RNA interference (RNAi) has emerged as an extremely versatile and powerful tool in biomedical research. A new study published in the February issue of Nature Structural Biology reports the creation of transgenic mice in which inherited RNAi lowers or silences the expression of a target gene, producing a stable "gene knockdown." This finding extends the power of RNAi to genetic studies in live animals, and has far-reaching implications for the study and treatment of many human diseases.
Scientists at the Department of Energy's Pacific Northwest National Laboratory have extracted part of the human immune system and reconstituted it in brewer's yeast in a fashion that enables powerful machines to quickly identify new antibodies. The advance could have major repercussions for fundamental biological science as well as industries that use antibodies for sensors, biodetectors, diagnostic tools and therapeutic agents.
Exposing rats to low levels of carbon monoxide (CO) prior to aorta transplantation prevents arteriosclerosis associated with chronic organ rejection and can also suppress stenosis after balloon-angioplasty-induced carotid artery injury, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 edition of Nature Medicine. The article is published online today.
"These findings demonstrate a significant protective role for CO in vascular injury and support its use as a therapeutic agent," according to study author Leo Otterbein, Ph.D., research assistant professor, University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, division of pulmonary and critical care medicine.
The National Institutes of Health is partnering research on new saliva tests offering multiple and rapid analysis of salivary secretions for use at home and in the dentist's office, calling for "more sensitive assays" useful in fighting terrorism or war. Oral fluids recently have shown "great diagnostic potential" in a variety of clinical situations, for detection of HIV and monitoring drug use (see the Spectrum Series report on saliva). But progress on this front hasn't always kept pace with expectations. Now, says the NIH, the technology is ripe and the time at hand for simultaneous multi-analyte detection of markers for disease and exposure to environmental, occupational or abusive substances including agents dispersed by bioterrorists.
Scientists have refined a technique that uses very intense light to determine the structure of chemically heterogeneous surfaces with a submillimeter resolution. The description of the technique and its application to the study of varying densities of surface-bound molecules - each about one thousand times smaller than the diameter of a human hair - appears as the cover story of the January 13, 2003, issue of Applied Physics Letters. "Surfaces with gradually varying structures are being investigated by academia and industry for their potential uses in creating cleaner energy sources, designing chemical and biological sensors, and creating molecular patterns," said Jan Genzer, a chemical engineer at North Carolina State University in Raleigh and the lead author of the study. "By determining the chemical structure of surfaces covered with films as thin as a few billionths of a meter, scientists and engineers can improve their properties and performance."
Researchers have found evidence supporting a relationship between SIDS and the 5-HTT gene in both African-Americans and Caucasians. They found a significant positive association between SIDS and the L/L genotype, and between SIDS and the 5-HTT L allele, and a negative association between SIDS and the S/S genotype. This information might eventually lead to the identification of infants at risk for SIDS. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS) claims the lives of more than 2,500 American infants every year, and African American children are far more likely to fall victim than Caucasians.
Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have found that a protein called cytidine uridine guanosine binding protein-2 (CUGBP2) can destroy several different types of cancer cells. When the team inserted the protein into cultured tumor cells, more than 70 percent self-destructed. The researchers found that CUGBP2 helps regulate production of cyclooxygenase-2, (COX-2), which is better known as a key culprit in arthritis.
Although the oceans cover 70 percent of the planet's surface, much of their biomedical potential has gone largely unexplored. Until now. A group of researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, have for the first time shown that sediments in the deep ocean are a significant biomedical resource for microbes that produce antibiotic molecules. In a series of two papers, a group led by William Fenical, director of the Center for Marine Biotechnology and Biomedicine (CMBB) at Scripps Institution, has reported the discovery of a novel group of bacteria found to produce molecules with potential in the treatment of infectious diseases and cancer.
A major technical advance in astronomy is making it possible for scientists to see individual living cells of the human retina clearly for the first time. This will greatly improve doctors' ability to diagnose diseases of the retina such as glaucoma at an early stage, when intervention and treatment can prevent blindness.
Manufacturers of formula milk are violating the international code of marketing of breast milk substitutes in west Africa, say researchers in this week's BMJ. Two survey teams monitored compliance with the code, adopted by the World Health Assembly in 1981 to ensure the proper use of breast milk substitutes. The study involved health facilities, sales outlets, distribution points, and the news media in Togo (a country without legislation on the marketing of breast milk substitutes) and Burkina Faso (which has such legislation).
Two-legged dinosaurs may have used their forelimbs as wing-like structures to propel themselves rapidly up steep inclines long before they took to the skies, reports a University of Montana researcher in the January 17 issue of the journal Science. The new theory adds a middle step that may link two current and opposing explanations for how reptiles evolved into flying birds.
Research reveals that a unique combination of genes inherited less than 10,000 years ago allows the parasite responsible for toxoplasmosis to infect virtually all warm-blooded animals. Parasite life cycles are complex and thought to develop over long periods with their hosts. This study reveals that parasites sometimes adapt rapidly to new hosts, indicating that host-parasite relationships may not always represent stable, long-term associations.
People with insulin-dependent (type-1) diabetes have an increased risk of dying from a stroke, according to first-time findings from a large, community-based study reported in today's rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. Cardiovascular disease is already recognized as the main cause of long-term complications and death in patients with diabetes. The likelihood of death from cerebrovascular disease ? related to the blood supply in the brain and the No. 1 cause of stroke ? has not been previously reported for patients with type-1 diabetes. Previous studies have shown that cerebrovascular death rates are raised in patients with type-2 diabetes (non?insulin-dependent diabetes).
About 40 percent of stroke survivors suffer serious falls within a year of stroke and now research may point to a possible explanation: balance problems while getting dressed, researchers report in today's rapid access issue of Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association. Previous research indicates that stroke survivors are four times more likely than others to suffer a hip fracture during a fall, which can slow rehabilitation and open the door to new complications.
The spectacular aurora borealis displays that light up the northern nights could be powered by a gigantic "slinky" effect in Earth's magnetic field lines, according to research performed at the University of Minnesota. Earth's magnetic field resemble a slinky in that when "wiggled," it undulates in waves that travel down the field lines at speeds up to 25 million miles per hour. These waves can pass energy to electrons, accelerating them along the magnetic field lines toward Earth. When the electrons hit atoms in the atmosphere, the atoms become excited and produce the colors of the aurora. Using electric and magnetic field data and images from NASA's POLAR satellite, the researchers showed that energy from such waves is sufficient to power auroras and that statistically, the waves occur in the same locations as auroras--in a ring around the poles. The work will be published in the Jan. 17 issue of Science.
