It's official: there is no such thing as a gene for homosexuality. Well, sort of. A number of articles in last week's press reported on new research from the University of Western Ontario that failed to demonstrate a link between a gene on the X chromosome and homosexuality in men...
Shield Diagnostics has signed an exclusive deal with Gemini Holdings which will allow them to develop Gemini's DNA based test for a gene that causes a predisposition to brittle-bone disease. Shield Diagnostics said the test could have other applications. The colourful banker, Mungo Parks, who masterminded Nomura International's attempt to...
The possibility of a genetic treatment for cystic fibrosis has moved a step closer with the start of a gene therapy trial at Stanford University Medical Center in California. The treatment involves the delivery, by aerosol, to the patient's lungs of a manufactured version of the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance...
A study investigating the genetic basis of homosexuality has failed to support research published six years ago suggesting the existence of a 'gay gene'. A team of scientists led by Dean Hamer, an American Aids researcher, caused controversy in 1993 when it published results of a study claiming to have...
DNA chip technology is a growing industry that could revolutionise disease diagnosis. Current laboratory techniques for detecting genetic mutations responsible for disease are both time-consuming and expensive, whereas, a DNA chip - once developed - should only take minutes or, at most, hours to detect the gene mutations at the root of...
An unprecedented consortium of ten global pharmaceutical companies, the UK's Wellcome Trust, and five research institutes will pool their resources to draw up a $45m (£30m) map of the variations in the human genetic code, or single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs). This alliance, called the SNP Consortium, also announced last week that...
The Wellcome Trust is to fund 67% of a two year, $45m (£30m), international project to define some 300,000 DNA sequence variations in the human genome. The remaining funds come from a consortium of ten of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, who have also agreed to put the newly discovered...
New research published in the journal Nature has increased scientists' understanding of how mutations in the presenilin gene increases the risk of developing inherited, early-onset Alzheimer's disease. About 40% of people with this inherited form of Alzheimer's have a mutation in the presenilin genes which predisposes them to the accumulation...
Developments in the use of gene therapy to treat muscular dystrophy and haemophilia have been reported in the past week. A team of scientists at the Salk Institute in California announced in the American journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, that a form of haemophilia in mice had...
The on-going debate surrounding the Icelandic gene database project is thoroughly explored in the Sunday Times. Explaining the significant ramifications of a genetically isolated community such as Iceland for research into the causes of genetically inherited diseases, the article covers the setting up of Iceland's first biotechnology firm, Decode Genetics...
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