Phenotyping Of The Human ‘Metabolome’

The old excuse, "I am only overweight because of my genes," is suddenly gaining credibility as researchers uncover ever more evidence that the way our bodies digest and process nutrients in the food we eat is different for every person. The budding discipline of metabolomics strives to investigate these differences in a scientific...

Personalized medicine in warfarin therapy

Researchers from the Ohio State University have developed a rapid, multiplexed genotyping method to identify the single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) that affect warfarin dose. The related report by Yang et al, "Rapid Genotyping of SNPs Influencing Warfarin Drug Response by SELDI-TOF Mass Spectrometry," appears in the March 2010 issue of the Journal of Molecular...

Wisconsin Announces Top Companies to Watch

Yesterday, Wisconsin's Department of Commerce announced their top 30 companies to watch in 2010.  The purpose of the award is to honor second-stage companies that demonstrate high performance in the marketplace, exhibit innovative products, services or processes, or otherwise make their company "worth watching."  Among these companies were numerous pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies whose focus are chronic diseases. The list included the following: EraGen...

Genetically-modified mice reveal another mechanism contributing to heart failure

Scientists at the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario, working in collaboration with researchers in Brazil, have used a unique genetically-modified mouse line to reveal a previously unidentified mechanism contributing to heart failure. The study, led by Marco Prado, Robert Gros and Vania Prado of London, Canada and Silvia Guatimosim of Brazil, shows how the decreased release of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine, a chemical messenger which slows cardiac activity,...

Researchers develop new tool for gene delivery

Researchers at Tufts University School of Medicine and the Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences at Tufts have developed a new tool for gene therapy that significantly increases gene delivery to cells in the retina compared to other carriers and DNA alone, according to a study published in the January issue of The Journal of Gene Medicine. The tool, a peptide called PEG-POD, provides a vehicle for therapeutic genes and may help researchers develop therapies for degenerative eye...