Articles from the PHG Foundation Newsletter

New European science policy body to represent researchers

Thu, 08 Sep 2011 00:00:00 +0100

A new organisation to be launched next month aims to become the single voice for science policy in Europe. ScienceEurope, to be launched on 21st October, will be based in Brussels and combines two existing groups, the European Science Foundation (ESF) based in France (see previous news) and the ...

Self-reported medical data supports genetic disease links

Mon, 22 Aug 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Highly cited biomarker studies exaggerate findings

Tue, 07 Jun 2011 00:00:00 +0100

Report on evidence for genetic testing in medicine

Mon, 23 May 2011 00:00:00 +0100

It was noted that different stakeholders require different sorts of evidence, and that maintaining dialogue between them throughout development and evaluation of new genetic tests was important. The experts recommended that trials to generate evidence were increasingly required, but should be design ...

Pluripotent stem cells: patent pooling and HESC comparisons

Wed, 09 Feb 2011 00:00:00 +0000

Considered a potentially more ethically acceptable alternative to human embryonic stem (HES) cells, iPS cells are the subject of intensive research efforts. A new method for comparing them with ‘gold standard’ HES cells based on genomic profiles has just reported a high level of equivale ...

Greater input to genetic research from developing countries

Fri, 03 Dec 2010 00:00:00 +0000

International cancer genome consortium: data for all

Tue, 04 May 2010 00:00:00 +0100

Cancer is acknowledged to be a major public health problem for both industrialised and developing nations, with more than a quarter of deaths attributable to cancer in many countries. According to the World Health Organisation (WHO), cancer rates could increase to 12 million new cases by 2030.   ...

New centre for genomics knowledge to be created

Sun, 28 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The CDC National Office for Public Health Genomics (NOPHG) in the US has announced plans to create a new Knowledge  Synthesis Center using the methods of the Evaluation of Genomic Applications in Practice and Prevention (EGAPP) initiative. EGAPP produces periodic reviews which summarise the ava ...

Partnership to accelerate use of biomedical innovation for health

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 00:00:00 +0000

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and National Institutes of Health (NIH) have announced a joint initiative intended to accelerate the movement of scientific innovations into health care. The Joint NIH-FDA Leadership Council will concentrate on important public health issues, and seek to int ...

Patient involvement in research: guidance and consultation

Tue, 28 Jul 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Major UK medical research charity the Wellcome Trust recently released new guidelines for primary care practitioners on the use of patient data in research, developed following a national meeting of GPs, researchers and patient groups to discuss this issue last year. Towards Consensus for Best Pract ...

Comparison of next-generation sequencing platforms for targeted sequencing

Mon, 11 May 2009 00:00:00 +0100

Recent years have seen rapid advances in the development of technologies that allow massively parallel high-throughput sequencing, referred to as next generation sequencing (NGS) platforms. These platforms have been applied to a number of sequencing studies including examination of RNA-sequencing, w ...

Guidelines for the systematic review of genetic association studies

Thu, 12 Mar 2009 00:00:00 +0000

The ‘Guidelines and Guidance’ section of PLoS Medicine, an open-access journal, was launched with the goal of encouraging the highest possible standards in medical research and reporting. Articles that raise awareness of emerging and novel methodological approaches, provide community ...

Strengthening the reporting of genetic association studies (STREGA)

Mon, 23 Feb 2009 00:00:00 +0000

Seven high-profile biomedical journals have this month published recommendations for the reporting of genetic association studies framed within a statement and checklist. Entitled STrengthening the REporting of Genetic Association studies, STREGA is an extension of the STROBE statement (STrengthenin ...

New ‘open’ method for targeted gene modifications

Tue, 29 Jul 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Zinc-fingers are small DNA-binding proteins that mediate DNA-protein interactions within cells, playing an important role in regulation of DNA expression. Zinc-finger nucleases (ZFNs) are synthetic enzymes that combine zinc-finger peptide domains (which target the protein to attach to specific DNA s ...

Guidelines for standard descriptions and terminology in genomics and regenerative medicine

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 00:00:00 +0100

Scientific progress requires the use of clear and standardised terminology by different stakeholders such as academia, industry, government and regulators. This month saw the publication of guidelines for describing genomes and metagenomes by the Genomic Standards Consortium (GSC), as well as public ...

International Cancer Genome Consortium launched

Fri, 16 May 2008 00:00:00 +0100

A new international collaboration, the International Cancer Genome Consortium, has been launched with the aim of coordinating efforts to catalogue the genomic changes in about 50 different cancer types and subtypes (see press release). It is hoped that this information will lead to new approaches to ...

US developments in pharmacogenomics

Tue, 29 Apr 2008 00:00:00 +0100

In the last month there have been several new moves form the US intended to accelerate the pace of change in pharmacogenomics, the study of genetic influences on drug responses. The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has sought input from scientists, the pharmaceutical sector and other on challenge ...

Cheaper fertility treatment offered for egg-sharing

Thu, 13 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Women aged 21-35 attending the Newcastle Fertility Centre (NFC) in the north of England are to be offered reduced price in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment in exchange for donating some of their oocytes (eggs) for research (see BBC news). Women who agree to donate half of the eggs harvested as pa ...

Facial scans could aid diagnosis of rare genetic disorders

Tue, 11 Sep 2007 00:00:00 +0100

A UK scientist has developed a computer-based programme that compares 3D facial scans of a patient with those of specific genetic disorders, with a view to speeding up diagnosis. Many genetic syndromes are associated with dysmorphology, including characteristic facial features, which can help clinic ...

Changes to Chinese law to prevent scientific fraud proposed

Wed, 29 Aug 2007 00:00:00 +0100

Chinese legislators are said to be discussing a draft amendment to the Law on Science and Technology Progress that would make failure of scientific projects more acceptable, whilst clamping down on fabrication of results and plagiarism. The draft amendment states: "Scientists and technicians, w ...

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