Genomics & Genetics Weekly back issues from February 2003:
Researchers clarify why patients suffer varying degrees of severity.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Di'George syndrome affects roughly 1 in 4,000 newborns, who can suffer from heart, thyroid, and other birth defects. One mystery surrounding the disorder has been the great variability of symptoms among afflicted individuals. Now, Peter ...
The world's first truly unnatural organism expands genetic code.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Every living thing shares the same basic set of building blocks - 20 amino acids from which all proteins are made. But now a group of scientists says it has, for the first time, created an organism that can produce a 21st amino acid and ...
Some cancers show more hereditary linkage than others in Swedish study.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from Sweden, "familial risks for histopathology-specific cancers have not been determined. We used the nationwide Swedish Family-Cancer Database on 10.2 million individuals and I million tumors to calculate ...
Researchers achieve germline transmission of 'gene knockdown' in mice.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as an extremely versatile and powerful tool in biomedical research. A new study reports the creation of transgenic mice in which inherited RNAi lowers or silences the expression of a target gene, producing a ...
Team uses genomic tools to discover gene for childhood genetic disorder.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In an advance illustrating the power of genomic information, an international team of researchers has identified a gene that causes Leigh syndrome, French Canadian type (LSFC), a fatal inherited disorder affecting 1 in 2,000 live births each year ...
Researchers find a genetic connection.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center have found evidence supporting a relationship between sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) and the 5-HTT gene in both African Americans and Caucasians. They found a significant ...
Mannose-binding lectin genotype determines lectin levels and function.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from Australia, "The mannose-binding lectin (MBL) pathway of complement activation is an important component of innate host defense. Numerous studies have described associations between the MBL genotype, MBL levels and ...
Former WebMD executive producer joins NewsRx.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A former WebMD executive producer and medical editor has joined Atlanta-based NewsRx, along with three board-certified editors. Dominique Walton Brooks, MD, with WebMD until 2001, will serve as senior medical editor at NewsRx. ...
Link seen between assisted reproduction techniques and genetic disruption.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Evidence that assisted reproduction techniques may carry a risk of genetic "imprinting disorders" in the resulting babies has emerged in a new study from the University of Birmingham. To assess the likely risk of genetic disruption, ...
New clinic finding rare genetic disorders in Amish community.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A doctor looking for genetic causes to health problems in a small Amish community has found them - including 3 cases of a severe disorder previously found in only 40 people worldwide. Another Amish family has four children with a ...
Researchers discover novel function of gene often associated with cancer.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In an unusual disease known as Bloom syndrome, patients exhibit an extremely high incidence of cancers in many tissues. In fact, some experts consider Bloom syndrome to be among the most cancer-prone hereditary diseases known. Although ...
VEGF-C regulates response to pressure in endothelial cells.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A new study has defined how vascular endothelial growth factor C regulates endothelial cells in the presence of cyclic stretch. "Mechanical forces modulate endothelial cell functions through several mechanisms including regulation of ...
Gene mutation linked to inherited nerve disorder.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Washington (UW) researchers have found a genetic mutation underlying one of the Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders. Charcot-Marie-Tooth disorders are characterized by nerve degeneration in the hands and lower arms and in the ...
Exclusive rights to develop cancer targets acquired.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Eos Biotechnology and Aventis Pasteur announced that a 2-year collaboration to identify unique cancer vaccine targets has resulted in Aventis Pasteur exercising its options to develop up to five of these targets. Under terms of the ...
HAP technology license agreement signed with Millennium.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Genaissance Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (GNSC) announced that it has licensed its HAP Technology to Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Inc., (MLNM) for use in its drug discovery and development programs. Under the terms of the nonexclusive, ...
Second deal signed to study pharmacogenetics of depression treatment.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- EGeen International and Prediction Sciences announced the signing of an agreement to collaborate on the study and discovery of genetic variants responsible for variable patient response to paroxetine (Paxil), a major antidepressant of the SSRI ...
Two milestones achieved in drug alliance.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Martinsried/Munich, Germany, and U.S. Research Facilities in GPC Biotech AG (GPC) announced that it has achieved two milestones by using its Reverse Genomics technology platform for the analysis of the mechanisms-of-action of compounds in its ...
Iron overload gene tied to increased risk.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have found that people with gene mutations associated with abnormally high iron levels are 40% more likely than others to develop colon cancer. A report of ...
Research offers insight into genetic pathways that drive segmentation.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the Stowers Institute for Medical Research are gaining new insight into the molecular players involved in the process of vertebral column formation in the embryo. A research team headed by Dr. Olivier Pourquie, currently ...
Researchers develop new model for understanding obesity, diabetes.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Through the study of fat storage in nematode worms, researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have formulated a new model for understanding the mechanisms of obesity and diabetes in humans. ...
Researchers discover how embryo attaches to uterus.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health have discovered how an embryo initially attaches to the wall of the uterus - what appears to be one of the earliest steps needed to establish a successful pregnancy. ...
Early disturbances in insulin secretion affect development of type 2 diabetes.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "After a short description of normal glucose homeostasis, recent findings in relation to insulin release in three groups with a high risk of future development of type 2 diabetes are described," researchers in The Netherlands report. ...
Evidence for novel type 1 diabetes susceptibility locus found on chromosome 8.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Type 1 diabetes results from a combination of genetic susceptibility and environmental exposures. Susceptibility loci other than HLA and the insulin gene remain to be identified to account for the degree of familial clustering observed in this ...
Single nucleotide polymorphism related to type 2 diabetes found on chromosome 20.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Genome scans in families with type 2 diabetes identified a putative locus on chromosome 20q. For this study, linkage disequilibrium mapping was used in an effort to narrow a 7.3-Mb region in an Ashkenazi type 2 diabetic population," researchers ...
Replagal briefing documents for FDA advisory committee now available.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Transkaryotic Therapies, Inc., (TKTX) announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will release briefing documents related to the Endocrinologic and Metabolic Drug Advisory Committee's review of Replagal (agalsidase alfa), enzyme ...
New study under way at UNC.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The department of psychiatry and the Neurodevelopmental Disorders Research Center at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill have received a $3.5 million grant to study brain development in very young children with fragile X syndrome. ...
Proteins restrict ECB-dependent transcription to M/G1 phase of the cell cycle.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from the United States, "Two homeodomain proteins, Yox1 and Yhp1, act as repressors at early cell cycle boxes (ECBs) to restrict their activity to the M/G1 phase of the cell cycle in budding yeast." "These ...
Ribosomal frameshift signal characterized.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Canada have proposed a new model for the RNA structure responsible for a key step in HIV Gag-Pol protein synthesis. This process "requires a programmed -1 ribosomal frameshifting when ribosomes translate the unspliced ...
NFAT binding motifs in CD3 gamma gene linked to T-cell function loss.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Belgium have identified regions in the CD3gamma gene linked to HIV-induced functional impairment of T cells. Infection of CD4+ T cells with HIV "progressively abrogates T cell receptor (TCR)-CD3 function and surface ...
Key genes in T-cell development identified.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in the United States have identified genes that may play a key role in the process of T-cell development. "FTL-1, -3 and -10 are three murine day 14 fetal thymocyte cell lines produced in order to model developmental stages ...
Research center study identifies specific gene required for long-term immunity.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at the Emory Vaccine Research Center show that a gene called SAP is required to generate long-term immunity. By measuring the immune responses of "knockout" mice genetically engineered to lack SAP, researchers found that the ...
Researchers discuss implications of emerging genomic data.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Canada, "Instead of being greeted as supporting the growing corpus of immunological theory, recent advances in the bioinformatic analysis of genomes have often surprised the discoverers and failed to attract the attention ...
Genetic link seen between Australian, English epidemic S. aureus.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Drug-resistant epidemic staphylococcus strains are spreading worldwide, researchers in Australia warn. "The mecA gene that encodes methicillin resistance in Staphylococcus aureus may be regulated by the mecR1 and mecI genes, and this ...
UCSF study of ancient fly gene offers insights into male fertility.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Using a human gene, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) scientists were able to correct a defect in infertile flies that prevented them from carrying out a key step in the creation of sperm. The finding advances the effort to ...
Genetic variation of insulin gene expression interferes with diabetes development.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from France, "Insulin is a major disease determinant in type 1 diabetes, type 2 diabetes, and related disorders. The role of variations in the expression of the insulin gene has been proposed in genetic susceptibility to the ...
Increased insulin resistance found in obese children with certain polymorphisms.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from France, "In two cohorts of 174 and 165 obese Caucasian children, we measured insulin sensitivity and genotyped insulin receptor substrate IRS-1 and IRS-2 genes for the Arg972Gly and the Asp1657Qly variants, respectively. ...
Plasmodium falciparum erythrocyte-binding ligand mutation alters receptor specificity.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Government researchers in the United States have provided new information on erythrocyte binding by the malaria parasite Plasmodium falciparum. "Recognition of human erythrocytes by Plasmodium species depends in part on Region II of the ...
Serine repeat antigen genes essential for blood-stage parasite growth.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Australia, "The Plasmodium falciparum serine repeat antigen (SERA) has shown considerable promise as a blood stage vaccine for the control of malaria. A related protein, SERPH, has also been described in P. falciparum." ...
University of Utah gets $10.7 million to seek addiction genes.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- University of Utah scientists are mounting a 5-year, $10.7 million effort to identify genes that make some people susceptible to nicotine addiction and cigarette smoking, and to developing emphysema, bronchitis, and other chronic lung diseases. ...
Scientists identify hundreds of worm genes that regulate fat storage.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and their colleagues have scoured thousands of genes in the Caenorhabditis elegans worm and have come up with hundreds of promising candidates that may determine how fat is stored and used in a ...
Researchers perform QTL analysis of self-selected macronutrient diet intake in mice.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers from the United States "investigated the inheritance of dietary fat, carbohydrate, and kilocalorie intake traits in an F-2 population derived from an intercross between C57BL/6J (fat-preferring) and CAST/EiJ (carbohydrate-preferring) ...
New murine model enables study of growth factor in gynecological cancer.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers have established a new murine model that improves the study of ovarian cancer. "Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) performs multifaceted functions in the tumor microenvironment promoting angiogenesis, suppressing ...
Jose M. Ordovas, PhD, joins scientific advisory board.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Perlegen Sciences, Inc., announced that Jose M. Ordovas, PhD, professor of nutrition and genetics at Tufts University, has joined Perlegen's scientific advisory board. Ordovas' research focuses on genes that control blood lipids, and he ...
Researchers on trail of gene mutations.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Northwestern University has received a 5-year, $2.8 million grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to identify the gene mutations that cause sex reversal, a condition in which individuals have the chromosomes of one sex but the physical ...
HIV and herpesviruses DNA levels elevated in semen after vasectomy.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Semen from vasectomized animals infected with sexually transmissible viruses carries easily detectable levels of viral DNA, researchers in Switzerland say. "Ovine herpesvirus 2 (OvHV-2), a member of the viral subfamily ...
Embryonic cell genes determine pluripotency, lineage specificity.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the National Institute on Aging have identified embryonic cell genes that help determine whether cells will be pluripotent or lineage-specific. "Large-scale gene expression profiling was performed on embryo-derived stem ...
Genotype-based screen may aid directed embryonic cell mutation.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from the United States, "Using selectable genes as proof of principle, a new high-throughput genotype-based mutation screen in mouse embryonic stem (ES) cells was developed [Chen coworkers Nat Genet, 2002; 24:314-317]." ...
Lynx to appeal notice of delisting.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Lynx Therapeutics, Inc., (LYNX) reported that it received a NASDAQ staff determination on December 13, 2002, indicating that it no longer meets the requirements for the continued listing of its common stock on the NASDAQ National Market, and that ...
Data presented on first cloned, double knock-out miniature swine.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- In a session at the annual meeting of the International Embryo Transfer Society (IETS), Randall Prather, PhD, distinguished professor of reproductive biotechnology at the University of Missouri-Columbia, announced the successful cloning of the ...
Mycobacterial interspersed repetitive unit VNTRs stable over long term.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "Variable number tandem repeats (VNTRs) of elements named mycobacterial interspersed repetitive units (MIRUs) have previously been identified in 12 minisatellite loci of the Mycobacterium tuberculosis genome," according to researchers at the ...
Spoligotyping may produce inaccurate genotype data.
Feb 07, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 7 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers at the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa have challenged the validity of tuberculosis spoligotyping as an epidemiological tool. "The direct repeat (DR) region has been determined to be an important chromosomal domain ...
Gene holds clue to tumor responsiveness.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- An intriguing clue as to why some tumors respond less well than others to an important class of anticancer drugs has been uncovered by scientists from Cancer Research U.K. and the Medical Research Council. Taxol and similar drugs target ...
Connection to human gene found.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) have shown that a common gene variant influences memory for events in humans by altering a growth factor in the brain's memory hub. On average, people with a particular ...
Gene could have important role in human wasting disorder.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A gene regulating muscle formation in fruit flies could play an important role in a wasting disorder in humans, researchers at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas have discovered. "This study illustrates ...
Research suggests genetic risk for virus-related malignancy in Indian women.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- "The objective of the present study was to determine the codon 72 genotypic frequencies of p53 in Indian women and to analyze the association of this polymorphism with human papillomavirus (HPV) related cervical cancer (CaCx). We used tissues ...
Association found between TNF-alpha gene polymorphism and blood pressure.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from Hungary, "Tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-alpha) is an inflammatory cytokine, which also influences blood pressure (BP). The G[superscript]-308A polymorphism of the TNF-alpha gene is associated with altered ...
Characterizations of Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome evaluated.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Researchers in Oregon have characterized the nature of Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome. "Hallervorden-Spatz syndrome is an autosomal recessive disorder characterized by dystonia, parkinsonism, and iron accumulation in the brain. Many ...
Identification of the GFAP gene mutation in the hereditary adult-onset form.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Japan, "Alexander disease, a leukodystrophy characterized by Rosenthal fibers (RFs) in the brain, is categorized into three subtypes: infantile, juvenile, and adult. Although most are sporadic, occasional familial ...
Gene variation traced to greater risk.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- A variation in a gene that is supposed to help the brain break down cholesterol may play a role in some cases of Alzheimer disease, researchers say. A study found that people with this variant form face double the risk of developing ...
Effects of rare, devastating disease linked to shrinking of cells' telomeres.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- Scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and their colleagues have found that much of the widespread damage that the rare genetic disease ataxia telangiectasia (AT) wreaks on the body results from the progressive shortening of telomeres, the ...
Obesity and mutant gene combination increase risk of vertebral disc degeneration.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Maria G. Essig, MS, ELS, senior medical writer - Obese people who possess an arginine to tryptophan change in the COL9A3 gene (Trp3 allele) are significantly more likely to develop lumbar disc degeneration, according to a report in the journal, ...
Single-molecule protein and genome reader reveals relevant information.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to a study from Austria, "Recent developments in ultrasensitive fluorescence microscopy enabled the detection and detailed characterization of individual biomolecules in their native environment. New types of information can be obtained ...
Acute exercise produces all growth and antigrowth gene expression, including p53.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- According to recent research from the United States, "to further understand molecular mechanisms underlying skeletal muscle hypertrophy, expression profiles of translationally and transcriptionally regulated genes were characterized following an ...
Interferon-gamma gene profiles may dictate recovery from hepatitis B virus.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- by Sonia Nichols, senior medical writer - Among the alphabet soup of cytokines that regulate immune response, only genes for interferon (IFN)-gamma stand out as a link between hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection and susceptibility to chronic ...
Amid growing scrutiny, Clonaid says third cloned baby has been born.
Feb 14, 2003 ... 2003 FEB 14 - (NewsRx.com & NewsRx.net) -- The vice president of Clonaid, which says it has now cloned three babies, was ordered to appear in court after refusing to testify in detail about the headline-grabbing claim many experts consider to be a hoax. The executive, Thomas ...