Latest Research
Ten years on, genomic revolution only just starting
06/24/2010
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06/24/2010 By Kate Kelland
The 10-year-old Human Genome Project has only just begun to bring to fruition its promise to transform medicine, its founders said on Thursday.
Francis Collins, who led the U.S. component of the project and is now director of the U.S. National Institutes of Health, said that although it may seem that the revolution promised with the publication of the first draft in 2000 is slow in coming, many early predictions had been prematurely hyped.
Parents Want Electronic Access to Their Children's Docs: Survey
05/22/2010
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05/22/2010 E-mail, Internet access could reduce frustration, researchers say
Half of all American parents polled say they would like to be able to communicate with their child's physician via the Internet, a new survey reveals.
Yet fewer than 15 percent of those said they are currently able to do so to make appointments for vaccinations or lab record retrievals, to complete screening forms, to fill prescriptions or to get health advice.
The findings were gleaned from the national C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health, which was conducted in January of this year.
Hunt for Genetic Causes of Diseases Narrows Targets
05/21/2010
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05/21/2010 By Alla Katsnelson
The search is on for rare variants that might explain missing heritability.
Rare genetic variants have been implicated in asthma.TommL/iStockphoto
The falling cost of genome sequencing has kicked off a new phase in the search for the genetic underpinnings of complex diseases such as asthma, diabetes and autism.
Desperately Seeking Cures
05/15/2010
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05/15/2010 By Sharon Begley and Mary Carmichael
How the road from promising scientific breakthrough to real-world remedy has become all but a dead end.
From 1996 to 1999, the U.S. food and Drug Administration approved 157 new drugs. In the comparable period a decade later—that is, from 2006 to 2009—the agency approved 74. Not among them were any cures, or even meaningfully effective treatments, for Alzheimer's disease, lung or pancreatic cancer, Parkinson's disease, Huntington's disease, or a host of other afflictions that destroy lives.
Is OJ as Good a Source of Vitamin D as Supplements?
05/08/2010
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05/08/2010 A glass of orange juice may not only help the vitamin pill go down. A new study suggests that fortified varieties can also help the body's vitamin D levels go up - just as effectively as the supplement itself.
The finding could bring a welcome addition to a very short list of sources for vitamin D, which is thought to help fend off an array of health problems including brittle bones, diabetes, and cancer.
Groundbreaking New Understanding Of Stem Cells
05/03/2010
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05/03/2010 In findings that could one day lead to new therapies, researchers from The Scripps Research Institute have described some striking differences between the biochemistry of stem cells versus mature cells.
The study, led by Scripps Research Associate Professor Sheng Ding and Senior Director of the Scripps Research Center for Mass Spectrometry Gary Siuzdak, was published in an advance, online edition of the prestigious journal Nature Chemical Biology on May 2, 2010.
DNA Referees
05/02/2010
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05/02/2010 By Amber Dance
Scientists are just beginning to understand the effect lifestyle choices and other environmental factors have on altering gene behavior, a rapidly emerging field called epigenetics.
Your life story depends upon a combination of the DNA you're stuck with plus your environment, including all the little choices and events that happen over that lifetime.
$1,000 Personal Genome Coming: Are We Ready?
04/30/2010
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04/30/2010 By Daniel J. DeNoon
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Study Shows Why You Might, and Might Not, Want to Know Your Genome
Do you really want to know all of the information encoded in your genes? A thought-provoking new study shows why you might -- and why you might not.
It's not science fiction. It now costs less than $10,000 to learn your own personal genome. Soon it will cost no more than $1,000. What might you learn? Ask Stephen Quake, PhD, a Stanford University bioengineer.
No Evidence Alzheimer's Can Be Slowed Or Prevented Say Experts
04/29/2010
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04/29/2010 By Catharine Paddock, PhD
An independent panel of experts meeting in the US concluded there is no evidence that you can prevent or slow down Alzheimer's, a progressive and fatal brain disease, even if you keep yourself active with exercise, social interaction, brain puzzles, or take fish oil, other supplements, or medication.
13 Additional Stem Cell Lines Eligible for Federal Funding
04/27/2010
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04/27/2010 By Rob Stein
The National Institutes of Health announced Tuesday that 13 additional lines of human embryonic stem cells are eligible for federal funding, including the most widely used line.
The NIH's approval of the lines should alleviate mounting concerns among some supporters of stem cell research that the Obama administration was hindering the work.
