news archive genetic news - August 27, 2009

August 27, 2009

your information resource in human molecular genetics

-	Blocking Out Negativity How people process the social stigma of having visible skin lesions is reported.
-	Stress May Increase Teen Risk for Smoking Neurobiological factors and stressful life events can trigger and prolong smoking habits in adolescents, especially in individuals with depression.
-	Silence, Please! A new formulation of magnetic nanoparticles used to deliver nucleic acids that slow tumour progression in mice is reported online.
-	Fighting Fibrosis A potential new target for drugs aiming to treat lung fibrosis is reported.
-	Misbehaved Bacteria Some bacteria in the intestinal flora can cause colon cancer, and a study discloses a molecular mechanism for this undesirable effect.
-	Cilia's Dual Role in Cancer Cilia can promote or suppress tumor growth, depending on the nature of the tumor-initiating event.
-	Fighting Cartilage Loss in Osteoarthritis The identification of a new potential therapeutic target against osteoarthritis is reported.
-	Mediator Of Multiple Sclerosis A factor that may contribute to the progressive phase of multiple sclerosis (MS) has been identified.
-	Genetic Risk Factors for Childhood Leukemia Common genetic variants associated with pediatric acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) have been identified in two new reports published online.
-	Preventing Diseases by Replacing Defective DNA A new approach has been devised to replace defective mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) from an egg with healthy mtDNA from a donor.
-	Antioxidants Reveal a Darker Side The cancer-preventing reputation of antioxidants takes a hit with the discovery that they can sometimes promote the survival and proliferation of cancer cells.
-	A Model for Drug Screening Stem cells have been induced from patients with an extremely rare neurological disorder and their particular gene expression examined.
-	Identifying Candidate Genes by Targeted Sequencing A sequencing method that targets only the protein-coding regions of the genome could be used to identify rare and novel disease-causing gene variants.
-	Hope for Hepatitis C Treatment DNA sequence variation that affects a person's response to treatment for chronic infections by the hepatitis C virus is reported online.