Biotechnology News

LONDON (Reuters) - British biotech company ReNeuron and a team of doctors in Scotland have won final approval to start a pioneering clinical trial to assess whether stem cell therapy can help patients disabled by stroke. Full Story »

TUESDAY, Feb. 9 (HealthDay News) -- U.S. scientists have discovered there are genetic profiles that play a part in prognosis with non-small cell lung cancers, and those profiles differ depending on the age and gender of the patient. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Lung cancer is often dramatically different in women than it is in men, U.S. researchers reported on Tuesday in another study that suggests ways to tailor treatment for cancer patients. Full Story »

NEW DELHI (AFP) - India refused to grant permission Wednesday for the commercial cultivation of its first genetically modified (GM) food crop, citing problems of public trust and "inadequate" science. Full Story »

SUNDAY, Feb. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have discovered genetic variants that are associated with biological aging, a finding that could explain why some people seem to age faster than others. Full Story »

MONDAY, Feb. 8 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists say they've developed a new and easier way to create what's known as pluripotent stem cells -- cells that can develop into one of many cell types for use in regenerative medicine. Full Story »

SAN FRANCISCO - An instructor at a public community college in Fresno has been presenting his religious views on homosexuality, abortion and global warming as fact to students in an introductory health science class, the American Civil Liberties Union alleged Monday. Full Story »

FRIDAY, Feb. 5 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists have completed a map of areas of the human genome that control which genes are switched on or off in type 2 diabetes, a finding that may advance understanding of the genetic basis of this and other common diseases. Full Story »

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The risk of a potentially fatal brain disorder with Biogen Idec Inc's multiple sclerosis drug Tysabri increases as patients receive more infusions, U.S. health officials warned on Friday. Full Story »

THURSDAY, Feb. 4 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers say they've discovered genetic traits in mothers and fetuses that appear to boost the risk of premature labor and delivery. Full Story »

When you put in hours at the gym, you expect to get fitter. It turns out, that assumption doesn't hold true for everyone. A new study suggests specific genes may determine, at least in part, how much we really benefit from exercise. Full Story »

CHICAGO (Reuters) - Genes in the mother and the fetus play a role in the risk of preterm labor, a leading cause of infant death and disability, U.S. government researchers said on Thursday. Full Story »

WEDNESDAY, Feb. 3 (HealthDay News) -- Adding more evidence to theories linking DNA to weight, European scientists report that a genetic variation seems to virtually guarantee that a person will become obese. Full Story »

PARIS (AFP) - Debate over the obesity epidemic sweeping parts of the world has focussed on whether lifestyle -- too much junk food and couch-potato living -- is the big culprit or whether genes are also to blame. Full Story »

MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Long-term survival rates are similar for leukemia patients who've had either peripheral blood stem cell (PBSC) or bone marrow transplants, a new European study says. Full Story »

MONDAY, Feb. 1 (HealthDay News) -- Researchers are reporting that a gene mutation in a pregnant mouse leads to changes inside the uterus that cause premature birth and, in some cases, death of the fetus. Full Story »

LONDON (Reuters) - Leukemia patients who have blood stem cell transplants survive just as long on average as those who undergo the more invasive procedure of having a bone marrow transplant, scientists said on Monday. Full Story »

FRIDAY, Jan. 29 (HealthDay News) -- The first complete genomic sequencing of a brain cancer cell line has been performed by U.S. scientists. Full Story »