“Biomarker discovery bodes well for better cancer diagnostics”
(May 2) News-Medical.Net reports, “While new findings from Ohio State University scientists suggest a genetic marker that could help distinguish between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer and gauge who will do well with cancer treatment, a pharmacologist at the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson in Philadelphia sees the discovery as much more.”
“Inflammatory system genes linked to cognitive decline after heart surgery”
(May 2) Science Daily reports, “Variants of two genes involved in the inflammatory system appear to protect patients from suffering a decline in mental function following heart surgery.”
“Gene therapy used in pioneering eye operation”
(May 2) Japan Today reports, “Doctors in Britain have carried out an operation which is the first attempt to cure a sight disorder using gene therapy, they said Tuesday.”
“The X chromosome: The supermom that's inside of us all”
(May 2) The International Herald Tribune reports, “As May dawns and the mothers among us excitedly anticipate the clever e-cards that we soon will be linking to and the overpriced brunches that we will somehow end up paying for, the following job description may ring a familiar note:”
“Gene discovery may improve pancreatic cancer diagnosis, treatment”
(May 1) Health Scout reports, “Scientists say they can use small bits of genetic material called microRNA to spot key differences between chronic pancreatitis and pancreatic cancer, aiding in earlier diagnosis for the lethal malignancy.”
“Lung cancer risk cut by gene, experts claim”
(May 1) Sky News reports, “Scientists are a step closer to finding out why some people get cancer.”
“New technology detects functional genes”
(May 1) The Post Chronicle reports, “The GeoChip created by U.S. scientists is described as a genomics-based tool that can detect functional genes and processes in a microbial community.”
“New understanding of how histone and DNA methylation communicate”
(May 1) News-Medical.Net reports, “In the May 15th issue of G&D, Dr. Michael Carey (UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center) and colleagues lend new insight into the mechanism of epigenetic silencing of euchromatic genes.”
“Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, type 2 diabetes similar at molecular level”
(Apr 30) EurekAlert! reports, “Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, type 2 diabetes, the human version of mad cow disease, and other degenerative diseases are more closely related at the molecular level than scientists realized, a team reports this week in an advanced online publication of the journal Nature.”
“Rheumatoid arthritis and the impact of genetic factors on mortality”
(Apr 30) Science Daily reports, “A chronic autoimmune disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is marked by inflammation that takes a progressive toll on not only the joints, but also various organs and the whole body.”
“Scientists find new agent to fight genetic disorders -- Zorro-Locked Nucleic Acid”
(Apr 30) EurekAlert! reports, “A study to appear in the June 2007 issue of The FASEB Journal describes a new agent, called "Zorro-LNA," which has the potential to stop genetic disorders in their tracks.”
“Students consider impact of genetics”
(Apr 30) Rocky Mount Telegram reports, “After weeks of studying the chemical aspects of DNA, Rocky Mount High School students, joined by researchers from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, debated the legal, ethical and societal implications of the body's blueprint.”
“Commercialization of novel ud gene-repair technology”
(Apr 29) News-Medical.Net reports, “OrphageniX Inc., a new biotechnology company founded by University of Delaware researchers, has been established in Wilmington to develop and commercialize UD-patented technologies for repairing genes that cause rare, hereditary diseases such as sickle cell anemia and spinal muscular atrophy.”
“Researchers find clear genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes”
(Apr 29) News-Medical.Net reports, “Scientists from the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, Lund University and Novartis have announced the discovery of three unsuspected regions of human DNA that contain clear genetic risk factors for type 2 diabetes, and another that is associated with elevated blood triglycerides.”
“Genetic differences may explain why many Asian women who never smoked develop lung cancer”
(Apr 29) News-Medical.Net reports, “Analysis of three genetic mechanisms that cause non-small cell lung cancer might explain why East Asians respond better than other ethnic groups to a certain type of chemotherapy, a team led by UT Southwestern Medical Center researchers has found.”
“New hereditary breast cancer gene discovered”
(Apr 29) Medical NewsToday reports, “A new hereditary breast cancer gene has been discovered by scientists at the Lundberg Laboratory for Cancer Research and the Plastic Surgery Clinic at the Sahlgrenska Academy in Sweden.”
“Genes could boost arthritis patients' death risk”
(last accessed 2/2008)
(Apr 27) Medline Plus reports, “Rheumatoid arthritis patients with certain genetic traits may be at increased risk of early death from heart disease or cancer, British researchers report.”
“Researchers discover first gene associated with idiopathic scoliosis”
(Apr 27) Medical NewsToday reports, “Researchers at Texas Scottish Rite Hospital for Children (TSRHC), one of the nation's leading pediatric centers for research and the treatment of orthopaedic conditions, have identified the first gene -- CHD7 -- associated with idiopathic scoliosis (I.S.), the most common spinal deformity in children.”