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news.Disease management firm GenoMed has filed a patent application on two genes linked to common cancers. These are the first new disease genes the company has filed on since its multiple patent applications about ACE, a "master" disease gene.
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The first gene, involved in copying DNA, was linked specifically to pancreatic and ovarian cancers, which are notoriously hard to diagnose at an early stage. It could help in the early diagnosis of patients at high risk for these cancers, as well as serve as a possible drug target for treatment of these poorly treatable diseases.
The second gene codes for a scaffolding protein involved in building protein networks inside the cell. It was linked to all six common cancers (lung, colon, breast, prostate, ovarian, and pancreatic), and may lead to new broad-spectrum chemotherapeutic agents.
“We still have to validate our initial results,” said Dr David Moskowitz, GenoMed’s CEO and chief medical officer. “The best news is that our conveyor belt for finding new disease genes is up and running. We’re now testing one or two genes a week in our own lab, and will soon be testing tens of thousands of genes at a time through our collaboration with Genome Quebec.”