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 Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170173.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170173.php While progress has been made in identifying genes associated with asthma, the disease is complex, and its development is likely dependent upon both genetics and environmental exposures, according to a leading expert presenting at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Miami Beach, Fla. On one hand, 39 potential "asthma genes" have been identified. Respiratory / Asthma Sun, 08 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170178.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170178.php At a meeting on Sudden Cardiac Death (SCD) at the Royal Society of Medicine, sponsored by Cardiac Risk in the Young (CRY), doctors have called for coroners to routinely request consent from relatives to allow small amounts of tissue to be retained from young people (under 35 year olds) who die suddenly from heart disease or without explanation. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Sat, 07 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170161.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170161.php Scientists at Michigan State University are receiving nearly $3 million from the National Institutes of Health to uncover how several popular plants make medicinal compounds. Biology / Biochemistry Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170112.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170112.php The whole genome sequence of the domestic horse has been completed by the genome-sequencing center of The Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, in collaboration with an international team of researchers that includes scientists at the University of California, Davis. Findings from the genome sequence have important implications for improved breeding of horses, which constitute a $39 billion industry in the United States alone, and for studies of human health. Genetics Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170114.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170114.php A University of Colorado at Boulder team has developed the first atlas of bacterial diversity across the human body, charting wide variations in microbe populations that live in different regions of the human body and which aid us in physiological functions that contribute to our health. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170119.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170119.php A gene associated with longevity in roundworms and humans has been shown to affect the function of stem cells that generate new neurons in the adult brain, according to researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine. The study in mice suggests that the gene may play an important role in maintaining cognitive function during aging. Neurology / Neuroscience Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170120.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170120.php Complete Genomics, a third-generation human genome sequencing company, has announced publication of a report in the journal Science describing its proprietary DNA sequencing platform, including analysis of sequence data from three complete human genomes. The consumables cost for these three genomes sequenced on the proof-of-principle genomic DNA nanoarrays ranged from $8,005 for 87x coverage to $1,726 for 45x coverage for the samples described in this report. Genetics Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170121.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170121.php The Stop ALD Foundation has applauded the investigators who are reporting in the current issue of Science successful results from the pioneering use of gene therapy for adrenoleukodystrophy (ALD), a potentially crippling and fatal brain disorder in young boys. Neurology / Neuroscience Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170132.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170132.php Embryonic development is like a well-organised building project, with the embryo's DNA serving as the blueprint from which all construction details are derived. Cells carry out different functions according to a developmental plan, by expressing, i.e. turning on, different combinations of genes. Genetics Fri, 06 Nov 2009 07:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170163.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170163.php A team of US scientists that has developed the first map of bacterial diversity across nearly 30 sites of the human body from hair, to ears, nostrils, mouth, armpits, intestines, navels, backs of knees and soles of the feet, was surprised to find big person to person differences in variously sited bacterial populations among healthy individuals. Infectious Diseases / Bacteria / Viruses Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170141.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170141.php The ELA association and Zinedine Zidane, its emblematic ambassador, are proud to announce a world premiere: the results regaring the gene therapy in adrenoleukodystrophy conducted in France have just been published in the prestigious journal Science. Two children have been treated and their diseases have been halted. The children are doing well, which is unexpected for a disease destroying the brain in a few months. Neurology / Neuroscience Fri, 06 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170151.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170151.php The Autism Consortium, an innovative collaboration of researchers, clinicians, funders and families dedicated to catalyzing research and enhancing clinical care for autism spectrum disorders (ASDs), held its fourth annual symposium on October 28th, 2009, at Harvard Medical School in Boston. Autism Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170049.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170049.php Since her teens, Jennifer Jablon had watched family members deal with breast cancer during their 40s, 50s, and 60s. She wondered whether it would be her fate too. In her mid-50s, Jennifer's mother was diagnosed with breast cancer and tested positive for the recently identified BRCA1 gene, indicating a genetic predisposition to breast cancer. "I spent about six months in denial after my mom tested positive. Breast Cancer Fri, 06 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170029.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/170029.php Results of a long QT syndrome (LQTS) study published in the current issue of Circulation play an important role in understanding genetic testing's role in diagnosing disease, according to the senior author, Michael Ackerman, M.D., Ph.D. A pediatric cardiologist at Mayo Clinic, Dr. Ackerman directs Mayo's Long QT Syndrome Clinic and is the director of the Mayo Clinic Windland Smith Rice Sudden Death Genomics Laboratory. Cardiovascular / Cardiology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169974.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169974.php Designers of anti-cancer drugs are aiming their arrows at mysterious chunks of the genetic material DNA that may play a key role in preventing the growth and spread of cancer cells, according to an article in the current issue of Chemical & Engineering News, ACS' weekly newsmagazine. Cancer / Oncology Thu, 05 Nov 2009 05:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169975.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169975.php It's no bigger than a stamp packet but it has the potential to allow rapid development of a new generation of drugs and genetic engineering organisms, and to better control in-vitro fertilization. Engineering researchers at McMaster University have fabricated a palm-sized, automated, micro-injector that can insert proteins, DNA and other biomolecules into individual cells at volumes exponentially higher than current procedures, and at a fraction of the cost. IT / Internet / E-mail Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169955.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169955.php A chemical cousin of the common antibiotic tetracycline might be useful in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), a currently incurable disease that is the leading genetic cause of death in infants. This is the finding of a research collaboration involving Adrian Krainer, Ph.D., of Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) and scientists from Paratek Pharmaceuticals and Rosalind Franklin University of Medicine and Science. Genetics Thu, 05 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169836.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169836.php A group of drunken fruit flies have helped researchers from North Carolina State and Boston universities identify entire networks of genes - also present in humans - that play a key role in alcohol drinking behavior. This discovery, published in the October 2009 print issue of the journal Genetics, provides a crucial explanation of why some people seem to tolerate alcohol better than others, as well as a potential target for drugs aimed at preventing or eliminating alcoholism. Alcohol / Addiction / Illegal Drugs Wed, 04 Nov 2009 04:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169819.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169819.php A painstaking analysis of thousands of genes and the proteins they encode shows that human beings are biologically complex, at least in part, because of the way humans evolved to cope with redundancies arising from duplicate genes. "We have found a specific evolutionary mechanism to account for a portion of the intricate biological complexity of our species," said Ariel Fernandez, professor of bioengineering at Rice University. Genetics Wed, 04 Nov 2009 03:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169757.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169757.php Two genes, each one of which is known to cause cancer on its own, together can lead to aggressive leukaemia. This is the conclusion from new research carried out on gene-modified mice at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden. The discovery has surprised scientists, and may lead to new treatments. The two genes are often present in mutated form in acute leukaemias, but the mutations rarely occur together. Lymphoma / Leukemia / Myeloma Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169704.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169704.php Research at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute into the genes involved in breast cancer development, new drugs for chronic pain, and the proteins involved in inflammatory diseases has received funding in this year's round of Australian Research Council (ARC) Discovery Project grants. Seven projects proposed by institute researchers have received ARC support. Breast Cancer Wed, 04 Nov 2009 01:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169719.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169719.php Individuals who experience both childhood adversity and traumatic events in adulthood appear more likely to develop post-traumatic stress disorder than those exposed to only one of these types of incidents, according to a report in the November issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals. In addition, the risk was further increased in individuals with a certain genetic mutation. Anxiety / Stress Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169681.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169681.php Pateamine A (PatA), a natural product first isolated from marine sponges, has attracted considerable attention as a potential anti-cancer agent, and now a new activity has been found for it, which may reveal yet another anti-cancer mechanism. That's the assessment of Daniel Romo, a Texas A&M chemistry professor, and his colleagues at Johns Hopkins University who are pioneers in research involving this novel marine natural product. Cancer / Oncology Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169684.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169684.php Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania have developed a theoretical model that informs the understanding of evolution and determines how quickly an organism will evolve using a catalogue of "evolutionary speed limits." The model provides quantitative predictions for the speed of evolution on various "fitness landscapes," the dynamic and varied conditions under which bacteria, viruses and even humans adapt. Biology / Biochemistry Wed, 04 Nov 2009 00:00:00 PST http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169691.php http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/169691.php The introduction of high-throughput laboratory methods has greatly increased the pace of research into the genetics of complex diseases. Instead of focusing only on one or a few coding variants in a small sample of individuals, the ability to accurately and efficiently genotype many individuals and to cover more of the variation within individual genes has resulted in genetic studies with greater statistical power. Genetics