nature genetics

(University of Helsinki) The research group at the Institute for Molecular Medicine Finland has revealed eleven new genetic regions associated with the blood levels of the metabolites, including new loci affecting well-established risk markers for cardiovascular disease and potential biomarkers for type 2 diabetes.

The findings may help in elucidating the processes leading to common diseases. The study will be published in Nature Genetics.

(Mayo Clinic) An international research team, co-led by scientists at Mayo Clinic's campus in Florida, have discovered three potential susceptibility genes for development of progressive supranuclear palsy (PSP), a rare neurodegenerative disease that causes symptoms similar to those of Parkinson's disease but is resistant to Parkinson's medications.

Their report is being published online June 19 in Nature Genetics.

(Edelman PR) New data published in Nature Genetics demonstrates that tiny LNA-based compounds developed by Santaris Pharma A/S can inhibit entire disease-associated microRNA families.

Tiny LNA-based compounds are well tolerated in preclinical studies and can be delivered without the use of complex delivery vehicles.

This provides a potential new approach for treating a variety of diseases including cancer, viral infections, cardiovascular and muscle diseases.

(Imperial College London) Genetic differences that make some people susceptible to developing meningococcal meningitis and septicaemia, and others naturally immune, are revealed in a new study of over 6,000 people, published today in Nature Genetics.

The research, led by Imperial College London and the Genome Institute of Singapore, is the largest ever genetic study of meningitis and septicaemia caused by meningococcal bacteria.

(Technische Universitaet Muenchen) Technische Universitaet Muenchen Professor Alfons Meindl and colleagues -- including collaborators from other German, UK, and US institutions -- report evidence unambiguously implicating the gene RAD51C in susceptibility to breast and ovarian cancer.

This gene normally plays a role in DNA repair. By screening RAD51C in unrelated individuals from 1,100 German families with hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, the researchers identified six mutations that increase cancer risk.

Their findings are published in Nature Genetics.

(Imperial College London) A gene with a significant effect on regulating hemoglobin in the body has been identified as part of a genome-wide association study, which looked at the link between genes and hemoglobin level in 16,000 people.

The research was carried out by scientists from Imperial College London and published in Nature Genetics today.

It shows a strong association between a gene known as TMPRSS6 and the regulation of hemoglobin.