Attorneys are now using the "don't blame me, blame my genes" defense with convicted criminals, and guess what? It's working.*There is an interesting new study out that proves criminals who are diagnosed as psychopaths with a specific gene mutation actually end up getting shorter jail sentences...
According to a study published online in PLoS ONE, researchers have identified how a defective gene causes brain changes that lead to the atypical social behavior characteristic of autism. The study, conduced by researchers affiliated with the UC Davis MIND Institute, also offers a potential...
New research published in Cell Reports has revealed that high levels of iron switches on a key pathway in people with faults in a critical anti-cancer gene (APC) that could raise the risk of bowel cancer. According to Cancer Research UK scientists, based at the University of Birmingham and the...
A new study details how a suite of web-based tools provides the research community with greatly improved capacity to compare data derived from large collections of genomic information against thousands of drugs. By comparing drugs and genetic targets, researchers can more easily identify...
Many patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) share a mutation in a gene called IDH. A University of Colorado Cancer Center study published this week in the journal Leukemia & Lymphoma shows that this IDH mutation may be the first domino in a chain that leads to a more aggressive form of the...
Dr Changfa Guo, Professor Chunsheng Wang and their co-investigators from Zhongshan hospital Fudan University, Shanghai, China have established a novel hyperbranched poly(amidoamine) (hPAMAM) nanoparticle based hypoxia regulated vascular endothelial growth factor (HRE-VEGF) gene therapy strategy...
Toxic chemicals wreak havoc on cells, damaging DNA and other critical molecules. A new study from researchers at MIT and the University at Albany reveals how a molecular emergency-response system shifts the cell into damage-control mode and helps it survive such attacks by rapidly producing...
According to a study published online in Nature Genetics, researchers have identified three new mutations associated with megalencephaly (enlarged brain size), cancer, autism, hydrocephalus, skin growth disorders, epilepsy, and vascular anomalies. The study, led by Seattle Children's Research...
By using gene therapy to create a novel antibody that gobbles up nicotine before it reaches the brain in mice, scientists say they may have found a potential smoking vaccine against cigarette addiction. However, there is still a long way to go before the new therapy can be tested in humans. In...
The first U.S. population prevalence study of mutations in the gene that causes fragile X syndrome, the most common inherited form of intellectual disability, suggests the mutation in the gene - and its associated health risks - may be more common than previously believed...
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Loyola researchers are taking advantage of a quirk in the evolution of fruit fly genes to help develop new weapons against cancer. A newly discovered fruit fly gene is a simplified counterpart of two complex human genes that play important roles in the development of cancer and some birth...
UCLA geneticists have identified the mutation responsible for IMAGe syndrome, a rare disorder that stunts infants' growth. The twist? The mutation occurs on the same gene that causes Beckwith-Wiedemann syndrome, which makes cells grow too fast, leading to very large children. Published in the...
Researchers at NYU School of Medicine have, for the first time, identified a single gene that simultaneously controls inflammation, accelerated aging and cancer. "This was certainly an unexpected finding," said principal investigator Robert J. Schneider, PhD, the Albert Sabin Professor of...
Boffins in Edinburgh, Scotland have discovered that a single mutated gene in male mice can inhibit the last stages of sperm development, thus inducing infertility. As a result, we are that much closer to hormone-free, reversible, and surgery-free male contraception. More »
The discovery of a gene that enables sperm to mature may lead to the development of a non-hormonal male contraceptive, according to new research in mice, led by the University of Edinburgh, Scotland, that was published in the journal PLoS Genetics on 24 May. Currently, the only male...
Using gene transfer techniques pioneered by University of Florida faculty, Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease. The first-in-humans achievement may also be helpful for more common diseases such as Parkinson's...
C5ORF42 was identified as the gene that causes Joubert Syndrome in a number of families in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec where the causal gene had remained unknown since the initial description of the syndrome in 1969. This is what a study in The American Journal of Human Genetics...
Imagine being able to control genetic expression by flipping a light switch. Researchers at North Carolina State University are using light-activated molecules to turn gene expression on and off. Their method enables greater precision when studying gene function, and could lead to targeted...