http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Thousands of video game players have helped significantly advance our understanding of the genetic basis of diseases such as Alzheimer's, diabetes and cancer over the past year. They are the users of a web-based video game developed by Dr. Jérôme Waldispuhl of the McGill School of Computer Science and collaborator Mathieu Blanchette. Phylo is designed to allow casual game players to contribute to scientific research by arranging multiple sequences of coloured blocks that represent human DNA. By looking at the similarities and differences between these DNA sequences, scientists are able to gain new insight into a variety of genetically-based diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-video-game-players-advancing-genetic.html Genetics Tue, 06 Dec 2011 16:30:24 EST news242411415 BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, announced that a study on frequent mutation of genes encoding ubiquitin-mediated proteolysis pathway (UMPP) components in clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC) is published online today in Nature Genetics. In addition to BGI, co-leaders of the study included Peking University Shenzhen Hospital, Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, among others. The study reveals that alteration of UMPP may contribute to ccRCC by activation of the hypoxia regulatory network, providing new clues to trace the key molecular mechanisms and pathways that underlie the tumorigenesis and progression of ccRCC. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-bgi-results-frequent-mutation-genes.html Cancer Sun, 04 Dec 2011 13:00:01 EST news242223016 A new study using magnetic resonance imaging data of 406 adult human twins affirms the long-standing idea that the genetic basis of human cortical regionalization – the organization of the outer brain into specific functional areas – is similar to and consistent with patterns found in other mammals, indicating a common conservation mechanism in evolution. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-11-mice-men-common-cortical.html Neuroscience Wed, 16 Nov 2011 12:00:01 EST news240664874 In what is so far the largest investigation of its kind, researchers uncovered a wide range of new insights about common diseases and how they are affected by differences between two persons' genes. The results from this study could lead to highly targeted, individualized therapies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-genetic-basis-human-metabolic-individuality.html Genetics Wed, 26 Oct 2011 13:42:56 EST news238855367 A review of the genetic and biochemical abnormalities associated with autism reveals a possible link between the widely diagnosed neurological disorder and Type 2 diabetes, another medical disorder on the rise in recent decades. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-10-common-link-autism-diabetes.html Medical research Wed, 19 Oct 2011 12:39:54 EST news238246785 For decades, laboratory mice have been widely used in research aimed at understanding which genes are involved in various illnesses. But actual variations in past gene sequences of mice were unknown. While researchers were able to determine that a variant affecting disease was in a certain region, they couldn't pinpoint the exact set of variants in that region. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-mouse-genetic-variation.html Genetics Mon, 26 Sep 2011 13:57:10 EST news236264221 BGI, the world's largest genomics organization, Peking University Shenzhen Hospital and Shenzhen Second People's Hospital, announced today that the study on frequent mutations of chromatin remodeling genes in transitional cell carcinoma (TCC) of the bladder was published online in Nature Genetics. This study provides a valuable genetic basis for future studies on TCC, suggesting that aberration of chromatin regulation might be one of the features of bladder cancer. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-08-frequent-mutations-chromatin-remodeling-genes.html Cancer Sun, 07 Aug 2011 13:40:33 EST news231943212 A trio of large-scale genome-wide association studies, or GWAS, have identified more than 15 gene variants responsible for the diversity of white blood cell counts among whites, African-Americans, and Japanese. Supported in part by the National Institutes of Health, each study examined the genomes of tens of thousands of people. Combined, the studies offer the first comprehensive analysis into why some people, and some populations, have more or fewer white blood cells than others. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-massive-genome-genetics-white-blood.html Genetics Thu, 30 Jun 2011 17:49:50 EST news228674977 Today 23andMe, an industry leader in personal genetics, announced the discovery of two significant, novel genetic associations with Parkinson's disease (PD) and provided new evidence that there is a substantial genetic component remaining to be discovered for Parkinson's. "Web-based genome-wide association study identifies two novel loci and a substantial genetic component for Parkinson's disease" was published online today in PLoS Genetics. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-23andme-genetic-associations-substantial-component.html Genetics Fri, 24 Jun 2011 09:06:55 EST news228125180 A paper published online on June 13 in the Journal of Experimental Medicine identifies new gene mutations in patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) -- a disease often associated with lack of response to chemotherapy and poor overall survival. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-decoding-chronic-lymphocytic-leukemia.html Cancer Mon, 13 Jun 2011 13:12:24 EST news227189531 (Medical Xpress) -- A study into the genetic basis of many common forms of migraine has identified three variants that suggest that most forms of migraine have a shared genetic foundation, regardless of how they manifest in the people who have them. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-migraines-common-genetic-basis.html Genetics Mon, 13 Jun 2011 04:48:54 EST news227159255 (Medical Xpress) -- Using high-throughput gene sequencing technology, researchers have identified several harmful spontaneous gene mutations in children with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) that may cause the disorder. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-link-spontaneous-gene-mutations-autism.html Genetics Mon, 16 May 2011 08:33:28 EST news224753585 A person's vulnerability to nicotine addiction appears to have a genetic basis, at least in part. A region in the midbrain called the habenula (from Latin: small reins) plays a key role in this process, as Dr. Inés Ibañez-Tallon and her team from the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, Germany, have now shown. They also shed light on the mechanism that underlies addiction to nicotine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-reining-nicotine-midbrain-habenula-region.html Neuroscience Thu, 12 May 2011 10:47:55 EST news224416056 Analysis of mutations of the 2009 pandemic influenza A(H1N1) virus by researchers at the RIKEN Omics Science Center (OSC) has revealed major genetic differences between the virus in its early phase of infection in Japan and in its peak phase. While yielding valuable clues on the genetic origins of drug resistance, the findings also pave the way toward the development of new diagnostic kits for detecting and preventing the spread of global pandemic diseases. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-04-evolution-pandemic-influenza-ah1n1-virus.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 25 Apr 2011 18:20:00 EST news222974368