21st
June
2008
454 Life Sciences, Applied Biosystems, and Illumina Inc have joined an international team to help sequence the entire human genome of more than 1000 people worldwide. Complete sequence data will give scientists a broader picture of rarer diseases not identified via the HapMap catalog that was released in 2003.
The genetic blueprints, or genomes, of any two humans are more than 99 percent the same. Still, the small fraction of genetic material that varies among people holds valuable clues to individual differences in susceptibility to disease, response to drugs and sensitivity to environmental factors.
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posted in DNA Sequence, Medicine |
16th
June
2008
HIV is a rapidly mutating virus that easily becomes drug resistant. To effectively eliminate the virus, all strains must be identified and destroyed. While traditional DNA sequencing produces accurate data for virus identification, researchers are combining statistics with pyrosequencing technology in an effort to produce faster and more economical results.
Using this method, medicines and vaccines against diseases caused by viral infections could be developed and deployed in a more targeted way in the future.
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posted in DNA Sequence, Medicine |
12th
June
2008
Introgen Therapeutics, Inc. concluded phase III clinical trials for a new drug that may be able to replace methotrexate in treatment of head and neck cancers in certain patients. It shows fewer negative side effects than methotrexate, thus improving the quality of life for the patient in treatment. Life expectancy also increased for patients with a favorable p53 profile.
Cells become cancerous because p53 no longer functions. Restoring p53 works unlike any current cancer treatment because it treats the cancer genome.
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posted in Medicine |