Gene therapy trials for heart failure launched

Gene therapy will be used to treat heart failure for the first time in the UK, in clinical trials being launched by the British Heart Foundation... [Read More]

Cancer treatment should be based on gene 'fingerprints', says study

Genetic analysis of tumours provides the key to treating them effectively, according to two studies carried out by The Cancer Genome Atlas (TCGA).... [Read More]

Motor neurone disease stem cell trial advances to next phase

A neural stem cell therapy aimed at treating the symptoms of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is set to advance in the USA, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) gave its approval for it to proceed to the next stage of clinical trials... [Read More]

Prostate cancer gene study should change treatment approach, say scientists

Prostate cancer patients who have inherited a well-known gene mutation are more likely to develop an aggressive form of the disease, a study shows... [Read More]

Powdered eggs are 'future of fertility preservation'

An experimental preservation method could let women store eggs at home as a powder and then ‘just add water’ (and sperm) when needed... [Read More]

Study counters Parkinson's disease gene theory

An experimental approach to treating Parkinson's disease may need to be reconsidered following evidence suggesting that it may make patients worse... [Read More]

Just five patients but gene therapy leukaemia trial yields positive results

Early results of an experimental gene therapy against an aggressive form of leukaemia have been hailed by researchers as showing 'life saving potential'.... [Read More]

Breast cancer blood test tracks treatment response

A blood test is being developed that could help doctors monitor how breast cancer tumours respond to therapy... [Read More]

Single gene mutation may be behind type 1 diabetes for minority of patients

Genetic analysis of a family predisposed to type 1 diabetes (T1D) has uncovered the first kind of T1D to be caused by a single gene mutation... [Read More]

Stem cells in space

Mouse embryonic stem cells are being transported to the International Space Station (ISS) to investigate the impact of long-term space flight on human health.... [Read More]

Japanese pluripotent stem cell trial receives ethical approval

What would be the first clinical trial to use induced pluripotent stem cells has been granted ethical approval in Japan... [Read More]

Human stem cells treat nerve disorder in mouse study

Brain cells engineered from human skin tissue have successfully treated laboratory mice with a deadly nerve disorder with similarities to multiple sclerosis... [Read More]

Radio Review: The Life Scientific - Professor Sir John Gurdon

Shortly after being awarded the 2012 Nobel prize in physiology or medicine, Professor Sir John Gurdon was interviewed for the BBC Radio 4 programme 'The Life Scientific'... [Read More]

Genetics of common brain cancer revealed by two studies

Nearly all cases of meningioma – the commonest kind of brain tumour – can be traced back to a fault in one of just five genes, scientists say... [Read More]

Event Review: Masterpieces of Epigenetics - The Missing Link between Nature and Nurture

'Beautiful science' was how Dr Nessa Carey described epigenetics at the Biochemical Society Annual Symposium Public Lecture, held at the University of Leeds... [Read More]

Stem cell success against motor neurone disease in mice

Neural stem cells were shown to be effective against amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or motor neurone disease, in 11 independent studies on mice with the disease... [Read More]

Immune cell gene therapy a success for one leukaemia patient

A seven-year-old girl with a highly aggressive form of leukaemia may have been 'cured' by an experimental therapy that harnesses the body's immune system to seek out and destroy the disease.... [Read More]

The egg that came in from the cold: ASRM lifts 'experimental' label from social egg freezing

After a decade of claiming that the technique was only applicable to young cancer patients whose treatment would render them prematurely infertile, the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) has decided that vitrification and warming of unfertilised oocytes followed by fertilisation by ICSI results in acceptable subsequent pregnancy rates... [Read More]

'Holy grail' results two years on in small cardiac stem cell heart failure trial

Eight heart attack patients given injections of stem cells harvested from their own hearts show significant improvement in their heart function two years after treatment... [Read More]

Donor stem cells as safe and effective as patient's own in heart attack trial

Stem cells obtained from donors have been used in clinical trials to effectively treat damage caused by heart attacks. The trial found that donor stem cells were 'just as safe' as stem cells derived from the person being treated.... [Read More]