“Gene Chip Discovery May Lead To Individualized Treatment For Five Hereditary Liver Diseases” 
(Dec 21) Medical News Today reports, “Researchers at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center have developed the first gene chip to use in the early diagnosis of at least five hereditary liver diseases, to detect genetic causes of jaundice in children and adults, and potentially to lead to personalized treatment options.”
“Human mating habits may increase obesity gene pool”
(last accessed 2/2008)
(Dec 21) Reuters Health via
Healthlibrary.com reports, “People's tendency to choose mates with body sizes matching their own could be one factor driving the current obesity epidemic, according to a new study.”
“Obesity Alters Digestive-Tract Bacteria”
(last accessed 2/2008)
(Dec. 20) HealthDay News reports, “Finding could lead to new weight-loss treatments, study suggests.”
“Gene-bender Proteins May Sway To DNA”
(Dec 19) Science Daily reports, “Among the many genes packed into each cell of our body, those that get turned on, or expressed, are the ones that make us who we are.”
“Rapid and label-free nanomechanical detection of biomarker transcripts in human RNA”
(Dec 18) News-Medical.Net reports, “Researchers from the Swiss Nanoscience Institute in Basel have developed a rapid method to detect the activity of a gene involved in controlling tumor growth.”
“Surprising Interaction Between Genes, Gender, And Hypertension”
(Dec 18) Medical News Today reports, “In surprising results, a study of more than 1,200 patients with extremely low or high blood pressure by researchers at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD) School of Medicine showed that the influence of genes on blood pressure may vary based on gender.”
“Genes That Allow Brain Cancer-Causing Stem Cells To Resist Treatment Identified”
(Dec 18) Medical News Today reports, “While great interest has followed the discovery of neural stem cells and their potential for someday treating diseases and injuries of the brain and spinal cord, recent research identified "cancer stem cells," a small population of cells that appear to be the source of cells comprising a malignant brain tumor.”
“Two Central Mysteries In Genome Inheritance Solved”
(Dec 17) Science Daily reports, “The dance of the chromosomes during cell division, first described in the late 1800s and familiar to all high-school students from movies shown in biology classes, has long fascinated biologists.”
“Genetics Predicts Toxicity Following Blood And Marrow Transplantation”
(Dec 17) Medical News Today reports, “The outlook for cancer patients treated with blood and marrow transplantation (BMT) for fatal blood cancers is much brighter today based on research conducted at Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI).”
“One Gene 90 Percent Responsible For Making Common Parasite Dangerous”
(Dec 16) Science Daily reports, “More than a decade of searching for factors that make the common parasite Toxoplasma gondii dangerous to humans has pinned 90 percent of the blame on just one of the parasite's approximately 6,000 genes.”
“Study explains how NSAIDs halt cancer growth”
(Dec 15) EurekAlert! reports, “Scientists have discovered that induction of a gene known as MDA-7/IL-24 is the molecular mechanism that enables nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) to halt the growth of cancer cells, a finding that could eventually lead to the development of targeted cancer treatments.”
“Pair of microRNA molecules controls major oncogene in most common leukemia”
(Dec 15) EurekAlert! reports, “Researchers at Ohio State University have discovered that two microRNA (miRNA) molecules help control the oncogene responsible for a dangerous form of B-cell chronic lymphocytic leukemia (B-CLL), the most common human leukemia in the world.”
“Screening For Colon Cancer By Analyzing Our Non-DNA Epigenetic Inheritance”
(Dec 14) Medical News Today reports, “Most people have heard that human inheritance is spelled out in our DNA and activated through our genes. Yet few know anything about epigenetics, a variety of methods that our cells have evolved to transmit heritable changes without changing DNA.”
“Study: Genetics-based medicine problematic”
(Dec 14) Earthtimes.org reports, “A U.S. researcher says obstacles facing development of genetics-based personalized medicine include the problematic use of race and ethnicity.”
“Celera Identifies Two Genetic Variations Predisposing Individuals to Increased Risk for
Psoriasis”
(Dec 14) Google reports, “Celera, an Applera Corporation business, today announced the publication of its findings that variants in two genes (IL12B and IL23R) involved in regulating the behavior of cells of the immune system independently contribute to psoriasis risk. Individuals who carry two copies of the risk alleles for both these genes, which occur in approximately 25 percent of Caucasians, were found to have a three-fold increased risk for psoriasis relative to individuals with certain other genotypes of these genes.”
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