Proteins produced by a living organism which act to bring about, or increase the rate of, a specific biochemical reaction.
People who break down caffeine slowly could be increasing their risk of a heart attack if they drink large amounts of coffee, say Canadian researchers. The team, based at the University of Toronto, says that a genetic variation affecting caffeine breakdown in the body could help explain conflicting results on...
Scientists from the University of Hawaii School of Medicine have published results of a study showing that in intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), using sperm stripped of its acrosome results in fewer deformed embryos. When traditional IVF is unsuccessful, couples may take up the option of ICSI. In this technique a...
How active you will be in your seventies depends partly on your genetic make-up, a team of US researchers reports. Scientists at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine in North Carolina investigated the link between the ACE gene and mobility in older people. Their findings, published in the Journal...
A gene therapy technique that repairs faulty genes by 'editing' their DNA could lead to new treatments for inherited blood disorders and HIV, say US researchers. The approach could help address safety concerns over current gene therapy methods, many of which rely on specially adapted viruses to deliver working genes...
Doctors at Great Ormond Street Hospital (GOSH) for Children and the Institute of Child Health have successfully treated a second disease using pioneering gene therapy treatment. The four-year old boy who received the therapy was affected by ada-SCID, a life-threatening immune deficiency condition. He is now attending pre-school and living...
A 'gene chip' test that helps predict how people will react to certain medicines has now been approved for sale in the US by the Food and Drug administration (FDA). The AmpliChip Cytochrome P450, launched in 2003 by Swiss firm Roche Diagnostics, is one of the first commercial applications of...
Scientists have discovered how an egg is able to be fertilised by a single sperm only, thereby protecting itself against abnormal development. At the point of fertilisation, the egg may be surrounded by 'countless' sperm, but only one must be able to break through the egg's outer membrane. Polyspermy - the...
A genetic test that helps predict how people will react to certain medicines has been approved for sale in the European Union, Swiss firm Roche Diagnostics has announced. The test, called the AmpliChip CYP450, detects variations in two genes that make key liver enzymes. Variations in the activity of these...
Gene therapy could soon be used to treat heart failure patients, say US researchers, following their success with human heart cells growing in the laboratory. Scientists at Jefferson Medical College and Duke University used gene therapy to repair damaged heart cells, helping them to beat normally again. The team, who...
Viagra, the 'wonder-drug' promoted for its ability to relieve impotence in men, may have some unwanted side-effects. Research presented today in Cheltenham, UK, at the annual meeting of the British Fertility Society, suggests that men who are taking Viagra when trying to start a family may actually be decreasing their...
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