Scientists at Jefferson Medical College have received a four-year, $3 million National Institutes of Health grant funded by the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute to study variations of platelet function, specifically, the genetics of platelet gene expression. The study aims to find data that can be translated into novel therapeutic strategies and develop better predictors of cardiovascular disease. “This study is at the leading-edge of platelet genetic research,” said principal investigator Paul F. Bray, M.D…

Direct to consumer (DTC) genetic tests are increasingly being marketed to the public via television, print ads, and the Internet. These home genetic tests provide access to a person’s genomic information without necessarily involving a doctor or insurance company in the process. Writing in the August 18, 2010 Online First edition of the New England Journal of Medicine, medical geneticist James P. Evans, MD, PhD from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill School of Medicine and the UNC Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, and co-authors David C…

In experiments with potentially broad health care implications, a research team led by a University of Washington physicist has devised a method that works at a very small scale to sequence DNA quickly and relatively inexpensively. That could open the door for more effective individualized medicine, for example providing blueprints of genetic predispositions for specific conditions and diseases such as cancer, diabetes or addiction…

Research conducted by Dr. Jay Kolls, Professor and Chair of Genetics at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans, and colleagues, has found that vitamin D may be an effective therapeutic agent to treat or prevent allergy to a common mold that can complicate asthma and frequently affects patients with Cystic Fibrosis. The work was scheduled to be published online August 16, 2010, ahead of the print edition of the September 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Investigation. The environmental mold, Aspergillus fumigatus, is one of the most prevalent fungal organisms inhaled by people…

An opinion piece by a legal scholar from the Johns Hopkins Berman Institute of Bioethics in this week’s issue of Nature calls for the Food and Drug Administration to regulate all health-related genetic tests whether available directly to consumers or through a health care provider using an approach that imposes requirements proportionate to a test’s level of risk. “‘Direct to consumer’ is simply a delivery method that in itself provides no information about the quality of the test offered,” writes Gail Javitt, J.D., M.P.H., a research scholar at the Berman Institute…

A Cox Business light-speed computer connection coupled with advanced, military-grade technology now provides Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) with the nation’s fastest supercomputer link among life-sciences facilities. This enhanced capability moves data 100 times faster between TGen and Saguaro 2, Arizona State University’s (ASU) supercomputer, accelerating TGen’s molecular research into diseases such as Alzheimer’s, diabetes and many types of cancer…

A novel mutation found in a mouse gene might provide new insights into the genetic roots of alcoholism in humans, according to a study led by researchers at the Ernest Gallo Clinic and Research Center and the University of California, San Francisco. The study is published August 12th in the open-access journal PLoS Genetics. The mutation, which the researchers have named Lightweight, is in the mouse version of a gene called unc-79. Previous studies in worms and flies have shown that unc-79 is associated with altered sensitivity to a variety of anesthetics, including alcohol…

A team of investigators led by a physician-scientist at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has shown for the first time that the small protein SUMO can team up with the replication protein A (RPA) complex to facilitate DNA repair. The study is published in the Aug. 13 edition of the journal Molecular Cell. RPA 70 is a component of multiprotein machinery called the RPA complex, which plays a crucial role in DNA replication and repair…

University of Michigan School of Dentistry has signed an agreement with Interleukin Genetics Inc. to conduct what may be the largest clinical study to date using genetic testing to assess the risk for gum disease. William Giannobile, professor at U-M dentistry and director of the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research at the School of Dentistry, will lead the study for U-M. “It’s an exciting study because it’s a way to use genetic testing to personalize a dental treatment plan and the frequency of dental care visits of patients as it relates to oral care,” said Giannobile…

University of Michigan School of Dentistry has signed an agreement with Interleukin Genetics Inc. to conduct what may be the largest clinical study to date using genetic testing to assess the risk for gum disease. William Giannobile, professor at U-M dentistry and director of the Michigan Center for Oral Health Research at the School of Dentistry, will lead the study for U-M. “It’s an exciting study because it’s a way to use genetic testing to personalize a dental treatment plan and the frequency of dental care visits of patients as it relates to oral care,” said Giannobile…