Two RNA studies give clues to neurodegeneration

Two independent studies have suggested new targets for treating neurodegenerative diseases...[Read More]

Mouse study offers hope for treating leading genetic cause of infant death

Researchers have made a step forward in the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, a serious genetic disorder, by using a stretch of RNA to trigger mice into producing a back-up version of a missing protein...[Read More]

Nobel prize for scientist who experimented on himself

The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine 2011 were announced on 3 October with an unusual twist – for the first time the accolade has been bestowed on someone posthumously. This is normally against the Nobel Assembly's rules, but Professor Ralph Steinman's untimely death on 30 September occurred after messages had been sent to him informing him of his success...[Read More]

Mapping the epigenome: Europe leads the way

The European Commission (EC) is investing €30 million in BLUEPRINT, a project to map the human epigenome - the sum total of the non-coding, but inherited, modifications to DNA...[Read More]

'Man flu' - do women just have stronger immune systems?

Genetic differences between men and women could mean that women are better at resisting certain infections and diseases than men, a new study suggests. The second X chromosome in women gives them an immunological advantage over men, possibly giving credence to man's perceived susceptibility to 'man-flu'....[Read More]

Brain cells made from skin

US researchers have successfully converted human skin cells directly into brain nerve cells, skipping an intermediate stem cell stage. The new technique has the potential to aid research into neurodegenerative disorders of the brain, such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer's....[Read More]

Researchers discover 'oncogene addiction' in cancer

Researchers at Yale have identified a potential therapeutic target for cancer in the form of a micro RNA (miRNA) gene that cancer cells, but not normal cells, are dependent on for survival. Inactivating the miRNA causes cancer cell death and tumour regression....[Read More]

Gene therapy as a treatment for HIV patients

A human RNA-based gene therapy trial to combat HIV has passed the first safety test. US researchers modified human blood stem cells to make them resistant to the virus....[Read More]

Synthesising a DNA genome is a major feat but is it creating new life?

Craig Venter and colleagues recently published their work on a synthesised life form. Once again scientists are charged with playing God and the associated hype and scaremongering promise cures and treatments for all sorts of human and planetary ailments, threaten a future of unknown dangers from genetically manipulated life forms, and demand a re-analysis of the meaning of life and God....[Read More]

Genetic variant may influence biological ageing

Scientists have identified a genetic variant that may influence the rate at which a person will age. The finding, published in last week's edition of the journal Nature Genetics, could help identify which individuals are most susceptible to common age-related conditions, such as heart disease and Alzheimer's disease....[Read More]

Small RNAs help stem cells change state

Researchers at the University of California, San Francisco, have discovered that microRNA (miRNA) play a key role in the switch in state between a stem cell and a mature, differentiated cell...[Read More]

So are we making progress?

The contemporary media is increasingly flooded with stories where the cause, explanation or hope involves genetics. With all the reporting of genetic findings and its 'potential' to improve clinical care - has genetics really led to a marked improvement in our healthcare? And should genetic determinism be the focus of scientific research?...[Read More]

Book Review: Genomes and What to Make of Them

A feature of science, perhaps a characteristic feature, is that over time some of its better 'ideas' have come increasingly to be seen as actual 'things'. From being (only) conceptual they become physically real with a definite measurable size and a three-dimensional structure. A process of materialisation is in evidence... [Read More]

Altered genes discovered in brains of child abuse victims

A new study, published in the journal PLoS One, suggests that child abuse can permanently 'mark' genes in the brain, and provides evidence that early life events can affect our genes. Researchers from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, led by Moshe Szyf, examined the postmortem brains of...[Read More]

New DMD treatment shows promise in early trials

An experimental treatment for boys with the inherited muscle wasting disease Duchene Muscular Dystrophy (DMD) has showed promise in human safety trials, according to a study published in the New England Journal of Medicine. In the first ever trial on humans, the new drug was shown to...[Read More]

Advance in RNA therapy technique

RNA interference (RNAi), a genetic therapy with huge therapeutic potential across medicine, is back on track after a paper published in Nature this week. Research into the technique - which has garnered a Nobel prize and swathes of excitable column inches - suffered a setback last year when a...[Read More]

Treatment hope for childhood muscle wasting disorder

The first trial of a new treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) will start later this year in the UK. The treatment, which has been developed by using human cells and mice experiments, hopes to overcome the effects of the genetic defect that causes the muscle wasting...[Read More]

NIH ES cell lines are 'not created equal'

A study carried out by a team of American researchers has revealed that not all embryonic stem (ES) cell lines are created equal. Led by UCLA's Yi Sun and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Thomas Sudhof at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, the study, which...[Read More]

Analysis of 'junk' DNA throws up surprises

The universally accepted maxim that genes are transcribed into RNA and subsequently translated into proteins, a concept that has underwritten huge swathes of research in the last 40 years, has been significantly muddied. A groundbreaking Nature paper has shown the road from genome to protein is much...[Read More]

RNA Interference wins Nobel Prize

Two US scientists have been awarded the Nobel Prize for Medicine for discovering a fundamental mechanism which regulates the expression of genes, called RNA interference (RNAi). Andrew Fire of the Stanford School of Medicine and Craig Mello of the University of Massachusetts Medical School won a shared...[Read More]