news archive genetic news - November 14, 2007

November 14, 2007

your information resource in human molecular genetics

-	Stalling Chemotherapy Damage The understanding of how healthy cells cope with damages caused by anti-cancer drugs is furthered by new findings presented online.
-	A New Virulence Mechanism For MRSA Strains of methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) that are acquired in the community may be more virulent than hospital-associated strains because they secrete small peptides that disable immune cells.
-	Regulating Immune Suppression Four papers report how white blood cells can produce interleukin 10, a chemical mediator that helps keep the immune response in check.
-	Genes For Transplants A gene that allows mice to accept human bone marrow cells more efficiently is presented online.
-	Genetic Mutation In Familial Aortic Aneurysm Mutations in a gene expressed in smooth muscle cells account for about 14% of cases of hereditary thoracic aortic aneurysm.
-	Genetic Variants Associated With Rheumatoid Arthritis Genetic variants in a region on chromosome 6 are associated with risk of rheumatoid arthritis.
-	Primate Patient-Specific Stem Cells A method of reprogramming rhesus macaque adult fibroblasts into embryonic stem cells using somatic cell nuclear transfer is presented.
-	How The Body Builds An Asymmetric Aorta New research published helps to fill in the genetic pieces of the jig-saw puzzle associated with the development of the aorta.
-	Lung Cancer Characterization A huge overview of genetic alterations in lung cancer is presented online.
-	The Brain In Glorious Technicolor With a combination of genetic tricks and fancy proteins, researchers have colourfully labelled hundreds of individual neurons with distinctive hues to create a 'Brainbow'.