Stem Cells Used To Grow New Skin November 25, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: medicine, stem cell research, stem cells
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French doctors announced last week that they had used human embryonic stem cells to grow skin that may one day be used as potentially life-saving skin grafts for badly burned patients. Currently when someone suffers a severe burn, their own skin cells are grown in the laboratory to provide replacement skin. But this process takes weeks and, while patients wait for skin grafts, they can suffer from a variety of complications. Human testing of this skin has yet to occur, with mice the only test subjects so far.
Science Cafe, Tomorrow @ 7pm @ Cafe Semolino November 9, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in FHSU Events, Science Cafe.Tags: antibiotics, FHSU, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas, medicine, Science Cafe, Year of Science 2009
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Science Cafe, Nov. 10, 7pm @ Cafe Semolino November 3, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science Cafe.Tags: antibiotics, FHSU, Fort Hays State University, Hays, Kansas, medicine, Science Cafe, Year of Science 2009
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Study Points to Artificial Sweeteners Decreasing Kidney Function November 3, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: diet, diet soda, medicine
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Research presented at the American Society of Nephrology meeting in San Diego illustrates that drinking two or more diet sodas per day decreases kidney function by 30%. The study followed 3,256 women beginning in 1984. The study compared tests on kidney function taken in 1989 and 2000. Researchers said that while all the study participants were women, there is no biological reason to think the findings would not also hold for men. For more information on this study, see Modern Medicine.
“Man’s Best Friend” Advances Cancer Research October 15, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: cancer, dogs, medicine
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Shetland Sheepdog. Image credit: Angela Bolte
An article published in this week’s edition of PLoS Medicine discusses the important role dogs play in cancer research in the United States. There are approximately one million new cancer cases in dogs in the United States each year. These cancers are treated in much the same fashion as cancer in humans, with surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy. Dogs also have human-like reactions to cancer. For example, they experience a wide variety of cancers and tend to have relapses, just like humans. These qualities, in addition to the fact that they are not treated in a research facility, but in a home setting like humans, makes them better subjects for study than mice or rats. What this means for dogs is that they have access to the most advanced experimental cancer treatments long before humans. Some owners embrace these treatments not only for their potential to save a beloved pet, but for their role in advancing medicine. For more information, see the New Scientist.
Three US Researchers Share Nobel Prize in Medicine October 5, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: medicine, Nobel Prize, telomerase
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Three American were awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine this morning. The winners are Elizabeth Blackburn, professor of biology and physiology at the University of California, San Francisco, Carol Greider, professor of molecular biology and genetics at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Jack Szostak, professor of genetics at Massachusetts General Hospital. The award was for their research in discovering and identifying the enzyme telomerase. This enzyme plays an important role in stem cells, aging and cancer. For more information, see Scientific American.
Two European Studies Identify Three Genes Linked to Alzheimer’s September 9, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: Alzheimer's, medicine
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Two studies, one by researchers in the United Kingdom and one by researchers in France, identifying three genes linked to Alzheimer’s were published in in the journal Nature Genetics. The study by UK researchers identified the genes CLU and PICALM with Alzheimer’s. The second study also identified CLU, but instead of PICALM, the second team found the gene CR1. These three genes all appear to function in the depositing the protein amyloid in the brain — deposits which characterize Alzheimer’s. For more information, see GEN.
New Strain of HIV Discovered August 6, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: gorillas, HIV, medicine
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French researchers have discovered a new human immunodeficiency virus, the first strain of HIV derived from gorillas. The other strains of HIV are all derived from chimpanzees. The new strain, called RBF 168, was identified in a 62-year-old woman who moved to France from Cameroon. Researchers believe the strain is a common one and that the woman contacted the virus from another human because she reported that she had no contact with apes or bush meat.
Researchers believe that the virus likely arose via gorilla-to-human transmission. But, they also said that chimpanzee SIV could have given rise to the new strain via an indirect transmission to gorillas and then humans. Or the new strain could have arisen from chimpanzee SIV being transmitted directly to both humans and gorillas. For more information on this new HIV strain, see ScienceDaily.
Blue Dye Could Help With Spinal Injuries July 30, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: adenosine triphosphate, ATP, BBG, Brilliant Blue G, medicine, rats
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Injured rat treated with BBG. Image Credit: Takahiro Takano/University of Rochester
A recent study finds that a dye, Brilliant Blue G (BBG), similar to Blue No. 1, the dye used in Gatorade and M&Ms could be helpful in recovering from spinal cord injuries. Scientists at the University of Rochester Medical Center injected rodents with BBG after spinal cord injuries. The dye reduced the amount of a molecule called adenosine triphosphate (ATP). In a previous study the same scientists had shown that ATP, after a spinal cord injury, pours energy into injured cells. This overdose actually causes harm by killing healthy motor neuron cells near the injury. While the rodents couldn’t simply walk again after the injection, they were able to move within weeks.
As for use in humans, the researchers know that BBG isn’t toxic because we eat blue food all the time. But, of course, we don’t eat enough to turn us blue, a side effect for the rodents. So, a lot work is necessary before there is testing in humans. Although, the KAMS Blog thinks those blue rats are super cute. For more information on the study, see ScienceNews.
New Drug Fights Cancer in Dogs June 4, 2009
Posted by fhsukams in Science & Math Info.Tags: cancer, dogs, medicine
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The FDA recently approved a the first drug to fight cancer in dogs. Focusing on a fast-growing type of cancer, canine cutaneous mast cell tumors, the new drug offers a potential new lease on life for man’s best friend. Mast cell tumors are very dangerous with the potential to double in size literally overnight. The drug is scheduled to be available in 2010. For more information on this drug, see ABC.
