“Mayo Clinic researchers discover a genetic cause for atrial fibrillation” 
(July 19) EurekAlert! reports, “Mayo Clinic investigators have discovered a gene mutation causing chaotic electrical activation of the heart muscle and atrial fibrillation (AF), a common heart-rhythm disturbance affecting millions of Americans. Atrial fibrillation can lead to heart failure and stroke.”
“Leukemia gene normally has mammary gland function”
(July 19) News-Medical.Net reports, “A gene critical for normal mammary gland function during nursing helps trigger highly lethal leukemias when it undergoes a mutation that fuses it to another gene, according to investigators at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital.”
“Discoverer of the Genetic Code”
(July 18) International Herald Tribune reports, “Francis Crick is associated with two discoveries, probably two of the most important in the 20th century: the double helix of DNA and the genetic code.”
“Other highlights in the July 19 JNCI”
(July 18) EurekAlert! reports, “Bladder cancer can be detected using a test that examines nine genes from DNA found in a patient's urine, a study reports.”
“ARCA Discovery, Inc. Announces Publication Of The Genetic Basis For Enhanced Response To Bucindolol”
(July 18) Medical News Today reports, “ARCA Discovery, Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company developing genetically-targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today commented on the results of research findings, published July 14, 2006 in the online edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences showing that a common genetic variation may help doctors identify heart failure patients who will respond well to a new drug.”
“Crohn's Disease: One Gene Copy Too Few Leads To Weakened Defense”
(July 18) Medical News Today reports, “Patients with Crohn's disease of the colon have one copy less than healthy persons of the beta-defensin 2 gene, a gene coding for an important defense molecule of the body.”
“New role discovered for breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1”
(July 18) News-Medical.Net reports, “A recently discovered facet of the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 reveals a mechanism linking mutation of BRCA1 to formation of large blood vessels needed to support cancer progression.”
“Celera Discovers Gene Variants Strongly Associated with Alzheimer's Disease; Findings Could Lead to New Diagnostics and Targeted Therapeutics”
(July 17) BusinessWire reports, “Celera Genomics (NYSE:CRA), an Applera Corporation business, today announced the publication of data from its research studies showing that variants in the death-associated protein kinase 1 (DAPK1) gene on human chromosome 9 correlate strongly with risk for late-onset Alzheimer's disease.”
“Hereditary Neurological Disease And Newly Discovered Gene Linked By Duke Researchers”
(July 17) Medical News Today reports, “Scientists have linked a recently discovered gene to a rare nervous system disease called hereditary spastic paraplegia, for which there is no cure.”
“Gene screen for breast cancer better than pathologist's "eye"”
(July 17) News-Medical.Net reports, “Johns Hopkins scientists have found that a method they developed to screen body fluids for certain kinds of cells and some of their genetic blueprint is twice as accurate at spotting breast cancer cells as a pathologist's view with a microscope.”
“Researchers uncover genetic clues to a common form of age-related dementia”
(July 16) EurekAlert! reports, “Researchers have found that genetic alterations originally identified in people suffering from a rare disease may also be an important risk factor for the second most common form of dementia among the elderly.”
“New strategy rapidly identifies cancer targets”
(July 16) EurekAlert! reports, “In a step toward personalized medicine, Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Brian J. Druker and colleagues have developed a new technique to identify previously unknown genetic mutations that can trigger cancerous growth.”
“Researchers discover mutations in the progranulin gene cause frontotemporal dementia”
(July 16) Mayo Clinic reports, “Researchers at Mayo Clinic and colleagues at the University of British Columbia and the University of Manchester have discovered mutations in the progranulin gene cause frontotemporal dementia (FTD).”
“A Protein Complex That Untangles DNA”
(July 16) Science Daily reports, “Every second, the cells constituting our bodies are replaced through cell division.”
“Novel mechanism of taxane resistance”
(July 16) EurekAlert! reports, “Research Associate Chih-Jian Lih and others working in the laboratory of Dr. Stanley N. Cohen at Stanford University have pinpointed a gene that affects human cancer cells' sensitivity to chemotherapy - an important finding in the effort to increase the effectiveness of chemotherapy.”
“Measuring Proteins In Spinal Fluid May Provide Early Clue To Alzheimer's Disease”
(July 15) Science Daily reports, “Early signs of the development of Alzheimer's disease can be seen in the cerebrospinal fluid of middle-aged adults who are genetically predisposed to the neurologic condition, according to a report in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.”
“ZymoGenetics Begins Phase 1 Trial With IL-21 And Rituxan(R) In Patients With Non-Hodgkin's Lymphoma”
(July 14) Medical News Today reports, “ZymoGenetics, Inc. (Nasdaq: ZGEN) today announced that a Phase 1 clinical trial is underway using Interleukin 21 (IL-21) in combination with the monoclonal antibody Rituxan(R).”
“Gene Mutations Responsible For Rett Syndrome In Females Present Sporadically in Males”
(last accessed 2/2008)
(July 13) Kennedy Krieger Institute reports, “Gene mutations that are responsible for the majority (seventy to eighty percent) of cases of Rett syndrome (RTT) in females are not always lethal in males prior to birth, refuting previous assumptions, and can occur sporadically in infant males without a family history of the disorder.”
“Asthma -- obesity connection”
(July 13) EurekAlert! reports, “A new asthma gene provides an unexpected link between asthma and obesity according to a research team at Sydney's Garvan Institute, who are also part of the Cooperative Research Centre for Asthma and Airways.”
“Chinese and British experts break the genetic code for recurring skin diseases”
(July 13) People’s Daily Online reports, “A team of Chinese and British medical experts have concluded that the main cause of recurring human skin diseases is a genetic defect in the T-cells of the immune system.”
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