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) -- UCLA scientists have discovered a variant of a gene called CACNA1G that may increase a child's risk of developing autism, particularly in boys. The journal Molecular Psychiatry publishes the findings in its May 19 advance online edition. http://www.physorg.com/news161974145.html Medicine & Health Tue, 19 May 2009 17:50:31 EST news161974145 Regularly eating fish, nuts, olive oil and other foods containing omega-three fatty acids and avoiding trans fats appears to be associated with a lower risk for the eye disease age-related macular degeneration, according to two reports in the May issue of Archives of Ophthalmology. http://www.physorg.com/news161278809.html Medicine & Health Mon, 11 May 2009 16:41:28 EST news161278809 Some genetic markers of influenza infection severity have been identified from past outbreaks. Researchers have failed to find most of these markers, described in the open access journal BMC Microbiology, in samples of the current swine-flu strain. http://www.physorg.com/news160832514.html Biology Wed, 06 May 2009 12:42:38 EST news160832514 Genetics plays a key role in determining risk for colorectal cancer, the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States. Several common genetic markers have been found to be associated with the disease, but finding the biological events that lead to cancer can be much more difficult. In a study published online in Genome Research, scientists have identified a common genetic variation associated with the risk of colorectal cancer and its functional implications, shedding new light on the basis of this deadly disease. http://www.physorg.com/news159728950.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Apr 2009 18:09:42 EST news159728950 A UCSF research team has developed a technique to distinguish benign moles from malignant melanomas by measuring differences in levels of genetic markers. Standard microscopic examinations of biopsied tissue can be ambiguous and somewhat subjective, the researchers say, and supplementing standard practice with the new technique is expected to help clarify difficult-to-diagnose cases. http://www.physorg.com/news157653601.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 17:40:22 EST news157653601 (PhysOrg.com) -- A large-scale effort to identify genetic markers of breast cancer has uncovered two common genetic variants that increase risk of the disease in women of European ancestry. http://www.physorg.com/news157640958.html Medicine & Health Mon, 30 Mar 2009 14:09:39 EST news157640958 PSA levels appear to be more predictive of three year prostate cancer risk in African-American men compared with Caucasian men with a family history of prostate cancer, according to a paper published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research. http://www.physorg.com/news154704137.html Medicine & Health Tue, 24 Feb 2009 13:22:45 EST news154704137 The evolutionary tendency of corals to alter their skeletal structure makes it difficult to assign them to different species. Researchers writing in the open access journal BMC Evolutionary Biology have used genetic markers to examine coral groupings and investigate how these markers relate to alterations in shape, in the process discovering that our inaccurate picture of coral species is compromising our ability to conserve coral reefs. http://www.physorg.com/news154684953.html Biology Tue, 24 Feb 2009 08:03:10 EST news154684953 An international consortium of researchers, including major contribution from a team led by Dr. John D. Rioux, a professor of medicine at the Université de Montréal and the Montreal Heart Institute, has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis. The findings, published in the advance online journal Nature Genetics, bring researchers closer to understanding the biological pathways involved in the disease and may lead to the development of new treatments that specifically target them. http://www.physorg.com/news150642174.html Medicine & Health Thu, 08 Jan 2009 13:02:54 EST news150642174 An international team led by University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine researchers has identified genetic markers associated with risk for ulcerative colitis. The findings, which appear today as an advance online publication of the journal Nature Genetics, bring researchers closer to understanding the biological pathways involved in the disease and may lead to the development of new treatments that specifically target them. http://www.physorg.com/news150298032.html Medicine & Health Sun, 04 Jan 2009 13:27:12 EST news150298032 Men with a family history of prostate cancer and African-American men are particularly susceptible to the disease, with a twofold to sevenfold increased risk. Assessing risk in these populations has been difficult. http://www.physorg.com/news146146235.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:10:35 EST news146146235 Pharmacogenetics, the study of genetic variation that influences an individual's response to drugs, is an important and growing focus in all of medical research, including psychiatry. It is a complex field, however, revealed by the lack of consistent and replicable findings across multiple studies, but some encouraging results are beginning to emerge. A new study scheduled for publication in the June 15th issue of Biological Psychiatry evaluated genetic markers in the treatment response of antidepressants and this work implicates the same markers as found in a prior trial. http://www.physorg.com/news135352324.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Jul 2008 14:52:04 EST news135352324