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Research and Markets: Bioinformatics and Biomarker Discovery: “Omic” Data Analysis for Personalized Medicine

June 5, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

DUBLIN–(Business Wire)–
Research and Markets
(http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/64f018/bioinformatics_and) has
announced the addition of John Wiley and Sons Ltd’s new book “Bioinformatics and
Biomarker Discovery: “Omic” Data Analysis for Personalized Medicine” to their
offering.

This book is designed to introduce biologists, clinicians and computational
researchers to fundamental data analysis principles, techniques and tools for
supporting the discovery of biomarkers and the implementation of
diagnostic/prognostic systems. The focus of the book is on how fundamental
statistical and data mining approaches can support biomarker discovery and
evaluation, emphasising applications based on different types of “omic” data.
The book also discusses design factors, requirements and techniques for disease
screening, diagnostic and prognostic applications.

Readers are provided with the knowledge needed to assess the requirements,
computational approaches and outputs in disease biomarker research. Commentaries
from guest experts are also included, containing detailed discussions of
methodologies and applications based on specific types of “omic” data, as well
as their integration. Covers the main range of data sources currently used for
biomarker discovery

* Covers the main range of data sources currently used for biomarker discovery
* Puts emphasis on concepts, design principles and methodologies that can be
extended or tailored to more specific applications
* Offers principles and methods for assessing the bioinformatic/biostatistic
limitations, strengths and challenges in biomarker discovery studies
* Discusses systems biology approaches and applications
* Includes expert chapter commentaries to further discuss relevance of
techniques, summarize biological/clinical implications and provide alternative
interpretations

A research-level book, which will introduce biologists and cardiologists to
fundamental data analysis principles, techniques and tools for supporting the
discovery of biomarkers and diagnostic/prognostic prediction systems. The book
can, however, also be used by computational biologists and bioinformaticians
doing research in cardiovascular research.

The focus will be on how fundamental statistical and data mining approaches can
be used to support biomarker discovery and evaluation. It will emphasize
applications using cardiovascular omic data and discuss design factors,
requirements and techniques for disease screening, diagnostic and prognostic
applications.

The book will consist of foundation chapters, which will provide readers with
the knowledge needed to assess the requirements, design factors and outputs of
disease biomarker research. These will be followed by detailed discussions of
methodologies and applications based on specific types of omic data, as well as
their integration. Such chapters will reflect the how and what aspects of these
research areas. Concluding chapters will focus on the critical assessment of
current knowledge gaps, bioinformatic challenges and emerging research
directions. This will underscore the why and when aspects of problems and
applications.

Key Topics Covered:

1 Biomarkers and bioinformatics

2 Review of fundamental statistical concepts

3 Biomarker-based prediction models: design and interpretation principles

4 An introduction to the discovery and analysis of genotype-phenotype
associations

5 Biomarkers and gene expression data analysis

6 Proteomics and metabolomics for biomarker discovery: an introduction to
spectral data analysis

7 Disease biomarkers and biological interaction networks

8 Integrative data analysis for biomarker discovery

9 Information resources and software tools for biomarker discovery

10 Challenges and research directions in bioinformatics and biomarker discovery

Guest commentary (2) on chapter 10: Accompanying commentary on challenges and
opportunities of bioinformatics in disease biomarker discovery Gary B. Fogel

Author:

Dr. Francisco Azuaje Research Scientist in Computational Biology Laboratory of
Cardiovascular Research Centre for Public Health (CRP-Sant), Luxembourg

For more information visit

http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/64f018/bioinformatics_and

Research and Markets
Laura Wood, Senior Manager,
press@researchandmarkets.com
U.S. Fax: 646-607-1907
Fax (outside U.S.): +353-1-481-1716

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: Bioinformatic, Bioinformatics, biologists, Biomarker Discovery, bioMarkers, clinical implications, clinicians, Computational Approaches, Computational Researchers, data sources, Design Factors, Design Principles, Disease Screening, Fundamental Data, Guest Experts, John Wiley And Sons, John Wiley And Sons Ltd, Omic, systems biology, Wiley And Sons

Repeated exposure to dental X-rays ups thyroid cancer risk

June 4, 2010 By vani Leave a Comment

London, June 4 (ANI): Repeated exposure to dental X-rays increases thyroid cancer risk, a new study has revealed.

Analysing 313 cancer patients, scientists from Brighton, Cambridge and Kuwait found the chances of developing cancer rose with increasing numbers of dental X-rays.

“The public health and clinical implications of these findings are particularly relevant in the light of increases in the incidence of thyroid cancer in many countries over the past 30 years,” the Telegraph quoted Dr Anjum Memon, of the Brighton and Sussex Medical School, as saying.

However, Dr Memon was quick to add that the increasing use of sensitive diagnostic techniques does not necessarily account for the entire increase and that other causes warrant investigation. (ANI)

Filed Under: International News Tagged With: anjum, Brighton, cambridge, cancer patients, cancer risk, clinical implications, Dental X Rays, Diagnostic Techniques, Kuwait, London, Medical School, memon, public health, Scientists, sussex, Telegraph, thyroid, thyroid cancer, ups, Warrant Investigation

Nanotechnology used for developing new DNA cancer test

August 18, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Aug 18 (ANI): Johns Hopkins University researchers have developed a highly sensitive test to look for DNA attachments that are believed to be the early warning symptoms of cancer.

The research may make the detection and treatment of cancer much easier.

To reach the conclusion, scientists used tiny crystals called quantum dots.

The test, which detects both the presence and the quantity of certain DNA changes, could alert people who are at risk of developing the disease and could tell doctors how well a particular cancer treatment is working.

The development has been reported in a paper called “MS-qFRET: a quantum dot-based method for analysis of DNA methylation,” published in the August issue of the journal Genome Research. The work also was presented at a conference of the American Association of Cancer Research.

“If it leads to early detection of cancer, this test could have huge clinical implications,” said Jeff Tza-Huei Wang, an associate professor of mechanical engineering whose lab team played a leading role in developing the technique.

“Doctors usually have the greatest success in fighting cancer if they can treat it in its early stage,” the expert added.

To make the scientific breakthrough, Wang and his students developed the test over the past three years with colleagues at the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center. (ANI)

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Quick pulse before workout associated with death risk

May 2, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 29 (ANI): A cheap method of predicting who is at greater risk of dying suddenly and unexpectedly from a heart attack has been developed by researchers in France.

In a study of 7746 French male civil servants, published in Europe’s leading cardiology journal, the European Heart Journal, the researchers found that men whose heart rate increased the most during mild mental stress just before an exercise test had twice the risk of dying of a sudden heart attack in later life than men whose heart rate did not increase as much.

The study is the first to discover this association and since taking a patient’s pulse is an easy and inexpensive procedure, it suggests a way of identifying people who may be at increased risk.

Professor Xavier Jouven, of the Hopital Européen Georges Pompidou (Paris, France), who led the research, said the findings have significant clinical implications.

“People who showed a higher heart rate increase with mild mental stress could be considered for additional investigations and for tailored preventive strategies, aimed in the first place at reducing the probability of heart disease,” he said.

Prof Jouven and his colleagues examined data from the Paris Prospective Study 1 of 7746 Frenchmen, aged 42-53, employed by the Paris Civil Service as policemen. The men were given health examinations between 1967-1972, including electrocardiograms and physical examinations.

Their resting heart rate was measured, and then it was measured in the few minutes just before they took part in a bicycle exercise test, while they were sitting on the bike; this was the time when the researchers considered the men to be under mild mental stress in preparation for the exercise stress test. Their heart rate was measured during the exercise and afterwards during the recovery period.

During an average 23 years of follow-up there were 1516 deaths including 81 sudden deaths as a result of a heart attack. The risk of sudden death from a heart attack increased with an increase in heart rate during mild mental stress.

After adjusting for confounding factors such as smoking, age, weight, physical exercise, cholesterol levels and diabetes, the researchers found that men who had the highest increase in heart rate during mild mental stress (increasing by more than 12 beats a minute) had twice the risk of death compared to men who had the lowest increase in heart rate (an increase of less than four beats a minute).

Conversely, men who had the highest increase in heart rate during the exercise test itself, had less than half the risk of sudden death compared with the men whose heart rate increased the least during the exercise test.

Further analysis showed that, in fact, there were no sudden deaths from heart attack amongst the 440 men who increased their heart rate the least during mild mental stress and the most during the exercise test. On the other hand, the highest proportion of sudden deaths were among the men who increased their heart rate the most during mild mental stress and the least during exercise – 14 out of 471 men. (ANI)

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Scientists identify molecule that prompts damaged heart to repair itself

April 11, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

Washington, Apr 11 (ANI): Researchers from UT Southwestern Medical Centre have identified a molecule that prompts damaged heart cells to repair themselves after a heart attack.

The research team led by Drs. J. Michael DiMaio and Ildiko Bock-Marquette has discovered a molecule called, Thymosin beta-4 (TB4), which is expressed by embryos during the heart’s development and encourages migration of heart cells.

They showed that introducing TB4 systemically after a heart attack encourages new growth and repair of heart cells as early as 24 hours after systemic injection.

In the mouse study, researchers found that TB4 initiates capillary tube formation of adult coronary endothelial cells in tissue culture.

It also encourages cardiac regeneration by inhibiting death in heart cells after an injury such as a heart attack and by stimulating new vessel growth.

“This molecule has the potential to reprogram cells in the body to get them to do what you want them to do,” said Dr. DiMaio, associate professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UT Southwestern and senior author of the study.

“Obviously, the clinical implications of this are enormous because of the potential to reverse damage inflicted on heart cells after a heart attack,” he added.

“We observed that by injecting this protein systemically, there was increased cardiac function after a heart attack,” said Dr Bock-Marquette, assistant professor of cardiothoracic surgery at UT Southwestern and the study’s lead author.

“We hope this protein can inhibit cell death that occurs during a heart attack in the short term, and that it may initiate new growth of coronary vessels by activating progenitor cells in the long term,” Bock-Marquette added.

The researchers will be conducting further studies to examine whether the same events occur in larger mammals and which receptors are responsible for the action of this molecule.

The study appears in Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology. (ANI)

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Kids with older fathers ‘are less intelligent’

March 9, 2009 By admin Leave a Comment

London, Mar 8 (ANI): Are you delaying fatherhood? Well, then you should reconsider your family plan, for a new study has found that kids with older dads perform badly in intelligence tests.

The research, led by John McGrath, of the Queensland Brain Institute at the University of Queensland in Australia, found children with older fathers tended to obtain significantly lower scores in a variety of cognitive tests than those born to younger fathers.

“The offspring of older fathers show subtle impairments on tests of neurocognitive ability during infancy and childhood,” The Times quoted John, as saying.

“In light of the trends to delay fatherhood, the clinical implications and the mechanisms underlying these findings warrant closer scrutiny,” he added.

To reach the conclusion, McGrath analysed data on 33,437 Americans born between 1959 and 1965. All were tested at eight months, four years and seven. The data set, despite its age, remains one of the best resources.

The underlying biological mechanisms are the key questions, according to McGrath. One idea is that as men age the cells that produce sperm suffer increasing numbers of mutations, which are passed on to an offspring. (ANI)

Filed Under: Science News Tagged With: Australia, best resources, biological mechanisms, brain institute, cells, clinical implications, cognitive tests, conclusion, dads, eight months, infancy and childhood, intelligence tests, john mcgrath, London, men age, mutations, offspring, scrutiny, university of queensland