News • Lifestyle-dependent illness
New treatment options for non-alcoholic fatty liver disease
Non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) is one of the most frequent liver diseases worldwide and an estimated 20 million people in Germany are affected.
Genetics
News • Mutation Study
Influential gene neighbourhood
Genes do not exist in isolation. So far, little has been known about how the position of a gene on a chromosome affects its evolution.
News • Rare disorder
Possible treatment for child dementia discovered
Although dementia is most often seen in adults, childhood or adolescent dementia does occur. A team of researchers from the University of Würzburg believes that established therapeutic drugs might be effective against childhood dementia.
News • Pregnancy loss
Single cell RNA-sequencing to offer miscarriage hope
A new technique – single cell RNA-sequencing – may offer answers and hope to the 200,000 mothers and partners affected by pregnancy loss in the UK every year.
News • "Genetic Wild West"
Direct-to-consumer genetic testing can be a trip down the rabbit hole
Genetics isn’t just for geneticists anymore. With the rise of direct-to-consumer genetic testing companies like 23andMe, anyone can rifle through their genotypes at hundreds of thousands of positions throughout their DNA. However, these new possibilities may have some serious drawbacks, says Alzheimer's-specialized site Alzforum.
News • Behavioral study
New understanding for autism through eye tracking
New research has uncovered compelling evidence that genetics plays a major role in how children look at the world and whether they have a preference for gazing at people’s eyes and faces or at objects. The discovery by researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta adds new detail to understanding the causes of autism…
News • Oncotype
Updated breast cancer guidelines reinforce genomic testing
Genomic Health announced that the 15th St. Gallen International Breast Cancer Conference Expert Panel endorsed the use of genomic tests in early-stage breast cancer and recognised the Oncotype DX Breast Recurrence Score test for its prognostic ability as well as its value in guiding treatment decisions on adjuvant chemotherapy for patients with early-stage, endocrine sensitive, invasive breast…
News • Emotional disorders
The key to depression may lie in our genes
Researchers have taken an in-depth look at the function of a gene that may be linked to the development of major depression. Their findings show that its activity levels might determine our susceptibility to stress and negative stimuli.
News • Influenza labelling
New method helps fighting future pandemics
By developing a new technique for labeling the gene segments of influenza viruses, researchers now know more about how influenza viruses enter the cell and establish cell co-infections - a major contributing factor to potential pandemic development.
News • MammaPrint test
New test to save breast cancer patients from over-treatment
A new test may help to identify breast cancer patients with the lowest risk of death, therefore helping them to avoid unnecessarily aggressive treatment.
News • Structural insights
Cancer cells may streamline their genomes to proliferate more easily
Research from the Stowers Institute provides evidence suggesting that cancer cells might streamline their genomes in order to proliferate more easily. The study, conducted in both human and mouse cells, shows that cancer genomes lose copies of repetitive sequences known as ribosomal DNA. While downsizing might enable these cells to replicate faster, it also seems to render them less able to…
News • Predicting antibiotic resistances
GEAR succeeds in competition "Landmarks in the Land of Ideas"
Ares Genetics GmbH, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Curetis GmbH and a developer of pioneering solutions for the detection of genetic resistances in pathogens, announced that the project "GEAR - Predicting Antibiotic Resistances with Genetic Data" has been awarded in the competition "Landmarks in the Land of Ideas".
News • CRISPR-Cpf1
Firefly gene illuminates ability to edit human genome
Scientists on the Florida campus of The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) have improved a state-of-the-art gene-editing technology to advance the system’s ability to target, cut and paste genes within human and animal cells—and broadening the ways the CRISPR-Cpf1 editing system may be used to study and fight human diseases.
News • Nutrigenomics
Healthy diet? That depends on your genes
A recently published Cornell University study describes how shifts in the diets of Europeans after the introduction of farming 10,000 years ago led to genetic adaptations that favored the dietary trends of the time.
Article • Discussion
Genome editing: Should we tweak human evolution?
According to Darwin, humans will one day become extinct. Some don’t think we need to accept this fate because gene editing may allow us to use our brains to take over the evolutionary story.
Sponsored • Interview
Clostridium difficile: Routine diagnostics in the medical laboratory
In our interview with the physician Dr. Fabian Berger, we want to know about the advantages of molecular biological procedures compared to conventional C. difficile diagnostics.
News • DNA manipulation
Chaos in cancer cells: Mysterious gene transcripts after therapy
Drugs that are used in cancer therapy to erase epigenetic alterations in cancer cells simultaneously promote the production of countless mysterious gene transcripts, scientists from the German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ) now report in Nature Genetics. The substances activate hidden regulatory elements in DNA. The unusual gene activity has the potential to stimulate the immune system – a…
News • Acquisition
Oxford Gene Technology to be acquired by Sysmex Corporation
Oxford Gene Technology (OGT), The Molecular Genetics Company, today announced that it has signed an agreement to be acquired by Sysmex Corporation, a Japanese in vitro diagnostic company.
News • Colorectal cancer
Raising age limit for Lynch syndrome testing may save lives
Raising the age limit for routine genetic testing in colorectal cancer could identify more cases of families affected by Lynch syndrome, a condition that accounts for around 5% of all colon cancers, according to new research to be presented at the annual conference of the European Society of Human Genetics.
Article • Disease Research
Falsified genetic pathways may explain poor results
Spanish researchers are challenging the validity of many past and ongoing clinical trials and stress the importance of working with raw or preprocessed data in genetic information study.
Gene test could extend lives of women at risk of hereditary breast cancer
Value in Health, the official journal of the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), has announced the publication of new research indicating that testing for variants in 7 cancer-associated genes (versus the usual process of testing in just 2 genes) followed by risk-reduction management could cost-effectively improve life expectancy for women at risk of…
News • Breast Cancer
Biomarker Identified for Likely Aggressive, Early Stage Breast Cancer
The one-size-fits-all approach to early stage breast cancer creates a paradox: Millions of dollars are spent on unnecessary surgeries and radiation to treat women with low-risk ‘in situ’ lesions, an estimated 85% of which would never progress to invasive cancers. Meanwhile, the standard conservative treatment is insufficient for many early-stage tumors that have progressed past the in situ…
News • Psychological consequences
Cortisol excess hits natural DNA process hard
High concentrations of the stress hormone, Cortisol, in the body affect important DNA processes and increase the risk of long-term psychological consequences. These relationships are evident in a study from the Sahlgrenska Academy on patients with Cushing’s Syndrome, but the findings also open the door for new treatment strategies for other stress-related conditions such as anxiety, depression…
Article • Infections
Start of advanced genetic antibiotic resistance testing
Curetis, a developer of next-level molecular diagnostic solutions, today announced that the Company has established Ares Genetics GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary of Curetis GmbH. Ares Genetics builds on GEAR GEnetic Antibiotic Resistance and Susceptibility Database and associated assets recently acquired for Siemens. The Company will use GEAR to investigate the genetic foundations of antibiotic…
Article • Genetics
Ascertaining the value of microRNA
European Hospital reports a new approach in molecular diagnostics introduced during the IASLC World Conference in Vienna.
