“New microRNA mechanism for regulating brain function” 
(January 18) News Medical.net reports, “Non-coding regions of the genome - those that don't code for proteins - are now known to include important elements that regulate gene activity.”
“Utah researchers confirm chromosome may harbor autism gene”
(January 17) EurekAlert! reports, “Using technology that allows DNA from thousands of genes to be collected and surveyed on a 3 x 1½-inch chip, University of Utah medical researchers have confirmed that a region on a single chromosome probably harbors a gene that causes autism.”
“USC scientists link variations in growth-factor gene to risk of prostate cancer”
(January 17) EurekAlert! reports, “Two variations in the gene for insulin-like growth factor I (IGF-1) are linked to an increased risk of prostate cancer, according to research performed by scientists from the Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California, the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, and the University of Hawaii.”
“Iceland study finds important diabetes gene”
(January 16) Reuters Health reports, “A single genetic change could predispose close to 40 percent of the population to type-2 diabetes, researchers said on Sunday.”
“Tissue-specific RNAi reveals that WT1 expression in nurse cells controls germ cell survival and spermatogenesis”
(January 16) News-Medical.Net reports, “Researchers at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center say they have jumped a significant hurdle in the use of RNA interference (RNAi), believed by many to be the ultimate tool to both decode the function of individual genes in the human genome and to treat disease.”
“A FAT chance of becoming manic-depressive”
(January 13) Garvan Institute reports, “A collaboration, led by Sydney scientists at the Garvan Institute of Medical Research and University of New South Wales, has discovered the first risk gene specifically for bipolar disorder, also known as manic-depressive illness.”
“Gene Sequencing Information On Human Viruses From First Two Fatal Human Cases In The Turkish Bird Flu Outbreak”
(January 13) Medical News Today reports, “The WHO Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on influenza at the MRC National Institute for Medical Research in Mill Hill, London, has today completed genetic and antigenic analyses of viruses recovered from the first two fatal human cases in the Turkish outbreak.”
“Molecule does more than slice and dice RNA”
(January 12) EurekAlert! reports, “A team of Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) scientists has peeled back some of the mystery of how cells are able to turn off genes selectively to control critical events of development.”
“Supersized 'island' of resistance genes discovered in an infectious bacterium”
(January 12) EurekAlert! reports, “Researchers have discovered a cluster of 45 genes coding for antibacterial drug resistance in the bacterium, Acinetobacter baumannii, a major cause of hospital-acquired infections worldwide. The study was reported in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics.”
“Genes affect benefits of breast cancer drug”
(January 12) Medline Plus reports, “The gene for an enzyme called cytochrome P450 2D6 (CYP2D6) influences how well the breast cancer drug tamoxifen works and whether hot flashes are likely to occur, according to a report in the Journal of Clinical Oncology.”
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