News on Genetics

Tests for genes don't predict breast cancer better

2010-03-17T14:46:17Z

<div><p>BOSTON (Reuters) - Studying genes linked to breast cancer may someday lead to better treatments, but they do little to improve a doctor's ability to predict who is likely to develop a tumor, researchers reported on Wednesday.</p><p>Their study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that testin...

Dogs domesticated in Middle East, not Asia

2010-03-17T12:45:27Z

<div><p>LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - From French poodles to German shepherds, domestic dogs likely trace most of their ancestry to the Middle East, as opposed to East Asian origins suggested by previous research, a genetic study reported on Wednesday.</p><p>The findings, published in the online edition of ...

Judge allows genetically engineered beet harvest

2010-03-16T17:45:27Z

<div id="subtitle">Calif. judge allows genetically engineered beet harvest; amounts to half nation's sugar supply</div><div><p>A federal judge on Tuesday said farmers can harvest their genetically engineered sugar beets this year, ruling the economic impact too great and that environmental groups waited too long to request that the crop be yanked from the ground and otherwise barred from the market.</p><p>Nea...

Myriad breast cancer patent very broad, study finds

2010-03-16T16:00:42Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Myriad Genetics' disputed patent on the BRCA1 breast cancer gene is "surprisingly broad" and could interfere with future research, three experts said on Tuesday.</p><p>Their ongoing research indicates some other gene patents are similarly extensive, covering stretches of DNA that have nothing to do with th...

Lung cancer gene tests not ready: U.S. report

2010-03-16T14:32:38Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Genetic tests designed to predict how well lung cancer patients will fare after treatment do very little to guide doctors, government researchers said on Tuesday.</p><p>Their review of studies aiming to show a gene signature for lung tumors found serious problems in the design and analysis of the studies.</p><p>Researchers need some clear guidelines to follow in wh...

Study: Gene testing helps get warfarin dose right

2010-03-16T07:30:09Z

<div id="subtitle">Gene testing helps set right dose for blood-thinner warfarin, prevents hospitalizations</div><div><p>Doctors are reporting an exciting win for gene testing and personalized medicine: Checking patients' DNA before starting them on a popular blood thinner helps get the tricky dose right and keep them out of the hospital.</p><p>The drug is warfarin, sold as Coumadin and in generic form. About 2 mi...

Gene splice helps fight crop disease, say researchers

2010-03-14T14:16:28Z

<div><p>Biologists on Sunday said they had found a potential superweapon in a long-running arms race with bacteria that threaten essential crops.</p><p>Tested in a lab, their technique entails inserting a gene kit into a plant so that its immune system recognises and fights germ invaders, they reported in the journal Nature Biotechnology.</p><p>Bacteria cause huge losses to crops eac...

Scientists find new way to help crops fight pests

2010-03-14T11:15:12Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - An international team of scientists has managed to transfer disease resistance from one plant family to another, offering broader protection from potentially costly and destructive pests.</p><p>A team led by Cyril Zipfel at Britain's Sains...

Sequencing of patients' genomes offers new hope: studies

2010-03-11T10:17:27Z

<div><p>US researchers have decoded the entire genome of patients to identify the root cause of their diseases paving the way towards individual genomic treatments, according to newly published studies.</p><p>James Lupski of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, sequenced his own genome to locate the gene responsible for...

"Personal" study shows gene maps can spot disease

2010-03-11T07:45:23Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Two studies published on Wednesday show it is possible to sequence the entire gene maps of families with inherited diseases and pinpoint the offending bit of DNA.</p><p>The studies, which would not have been possible a year or two ago, are the first real delivery of the promised transformation of medical science from the

Parents give kids fewer bad genes than thought: study

2010-03-10T16:16:57Z

<div><p>American scientists have for the first time unlocked the genetic code of an entire family, and made a startling discovery -- that parents pass on fewer mutations than previously thought.</p><p>Scientists had long believed that each parent passed on some 75 genetic mutations to their children.</p><p>But the result of research by a team at the Institute for Systems Biol...

Genetic researchers win $500K US medical prize

2010-03-10T11:30:20Z

<div><p>Three American scientists who contributed to the mapping of the human genetic blueprint — an advance that continues to give the medical world a better understanding of human disease — were awarded the nation's richest prize in medicine and biomedical research Wednesday.</p><p>The $500,000 Albany Medical Center prize is being shared by D...

Gene test claims to show what diet works best

2010-03-04T14:34:12Z

<div id="subtitle">Low-fat or low-carb? Gene test claims to show which diet works best; skeptics aren't so sure</div><div><p>Diet not working? Blame your genes. That's the pitch behind a new test that claims to show whether people will do better on a low-fat or a low-carb weight loss plan.</p><p>We're all hard-wired with DNA that controls how we burn and store calories from various foods, and the test claims to sort out this machinery. A study this week found ...

Your best diet? It might be in your genes

2010-03-04T10:31:09Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Can't lose weight on a low-fat diet? Maybe you need to cut carbs instead, and a new genetic test may point the way, maker Interleukin Genetics Inc reported on Wednesday.</p><p>The small study of about 140 overweight or obese women showed that those on diets "appropriate" for their genetic makeup ...

AP IMPACT: Testing curbs some genetic diseases

2010-02-22T08:41:29Z

<div id="subtitle">AP IMPACT: Positive eugenics? Gene tests appear to reduce levels of some inherited diseases</div><div><p>Some of mankind's most devastating inherited diseases appear to be declining, and a few have nearly disappeared, because more people are using genetic testing to decide whether to have children.</p><p>Births of babies with cystic fibrosis, Tay-Sachs and other less familiar disorders seem to ...

Study shows how viruses changed human evolution

2010-02-22T08:33:54Z

<div><p>LONDON (Reuters) - Italian scientists said on Friday they had found evidence of how viruses helped change the course of human evolution and said their discovery could help in the design of better drugs and vaccines.</p><p>They found more than 400 different mutations in 139 genes that play a role in people's risk of catching viruses -- a finding that may also help expl...

U.S. company Virxsys says using AIDS to fight AIDS

2010-02-22T08:33:56Z

<div><p>WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A company using genetically engineered versions of the AIDS virus says its unusual approach is getting some results, both for treating and perhaps as a vaccine against the virus.</p><p>Maryland-based Virxsys Corp said tests on monkeys showed its HIV-based vaccine might at leas...

Archbishop Tutu's DNA helps show African diversity

2010-02-22T09:03:29Z

<div id="subtitle">With help from Archbishop Tutu's DNA, scientists show wide genetic variation among Africans</div><div><p>Scientists who decoded the DNA of some southern Africans have found striking new evidence of the genetic diversity on that continent, and uncovered a surprise about the ancestry of Archbishop Desmond Tutu.</p><p>Th...

PROBLEM GENES

2010-02-16T22:31:06Z

Graphic shows odds of carrying a problem gene by racial and ethnic groups

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