Applied Genetics News articles from July 2002

Applied Genetics News archives from July 2002

GENOMICS: ABCA1 Fights Atherosclerosis.
July 1, 2002... A research team from Xenon Genetics, Inc. (2386 East Mall, Vancouver, BC v6T 1Z3, Canada; Tel: 604/875-0700, Fax: 604/875- 0755; Website: xenongenetics.ca) and their collaborators have demonstrated that the gene (ABCA1) responsible for...

Evolution of Photosynthesis.
July 1, 2002... Analysis of the complete genome sequence of an unusual microbe provides important insights into studies of how the process of photosynthesis evolved and how it works today. The bacterium Chlorobium tepidum, originally isolated from a hot...

Drug Discovery With Real Disease.
July 1, 2002... "The use of animal models in biomedical research is very important, but ultimately the full understanding of human disease requires the study of humans," comments Mark Boguski, from the National Center of Biotechnology Information, in his...

Do Schizophrenics Have Odd Receptor?
July 1, 2002... A particular allele of the gene for the cannabinoid receptor was found to be associated with hebephrenic schizophrenia. These results are reported in Molecular Psychiatry [7 (5), 515-518, 2002] in a paper from a scientists at Okayama...

"Sugazymes" Generate Non-Natural Protein.
July 1, 2002... University at Buffalo (Buffalo, NY 14620; Tel: 716/645-2939; Website: buffalo.edu) chemists have developed a simple method for the synthesis of novel proteins using amino acids that do not occur in nature by using programmable ribozymes...

GENE THERAPY: Engineered Herpes Attacks Cancer Cells.
July 1, 2002... U.K.'s Medicines Control Agency (MCA) has approved BioVex Limited's (70 Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon, OX14 4RX, U.K.; Tel: +44 (0) 1235 4441900, +44 (0) 1235 4441901; Website: biovex.com) application to commence a clinical trial of OncoVEX...

CELL THERAPY: Stem Cells Useful Against Parkinson's.
July 1, 2002... Embryonic mouse stem cells transformed into neurons in a lab dish and then transplanted into a rat model for Parkinson's disease (PD) formed functional connections and reduced disease symptoms in a recent study. The finding suggests that...

Tumoe Neurons Fix Spinal Injuries.
July 1, 2002... Human neurons grown as cells cloned from a tumor helped restore the function of severely injured spinal cords in rats, University of South Florida (USF) (4202 E. Fowler Ave., Tampa FL 33620; Tel: 813/974-2011; Website: usf.edu) researchers say...

Cells Enhance Marrow Transplants.
July 1, 2002... Treatment with bone marrow mesenchymal cells has the potential to enhance the therapeutic effects of bone marrow transplantation in patients with osteogenesis imperfecta (OI), also known as brittle bone disease, according to researchers at St....

Stem Cells Show Promise Against MS.
July 1, 2002... Muscle-generating stem cells can improve muscle regeneration and deliver the missing protein dystrophin to damaged muscles in a mouse muscular dystrophy (MD) model, according to a recent study. MD refers to a group of genetic diseases...

Cells Regenerate Injured Nerves.
July 1, 2002... Using brain cells from rats, scientists at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (720 Rutland Ave., Baltimore, MD 21205-2196; Tel: 410/955-5000; Website: infonet.welch.jhu.edu) and the University of Hamburg have manipulated a...

Trial of Stem Cell Mobilizer.
July 1, 2002... AnorMED, Inc. (20353 64 Suite 200, Langley, BC, Canada V2Y1N5; Tel: 604/530-1057) has released clinical results from a Phase I study in 18 healthy volunteers supporting the use of AMD-3100 as a potential new agent in stem cell transplant. Stem...

ANTIBODIES: Yeast Library Patents Issued.
July 1, 2002... Genetastix Corp. (780 Montague Expressway, Suite 303, San Jose, CA 95131; Tel: 408/435-8900, Fax: 408/433-9288; Website: genetastix.com) has been granted two U.S. patents, U.S. Patent 6,410,271, issued on June 25, 2002, entitled "Generation of...

CLONING: Piglets Cloned From Skin Cells.
July 1, 2002... ProLinia, Inc. (450 ADS Complex, 425 River Rd., Athens, GA 30602; Tel: 706/542-4094, Fax: 706/546-4492; Website: prolinia.com) an agricultural biotechnology genetics company, and the University of Georgia have produced three healthy cloned...

AG-BIO: Keeping CO2 Down on the Farm.
July 1, 2002... New farm practices and new breeds of crops might someday aid in controlling greenhouse gases that contribute to global climate change. Research under way at Purdue University (West Lafayette, IN 47907; Tel: 765/494-4600; Website: purdue.edu)...

MicroRNAs Regulate Genes in Plants.
July 1, 2002... Researchers at MIT (Cambridge, MA 02139-4307; Tel: 617/243-1000; Website: mit.edu) and Rice University (6100 Main, Houston, TX 77005; Tel: 713/348- 0000; Website: rice.edu) have discovered that microRNAs, a class of non-protein gene regulators...

Beating Witchweed with Genetics.
July 1, 2002... Corn harvests on experimental plots and in farmers' fields in four East and Southern African countries have yielded striking results in long-term trials of an innovative witchweed-fighting technology developed by a Weizmann Institute (P.O. Box...

INDUSTRY NEWS: Theft of Trade Secrets Charged.
July 1, 2002... Jiangyu Zhu and Kayoko Kimbara, presently residing in San Diego, California, were arrested in California by the FBI on a federal complaint issued out of federal court in Boston charging them with theft of trade secrets from Harvard Medical...

San Francisco Bay Still Leads Biotech.
July 1, 2002... Speaking at the Information Management Network's Biotech, Medical & Pharmaceutical Lab Facilities Conference, Rich Robbins, president and CEO of Wareham Development (1120 Nye St., Suite 400, San Rafael, CA 94901; Tel: 415/457-4964, Fax:...

CALENDAR.
July 1, 2002... September 12-20, World Antibody Summit 2002, Long Branch, NJ. Contact: Strategic Research Institute; Tel: 212/967-0095, ext. 251; Email: sshah@srinstitute. September 18-20, World Genomics Symposium and Exposition, Atlantic City, NJ....