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 Sat, 04 Jul 2009 02:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156443.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156443.php Lars Jansen's work on the formation of the centromere, a key cellular structure in powering and controlling chromosome segregation and accurate cell division, has just earned him a paper in Nature Cell Biology and a prestigious EMBO installation grant, of 50,000 euro per year, for a maximum of five years. Lars Jansen moved from California to the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), in Portugal, last year to head the Epigenetic Mechanisms group. Genetics Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156398.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156398.php Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer. The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research. Cancer / Oncology Sat, 04 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156428.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156428.php Research led by the German Institute of Human Nutrition (DIfE) has identified a new gene associated with diabetes, together with a mechanism that makes obese mice less susceptible to diabetes. A genomic fragment that occurs naturally in some mouse strains diminishes the activity of the risk gene Zfp69. The researchers also found that the corresponding human gene (ZNF642) is especially active in overweight individuals with diabetes. Diabetes Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156241.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156241.php A trio of genome-wide studies - collectively the largest to date - has pinpointed a vast array of genetic variation that cumulatively may account for at least one third of the genetic risk for schizophrenia. One of the studies traced schizophrenia and bipolar disorder, in part, to the same chromosomal neighborhoods. "These new results recommend a fresh look at our diagnostic categories," said Thomas R. Insel, M.D. Schizophrenia Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156354.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156354.php Researchers at the Peninsula Medical School in Plymouth and Exeter have received a grant of £9,600 from the Northcott Devon Medical Foundation to continue its research into the genetic causes of eye movement disorders. Last year, the team - along with colleagues from the Children's Hospital in Boston (USA) and King's College London - identified a gene that, when mutated, causes Duane syndrome. Eye Health / Blindness Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156358.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156358.php The Archaea are single-celled organisms and a domain unto themselves, quite apart from the so called eukaryotes, being bacteria and higher organisms. Many species live under extreme conditions, and carry out unique biochemical processes shared neither with bacteria nor with eukaryotes. Methanogenic archaeans, for example, can produce methane gas out of carbon dioxide and hydrogen. Genetics Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156364.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156364.php More than 40 scientists, bioethicists, lawyers and science journal editors are calling on their colleagues, policy makers and the public to begin developing guidelines for the research and reproductive use of stem cell-derived eggs and sperm, even though such use may be a decade or more away. "Science has always moved faster than social debate or society's ability to grapple with these issues," says Debra Mathews, Ph.D. Stem Cell Research Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156365.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156365.php UCLA researchers have found that embryonic stem cells and skin cells reprogrammed into embryonic-like cells have inherent molecular differences, demonstrating for the first time that the two cell types are clearly distinguishable from one another. The data from the study suggest that embryonic stem cells and the reprogrammed cells, known as induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells, have overlapping but still distinct gene expression signatures. Stem Cell Research Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156366.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156366.php Scientists at Singapore's Bioprocessing Technology Institute (BTI) have made a novel discovery about how the gene, "Fas-apoptosis inhibitory molecule" (FAIM), protects both immune and liver cells from apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Their research is published in the current journal Cell Death and Differentiation. The scientists, Jianxin Huo, Ph.D., and Shengli Xu, Ph.D. Liver Disease / Hepatitis Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156372.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156372.php Certain mutations in the DNA of the hepatitis B virus (HBV) are associated with the development of liver cancer and may help predict which patients with HBV infections are at increased risk of the disease, according to a large meta-analysis in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, published online July 2. HBV infection is a known cause of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), the most common form of liver cancer. Liver Disease / Hepatitis Sat, 04 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156387.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156387.php Imagine donating a sample of your DNA to help researchers study the genetics of diabetes. The disease is common among your friends and family, and you're proud of your role in finding out why. Now, imagine that some time later, you learn that your DNA has been used for other studies on topics you never expected - schizophrenia, human migration, inbreeding. Genetics Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156234.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156234.php The salamander is a superhero of regeneration, able to replace lost limbs, damaged lungs, sliced spinal cord -- even bits of lopped-off brain. But it turns out that remarkable ability isn't so mysterious after all -- suggesting that researchers could learn how to replicate it in people. Biology / Biochemistry Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156236.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156236.php A molecule called telomerase, best known for enabling unlimited cell division of stem cells and cancer cells, has a surprising additional role in the expression of genes in an important stem cell regulatory pathway, say researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The unexpected finding may lead to new anticancer therapies and a greater understanding of how adult and embryonic stem cells divide and specialize. Cancer / Oncology Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156240.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156240.php Stanford University School of Medicine scientists have played a major role in an international effort that has shown, for the first time, that modern genetic technologies can solve the riddle of how gene variations lead to schizophrenia. Researchers at Stanford and 14 other institutions carried out a study of common DNA variations throughout the genome, and then combined forces with two independent studies to complete a pooled analysis of 27,000 individuals. Schizophrenia Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156245.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156245.php New research, conducted by Charles Wingo and his colleagues, at the University of Florida, Gainsville, suggests a link between the circadian rhythm and control of sodium (salt) levels in mice. The hormone aldosterone regulates levels of sodium in the blood and thereby helps control blood pressure. Biology / Biochemistry Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156246.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156246.php GENE THERAPY: Defining immune pathways limiting gene therapy In gene therapy, recombinant adeno-associated viruses (AAVs) are commonly used vehicles for delivering the therapeutic gene into target cells. One factor limiting the clinical application of such vehicles is that the immune system often mounts a response against the AAV vehicle. Genetics Fri, 03 Jul 2009 01:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156249.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156249.php A team of Penn State scientists has shed light on the processes that lead to certain human DNA mutations that are implicated in hundreds of inherited diseases such as tuberous sclerosis and neurofibromatosis type 1. The results one day could influence the way couples who seek to have children receive genetic counseling. Genetics Fri, 03 Jul 2009 00:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156226.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156226.php Deleting two genes in mice responsible for repairing DNA strands damaged by oxidation leads to several types of tumors, providing additional evidence that such stress contributes to the development of cancer. That's the conclusion of a recent study* in DNA Repair by researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and the New York University School of Medicine (NYUSM). Cancer / Oncology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 06:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156197.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156197.php Schizophrenia is a devastating mental disease, thought to be caused by the interaction of both genetic and environmental factors. Because there is no biochemical test that can identify the disorder, physicians rely upon the recognition of its symptoms - which can include auditory hallucinations and paranoia - in order to make their diagnosis. Schizophrenia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156175.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156175.php Johnson & Johnson has announced that Axel Ullrich, Ph.D., director of the Department of Molecular Biology at the Max Planck Institute of Biochemistry in Germany, whose discoveries have led to novel cancer therapies including Herceptin® (trastuzumab) , is the winner of the 2009 Dr. Paul Janssen Award for Biomedical Research. An independent committee of world-renowned scientists selected Dr. Ullrich, who on September 8 will receive a $100,000 prize during a ceremony in Beerse, Belgium. Cancer / Oncology Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156177.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156177.php The 2009 Neuroscience Prize of The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation is being awarded to Jeffrey Hall, professor of neurogenetics at the University of Maine; Michael Rosbash, professor and director of the National Center for Behavioral Genomics at Brandeis University; and Michael Young, professor and head of the Laboratory of Genetics at Rockefeller University. Neurology / Neuroscience Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156179.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156179.php Janet Davison Rowley, MD, a founder in the field of cancer cytogenetics and a renowned leader in molecular oncology, will receive the 2009 Genetics Prize of The Peter and Patricia Gruber Foundation. She is being honored with the prestigious international award for discoveries of recurrent chromosomal abnormalities in leukemias and lymphomas - discoveries that have revolutionized how cancer is understood and treated. Lymphoma / Leukemia Thu, 02 Jul 2009 05:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156189.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156189.php Researchers at the Moores UCSD Cancer Center are injecting a modified herpes virus into melanoma tumors, hoping to kill the cancer cells while also bolstering the body's immune defenses against the disease. Melanoma / Skin Cancer Thu, 02 Jul 2009 04:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156144.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156144.php There is growing evidence that a procedure for identifying chromosomal abnormalities in embryos prior to in vitro fertilization is ineffective at helping older women become pregnant, the Wall Street Journal reports. The procedure -- known as pre-implantation genetic screening, or PGS -- is performed in dozen of U.S. Fertility Thu, 02 Jul 2009 03:00:00 PDT http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156117.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/156117.php In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next generation of genetically modified foods - intended to improve consumers' health - researchers in Japan are reporting that a new transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animal studies. Their report is in the current issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. Allergy