gene mutations

(University of Washington) Mutations on a gene that regulates the transition of primitive blood-forming cells to white blood cells have been implicated in acute myeloid leukemia and in myelodysplasia, a difficulty in producing white blood cells.

Studies beyond this one link GATA2 gene mutations to other health problems, including intractable infections, to a type of developmental delay, as well as to a leukemia that causes limb swelling and deafness.

A clinical trial under way may point to treatment recommendations for those with GATA2 mutations.

(University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine) Women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, which are linked to a very high risk of breast and ovarian cancer, can safely take hormone-replacement therapy to mitigate menopausal symptoms after surgical removal of their ovaries, according to new research from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania which will be presented Monday, June 6 during the American Society for Clinical Oncology's annual meeting.

(Genetics Society of America) Scientists from the University of Oxford, UK have taken lessons from Adam Smith and Charles Darwin to devise a new strategy that could one day slow, possibly even prevent, the spread of drug-resistant bacteria.

The scientists show that bacterial gene mutations that lead to drug resistance come at a biological cost not borne by nonresistant strains.

Researchers have discovered gene mutations in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) that may help doctors determine which treatments will work best for which patients early on.

(American Associates, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev) Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have discovered that gene mutations that once helped humans survive may increase the possibility for diseases, including cancer.

The findings were recently the cover story in the journal Genome Research.

(St. Jude Children's Research Hospital) A research team has pinpointed a new class of gene mutations, which identify cases of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia that have a high risk of relapse and death.

The finding suggests specific drugs that could treat this high-risk leukemia subtype in children, particularly because such drugs are already in clinical trials for similar blood diseases in adults.

SAN DIEGO (AP) -- Dr. John Kelsoe has spent his career trying to identify the biological roots of bipolar disorder.

In December, he announced he had discovered several gene mutations closely tied to the disease, also known as manic depression....