UCLA researchers may have found a key to determining which Parkinson's disease patients will experience a more rapid decline in motor function, sparking hopes for the development of new therapies and helping identify those who could benefit most from early intervention.

(San Diego Biotechnology Connection) Researchers at Emory University used a standard balloon angioplasty catheter to induced transient ischemia, which when coupled with the vasodilator nitroglycerin, boosts the cell transfection of an adenovector gene construct into heart cells.

(University of Rochester Medical Center) ApoE4, a well-known genetic risk factor for Alzheimer's disease triggers a cascade of signaling that ultimately results in leaky blood vessels in the brain, allowing toxic substances to pour into brain tissue in large amounts, scientists report in the journal Nature.

(University of Florida) Taiwanese doctors have restored some movement in four children bedridden with a rare, life-threatening neurological disease using gene transfer techniques pioneered by University of Florida faculty. The first-in-humans achievement may also be helpful for more common diseases such as Parkinson's.

A number of studies have shown that it is possible to lengthen the average life of individuals of many species, including mammals, by acting on specific genes. To date, however, this has meant altering the animals' genes permanently from the embryonic stage - an approach impracticable in humans. Researchers at ...

(Georgia Health Sciences University) A DNA-covered submicroscopic bead used to deliver genes or drugs directly into cells to treat disease appears to have therapeutic value just by showing up, researchers report.

A number of studies have shown that it is possible to lengthen the average life of individuals of many species, including mammals, by acting on specific genes. To date, however, this has meant altering the animals' genes permanently from the embryonic stage an approach impracticable in humans. Researchers at ...

Grand Rapids, Mich. (May 14, 2012) - A team of international scientists has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the cause of bile duct cancer, a deadly type of liver cancer. By identifying several new genes frequently mutated in bile duct cancers, researchers are paving the way for better understanding ...

Regenerating sensory hair cells, which produce electrical signals in response to vibrations within the inner ear, could form the basis for treating age- or trauma-related hearing loss. One way to do this could be with gene therapy that drives new sensory hair cells to grow. Researchers at Emory University School ...

(Van Andel Research Institute) A team of international scientists has made a significant breakthrough in understanding the cause of bile duct cancer, a deadly type of liver cancer. By identifying several new genes frequently mutated in bile duct cancers, researchers are paving the way for better understanding of how bile ...

Imagine being able to control genetic expression by flipping a light switch. Researchers at North Carolina State University are using light-activated molecules to turn gene expression on and off. Their method enables greater precision when studying gene function, and could lead to targeted therapies for diseases like cancer. Triplex-forming oligonucleotides ...

C5ORF42 was identified as the gene that causes Joubert Syndrome in a number of families in the Lower St. Lawrence region of Quebec where the causal gene had remained unknown since the initial description of the syndrome in 1969. This is what a study in The American Journal of Human ...