http://phys.org/health-news/genetics/ en-us Phys.Org provides the latest news on genetics, genetic science, genetic research, genetic engineering, genetic studies and genes. (Medical Xpress) -- The body’s ability to perform simple tasks like flex muscles or feel heat, cold and pain depends, in large part, on myelin, an insulating layer of fats and proteins that speeds the propagation of nerve cell signals. http://phys.org/news226820388.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Thu, 09 Jun 2011 06:40:08 EST news226820388 One of the most common and most disabling birth defects, spina bifida strikes about one in 1,000 births in the United States -- nearly as many as Down’s Syndrome. The cause of this often devastating disorder, characterized by an incomplete closing of the back bone and spinal cord, still befuddle scientists. But UC Berkeley geneticist Jasper Rine believes his research team may be on the verge of cracking its genetic mystery. http://phys.org/news223297287.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Fri, 29 Apr 2011 12:01:46 EST news223297287 The first genome scan for womb cancer has revealed a genetic region that is associated with a reduced risk of the disease. The same region, called HNF1B, has been linked previously to lower prostate cancer risk in men. http://phys.org/news222332002.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:53:41 EST news222332002 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have long questioned why patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) tend to manage well through childhood and adolescence, yet succumb to their disease in early adulthood, or why elderly people who lose muscle strength following bed rest find it difficult or impossible to regain. Now, researchers at the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases (NIAMS), part of the National Institutes of Health, are beginning to find answers in a specialized population of cells called satellite cells. Their findings, reported in the journal Genes & Development, suggest a potential therapeutic target for conditions where muscle deterioration threatens life or quality of life. http://phys.org/news222331902.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 18 Apr 2011 07:52:01 EST news222331902 Johns Hopkins researchers report the discovery of a molecular switch that regulates the behavior of a protein that, when altered, is already known to increase human susceptibility to schizophrenia and mood disorders. http://phys.org/news221313784.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Wed, 06 Apr 2011 13:03:20 EST news221313784 With the help of two sets of brothers with autism, Johns Hopkins scientists have identified a gene associated with autism that appears to be linked very specifically to the severity of social interaction deficits. http://phys.org/news221308716.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Wed, 06 Apr 2011 11:44:33 EST news221308716 Thanks to the zebrafish, there is new hope for people with melanoma, an aggressive skin cancer that is responsible for approximately 8,700 deaths each year in the United States. http://phys.org/news221230965.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Tue, 05 Apr 2011 14:03:17 EST news221230965 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the first time, researchers have found five regions in the human genome that increase susceptibility to immunoglobulin A (IgA) nephropathy, a major cause of kidney failure worldwide — systematically identifying those that point to a tendency for IgA nephropathy, or a protection against it. http://phys.org/news221206030.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:07:36 EST news221206030 An international team of researchers has identified a novel gene involved in differences in alcohol consumption, according to a new study published online the week of April 4-8 in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news221152632.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:10:01 EST news221152632 A US appeals court heard arguments Monday in a closely watched case involving a pharmaceutical firm's patent of two genes linked to cancer. http://phys.org/news221155431.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 04 Apr 2011 17:04:56 EST news221155431 Scientists have identified a gene that appears to play a role in regulating how much alcohol people drink, in a study of over 47,000 people published today in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. http://phys.org/news221150930.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 04 Apr 2011 15:49:22 EST news221150930 Vanderbilt University researchers have identified a new gene that can influence a person's risk for developing epilepsy. The findings, reported in the March 29 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could improve molecular diagnostic tools and point to novel therapeutic targets for epilepsy. http://phys.org/news221134737.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 04 Apr 2011 11:19:36 EST news221134737 Scientists said Sunday they had uncovered five genes linked to the onset of Alzheimer's disease, doubling the number of genetic variants known to favour the commonest form of dementia. http://phys.org/news221054768.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Sun, 03 Apr 2011 13:06:29 EST news221054768 When cells find themselves in a tight spot, the cell cycle regulator p21 halts the cell cycle, buying cells time to repair the damage, or if all else fails, to initiate programmed cell death. In contrast to other stress-induced genes, which dispense with the regular transcriptional entourage, p21Cip1 still requires SKIP, a transcription elongation factor that also helps with the editing of transcripts, to be expressed, found researchers at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. http://phys.org/news220880454.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Fri, 01 Apr 2011 12:41:13 EST news220880454 Researchers offer the first evidence that DNA damage can lead to the regulation of inflammatory responses, the body's reaction to injury. The proteins involved in the regulation help protect the body from infection. http://phys.org/news220813401.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Thu, 31 Mar 2011 18:03:40 EST news220813401 New genomic analyses suggest that the most common genetic variants in the human genome aren't the ones most likely causing disease. Rare genetic variants, the type found most often in functional areas of human DNA, are more often linked to disease, genetic experts at Duke University Medical Center report. http://phys.org/news220797745.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Thu, 31 Mar 2011 13:43:04 EST news220797745 Heart transplant recipients and their physicians are likely more concerned with the function of the donated organ than with the donor's DNA sequences that tag along in the new, healthy tissue. However, researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine have shown that an increase in the amount of the donor's DNA in the recipient's blood is one of the earliest detectable signs of organ rejection. http://phys.org/news220547467.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 28 Mar 2011 16:11:22 EST news220547467 A study of thousands of people with bipolar disorder suggests that genetic risk factors may influence the decision to attempt suicide. http://phys.org/news220534540.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 28 Mar 2011 12:35:58 EST news220534540 Inactivation of two pathways that regulate cell division profoundly disrupts cell-cycle control and leads to tumor growth, according to researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine. http://phys.org/news220529655.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 28 Mar 2011 11:33:21 EST news220529655 Genes make up only a tiny percentage of the human genome. The rest, which has remained measurable but mysterious, may hold vital clues about the genetic origins of disease. Using a new mapping strategy, a collaborative team led by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and MIT has begun to assign meaning to the regions beyond our genes and has revealed how minute changes in these regions might be connected to common diseases. The researchers' findings appear in the March 23 advance online issue of Nature. http://phys.org/news220108120.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:09:18 EST news220108120 Using new genome sequencing technologies, researchers from the John Theurer Cancer Center at Hackensack University Medical Center joined colleagues from 20 major North American research institutions to publish the first complete genomic portrait of multiple myeloma, a highly aggressive blood cancer. Findings from the study point to new directions for potential myeloma therapies, and begin to unlock the mysteries of what causes this devastating malignancy. The paper will be published in the March 24, 2011 issue of Nature. http://phys.org/news220108025.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Wed, 23 Mar 2011 14:07:28 EST news220108025 Scientists have identified genetic errors in women with autoimmune diseases that increase the risk of preeclampsia, a potentially life-threatening condition that occurs in 10 percent of all pregnancies. http://phys.org/news220039506.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Tue, 22 Mar 2011 19:05:33 EST news220039506 If a big bunch of your brain cells suddenly went rogue and decided to become fat cells, it could cloud your decision-making capacity a bit. Fortunately, early in an organism's development, cells make firm and more-or-less permanent decisions about whether they will live their lives as, say, skin cells, brain cells or, well, fat cells. http://phys.org/news219920588.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Mon, 21 Mar 2011 10:03:32 EST news219920588 A study published online in this week's Nature Genetics demonstrates that tiny Locked Nucleic Acid (LNA)-based compounds developed by Santaris Pharma A/S can inhibit entire disease-associated microRNA families. This provides a potential new approach for treating a variety of diseases including cancer, viral infections, cardiovascular and muscle diseases. http://phys.org/news219852381.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Sun, 20 Mar 2011 15:06:40 EST news219852381 Cornell researchers report that they have identified a gene that causes neural tube defects (NTDs) in laboratory mice. NTDs, also known as spina bifida and anencephaly, are one of the most common birth defects in the United States, occurring every 1 in 1,000 births. http://phys.org/news219502362.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Wed, 16 Mar 2011 13:53:06 EST news219502362 Researchers have provided new clues into the genetics underlying a chronic form of liver disease, called primary biliary cirrhosis, which can lead to transplant surgery for patients. The new study identifies 15 genetic regions that affect a person's risk of developing the disease, more than trebling the number of known genetic regions, which now stands at 22. http://phys.org/news219243571.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Sun, 13 Mar 2011 14:00:06 EST news219243571 An international collaboration led by researchers at the University of Dundee has discovered a genetic link to peanut allergy. It has been known for some time that peanut allergy can be inherited, but this study marks the first robust evidence pinpointing a specific gene. http://phys.org/news219048753.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Fri, 11 Mar 2011 06:52:45 EST news219048753 ADAM-12 is not only the name of a 1970's television police drama – it's also the gene that University of Missouri researchers believe could be an important element in the fight against cancer, arthritis, and cardiac hypertrophy, or thickening of the heart's walls. http://phys.org/news218822326.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Tue, 08 Mar 2011 15:59:09 EST news218822326 Scientists have identified a single mutated gene that causes Hajdu-Cheney syndrome, a disorder of the bones causing progressive bone loss and osteoporosis (fragile bones). The study, published in Nature Genetics today, gives vital insight into possible causes of osteoporosis and highlights the gene as a potential target for treating the condition. http://phys.org/news218641589.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:46:44 EST news218641589 Thirteen new gene regions have been convincingly linked to coronary atherosclerosis in a massive, new, international genetics study involving investigators from the Stanford University School of Medicine. http://phys.org/news218639993.html Medicine & Health - Genetics Sun, 06 Mar 2011 13:20:15 EST news218639993