Gene maps to transform scientists' work on cancer

[khalafalla]

Gene maps to transform scientists' work on cancer
3:03pm EST
By Kate Kelland

LONDON (Reuters) -Scientists have indentified all the changes in cells of two deadly cancers to produce the first entire cancer gene maps and say the findings mark a "transforming moment" in their understanding of the disease.
The studies by international scientists and Britain's Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute are the first comprehensive descriptions of tumour cell mutations and lay bare all the genetic changes behind melanoma skin cancer and lung cancer.
"What we are seeing today is going to transform the way that we see cancer," Mike Stratton of the Sanger Institute's cancer genome project told a briefing in London. "We have never seen cancer revealed in this form before."
The scientists sequenced all the DNA from both tumour tissue and normal tissue from a melanoma patient and a lung cancer patient using a technology called massively parallel sequencing. By comparing the cancer sequences with the healthy ones, they were able to pick up all the changes specific to cancer.
The lung tumour carried more than 23,000 mutations and the melanoma had more than 33,000.
Peter Campbell, also of the Sanger Institute, said the lung cancer study suggests a typical smoker develops one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked and the damage starts with the first puff. Lung cancer kills around 1 million people worldwide each year and 90 percent of cases are caused by smoking.
"These catalogues of mutations are telling us about how the cancer has developed -- so they will inform us on prevention -- and they include all the drivers, which tell us about the processes that are disrupted in the cancer cell which we can try and influence through our treatments," Stratton said.
But the scientists said identifying all the drivers -- the mutations that cause cells to become cancerous -- would take far more work and it could be several years yet before any new targets are found for the development of new cancer drugs.
"Somewhere among the mutations we have found lurk those that drive the cells to become cancerous," said Andy Futreal, who worked on the research published in the Nature journal. "Tracking them down will be our major challenge for the next few years."
Scientists have already identified some genetic mutations linked to cancers -- mutations of a gene called BRAF are found in melanoma and new drugs to block its cancer-causing activity are already in development. Drugs such as Roche AG's Herceptin and AstraZeneca's Iressa also target tumour cells that carry specific mutations.
Stratton said the aim now was to produce genetic maps of all types of cancer. There are more than 100 cancers in all, and each genome mapping process requires several months of work and costs tens of thousands of dollars.
The first 50 cancers are to be mapped by scientists in the International Cancer Genome Consortium, launched in 2008, which includes the U.S. National Institutes of Health and groups from Australia, Canada, China, France, India, Japan and Singapore.
Experts said this was a first glimpse of the future of cancer medicine. With ever improving technology to map genomes, and costs falling fast, the scientists said in future each cancer patient could have a complete genome catalog to help doctors pick the right treatments for individual cases.
"As more cancer genomes are revealed by this technique, we will gain a greater understanding of how cancer is caused and develops, improving our ability to prevent, treat and cure cancer," Elizabeth Rapley of the Institute of Cancer Research said in a statement.
(Editing by Maggie Fox and Charles Dick)
Reuters

[khalafalla]

Cancers kill hundered of thousands of people around the world every year and its causes remain unclear. This discovery open a window of hope for knowing the mechanisms and specific mutations that are heppening inside tumor cells .Knowing the mechanisms of any disease of course will lead to an effective treatment. It is only one step ahead and the road is still long.

Khalafalla

[khalafalla]

To summarize the above article I put it in few points for those who hate reading stuff.
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* Scientists have indentified all the changes in cells of two deadly cancers.
* melanoma skin cancer and lung cancer
* The scientists sequenced all the DNA from both tumour tissue and normal tissue.
* The lung tumour carried more than 23,000 mutations and the melanoma had more than 33,000.
* a typical smoker develops one mutation for every 15 cigarettes smoked and the damage starts with the first puff.
*These catalogues of mutations are telling us about how the cancer has developed.
* BRAF
* the aim now was to produce genetic maps of all types of cancer.
*in future each cancer patient could have a complete genome catalog to help doctors pick the right treatments for individual cases

[drhsn72]

International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) of the Open University, UK is inviting applications for postdoctoral fellowships at the ICGEB laboratories located in Trieste and Monterotondo (Italy), New Delhi (India) and Cape Town (South Africa). Applicants must be nationals of an ICGEB member state and may not apply for fellowships to be undertaken in the country of their origin. Italian/Indian/South African nationals who are resident abroad may apply for fellowships to ICGEB Trieste/New Delhi/Cape Town respectively and must provide evidence that they are working/living abroad. 30th April 2014 is the deadline of submission of endorsed applications to ICGEB Trieste.

Study Subject (s): ICGEB fields of research at ICGEB Trieste are: Bacteriology and Plant Bacteriology, Biosafety, Biotechnology Development, Cellular Immunology, Human Molecular Genetics, Molecular Hematology, Molecular Immunology, Molecular Medicine, Molecular Pathology, Molecular Virology, Mouse Molecular Genetics, Neurobiology, Protein Networks, Protein Structure and Bioinformatics Research Interests, Tumour Virology and Yeast Molecular Genetics. ICGEB fields of research at ICGEB New Delhi: Mammalian Biology: Immunology, Malaria, Recombinant Gene Products, Structural and Computational Biology and Virology, Plant Biology: Insect Resistance, Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Transformation and Synthetic Biology and Biofuels. ICGEB fields of research at ICGEB Cape Town: Cancer Genomics, Cancer Molecular and Cell Biology, Cellular Immunology and Cytokines and Disease. ICGEB ICGEB fields of research at ICGEB Monterotondo: Molecular Hematology.
Course Level: Fellowships are awarded for postdoctoral research programme at the ICGEB laboratories located in Trieste and Monterotondo (Italy), New Delhi (India) and Cape Town (South Africa).
Scholarship Provider: International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) of the Open University, UK
Scholarship can be taken at: Italy, India and South Africa (Italian, Indian and South African nationals are not eligible to apply for the ICGEB fellowship to attend the PhD Programme in ICGEB Trieste, New Delhi and Cape Town respectively. Italian/Indian/South African nationals who are resident abroad may apply for fellowships to ICGEB Trieste/New Delhi/Cape Town respectively and must provide evidence that they are working/living abroad).

Eligibility: -applicants must be nationals of an ICGEB Member State and may not apply for fellowships to be undertaken in the country of their origin. Italian/Indian/South African nationals who are resident abroad may apply for fellowships to ICGEB Trieste/New Delhi/Cape Town respectively, and must provide evidence that they are working/living abroad.
-applicants should be holders of a recent Ph.D. or have at least 3 year’s research experience.
-preference will be given to candidates below the age of 35.

Scholarship Open for Students of Following Countries: Applicants of an ICGEB Member State (Afghanistan, Algeria, Argentina, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cameroon, Chile, China, Colombia, Costa Rica, Côte d’Ivoire, Croatia, Cuba, Ecuador, Egypt, Eritrea, Hungary, India, Iran (Islamic Republic of), Iraq, Italy, Jordan, Kenya, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Liberia, Libya, Malaysia, Mauritius, Mexico, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Panama, Peru, Poland, FYR Macedonia, Qatar, Romania, Russian Federation, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Sri Lanka, Sudan, Syrian Arab Republic, Trinidad and Tobago, Tunisia, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, United Republic of Tanzania, Uruguay, Venezuela (Bolivarian Republic of) and Vietnam) are eligible to apply for the fellowships.

Scholarship Description: The Arturo Falaschi ICGEB Fellowship Programmes are open to nationals of ICGEB Member States only, who must submit their application to the ICGEB Liaison Officer in their country of origin for endorsement. Endorsement is an essential prerequisite for acceptance of the application. Only endorsed applications will be transmitted to ICGEB Headquarters for review and final selection. The applicants must contact the ICGEB Group Leader of their choice to ascertain laboratory space availability and obtain a prior agreement on their proposed research project in order to be admitted to the selection.

Duration of award(s): Fellowships are awarded up to 2 (two) years.

What does it cover? Stipends are calculated to cover the costs of normal living expenses (annually) for one person at the location of the individual host institute (married applicants should take special notice of this as no family or dependant allowance is included in the Fellowship). Travel to and from the host country, medical health insurance cover will be covered.

How to Apply: Complete applications from nationals of ICGEB Member States must be sent to the ICGEB Liaison Officer in the applicant’s country of origin, for endorsement. Complete endorsed application form together with all requested documents should be sent by post. Italian nationals should send the complete applications directly to ICGEB Trieste. Attach the following documents:
-Curriculum Vitae and publications list;
-Proposed research project (including investigation topic/area, problem/hypothesis to be tested, methods/techniques to be used in the investigation as well as details of the applicant’s previous work in the proposed field);
-Written statement from the chosen Group Leader supporting the project and confirming availability of laboratory space;
-English language Proficiency certificate (such as TOEFL, Cambridge Certificate or equivalent); not applicable when scholastic education has been conducted in English;
-Three (3) letters of recommendation;
-Copies of degree certificates, transcripts of degree certificates (if applicable);

Scholarship Application Deadline: 31 March 2014: Complete applications from nationals of ICGEB Member States must be sent to the ICGEB Liaison Officer in the applicant’s country of origin, for endorsement. 30 April 2014: Submission of endorsed applications to ICGEB Trieste.



Read more: ICGEB Postdoctoral Fellowships for Developing Countries, 2014 : 2013 2014 Scholarship Positions
http://scholarship-positions.com