Team finds breast cancer gene linked to disease spread

A team of researchers at Princeton University and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey has identified a long-sought gene that is fatefully switched on in 30 to 40 percent of all breast cancer patients, spreading the disease, resisting traditional chemotherapies and eventually leading to death. The gene, called "Metadherin" or MTDH, is located in a small region of human chromosome 8 and appears to be crucial to cancer's spread or metastasis because it helps tumor cells stick tightly to blood vessels in distant organs. The gene also makes tumors more resistant to the powerful chemotherapeutic agents normally used to wipe out the deadly cells.

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FDA Claims 6 of Qiagen's Molecular Dxs Should Have Undergone Agency Review

NEW YORK (GenomeWeb News) — The US Food and Drug Administration has sent a letter to Qiagen warning it that certain of its molecular diagnostics currently sold in the US do not have regulatory approval.

In an Oct. 2 letter to Qiagen CEO Peer Schatz, the FDA said six diagnostic products Qiagen developed are improperly marketed and require regulatory review by the agency. On its we site, Qiagen stresses that the products — tests for herpes virus, lime disease, parvovirus, Chlamydia, and malaria — are designed for use in CLIA labs and therefore do not require FDA oversight.

The FDA, on the other hand, claims that because the tests are packaged with instructions they are subject to agency review.

Products affected include Artus CMV PCR, C. Trachomatis PCR, C. Trachomatis Plus PCR, Parvo B19 PCR, Borrelia PCR, and Malaria PCR analyte specific reagents

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Applied Biosystems president joins Kinetic Concepts | Reuters.com

BOSTON, Oct 20 (Reuters) - Applied Biosystems Inc. (ABI.N: Quote, Profile, Research), a maker of tools for genetic research, said on Friday that its president, Catherine Burzik, has resigned to become chief executive of medical device company Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI.N: Quote, Profile, Research).
Foster City, California-based Applied Biosystems, whose parent is Applera Corp., said Tony White, Applera's chairman and chief executive officer, will become interim Applied Biosystems, president.
Kinetic Concepts, based in San Antonio, Texas, specializes in making wound-care products, specialty hospital beds and mattress replacement systems.

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Scientists Find a Possible Cause of Aging

A new insight into the reason for aging has been gained by scientists trying to understand how resveratrol, a minor ingredient of red wine, improves the health and lifespan of laboratory mice. They believe that the integrity of chromosomes is compromised as people age, and that resveratrol works by activating a protein known as sirtuin that restores the chromosomes to health.

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Smoking ban leads to major drop in heart attacks

A smoking ban in one Colorado city led to a dramatic drop in heart attack hospitalizations within three years, a sign of just how serious a health threat secondhand smoke is, government researchers said Wednesday. The study, the longest-running of its kind, showed the rate of hospitalized cases dropped 41 percent in the three years after the ban of workplace smoking in Pueblo, Colo., took effect. There was no such drop in two neighboring areas, and researchers believe it's a clear sign the ban was responsible.
The study suggests that secondhand smoke may be a terrible and under-recognized cause of heart attack deaths in this country, said one of its authors, Terry Pechacek of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

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