A new large-scale study involving more than 160 international researchers from 17 countries—members of the Early Growth Genetics (EGG) Consortium—and led by investigators from University of Exeter Medical School have identified key genetic differences that may help explain why some babies are born bigger or smaller than others. The new…

An international collaboration led by researchers at the University of Leicester has developed a new genetic risk score that could help identify individuals at risk of coronary heart disease (CHD) much earlier, and potentially improve its prevention. The new study—“Genomic prediction of coronary heart disease”—was published recently in the European…

Understanding how the gut microbiome is established and by what means the combination of microbes in individual children may contribute to the risk of developing conditions like type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease is key to overall developmental health. Now, a research team led by investigators at Massachusetts General…

Researchers and physicians are increasingly learning that medical interventions can be more successful when they are tailored to the particular profile of the individual patient. Yet, defining that profile has proven tough, as it involves information on an individual’s genome, proteins, fats, and variety of other biomolecules that constitute the …

The overwhelming majority of Parkinson’s disease (PD) and Alzheimer’s disease cases that occur are sporadic—caused by a complex mix of environmental and shared genetic factors. These types of interactions are notoriously difficult for scientists to study, which is why most research has focused on familial cases that have much clearer…

In 1956, Francis Crick—co-discoverer of DNA’s helical structure—postulated what is now considered to be a central doctrine of the biological sciences stating that “The central dogma of molecular biology deals with the detailed residue-by-residue transfer of sequential information. It states that such information cannot be transferred back from protein to…

Scientists from University College London say they developed an algorithm that uses routinely collected data to predict a five-year risk of dementia. They believe that it may be possible to assess the risk of developing dementia by analyzing information gathered during regular visits to the family doctor. The researchers published…

When Lorraine Potocki, M.D., attended medical school in the 1980s she didn’t have exposure to a genetics class. Dr. Potocki, a professor at Houston, TX-based Baylor College of Medicine’s department of Molecular and Human Genetics, wasn’t even aware that there were training programs in genetics until her residency was well…

True Health Diagnostics agreed to pay $37.1 million to acquire Health Diagnostic Laboratory (HDL) after emerging as the successful bidder at a U.S. Bankruptcy Court auction, HDL said today. The sale is subject to final approval by Judge Kevin R. Huennekens of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Eastern District…

Since cardiovascular disease (CVD) still represents the leading cause of death in the United States, researchers are, if anything, only more determined to identify the triggers of disease and those who may be at greatest risk. Science has made considerable progress over the years identifying and even treating many of…

Bio-Techne agreed to acquire 100% ownership of Cliniqa, which specializes in the manufacture and commercialization of quality controls and calibrators as well as bulk reagents used in the clinical diagnostic market.  Its controls and reagents are used in a wide variety of diagnostic tests for such pathologies as cardiac disease…

Akers Biosciences inked a joint venture agreement with Hainan Savy Investment Management to research, develop, produce, and sell certain Akers’ rapid diagnostic screening and testing products in China. The joint venture company will be located in Haikou and incorporated as Hainan Savy Akers Biosciences. As part of the agreement, the…

In 2009 Mark Boguski and colleagues published a paper entitled “Customized care 2020: how medical sequencing and network biology will enable personalized medicine.” In the paper the authors described a model incorporating these pathways, annotation of disease networks and drug targets, and simulation of therapeutic interventions with virtual drugs or…

Vural Özdemir, M.D., Ph.D., is editor-in-chief of OMICS: A Journal of Integrative Biology, published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. He is also an associate professor of human genetics at the council of higher education in Ankara, Turkey, and an independent scholar in science studies and advisor to the office of…