Feature Channels: Genetics

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13-Jan-2014 4:00 PM EST
Genomes of Modern Dogs and Wolves Provide New Insights on Domestication
University of Chicago Medical Center

Dogs and wolves evolved from a common ancestor between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, before humans transitioned to agricultural societies, according to an analysis of modern dog and wolf genomes from areas of the world thought to be centers of dog domestication.

16-Jan-2014 2:00 PM EST
Dogs and Wolves Diverged From Common Ancestor
Cornell University

Dogs were domesticated between 9,000 and 34,000 years ago, most likely while humans were still hunting and gathering – before the advent of agriculture.

13-Jan-2014 4:35 PM EST
DNA Detectives Able to 'Count' Thousands of Fish Using as Little as a Glass of Water
University of Washington

A mere glass full of water from Monterey Bay Aquarium's 1.2 million-gallon Open Sea tank, among the 10 largest aquariums in the world, is all scientists really needed to identify the Pacific Bluefin tuna, dolphinfish and most of the other 13,000 fish swimming there.

Released: 15-Jan-2014 3:00 PM EST
Next-Gen Reappraisal of Interactions Within a Cancer-Associated Protein Complex
Stowers Institute for Medical Research

At a glance, DNA is a rather simple sequence of A, G, C, T bases, but once it is packaged by histone proteins into an amalgam called chromatin, a more complex picture emerges. Histones, which come in four subtypes—H2A, H2B, H3, and H4—can either coil DNA into inaccessible silent regions or untwist it to allow gene expression. To further complicate things, small chemical flags, such as methyl groups, affect whether histones silence or activate genes.

Released: 13-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
Congenital Diaphragmatic Hernia Traced from Genetic Roots to Physical Defect
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

A team including researchers from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have discovered that a specific gene may play a major role in the development of a life-threatening birth defect called congenital diaphragmatic hernia, or CDH, which affects approximately one out of every 3,000 live births.

9-Jan-2014 5:00 PM EST
Mutation Discovery May Improve Treatment for Rare Brain Tumor Type
Dana-Farber/Boston Children's Cancer and Blood Disorders Center

Scientists have identified a mutated gene that causes a type of tenacious, benign brain tumor that can have devastating lifelong effects. Currently, the tumor can only be treated with challenging repeated surgeries and radiation.

Released: 12-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
Nature Study Discovers Chromosome Therapy to Correct a Severe Chromosome Defect
Case Western Reserve University

A study, published online today in Nature, used stem cells to correct a defective “ring chromosome” with a normal chromosome. Such therapy has the promise to correct chromosome abnormalities that give rise to birth defects and disabilities.

Released: 10-Jan-2014 10:00 AM EST
Researchers Uncover Mechanism of Genetic Mutations Known To Cause Familial Alzheimer’s Disease
Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI)

New research, led by Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute researcher Chunyu Wang, has solved one mystery in the development of Familial Alzheimer’s Disease (FAD), a genetic variant of the disease that affects a small fraction of the Alzheimer’s population. In a paper published online January 6 in the journal Nature Communications, Wang and his team follow the trail of two genetic mutations – V44M and V44A – known to cause FAD, and show how the mutations lead to biochemical changes long linked to the disease.

Released: 8-Jan-2014 6:00 PM EST
Express Yourself: UCLA Researchers Develop Novel Approach to Study How Genetic Differences Affect Gene Expression
University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Health Sciences

CLA researchers have developed a novel approach to study how these differences between individuals affect how strongly genes are expressed, or translated into the proteins that do the actual work in cells.

Released: 8-Jan-2014 3:10 PM EST
Research Suggests a Blood Test to Locate Gene Defects Associated with Cancer May Not Be Far Off
University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

A simple blood test that can locate gene defects associated with cancer? New MD Anderson research suggests the technology may not be too far off

6-Jan-2014 1:00 PM EST
Elephant Shark Genome Decoded
Washington University in St. Louis

An international team of researchers has sequenced the genome of the elephant shark, a curious-looking fish with a snout that resembles the end of an elephant’s trunk. An analysis of the creature’s genome, is published Jan. 9 in the journal Nature.

Released: 6-Jan-2014 10:00 AM EST
Designing Genes Through Diagnosis
Association for Diagnostic and Laboratory Medicine (ADLM (formerly AACC))

A new Q&A in the “Advancing Women’s Health” issue of Clinical Chemistry, the journal of AACC, explores the ethics of preimplantation genetic diagnosis, a form of genetic testing that has already made it possible for parents to conceive a child who is a donor match for a sick relative, who shares their minor disability (such as deafness), or to select gender.

Released: 30-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
Molecular Evolution of Genetic Sex-Determination Switch in Honeybees
Arizona State University College of Liberal Arts and Sciences

It’s taken nearly 200 years, but scientists in Arizona and Europe have teased out how the molecular switch for sex gradually and adaptively evolved in the honeybee.

Released: 30-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
Imaging Technology Could Unlock Mysteries of a Childhood Disease
Georgia Institute of Technology

A new technique for studying the structure of the childhood RSV virus and its activity in living cells could help researchers unlock the secrets of the virus, including how it enters cells, how it replicates, and perhaps why certain lung cells escape the infection relatively unscathed.

20-Dec-2013 12:00 PM EST
Discovering a “ THRIL” That Correlates with Severity of Kawasaki Disease
Sanford Burnham Prebys

A new study discovers a molecule termed "THRIL" that regulates TNF-alpha.

19-Dec-2013 5:25 PM EST
Gene Therapy Method Targets Tumor Blood Vessels
Washington University in St. Louis

Working in mice, researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis report developing a gene delivery method long sought in the field of gene therapy: a deactivated virus carrying a gene of interest that can be injected into the bloodstream and make its way to the right cells. In this early proof-of-concept study, the scientists have shown that they can target tumor blood vessels in mice without affecting healthy tissues.

Released: 22-Dec-2013 3:00 PM EST
Changes in Gene Explain More of Inherited Risk for Rare Disease
University of Alabama at Birmingham

Mutations in a key gene predispose people to develop a rare tumor-causing disorder.

Released: 20-Dec-2013 10:00 AM EST
Common Disorders: It’s Not the Genes Themselves, But How They Are Controlled
Case Western Reserve University

Many rare disorders are caused by gene mutation. Yet until now the underlying genetic cause of more common conditions has evaded scientists. New research finds that six common diseases arise from DNA changes located outside genes. The study shows that multiple DNA changes, or variants, work in concert to affect genes, leading to autoimmune diseases.

16-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
Stowers Researchers Announce First Genetic Model of a Human Jaw Fusion Defect Known as Syngnathia
Stowers Institute for Medical Research

The face you critiqued in the mirror this morning was sculpted before you were born by a transient population of cells called neural crest cells. Those cells spring from neural tissue of the brain and embryonic spinal cord and travel throughout the body, where they morph into highly specialized bone structures, cartilage, connective tissue, and nerve cells.

17-Dec-2013 4:45 PM EST
Protein Links Liver Cancer with Obesity, Alcoholism, and Hepatitis
University of Iowa

A new study identifies an unexpected molecular link between liver cancer, cellular stress, and risk factors for developing this cancer – obesity, alcoholism, and viral hepatitis.

Released: 19-Dec-2013 5:00 PM EST
UT Southwestern Neuroscience Researchers Identify Gene Involved in Response to Cocaine
UT Southwestern Medical Center

UT Southwestern neuroscience researchers have identified a gene that controls the response to cocaine by comparing closely related strains of mice often used to study addiction and behavior patterns.

17-Dec-2013 7:00 PM EST
Awareness of Angelina Jolie’s Preventive Mastectomy Not Linked to Greater Knowledge of Breast Cancer Risk
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health

A new study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the University of Maryland School of Public Health found that while three out of four Americans were aware that Angelina Jolie had undergone a preventive double mastectomy, awareness of her story was not associated with an increased understanding of breast cancer risk. The study, published today in Genetics in Medicine, surveyed more than 2,500 adults nationwide three weeks after Jolie revealed in a New York Times op-ed that she had undergone the surgery because she carried a rare genetic mutation of the BRCA1 gene and had a family history of cancer.

   
12-Dec-2013 2:15 PM EST
Stress Reaction Gene Linked to Death, Heart Attacks
Duke Health

A genetic trait known to make some people especially sensitive to stress also appears to be responsible for a 38 percent increased risk of heart attack or death in patients with heart disease, scientists at Duke Medicine report.

Released: 18-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
The Association for Molecular Pathology Releases Position Statement on LDTs
Association for Molecular Pathology

: The Association for Molecular Pathology (AMP) released a special article in the January 2014 issue of The Journal of Molecular Diagnostics titled “Revisiting Oversight and Regulation of Molecular-Based Laboratory-Developed Tests“ (LDTs).

Released: 17-Dec-2013 12:55 PM EST
Study Finds Known Lung Cancer Oncogenes ALK and ROS1 Also Drive Colorectal Cancer
University of Colorado Cancer Center

A University of Colorado Cancer Center study shows that ALK and ROS1 gene rearrangements known to drive subsets of lung cancer are also present in some colorectal cancers. These results imply that drugs used to target ALK and ROS1 in lung cancer may also have applications in this subset of colorectal cancer patients.

13-Dec-2013 5:00 PM EST
Gene Variant Exacerbates Inflammatory Arthritis in Mice
University of Utah Health

University of Utah researchers have discovered a naturally occurring genetic variation in mice that predisposes carriers toward developing severe, inflammatory arthritis.

Released: 13-Dec-2013 4:00 AM EST
A Molecular Toolkit for Gene Silencing
IMP - Research Institute of Molecular Pathology

The team of Johannes Zuber at the IMP in Vienna, Austria, managed to overcome remaining key limitations of RNA interference (RNAi) - a unique method to specifically shut off genes. By using an optimized design, the scientists were able to inhibit genes with greatly enhanced efficiency and accuracy. The new method facilitates the search for drug targets. The IMP will make this „RNAi toolkit“ available to researchers.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 1:00 PM EST
Helping Cancer Researchers Make Sense of a Deluge of Genetic Data
Loyola Medicine

A web research tool is helping cancer researchers and physicians make sense out of genetic data from nearly 100,000 patients and more than 50,000 mice. The Gene Expression Barcode 3.0 is a vital resource in the new era of personalized medicine.

Released: 12-Dec-2013 7:00 AM EST
Environment Drives Genetics in Evolution Canyon; Discovery Sheds Light on Climate Change
Virginia Tech

Virginia Bioinformatics Institute researchers studying life from a unique natural environment in Israel discover heat stress seems to influence a species' genetic makeup, a finding that may influence understanding of climate change.

10-Dec-2013 9:30 AM EST
Multi-Gene Test Could Help Spot Breast Cancer Patients Most at Risk
University of Chicago Medical Center

A new test may help physicians identify patients with the most lethal forms of triple-negative breast cancer. It was able to distinguish between patients with a good or poor prognosis, even within groups of patients already stratified by existing tests.

10-Dec-2013 5:00 PM EST
Rare Gene Variants Double Risk for Alzheimer’s Disease
Washington University in St. Louis

A team of researchers led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified variations in a gene that double a person’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease later in life. The newly identified variations occur rarely in the population, making them hard for researchers to identify. But they’re important because individuals who carry them are at substantially increased risk.

Released: 10-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
New Gene Therapy Proves Promising as Hemophilia Treatment
University of North Carolina Health Care System

Researchers at the UNC School of Medicine and the Medical College of Wisconsin found that a new kind of gene therapy led to a dramatic decline in bleeding events in dogs with naturally occurring hemophilia A, a serious and costly bleeding condition.

5-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
You Are What Your Father Eats
McGill University

Mothers get all the attention. But a study led by McGill researcher Sarah Kimmins suggests that the father’s diet before conception may play an equally important role in the health of their offspring. It also raises concerns about the long-term effects of current Western diets and of food insecurity.

Released: 9-Dec-2013 4:25 PM EST
Gene Sequencing Project Finds Family of Drugs with Promise for Treating Childhood Tumor
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

Drugs that enhance a process called oxidative stress were found to kill rhabdomyosarcoma tumor cells growing in the laboratory and possibly bolstered the effectiveness of chemotherapy against this aggressive tumor of muscle and other soft tissue. The findings are the latest from the St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital–Washington University Pediatric Cancer Genome Project and appear in the December 9 edition of the scientific journal Cancer Cell.

6-Dec-2013 11:00 AM EST
Flipping a Gene Switch Reactivates Fetal Hemoglobin, May Reverse Sickle Cell Disease
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia

Hematology researchers have manipulated key biological events in adult blood cells to produce a form of hemoglobin normally absent after the newborn period. These cell culture findings may lead to a new therapy for sickle cell disease.

3-Dec-2013 9:00 AM EST
Certain Genetic Alterations May Explain Head and Neck Cancer Survival Disparities
American Association for Cancer Research (AACR)

Certain genetic alterations to the PAX gene family may be responsible for survival disparities seen between African-American and non-Latino white men with head and neck cancer, according to results presented here at the Sixth AACR Conference on the Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the Medically Underserved, held Dec. 6-9.

4-Dec-2013 12:30 PM EST
Genetic Mutations and Molecular Alterations May Explain Racial Differences in Head And Neck Cancers
Johns Hopkins Medicine

A team of scientists at Johns Hopkins and in Texas has identified a handful of genetic mutations in black Americans, in addition to some chemical alterations affecting gene activity, which may help explain why the death rate among African-Americans from the most common form of head and neck cancer continues to hover some 18 percent higher above the death rate of whites with the same cancer.

18-Nov-2013 12:30 PM EST
New Insight Into the Genetic Causes of Epilepsy
American Epilepsy Society (AES)

Scientists screening the DNA of large cohorts for known and suspected epilepsy associated genes are finding that, while some genes are implicated in discrete phenotypes or forms of epilepsy, other genes are implicated in a wider range of phenotypes. Although ion channel genes are a common cause of epilepsy, the researchers also report a significant number of epilepsy patients with mutations in non-ion channel genes. The studies have important implications for treatment, prognosis and risk counseling.

Released: 6-Dec-2013 4:00 PM EST
Study Reveals Gene Expression Changes with Meditation
University of Wisconsin–Madison

With evidence growing that meditation can have beneficial health effects, scientists have sought to understand how these practices physically affect the body.

Released: 5-Dec-2013 2:00 PM EST
New Genetic Research Finds Shark, Human Proteins Stunningly Similar
Cornell University

Despite widespread fascination with sharks, the world’s oldest ocean predators have long been a genetic mystery. The first deep dive into a great white shark’s genetic code has fished up big surprises behind a design so effective it has barely changed since before dinosaurs roamed.

Released: 4-Dec-2013 11:40 AM EST
Hot Topic: Putting the Brakes on Home Genetic Testing
Rutgers University

Scott Diehl is director of the Center for Pharmacogenomics and Complex Disease Research at the Rutgers School of Dental Medicine in Newark, N.J., and a longtime critic of tests such as 23andMe. Diehl says ordering the test off the market was the right decision.

Released: 3-Dec-2013 2:30 PM EST
Gene Therapy Bolsters Enzyme Activity to Combat Alzheimer’s Disease in Mice
St. Jude Children's Research Hospital

St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital scientists have identified an enzyme that can halt or possibly even reverse the build-up of toxic protein fragments known as plaques in the brains of mice with Alzheimer’s disease. The research appeared in a recent edition of the scientific journal Nature Communications.

26-Nov-2013 10:00 AM EST
Are You Carrying Adrenal Cushing’s Syndrome Without Knowing It?
Universite de Montreal

Genetic research that will be published tomorrow in the New England Journal of Medicine suggests to Dr. André Lacroix, professor at the University of Montreal, that clinicians’ understanding and treatment of a form of Cushing’s syndrome affecting both adrenal glands will be fundamentally changed, and that moreover, it might be appropriate to begin screening for the genetic mutations that cause this form of the disease.

Released: 27-Nov-2013 1:00 PM EST
Study Connects Dots Between Genes and Human Behavior
Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Establishing links between genes, the brain and human behavior is a central issue in cognitive neuroscience research, but studying how genes influence cognitive abilities and behavior as the brain develops from childhood to adulthood has proven difficult. Now, an international team of scientists has made inroads to understanding how genes influence brain structure and cognitive abilities and how neural circuits produce language.

22-Nov-2013 2:00 PM EST
Genetic Mutation Increases Risk of Parkinson’s Disease From Pesticides
Sanford Burnham Prebys

Study uses patient-derived stem cells to show that a mutation in the α-synuclein gene causes increased vulnerability to pesticides, leading to Parkinson’s disease.

21-Nov-2013 4:00 PM EST
Scientists Characterize Effects of Transplanted Fecal Microbiota
University of Maryland School of Medicine

Scientists at the Institute for Genome Sciences at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and physicians at Sinai Hospital, Baltimore, MD, have found that restoring the normal, helpful bacteria of the gut and intestines may treat patients suffering from recurrent Clostridium difficile infections. Transplanting fecal matter of healthy donors into patients with recurrent C. difficile infection (RCDI) appears to restore normal bacterial composition and resolve infection. The study findings appear in the November 26th issue of PLOS ONE.

Released: 26-Nov-2013 12:00 PM EST
A Brain Reward Gene Influences Food Choices in the First Years of Life
McGill University

Research has suggested that a particular gene in the brain’s reward system contributes to overeating and obesity in adults. This same variant has now been linked to childhood obesity and tasty food choices, particularly for girls, according to a new study by Dr. Patricia Silveira and Prof. Michael Meaney of McGill University and Dr. Robert Levitan of the University of Toronto.

22-Nov-2013 11:40 AM EST
First Large-Scale PheWAS Study Using EMRs Provides Systematic Method To Discover New Disease Associations
Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers and co-authors from four other U.S. institutions from the Electronic Medical Records and Genomics (eMERGE) Network are repurposing genetic data and electronic medical records to perform the first large-scale phenome-wide association study (PheWAS), released today in Nature Biotechnology.

Released: 22-Nov-2013 4:50 PM EST
Epigenetic Changes May Explain Chronic Kidney Disease
Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania

Researchers found, in a genome-wide survey, significant differences in the pattern of chemical modifications on DNA that affect gene expression in kidney cells from patients with chronic kidney disease versus healthy controls. This is the first study to show that changes in these modifications – the cornerstone of the field of epigenetics – might explain chronic kidney disease.



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