Copyright 2012 Medical News TodayLatest Health News and Medical News posted throughout the day, every day.http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/sections/genetics/admin@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Admin)editors@medicalnewstoday.com (MNT Editors)en-us Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241452.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241452.phpIn a study presented at the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine's annual meeting, The Pregnancy Meeting™, in Dallas, Texas, researchers reported findings that indicate that massively parallel sequencing can be used to diagnose fetal aneuploidies, including Down syndrome, Edwards syndrome, Patau syndrome and Turner syndrome...Pregnancy / Obstetrics Sun, 12 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241537.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241537.phpNew research led by Nottingham University in the UK suggests abnormal levels of seven proteins in spinal fluid could be markers for the early stages of Alzheimer's disease, raising hopes of a test for a disease that is difficult to diagnose at the beginning. The researchers write about their findings in the Journal of Alzheimer's Disease...Alzheimer's / Dementia Fri, 10 Feb 2012 10:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241516.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241516.phpAccording to a study which involved more than 4,000 participants, more information about potential disorders can be obtained using chromosomal microarray (CMA) to test a developing fetus' DNA, than the standard method of prenatal tests, which is used to visually analyze the chromosomes (karyotyping)...Pregnancy / Obstetrics Fri, 10 Feb 2012 06:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241485.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241485.phpCancer diagnosis and selecting the most appropriate treatment can be made easier by identifying genetic mutations through DNA sequencing...Genetics Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241394.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241394.phpScientists have developed a new community resource that may act as a Rosetta stone for revealing the genetic basis of traits and disease. A paper in the Feb. 9 issue of Nature describes the Drosophila Genetic Reference Panel (DGRP), which provides the highest-resolution view to date, of the genome structure and variation in a population of 192 fruit flies with diverse traits...Genetics Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241402.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241402.phpIt's been more than 50 years since James Watson and Francis Crick showed that DNA is a double helix of two strands that complement each other. But how does a short piece of DNA find its match, out of the millions of 'letters' in even a small genome? New work by researchers at the University of California, Davis, handling and observing single molecules of DNA, shows how it's done...Genetics Fri, 10 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241406.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241406.phpA large-scale study analyzing metabolic compounds in rice grains conducted by researchers at the RIKEN Plant Science Center (PSC) and their collaborators has identified 131 rice metabolites and clarified the genetic and environmental factors that influence their production...Nutrition / Diet Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241353.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241353.phpReviving a theory first proposed in the late 1800s that the development of organs in the normal embryo and the development of cancers are related, scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies have studied organ development in mice to unravel how breast cancers, and perhaps other cancers, develop in people...Breast Cancer Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241357.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241357.phpResearchers have discovered a restricted pattern of molecules that differentiate early-stage breast tumors from invasive, life-threatening cancer. They also found a similar molecular signature that correlated with the aggressiveness of invasive tumors, and with the time to metastasis and overall survival. Researchers at the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center - Arthur G...Breast Cancer Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241359.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241359.phpParkinson's disease researchers at the University at Buffalo have discovered how mutations in the parkin gene cause the disease, which afflicts at least 500,000 Americans and for which there is no cure. The results are published in the current issue of Nature Communications...Parkinson's Disease Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241362.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241362.phpThe molecular pathway that carries time-of-day signals from the body's internal clock to ultimately guide daily behavior is like a black box, says Amita Sehgal, PhD, the John Herr Musser Professor of Neuroscience and Co-Director, Comprehensive Neuroscience Center, at the Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania...Sleep / Sleep Disorders / Insomnia Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241385.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241385.phpDNA sequences from tumor cells can be used to direct the immune system to attack cancer, according to scientists at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The research, in mice, appears online in Nature. The immune system relies on an intricate network of alarm bells, targets and safety brakes to determine when and what to attack...Cancer / Oncology Fri, 10 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241389.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241389.phpGene therapy for congenital blindness has taken another step forward, as researchers further improved vision in three adult patients previously treated in one eye. After receiving the same treatment in their other eye, the patients became better able to see in dim light, and two were able to navigate obstacles in low-light situations. No adverse effects occurred...Eye Health / Blindness Thu, 09 Feb 2012 11:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241441.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241441.phpA recent study published by The Lancet suggests that males with a certain variant on their Y-chromosome are at a 50% higher risk of developing coronary artery disease (CAD)...Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 09 Feb 2012 07:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241407.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241407.phpA common heart disease which kills thousands each year may be passed genetically from father to son, according to a study led by the University of Leicester. A paper published in medical journal The Lancet shows that the Y chromosome, a part of DNA present only in men, plays a role in the inheritance of coronary artery disease (CAD)...Heart Disease Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241334.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241334.phpA gene that influences the inflammatory response to infection may also predict the effectiveness of drug treatment for a deadly form of tuberculosis...Tuberculosis Thu, 09 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241340.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241340.phpIn a study conducted by researchers at Moffitt Cancer Center and colleagues from 11 other institutions in the Unites States and the United Kingdom, genes that are known to be involved in inflammation were found to be related to risk of ovarian cancer. Their study appeared in a recent issue of Cancer Research, published by the American Association for Cancer Research...Ovarian Cancer Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241318.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241318.phpTreatments for Parkinson's disease, estimated to affect 1 million Americans, have yet to prove effective in slowing the progression of the debilitating disease...Parkinson's Disease Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241321.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241321.phpResearchers at Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center's VCU Massey Cancer Center and Harold F...Cancer / Oncology Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241324.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241324.phpThe first European Clinical Practice Guidelines (CPGs) for the diagnosis and management of Wilson's disease are published by the European Association for the Study of the Liver (EASL) on the EASL website*...Liver Disease / Hepatitis Thu, 09 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241376.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/241376.php Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania and The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia have conducted a recent study, published in Science Translational Medicine which focuses on gene therapy for congenital blindness. The scientists were able to improve sight in 3 adult patients who had previously been treated in one eye...Eye Health / Blindness Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241281.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241281.phpUsing whole-genome sequencing, a team led by researchers from Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH) and the Broad Institute has traced the path of the E. coli outbreak that sickened thousands and killed over 50 people in Germany in summer 2011 and also caused a smaller outbreak in France...Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Wed, 08 Feb 2012 01:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241286.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241286.phpUNC researchers have discovered how the genetic defect underlying one of the most common congenital heart diseases keeps the critical organ from developing properly. According to the new research, mutations in a gene called SHP-2 distort the shape of cardiac muscle cells so they are unable to form a fully functioning heart...Heart Disease Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241258.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241258.phpSusceptibility to anthrax toxin is a heritable genetic trait that may vary tremendously among individuals, according to a new study by researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. Among 234 people studied, the cells of three people were virtually insensitive to the toxin, while the cells of some people were hundreds of times more sensitive than those of others...Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Wed, 08 Feb 2012 00:00:00 PSThttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241259.phphttp://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/241259.phpUniversity of Utah biologists found new evidence why mice, people and other vertebrate animals carry thousands of varieties of genes to make immune-system proteins named MHCs - even though some of those genes make us susceptible to infections and to autoimmune diseases. "Major histocompatibility complex" (MHC) proteins are found on the surface of most cells in vertebrate animals...Immune System / Vaccines