Biotech News Headlines

A federal appeals court on Friday refused to order the Obama administration to stop funding embryonic stem cell research, despite complaints the work relies on destroyed human embryos.

Over six frightening months, a deadly germ untreatable by most antibiotics spread in the nation's leading research hospital. Pretty soon, a patient a week was catching the bug. Scientists at the National Institutes of Health locked down patients, cleaned with bleach, even ripped out plumbing — and still the germ persis …

Doctors are preparing an emergency one-off stem cell treatment for 2-year-old Venetian girl suffering a severe muscular disease after a judge revoked an order blocking the cure.

HONG KONG (Reuters) - A gene that raises rice yields by enhancing root growth and nutrient absorption in low quality soils has been identified in a species of rice in India and successfully introduced into other rice varieties, researchers reported on Thursday. Scientists and rice breeders have known for years that Kasalath …

Do older fathers doom their children to genetic disease? This is the question raised by a new study that says older men produce more gene mutations in the children they sire, boosting their risk of schizophrenia and autism and possibly other diseases.

Scientists on Wednesday said they had developed a strain of rice that grows well in soils lacking the nutrient phosphorus, a feat that could boost crop yields for some farmers by as much as a fifth.

(Reuters) - A U.S. federal appeals court has once again affirmed the right of Myriad Genetics Inc to patent two genes linked to breast and ovarian cancer, after the U.S. Supreme Court told it to take another look at the hotly contested case. A 2-1 panel of the U.S. Federal Circuit Court of Appeals in Washington, D.C., on …

Scientists in Germany and Africa on Wednesday said they had found two variants of genes that help to explain why some lucky individuals do not develop severe malaria.

Biotechnology and U.S. farm policy will be the focus of an upcoming conference of the Kansas Agribusiness Retailers Association.

TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- A new genetic analysis of Jews from North Africa provides evidence that Middle Eastern Jews settled in the region during Classical Antiquity, married local populations and formed distinct populations that remained largely intact for more than 2,000 years.

TUESDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Using human stem cells, scientists have developed methods to boost the production of red blood cells, according to a new study.

LONDON (Reuters) - There have been "marathon mice", "Schwarzenegger mice" and dogs whose wasted muscles were repaired with injected substances that switch off key genes. It may not be long before we get the first genetically modified athlete. Some fear the use of gene therapy to improve athleticism is already a reality. …

* Animal experiments show gene therapy can boost performance * Gene doping likely to be dangerous and risky in humans * Tests can't detect it, so status of gene doping unclear LONDON, Aug 7 (Reuters) - There have been "marathon mice","Schwarzenegger mice" and dogs whose wasted muscles wererepaired with injected substances …

NEW YORK (Reuters) - A new genetic analysis has reconstructed the history of North Africa's Jews, showing that these populations date to biblical-era Israel and are not largely the descendants of natives who converted to Judaism, scientists reported on Monday. The study also shows that these Jews form two distinct groups, …

TEL AVIV (Reuters) - Pluristem Therapeutics said another patient suffering from bone marrow failure was saved using its placenta-based stem cell treatment. This is the second time in three months that a patient suffering from bone marrow failure was successfully treated with its PLX cells, the Israeli company said on Monday. …

Scientists have found new evidence for a theory about why some cancers return after they've seemingly been wiped out. Three studies in mice say tumors contain a pool of cancer stem cells that can multiply and seed the tumor's regrowth.

WEDNESDAY, Aug. 1 (HealthDay News) -- While scientists hotly debate the existence of cancer stem cells, three related new studies, all conducted on mice, provide some supporting evidence.

MONDAY, July 30 (HealthDay News) -- A new gene associated with a rare form of blindness from birth has been identified by researchers.

SUNDAY, July 29 (HealthDay News) -- New gene mutations associated with the development of melanoma have been identified by scientists who conducted what is believed to be the largest DNA-sequencing study of the deadly disease to date.

THURSDAY, July 26 (HealthDay News) -- Despite all the training, sweat, dedication and sacrifice that goes into becoming an Olympic competitor, these elite athletes also tend to have an advantage that average sports lovers lack: superior DNA. Just like eye color or a keen intellect, a constellation of the "right" genes can …

WEDNESDAY, July 25 (HealthDay News) -- Two years after he became the first child to receive a stem cell-supported trachea (windpipe) transplant, a 13-year-old boy is able to breathe normally, has grown about four inches taller, does not require any anti-rejection drugs and has returned to school.

(Reuters) - Genetic Technologies Ltd said its lead cancer test BrevaGen has been cleared for sale in California, which it expects to be a large and significant market. The Nasdaq-listed shares of the company, which has operations in Australia and the United States, rose as much as 37 percent to $4.79 on Thursday morning, …

MONDAY, July 23 (HealthDay News) -- Scientists who used modified stem cells to rejuvenate damaged and aged heart cells from elderly heart failure patients say their research could one day lead to new treatments for the illness.