http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (Medical Xpress)—A fresh round of trials to evaluate gene therapy for the heart is set to begin in a couple of weeks. The British Heart Foundation will be sponsoring the study, which seeks to replace defective calcium pump genes inside cells, with new ones delivered by a virus. The main trials will look at a group of around 200 patients worldwide, and a separate trial will look at 24 patients who already have a mechanical heart-assist device implanted. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-viral-vectors-delivery-calcium-ailing.html Medical research Wed, 01 May 2013 10:41:19 EST news286623571 Stem cells and tissue-specific cells can be grown in abundance from mature mammalian cells simply by blocking a certain membrane protein, according to scientists at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Their experiments, reported today in Scientific Reports, also show that the process doesn't require other kinds of cells or agents to artificially support cell growth and doesn't activate cancer genes. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-recipe-large-stem-cells-requires.html Medical research Wed, 17 Apr 2013 05:00:02 EST news285354156 Researchers from Basque Public University are using nanotechnology to develop new formulations that can be applied to drugs and gene therapy. Specifically, they are using nanoparticles to design systems for delivering genes and drugs; this helps to get the genes and drugs to the point of action so that they can produce the desired effect. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-lipid-nanoparticles-ideal-genes-drugs.html Genetics Thu, 28 Feb 2013 10:53:45 EST news281271176 Investigators at Nationwide Children's Hospital have identified a mouse model that could help evaluate the risk that viral vectors used in gene therapy might promote tumor formation as a side-effect. The study appears in Molecular Therapy.  http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-mouse-viral-vectors-tumors.html Cancer Fri, 26 Oct 2012 09:00:01 EST news270459764 Despite the development of new technologies for successful vaccination against contagious diseases and cancer, there is a lack of standard operation procedures (SOPs) and cross-comparison. European scientists built the framework for the systematic production, validation and comparison of effective vaccine vectors. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-framework-effective-vaccine-vectors.html Medical research Thu, 20 Sep 2012 08:28:00 EST news267348471 A research team in the United Kingdom has found that insulin-like growth factor (IGF1) impacts cell transplantation of photoreceptor precursors by manipulating the retinal recipient microenvironment, enabling better migration and integration of the cells into the adult mouse retina. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-retina-transplantation-recipient-retinal-microenvironment.html Ophthalmology Wed, 11 Jul 2012 16:00:10 EST news261240401 Dr Changfa Guo, Professor Chunsheng Wang and their co-investigators from Zhongshan hospital Fudan University, Shanghai, China have established a novel hyperbranched poly(amidoamine) (hPAMAM) nanoparticle based hypoxia regulated vascular endothelial growth factor (HRE-VEGF) gene therapy strategy which is an excellent substitute for the current expensive and uncontrollable VEGF gene delivery system. This discovery, reported in the June 2012 issue of Experimental Biology and Medicine, provides an economical, feasible and biocompatible gene therapy strategy for cardiac repair. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-economical-effective-biocompatible-gene-therapy.html Medical research Fri, 06 Jul 2012 13:30:18 EST news260800122 Fear conditioning using sound and taste aversion, as applied to mice, have revealed interesting information on the basis of memory allocation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-neurological-basis-memory.html Neuroscience Mon, 18 Jun 2012 13:25:16 EST news259244323 UC Davis Health System researchers are a step closer to launching human clinical trials involving the use of an innovative stem cell therapy to fight the virus that causes AIDS. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-stem-cell-therapy-hiv.html HIV & AIDS Wed, 02 May 2012 11:07:53 EST news255175655 The latest research developments to reprogram scar tissue resulting from myocardial infarction (MI) into viable heart muscle cells, were presented at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biology (FCVB) 2012 meeting, held 30 March to 1 April at the South Kensington Campus of Imperial College in London. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-04-scar-tissue-hearts.html Cardiology Sun, 01 Apr 2012 12:35:46 EST news252502521 Diabetes is a major risk factor for cardiovascular disease and can reduce blood supply to the heart tissue and damage cardiac cells, resulting in heart failure. New research has investigated if nerve growth factor (NGF) gene therapy can prevent diabetic heart failure and small vascular disease in mice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-12-nerve-growth-factor-gene-therapy.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 20 Dec 2011 16:00:04 EST news243619082 Novel tools and methods for delivering therapeutic genes to cells in the central nervous system hold great promise for the development of new treatments to combat incurable neurologic diseases. Five of the most exciting developments in this rapidly advancing field are presented in a series of articles in the June issue of Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-06-advances-delivery-therapeutic-genes-brain.html Genetics Mon, 27 Jun 2011 15:53:44 EST news228408777 Many gene therapy strategies designed to deliver a normal copy of a gene to cells carrying a disease-causing genetic mutation rely on a modified virus to transfer the gene product into affected tissues. One technology platform that is well suited for in vivo delivery of genes is based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV). As these novel therapies move closer to commercialization, so do the methods for large-scale production and efficient delivery of AAV vectors, which are documented in a series of articles published online ahead of print in Human Gene Therapy, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-05-gene-therapy-success-ability-advance.html Genetics Wed, 18 May 2011 13:09:59 EST news224942990