Latest Applied genetics Stories

Special virus spares healthy cellsHealthDayNews -- A technique that uses a specially designed virus may help overcome a major stumbling block in using gene therapy to treat cancer, say Columbia University Medical Center researchers.This approach appears to offer a solution to a problem in gene therapy for cancer -- the tendency to destroy healthy cells as well as cancer cells.The Columbia team developed gene therapy that uses a specially designed virus. In laboratory and animal testing, this...

Scientists identify gene that controls other cancer-causing genesHealthDayNews -- Cancer is caused by the activity of rogue genes that act like street toughs within cells, forcing them to multiply out of control. Now, scientists say they've identified a kind of "kingpin" gene that rules this gang of delinquent DNA."It's the 'leader of the pack,' and in that sense, it's a very effective target for therapy," said senior study author Dr. Pier Paolo Pandolfi, a pathologist at...