http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- UCSF scientists studying nerve cells in fruit flies have uncovered a new function for a gene whose human equivalent may play a critical role in schizophrenia. http://www.physorg.com/news177861724.html Medicine & Health Thu, 19 Nov 2009 14:03:08 EST news177861724 (AP) -- For many women, getting a mammogram is already one of life's more stressful experiences. Now, women in their 40s have the added anxiety of trying to figure out if they should even be getting one at all. http://www.physorg.com/news177617858.html Medicine & Health Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:10:02 EST news177617858 People living in volcanic areas may be at a higher risk for thyroid cancer, according to a new study published online November 5 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute. http://www.physorg.com/news176662195.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 17:30:02 EST news176662195 The ultimate goal in cancer research, a treatment that kills cancer cells whilst leaving healthy cells untouched, is brought nearer by the success of a new therapeutic approach. The potential therapy, published in BioMed Central's open access journal Breast Cancer Research, targets proliferation of cancer, but not normal, cells. http://www.physorg.com/news176623112.html Medicine & Health Thu, 05 Nov 2009 07:30:02 EST news176623112 Hugh S. Taylor, M.D., professor in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences at Yale, and colleagues have found that women without mutations of the HOXA13 gene do not need to be subjected to x-rays and other tests for a rare condition called hand-foot genital syndrome. The research is presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) scientific meeting in Atlanta, Georgia, October 17-21. http://www.physorg.com/news175191377.html Medicine & Health Mon, 19 Oct 2009 18:10:02 EST news175191377 A multi-national research team has discovered that two genetic factors converge to increase the risk of sudden cardiac death. http://www.physorg.com/news174585206.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:10:04 EST news174585206 A Stanford University School of Medicine researcher has pinpointed the mechanism by which a gene associated with both autism and schizophrenia influences behavior in mice. http://www.physorg.com/news174583443.html Medicine & Health Mon, 12 Oct 2009 17:00:04 EST news174583443 Women with a deleterious gene mutation are diagnosed with breast cancer six years earlier than relatives of the previous generation who also had the disease and/or ovarian cancer, according to new research from The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. http://www.physorg.com/news174325552.html Medicine & Health Fri, 09 Oct 2009 16:46:16 EST news174325552 There may be plenty of fish in the sea but the medaka knows what it likes. A new study published in the open access journal BMC Biology shows how a single gene mutation that turns Japanese Killifish a drab grey colour renders them significantly less attractive to more colourful members of the opposite sex. http://www.physorg.com/news173384825.html Biology Mon, 28 Sep 2009 19:27:42 EST news173384825 University of Utah medical researchers have identified a gene with mutations that cause febrile seizures and contribute to a severe form of epilepsy known as Dravet syndrome in some of the most vulnerable patients - infants 6 months and younger. http://www.physorg.com/news172157374.html Medicine & Health Mon, 14 Sep 2009 14:30:07 EST news172157374 By investigating a rare and severe form of diabetes in children, University of Iowa researchers have discovered a new molecular mechanism that regulates specialized pancreatic cells and insulin secretion. The mechanism involves a protein called ankyrin, which UI researchers previously linked to potentially fatal human heart arrhythmias. http://www.physorg.com/news171634645.html Medicine & Health Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:17:54 EST news171634645 One person's breast cancer is not the same as another person's, because the gene mutations differ in each tumor. That makes it difficult to match the best therapy with the individual patient. http://www.physorg.com/news171296471.html Medicine & Health Fri, 04 Sep 2009 15:21:49 EST news171296471 Johns Hopkins engineers have devised innovative computer software that can sift through hundreds of genetic mutations and highlight the DNA changes that are most likely to promote cancer. The goal is to provide critical help to researchers who are poring over numerous newly discovered gene mutations, many of which are harmless or have no connection to cancer. According to its inventors, the new software will enable these scientists to focus more of their attention on the mutations most likely to trigger tumors. http://www.physorg.com/news171046783.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:10:03 EST news171046783 A recent study published in the Journal of Cancer Epidemiology has reinforced the correlation between being overweight, smoking and breast cancer. What makes this study unique is how test subjects were not diagnosed for BRCA1 and BRCA2 gene mutations, which predispose women to breast cancer. http://www.physorg.com/news171030301.html Medicine & Health Tue, 01 Sep 2009 13:40:02 EST news171030301 (PhysOrg.com) -- Biologists have long known how adaptive evolution works. New mutations arise within a population and those that confer some benefits to the organism increase in frequency and eventually become fixed in the population. http://www.physorg.com/news169143923.html Biology Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:25:46 EST news169143923 An international team of scientists and clinicians from the United States and Saudi Arabia are working to develop gene therapy for treating a rare, hereditary retinal disease. The therapy has been shown to restore lost vision in animal models of retinitis pigmentosa (RP). Their work is being funded in part by a $1.5 million grant from the Prince Salman Center for Disability Research in Saudi Arabia, where the recessive gene mutation that leads to the eye disease RP has been found in children from several families. http://www.physorg.com/news168094180.html Medicine & Health Wed, 29 Jul 2009 14:20:02 EST news168094180 Scientists from The Medical College of Wisconsin in Milwaukee, Sangamo Biosciences, Inc., Sigma-Aldrich Corporation, Open Monoclonal Technology, Inc. (OMT) and INSERM today announced the creation of the first genetically modified mammals developed using zinc finger nuclease (ZFN) technology. http://www.physorg.com/news167579299.html Biology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:40:05 EST news167579299 In 1989 scientists identified the gene mutation that causes cystic fibrosis (CF), which led to the hope that CF lung disease could be 'cured' using gene therapy. The premise of gene therapy is that modified viruses or other gene-based systems could be used to deliver a corrected version of a gene into affected tissues. However, the projected cure has been hampered by the natural ability of the lung to limit the introduction of foreign genes into its cells. http://www.physorg.com/news167375993.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 06:40:01 EST news167375993 (AP) -- Scientists have found seven key genes in the type of brain tumor affecting Sen. Edward Kennedy that together can predict how aggressive a patient's cancer will be. http://www.physorg.com/news166809744.html Medicine & Health Tue, 14 Jul 2009 17:03:07 EST news166809744 Researchers at the University of Leeds have devised a more accurate method of dating ancient human migration - even when no corroborating archaeological evidence exists. http://www.physorg.com/news163342792.html Biology Thu, 04 Jun 2009 14:00:16 EST news163342792 Although a test for gene mutations known to significantly increase the risk of hereditary breast or ovarian cancer has been available for more than a decade, a new study finds that few women with family histories of these cancers are even discussing genetic testing with their physicians or other health care providers. In a report in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, which has been released online, investigators from the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Institute of Health Policy and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute note that their findings illustrate the challenges of bringing genetic information into real-world clinical practice. http://www.physorg.com/news162133220.html Medicine & Health Thu, 21 May 2009 14:01:36 EST news162133220 A research team has pinpointed a new class of gene mutations, which identify cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) that have a high risk of relapse and death. The finding suggests specific drugs that could treat this high-risk leukemia subtype in children, particularly because such drugs are already in clinical trials for similar blood diseases in adults. http://www.physorg.com/news161959410.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 13:44:06 EST news161959410 The mystery of genetic disease is only partially solved with the identification of a mutated gene. Often, the pattern of disease - the features or disorders associated with it - vary in type and severity among those who are affected. Scientists, physicians and patients all ask why. http://www.physorg.com/news161182673.html Medicine & Health Sun, 10 May 2009 13:58:21 EST news161182673 (PhysOrg.com) -- By examining very small differences in people's genes, scientists from Cornell University have developed a new tool for identifying big events in human history and pinpointing the origins of specific gene mutations. This research, published in the May issue of the journal GENETICS, helps shed light on times when the human population moved close to extinction and helps scientists close in on gene mutations that make some demographic groups more likely to develop diseases such as cancer, heart disease, diabetes, among others. http://www.physorg.com/news160274980.html Medicine & Health Thu, 30 Apr 2009 01:50:11 EST news160274980 Dartmouth Medical School researchers have devised a novel approach for thwarting the relentless bacterial infections that thrive in the lungs of people with cystic fibrosis (CF), unlocking new possibilities against a tenacious and toxic hallmark of the common genetic disease. http://www.physorg.com/news159792146.html Biology Fri, 24 Apr 2009 11:43:42 EST news159792146 A 58-year-old Singaporean pastor is recovering well after undergoing Asia's first simultaneous heart and liver transplant, his medical team said Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news159778452.html Medicine & Health Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:54:53 EST news159778452 (PhysOrg.com) -- A collaboration between more than 70 researchers across the globe has uncovered nine new genes on the X chromosome that, when knocked-out, lead to learning disabilities. The international team studied almost all X chromosome genes in 208 families with learning disabilities - the largest screen of this type ever reported. http://www.physorg.com/news159371223.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 14:47:53 EST news159371223 Dr. Nicolas Bazan, Director of the Neuroscience Center of Excellence, Boyd Professor, and Ernest C. and Yvette C. Villere Chair of Retinal Degenerative Diseases Research at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, will present new research findings showing that an omega three fatty acid in the diet protects brain cells by preventing the misfolding of a protein resulting from a gene mutation in neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson's and Huntington's. http://www.physorg.com/news159366745.html Medicine & Health Sun, 19 Apr 2009 13:33:25 EST news159366745 Scientists studying a rare form of glaucoma have discovered why people in the disparate Roma communities are at greater risk of inheriting a condition leading to permanent blindness than other groups in the population. http://www.physorg.com/news159003876.html Medicine & Health Wed, 15 Apr 2009 08:45:07 EST news159003876 Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine have identified a compound that could be modified to treat one of the most deadly types of cancer, and discovered how a particular gene mutation contributes to tumor growth. http://www.physorg.com/news158505848.html Medicine & Health Thu, 09 Apr 2009 14:25:46 EST news158505848