Genome

Researchers said yesterday that they have identified seven new genes connected to the most common form of diabetes - the latest result of an intensifying race between university researchers and private companies to find genes linked to a range of diseases. The findings, presented in three reports by university scientists and one report by a private company, offer novel insights into the biology of a disease that affects 170 million people worldwide. And the sudden spate of new results marks an acceleration, and perhaps a turning point, in the ability to find disease genes, the long-promised payoff from the Human Genome Project that began in 1989.

Medical researchers have made a significant advance in understanding multiple sclerosis, a common neurological disease that causes symptoms that include muscle weakness and paralysis. The disease is one in which the body's immune system mistakenly attacks the electrical insulation of nerve fibers. The cause is part genetic and part environmental, but researchers trying to identify the relevant genes have endured repeated frustration. Their approach has been to guess what genes might be involved and see whether patients have abnormal versions.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. reported yesterday a net loss of $2.2 million, or 10 cents per share, on revenue of $14.8 million for its second quarter, which ended June 30.By comparison, the Rockville-based gene sequencer and developer of genomics-derived medicines had net earnings of $1.2 million, or 5 cents a share, on revenue of $13.9 million in the corresponding period a year earlier.In the first half of the year, the company said, its net loss increased to $14.5 million, or 63 cents a share, on revenue of $16.2 million.

Researchers at Human Genome Sciences Inc. and the University of California at Los Angeles said yesterday that they have discovered two human proteins that might be used to block tumor growth.The scientists warned, though, that the research on the proteins is still at a very early stage."We are very excited about this, but it's important to temper that with a realization that there is a lot more research that must be done," said Luisa Iruela-Arispe, a molecular biologist and assistant professor at UCLA.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. plans to open a $42 million manufacturing and processing plant today in Rockville, where it expects to produce pioneering new drugs based on its storehouse of information about genes and the roles they have in healing and disease.The plant, built with the help of $2 million in state financing, is on a 13-acre site in a new life sciences park that the Johns Hopkins University is developing, the Johns Hopkins Belward Research Campus. It is a few miles from Human Genome's Rockville headquarters.

ONE OF the most remarkable breakthroughs in the past two decades is the discovery that cancer is a genetic disease. Human genes are being identified at such a rapid rate that this new knowledge promises a new era of prevention, treatment and cures.Dr. Richard Klausner, director of the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, addressed these issues during a recent press conference at a meeting commemorating the 40th anniversary celebration of Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine.The laboratory is the world's preeminent center for mouse genetics, and it has played a major role in setting the pace for human gene discovery.

In a breakthrough that could have dramatic implications for treating immune-system disorders and other diseases, scientists at a Maryland biotechnolgy company have discovered a natural trigger for producing one of the body's most important warriors against infection and disease.Scientists at Human Genome Sciences Inc. in Rockville said yesterday they are proceeding with development of an experimental drug based on the breakthrough and hope to see it tested in humans this year.Believing it might have a financial blockbuster on its hands, the company plans to make the drug's development a priority.

Melvin D. Booth, Human Genome Sciences president and chief operating officer for the past three years, has resigned that post to be president and chief operating officer of another Maryland biotechnology star, MedImmune Inc.Rockville-based Human Genome said yesterday that William A. Haseltine, chairman and chief executive officer, will assume Booth's duties when he departs. Booth is expected to assume his post at MedImmune by Nov. 13, said MedImmune spokesman Mark Kaufmann."Booth has the marketing experience and caliber we need to take us to the next level as a growing biotechnology company," Kaufmann said.

Human Genome Sciences Inc. said yesterday that Takeda Chemical Industries Ltd. of Japan has licensed the Japanese marketing rights for a new cancer treatment drug that is under development.The Japanese pharmaceutical and health care products concern paid Human Genome an undisclosed option fee, and will be required under the agreement to pay the Rockville biotechnology company royalties on sales.Takeda exercised rights to market Human Genome's myeloid progenitor inhibitory factor-1, which is being developed as a treatment to limit the ill effects of chemotherapy.

Human Genome Sciences Inc., a Rockville biotechnology firm, said yesterday that it has received clearance to begin human testing of a drug to treat an arterial disease that afflicts thousands of Americans every year.Human Genome said the Food and Drug Administration has granted permission to begin clinical studies of its Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor-2, known as VEGF-2.The drug will be tested in patients suffering from critical limb ischemia, a disease that causes severe pain, skin lesions and reduced blood flow in the arms and legs.

BETHESDA - - President Barack Obama toured a Maryland cancer lab Wednesday to promote the awarding of $5 billion in new government health science grants, which he described as the "largest single boost to biomedical research in history." The National Institutes of Health grants, distributed in recent weeks to more than 12,000 projects around the country, are funded under the $787 billion federal stimulus program that Obama signed into law in February. In all, about $100 billion in stimulus money is to go to science and technology projects, according to the administration.

For the first time, researchers have decoded all the genes of a person with cancer and found a set of mutations that may have caused the disease or aided its progression. Using cells donated by a woman in her 50s who died of leukemia, the scientists sequenced all the DNA from her cancer cells and compared it with the DNA from her normal, healthy skin cells. Then, they zeroed in on 10 mutations that occurred only in the cancer cells, apparently spurring abnormal growth, preventing the cells from suppressing that growth and enabling them to fight off chemotherapy.

Researchers cataloging the genetic codes of deadly human brain and pancreatic cancers say they have found several dozen defective genes that appear to work in concert to set off the tumor growth that eventually kills their victims. The team, at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center, said their discoveries provide new insights that could lead to earlier detection of such tumors through genetic blood tests and to new cancer-fighting drugs. The findings also could lead to more efficient strategies for interrupting the genetic processes that lead to tumor growth.

Johns Hopkins researchers who studied the genomes of people in Iceland and Utah say they may have found a clue to why people are increasingly prone to disease as they age. The answer may not lie specifically in the person's genes, but in chemical changes occurring around the genes that help determine which are active and which are silent. As a result, a person could become more prone to heart disease, cancer and other diseases of aging because certain genes that used to function no longer do so - or vice versa.

Gov. Martin O'Malley unveiled yesterday a proposal to invest $1.1 billion over the next decade to cement Maryland's status as a pre-eminent hub for biotechnology research, including stem-cell studies aimed at finding breakthrough medical advances. The funding, which would build on existing tax credits and grant programs, would be used to create a biotechnology center, finance capital projects and make equity investments in start-up companies. O'Malley, a Democrat, said the money could transform Maryland - where the human genome was mapped in 2001 - into a global leader in personalized medicine or the use of genetics to tailor treatments.

WASHINGTON -- The House of Representatives passed legislation yesterday barring the use of genetic information in job and health insurance decisions, moving the government to the cusp of enacting the first federal law dealing with DNA-based medical care. "It really is the law catching up to science," said Rep. Judy Biggert, an Illinois Republican who helped lead the 13-year fight for the legislation. The House approved the measure 414-1, with Rep. Ron Paul, a Texas Republican, the lone dissenter.

Spending hundreds of thousands of dollars to map your genome may be the latest fad to glean the future. But for all the billions spent on research, genetic testing isn't a cure-all for what might ail you, and it could lead to significant trouble for individuals and society if misused. Researchers and businesses are eager to profit by selling genetic tests to assess everything from paternity or sexual computability to an individual's susceptibility to disease. For some, such tests can be a blessing.

Annual utility bills likely to rise an average of $100 BGE rates to go up 5.5% Baltimore Gas and Electric residential customers will pay an estimated 5.5 percent more for electricity starting in June, largely as a result of federal rules that are driving wholesale energy prices higher. The increase will add about $100 to the average customer's annual utility bill. CoGenesys being sold CoGenesys Inc. is being sold for $400 million to Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Inc., an Israeli company that specializes in generic drugs.

He raced the government to map the human genome - and tied. He deciphered the genetic code for the fruit fly, the mouse and even his pet poodle, Shadow. And he has sailed around the world, collecting water samples in order to map the genomes of aquatic organisms. So yesterday's announcement that J. Craig Venter, 61, had reached a major benchmark in the quest to synthesize artificial life came as little surprise to those familiar with his work. "He's a fascinating person because he doesn't fit into the typical mold of the scientist," said Aravinda Chakravarti, the director of the Center for Complex Disease Genomics at the Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Victor A. McKusick, a Johns Hopkins professor widely considered the father of medical genetics, has been awarded the prestigious Japan Prize in Medical Genetics and Genomics and the $470,000 that goes with it. McKusick, one of the leading figures at the medical school, was recognized for more than a half-century of work deciphering and cataloging inherited disorders, and for laying the foundation for what became the Human Genome Project. "I'm terribly excited about it. It's not small potatoes, obviously, as we would say in Maine," said McKusick, 86, who grew up on a dairy farm there with his identical twin, Vincent, and his parents, who were both educators.