Latest Cytogenetics Stories

Chromosomal Translocations Point The Way Toward Personalized Cancer Care

2012-08-13 15:50:34

A broken chromosome is like an unmoored beansprout circling in search of attachment. If a cell tries to replicate itself with broken chromosomes, the cell will be killed and so it would very much like to find its lost end. Often, it finds a workable substitute: another nearby chromosome. When a broken chromosome attaches to another, or when chromosomes use a similar process to exchange genetic material, you have a translocation – genes end up fused to other genes, encoding a new protein...

A Look At The Early Evolution Of Sex Chromosomes

2012-08-06 18:24:30

Two new studies offer insight into sex chromosome evolution by focusing on papaya, a multimillion dollar crop plant with a sexual problem (as far as growers are concerned) and a complicated past. The findings are described in two papers in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The research reveals that the papaya sex chromosomes have undergone dramatic changes in their short evolutionary histories (they are about 7 million years old; by comparison, human sex chromosomes...

Verinata Health Expands verifi(TM) Prenatal Test To Include Turner Syndrome Option

2012-07-02 02:23:58

REDWOOD CITY, Calif., July 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Verinata Health, Inc., a privately-held company dedicated to maternal and fetal health, today announced that its non-invasive verifi(TM) prenatal test can now be used to detect Turner syndrome (monosomy X or XO), a genetic condition in which a person has one X chromosome and is missing a second sex chromosome. Turner syndrome affects approximately one in every 2,000 female births. (Logo:...

First Large Cohort Validation Study on Non-invasive Prenatal Testing for Fetal Trisomy Detection Completed Using the Harmony(TM) Prenatal Test

2012-06-04 02:24:18

SAN JOSE, Calif., June 4, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Ariosa Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company, announced the publication of its NICE (Non-Invasive Chromosomal Evaluation) Study, an international multicenter prospective, cohort study of more than 4,000 pregnant women at gestational age 10 weeks or later from 50 clinical sites. The study evaluated Harmony Prenatal Test's performance in detecting fetal Trisomy 21 and 18, which cause Down syndrome and Edwards...

Chromosomal Damage Shown In Children Exposed To Naphthalene

2012-05-29 12:14:05

Naphthalene is best known as the key ingredient in mothballs According to a new study, children exposed to high levels of the common air pollutant naphthalene are at increased risk for chromosomal aberrations (CAs), which have been previously associated with cancer. These include chromosomal translocations, a potentially more harmful and long-lasting subtype of CAs. Researchers from the Columbia Center for Children's Environmental Health (CCCEH) at the Mailman School of Public Health,...

Does Polyploidy Play A Role In The Italian Endemic Flora?

2012-05-22 08:24:01

Besides the obvious differences between plants and animals, subtle ones lie concealed within the cell, even within the nucleus. In both plant and animal cells, the nucleus contains DNA, which condenses into chromosomes during cell division. Chromosomes can be counted at that stage, revealing the chromosome number for each species. Here comes a difference: while the chromosome number spans a relatively short range across animal species (2-296: 46 in man), some plant species have over 1000...

Study In Prenatal Diagnosis Finds Sequenom CMM's MaterniT21(TM) PLUS Lab-developed Test Accurately Detects Fetal Trisomies In Pregnant Women Carrying Twins Or Triplets

2012-05-18 02:24:08

SAN DIEGO, May 18, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Sequenom, Inc. (NASDAQ: SQNM), a life sciences company providing innovative genetic analysis solutions, today announced that a new publication from the large Women & Infants multi-center clinical study on the Sequenom Center for Molecular Medicine's (Sequenom CMM) MaterniT21 PLUS laboratory-developed test (LDT) has been published online in the peer-reviewed journal, Prenatal Diagnosis. Along with this week's publication, the Company...

Men Can Rest Easy – Sex Chromosomes Are Here To Stay

2012-05-08 10:53:13

The study, published yesterday in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), looked at how genes on sex-linked chromosomes are passed down generations and linked to fertility, using the specific example of the W chromosome in female chickens. The results confirm that although these chromosomes have shrunk over millions of years, and have lost many of their original genes, those that remain are extremely important in predicting fertility and are, therefore, unlikely...

CNIO Researchers Describe New Functions Of Cohesin Relevant For Human Disease

2012-05-03 16:05:03

They have identified new functions of cohesin SA1 that are relevant for cancer and CdLS Cohesin is a ring-shaped protein complex involved in the spatial organization of the genome and in mitotic chromosome structure. Vertebrate somatic cells have two versions of cohesin that contain either SA1 or SA2, but their functional specificity has been largely ignored. Researchers of the Spanish National Cancer Research Centre (CNIO) under the direction of Ana Losada have identified new functions of...

JS Genetics announces launch of XCAT-KS, a bloodless, cheek swab test for the diagnosis of Klinefelter syndrome and other Male sex chromosome aneuploidies

2012-05-02 10:27:52

NEW HAVEN, Conn., May 2, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- JS Genetics announces the availability of XCAT-KS, its proprietary buccal swab test for the diagnosis of Klinefelter syndrome (KS) and other male sex chromosome aneuploidies. Klinefelter syndrome, a condition in which males have an extra X chromosome, is one of the most common genetic abnormalities in males. It is estimated that about one in every 500 males has an extra X chromosome. Klinefelter syndrome can affect physical development...