 issue of GEN. Genetics Fri, 20 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171562.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171562.php For cancer patients on chemotherapy, the "cure" can be as deadly as the disease itself. Adverse drug reactions are one of the leading causes of death among patients receiving cancer treatment. Jackson Laboratory Professor Gary Churchill wants to change that. With a new two-year, $1 million grant from the National Cancer Institute, Churchill is launching a radical new approach to testing three chemotherapeutic drugs for potential toxic effects. Cancer / Oncology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 08:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171520.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171520.php Linkage Biosciences, Inc., a privately held molecular diagnostics company, recently unveiled LinkSeq™ -- a new one-step method for Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) testing -- at the annual meeting of the American Society of Histocompatibility and Immunogenetics (ASHI) in San Francisco. Much faster than other HLA testing methods currently available, LinkSeq™ is a proprietary sequence-specific priming (SSP) chemistry that can be analyzed utilizing real-time PCR platforms. Immune System / Vaccines Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171524.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171524.php Prions are causing fatal and infectious diseases of the nervous system, such as the mad cow disease (BSE), scrapie in sheep or Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease in humans. Scientists of Helmholtz Zentrum München and Technische Universität München have now succeeded in elucidating another disease mechanism of prion diseases: The prion-infected cell changes its gene expression and produces increased quantities of cholesterol. Prions need this for their propagation. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 19 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171536.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171536.php Almost half of UK women could be suffering from a lack of vitamin A due to a previously undiscovered genetic variation, scientists at Newcastle University have found. The team, led by Dr Georg Lietz, has shown that almost 50 per cent of women have a genetic variation which reduces their ability to produce sufficient amounts of vitamin A from beta-carotene. Women's Health / Gynecology Thu, 19 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171461.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171461.php A study by neuroscientist William C. Mobley, MD, PhD, chair of the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, and colleagues at Stanford University Medical School has demonstrated a possible new approach to slowing the inevitable progression of cognitive decline found in Down's syndrome. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171376.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171376.php Tufts University researchers have identified a gene-diet interaction that appears to influence body weight and have replicated their findings in three independent studies. Men and women carrying the CC genotype demonstrated higher body mass index (BMI) scores and a higher incidence of obesity, but only if they consumed a diet high in saturated fat. These associations were seen in the apolipoprotein A-II gene (APOA2) promoter. Obesity / Weight Loss / Fitness Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171379.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171379.php Researchers from North Carolina State University have identified a gene that tells embryonic stem cells in the brain when to stop producing nerve cells called neurons. The research is a significant advance in understanding the development of the nervous system, which is essential to addressing conditions such as Parkinson's disease, Alzheimer's disease and other neurological disorders. Stem Cell Research Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171393.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171393.php Brain imaging can offer a window into risk for diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (AD). A study conducted at the University of Kansas School of Medicine demonstrated that genetic risk is expressed in the brains of even those who are healthy, but carry some risk for AD. The results of this study are published in the November 2009 issue of the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease. Alzheimer's / Dementia Thu, 19 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171405.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171405.php NanoString Technologies, Inc., a privately held life sciences company marketing a molecular barcoding detection system, has announced that it is collaborating with the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard to investigate molecular networks involved in immune response and other important biological processes. Immune System / Vaccines Wed, 18 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171351.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171351.php A well-known Eastern medicine supplement may help avoid the most common cause of liver transplantation, according to a study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The finding came as a surprise to the scientists, who used a number of advanced genetic and genomic techniques in mice to identify a molecular pathway that counters acetaminophen toxicity, which leads to liver failure. Liver Disease / Hepatitis Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171265.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171265.php While previous studies have indicated a "probable" connection between smoking and ALS, a new study published in the Nov. 17, 2009 issue of Neurology®, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology, states that smoking may now be considered an "established" risk factor for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), also known as Lou Gehrig's disease. The findings come from Baystate Medical Center neurologist Dr. Multiple Sclerosis Wed, 18 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171273.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171273.php A powerful new breast cancer treatment could result from packaging one of the newer drugs that inhibits cancer's hallmark wild growth with another that blocks a primordial survival technique in which the cancer cell eats part of itself, researchers say. Breast Cancer Wed, 18 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171259.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171259.php Titanium dioxide (TiO2) nanoparticles, found in everything from cosmetics to sunscreen to paint to vitamins, caused systemic genetic damage in mice, according to a comprehensive study conducted by researchers at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. The TiO2 nanoparticles induced single- and double-strand DNA breaks and also caused chromosomal damage as well as inflammation, all of which increase the risk for cancer. Cancer / Oncology Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171231.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171231.php Technological advances in high-throughput DNA sequencing have opened up the possibility of determining how living things are related by analyzing the ways in which their genes have been rearranged on chromosomes. However, inferring such evolutionary relationships from rearrangement events is computationally intensive on even the most advanced computing systems available today. Genetics Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171233.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171233.php Arizona State University has been awarded nearly $3 million in federal stimulus funds from the National Institutes of Health. ASU professors Stuart Lindsay and Paul Westerhoff will lead a pair of two-year, innovative projects designed to tackle challenges in the fields of rapid DNA sequencing and the potential health risks of nanotechnology. Genetics Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171238.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171238.php Researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and the University of Iowa will lead a $9 million, five-year initiative to study the cause of facial birth defects. The FaceBase Consortium will create an encyclopedic database of how the faces of children develop and what goes wrong to cause malformations. FaceBase will build a list of the genes and proteins that drive embryonic cell differentiation around the forming mouth. Pediatrics / Children's Health Wed, 18 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171240.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171240.php Developmental biologists at the University of Pittsburgh have been chosen to participate in a $100 million federal "Bench to Bassinet" network that is dedicated to learning about the formation of the cardiovascular system and applying that knowledge to create new diagnostic and intervention strategies for congenital heart disease. The Pitt team, led by Cecilia Lo, Ph.D. Health Insurance / Medical Insurance Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171220.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171220.php Determining what triggers the death of retinal cells, called photoreceptors, could hold the key to stopping blinding disorders caused by a wide range of eye diseases, Yale School of Medicine researchers report in the November journal Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science. Several blinding disorders are known to cause the breakdown of photoreceptors. Eye Health / Blindness Tue, 17 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171192.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171192.php Cancer researchers of the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch have gained new insights into how cells react to DNA damage. Dr. Michael Stilmann, Dr. Michael Hinz and Professor Claus Scheidereit have shown that the protein PARP-1, which detects DNA damage within seconds, activates the transcription factor NF-kappaB, a well-known regulator of gene expression. NF-kappaB triggers a survival program, which blocks programmed cell death. Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma Tue, 17 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171152.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/171152.php "The most important new antidiscrimination law in two decades - the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act - will take effect in the nation's workplaces next weekend, prohibiting employers from requesting genetic testing or considering someone's genetic background in hiring, firing or promotions," The New York Times reports. Genetics