In the largest study of its kind, researchers at the Southwest Foundation for Biomedical Research have found that exposure to cigarette smoke can alter gene expression — the process by which a gene’s information is converted into the structures and functions of a cell. These alterations in response to smoking appear to have a wide-ranging negative influence on the immune system, and a strong involvement in processes related to cancer, cell death and metabolism. Continue Reading
The mammalian fucose mutarotase enzyme is known to be involved in incorporating the sugar fucose into protein. Female mice that lack the fucose mutarotase (FucM) gene refuse to let males mount them, and will attempt copulation with other female mice. Researchers writing in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Genetics created the FucM mouse mutants in order to investigate the role of this enzyme in vivo. Continue Reading
Gel electrophoresis is one of the most important and frequently used techniques in RNA analysis. Electrophoresis is used for RNA detection, quantification, purification by size and quality assessment. Gels are involved in a wide variety of methods including northern blotting, primer extension, footprinting and analyzing processing reactions. The two most common types of gels are polyacrylamide and agarose. Continue Reading
Reportlinker.com announces that a new market research report is available in its catalogue: Global Pancreatic Cancer Drugs industry. Continue Reading
A US study has found that even subtle changes in the levels of PTEN, a protein that blocks cancer development, may significantly increase a person’s chances of developing cancer. Continue Reading
Micromet, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of next-generation antibodies for the treatment of cancer, today announced that results from studies highlighting pre-clinical advances with its proprietary BiTE antibody technology were presented at the American Association for Cancer Research Annual Meeting in Washington, DC. Continue Reading
A newly developed test appears highly accurate in identifying newborns with fragile X syndrome—the most common inherited cause of cognitive impairment—as well as identifying couples who are carriers of the causative gene, reports a study in the March issue of Genetics in Medicine (www.geneticseinmdicine.org), the official peer-reviewed journal of The American College of Medical Genetics. Continue Reading
Scientists at the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University Medical Center were awarded a five-year $7.5 million grant to tease apart – in the most comprehensive way ever devised -the role of a single protein receptor in breast cells in cancer development and treatment. Continue Reading
The American Thoracic Society has released a new official clinical policy statement on congenital central hypoventilation syndrome (CCHS), a disorder of respiratory and autonomic nervous system (ANS) regulation. The ANS regulates reflexive acts, including heart rate and blood pressure, digestion, body temperature and pain perception. Continue Reading
An experimental thyroid drug reduces cholesterol without the troublesome side effects experienced by some people on statins, according to a study published today in The New England Journal of Medicine. An international team of investigators at Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions, the Karolinska University Hospital and Institute, and The Feinstein Institute for Medical Research tested a substance called Eprotirome in patients with high cholesterol. Continue Reading
