Research Uncovers A Biomarker Which Predicts A Relapse in Breast Cancer

In an article appearing in Science Daily researchers from Virginia Commonwealth University Cancer Center have had a breakthrough in genetic testing that can uncover a biomarker that can predict the relapse of breast cancer.

Tissue samples are taken from the site of the tumor. Specimens were collected from female breast cancer patients and with 85% accuracy they were able to predict if the patient would have a relapse of breast cancer.

The studies lead researcher Dr. Masoud Manili said " our findings could lead to clinical trials that test whether using immunotherapy prior to conventional treatment in breast cancer patients with a high risk of relapse could prime the patients immune system much like a vaccine, to prevent the liklihood of relapse."

Caffeine Found To Have Helpful Antioxident Properties In Preventing Disease

In an article in Science Daily scientists are reporting that caffeine has antioxidents that are linked in protecting against Alzeimers' disease and heart disease.

Scientists are not sure what the correllation between caffeine and these diseases are but know the antioxidents have some value in protecting people from certain diseases. Right now scientists have only come to theoretical conclusions about the effects of caffeine on the prevention of certain diseases. Hopefully further research will discover if there is in fact a way caffeine does in fact prevent the onset of certain diseases.

Stem Cells Show Promising Results in Treatment of Parkinson's Disease

Research that is being conducted at Hayang University and Harvard Medical School have shown promising results in the reversal of the disease in a rat model.

Parkinson's disease is a degenerative disease which results in loss of nerve cells. The current treatments available to patients provide only relief from symptoms but cannot reverse the progression of the disease. It is believed these stem cells will have the ability to regenerate and repair diseased tissue.

This research shows so much promise in the treatment of Parkinson's disease and possibly many other diseases that can potentially be treated with stem cells.

Vitamin D Deficiency Linked to Mortality with Pneumonia

According to an article in Science Daily a Vitamin D deficiency has been linked to adult patients with pneumonia. These patients are more likely to die because of this deficiency.

A study was conducted which measured Vitamin D in the blood samples of 112 adult patients admitted to the hospital with pneumonia. The research findings showed higher mortality within the first 30 days after a person was admitted to the hospital. They know that vitamin D is linked to the immune response of a human. They are now looking into the role of Vitamin D and the treatment of pneumonia.

Wild Fungus

A recent research showed that fungus changes the behavior of Carpentar Ants. The fungus grows on their brain causing a change in behavior, causing them to die. A reearch team author David P. Hughes stated that they researched Ant's living in the rain forest in Thailand. During the research they used electron- and light microscopes to look inside the Ant. They found that the growing fungus fills ants body and head causing the muscles to spread apart. Also, some carpenter Ant's tha where enfected and on route could not find their way home. This fungus affects the Ants central nervous system as well, in some cases causing the Ant's to bit the vien of a leaf causing the Fungus to be enriched and outbreak growing through the Ant killing it. It is amazing how this fungus works. Even after the Fungus grows through the Ant's head releasing spores, it is even more powerfull for the next prey of Ant's that pick up the spores. The fungus is going to be used for farms and keeping certain bugs away when needed. For a fungus to have this much control and power is interesting.
http://www.sciencedaily.com/

The Future of Beluga Whales and Bottle Nose Dolphins

Hollings Marine Laboratory has stated that, in tests of urbanized waters, Bottle Nose Dolphins and Beluga Whales who are at the top of their food web have had chemical pollutants in their body. Environmental Science and Technology research team looked at the levels of pollutants found in male dolphins along the east coast. Levels of PFC’s (Perflourinated Compounds) have been high in Beluga Whales along the Alaskan Coast. Data gathered in both studies are expected to serve for future research to retrieve the health effects and impacts of these pollutants on the two species.

These chemicals are human made chemicals that spread globally through water and air. These can cause immune and endocrine effects on wildlife and humans. To test for these chemicals in bottle nose dolphins, researchers collect and examine blubber biopsy samples along the East Coast waters. For the Beluga Whales the researchers studied the liver of the whales. All of the Beluga livers had PFC’s in them which was a bad sign of their living conditions.

The testing of these animals will only lead to future safety of endangered species. As well, the testing will provide answers for testing of other animals in the future. With these chemicals increasing in area, the testing is needed and must be done for a solution to this problem.

http://www.sciencenews.org/

Not far from the Arctic Circle, Stone Age tool makers left hard evidence to understand. Artifacts found in this area imply that tool makers worked in frigid conditions. The tools that where discovered where a resemblance of cutting tools, and carpentry tools. The time of when the tools where being formed show that the stone-age was very confined. The settlers that made these tools, kept them to themselves with the older stone-age culture being preserved. Stone-Age tools attributed to modern human societies, which as early as 45,000 years ago, include small rectangular blades and spear points. Ludovic Slimak, the finder of these artifacts, explained that the tools used not only by Stone Age people but by some recent hunter-gatherers to kill and butcher animals. Slimak and his team studied more than 300 stone artifacts and 4,000 animal bones that have been excavated since 1996. The artifacts include cutting tools and large rocks from which they have been removed with pounding stones. Nearly two dozen mammoth, reindeer, and brown bear bones, display butchery marks. This was a huge finding in their study of the exact time of the Stone Age. The way they find how long these artifacts have been buried is by measurements of carbon decay in bones.

These studies are great, because we have yet to learn the truth behind the Stone Age. There have been plenty of different ideas of when it occurred. But, finings and studies of this caliber will succeed in our goal to find the accurate timing.

Bacterium

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health have identified a bacterium in mosquitoes that stops the development of Plasmodium falciparum, the parasite that causes malaria in humans. According to the study, the bacterium is part of the naturally occurring microbial flora of the mosquito's gut and kills the parasite by producing reactive oxygen species. They have known from past testing that mosquitos mid gut bacteria can be used to limit the malaria parasite. The resent studies have shown that certain bacteria can block the malaria parasites development through the radicals that are detrimental to Plasmodium. "We are particularly excited about this discovery because it may explain why mosquitoes of the same species and strain sometimes differ in their resistance to the parasite, and we may also use this knowledge to develop novel methods to stop the spread of malaria, says George Dimopoulos, of Department of Microbiology. One strategy is to release the mosquito back into its field and to see if the gut can resists the malaria. The future of preventing malaria would be a huge accomplishment, worldwide malaria affects more than 225, million people. Each year this disease kills 800, thousand people, many who are children in Africa. The research to find the solution to lead to the cure would be a future goal for many Scientists.

Researchers Discover Human Lung Stem Cell

Researchers at Brigham and Women's Hospital have discovered a true human lung stem cell. The human lung stem cell is self-renewing and capable of forming multiple biological structures within the lung.

"These are critical first steps in developing clinical treatment for those with lung diseases for which no therapies exist. Further research is needed, but we are excited about the impact this discovery could have on our ability to regenerate or recreate new lung tissues to replace damaged areas of the lungs," said Joseph Loscalzo, M.D. Phd., chair of the Department of Medicine at BWH and co-author.

As someone who has lost two grandfathers and a father to lung cancer these findings seem promising for the treatment of lung cancer in the future. In the past a diagnosis of lung cancer was a death sentence.

Missing Link for Fungi Found in University Pond

A recent article in Biology News Net claims that researchers from the University of Exeter have revealed a "missing link" in the fungal part of the tree of life. Researchers obtained samples from a pond located at the University of Exeter.

The temporary name for the new group is Cryptomycota that come from the Greek meaning "hidden fungi". Cryptomycota lack a tough cell wall which is crucial for the growth of fungi and how they feed.

Dr. Meredith Jones from the University of Exeter found the microbes . She said " While the first samples used in oir investigation was taken from the univeristy pond, cryptomycota are present in samples taken from all over the world. The huge genetic diversity and prevelence of this group leads us to believe they probably play an important role in a rang of environmental processes."

Warmer Weather Responsible for Increased Prices in Food

According to an article in Science News analysts are blaming warmer temperatures for a decrease in global production of corn and wheat. Farmers around the world have produced 3.8% less corn and 5.5 % less wheat between 1980-2008. This loss in production has created an increase in the price.

The price of corn has risen 6.4% and the price of wheat has risen 18.9% since 1980. Technological advances have increased production of corn and wheat, but according to David Lobel a land-use scientist at Stanford University farmers could have produced a lot more food if the weather was cooler. " For every decade of climate change, it sets you back a year."

These factors coupled with pollution which is linked to global warming will have a detrimental effect to our food sources in the future. Hopefully we will be able to find better sources of energy that are less harmful to our environment.

What Smells? Oh, the World's Smelliest Flower!

The Titan Arum plant, nicknamed the Corpse flower because of its pungent smell of rotting flesh, is in full bloom after 75 years at the University of Basel in Switzerland. According to Bioscholar, the flower was expected to remain open until Easter Sunday.

The eight-foot plant, indigenous to Indonesia’s rain forests, has the largest unbranched shoot in the world. On average, they bloom once in a decade. Collectors and plant enthusiasts around the world desire Titan Arum because of its strange blooming patterns. Twelve of them are housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, in the Princess of Wales Conservatory among hundreds of other tropical plants. When the plants are ready to pollinate, the stem heats up to release a pungent smell, which lasts for about three days.

The largest Arum at Kew gardens weighs 200 pounds and grows at a staggering rate of a quarter of an inch an hour. It guzzles liquid fertilizer and potassium each week to keep up its strength while bedded in roomy surroundings. Sir David Attenborough, naturalist and a natural history filmmaker, who invented the name Titan Arum, was the first to capture it flowering on film for his BBC TV series “The Private Life of Plants”. He dropped the plant’s original name – Amorphophallus – perhaps because of the reference to male genitalia.

I could not help but laugh when I read this article. I found it very interesting that a plant could, in fact, smell like rotting flesh. I would have loved to witness this. I also found it rather humorous that it's original name referenced a penis.

Fixated by Screens, but Seemingly Nothing Else

"My child can sit and watch TV for hours, he can’t have A.D.H.D."

In fact, a child’s ability to stay focused on a screen, though not anywhere else, is actually characteristic of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder. There are complex behavioral and neurological connections linking screens and attention, and many experts believe that these children do spend more time playing video games and watching television than their peers.

But is a child’s fascination with the screen a cause or an effect of attention problems — or both? It’s a complicated question that researchers are still struggling to figure out.

According to the New York Times, the kind of concentration that children bring to video games and television is not the kind they need to succeed in school or elsewhere in real life, according to Dr. Christopher Lucas, associate professor of child psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine. “It’s not sustained attention in the absence of rewards,” he said. “It’s sustained attention with frequent intermittent rewards.”

The child may be playing for points accumulated, or levels achieved, but the brain’s reward may be the release of the neurotransmitter dopamine. Children with A.D.H.D. may find video games even more gratifying than other children do because their dopamine reward circuitry may be otherwise deficient. At least one study has found that when children with A.D.H.D. were treated with methylphenidate (Ritalin), which increases dopamine activity in the brain, they played video games less. The authors suggested that video games might serve as a kind of self-medication for these children.

So increased screen time may be a consequence of A.D.H.D., but some researchers fear it may be a cause, as well. Some studies have found that children who spend more time in front of the screen are more likely to develop attention problems later on. In a 2010 study in the journal Pediatrics, viewing more television and playing more video games were associated with subsequent attention problems in both schoolchildren and college undergraduates. The stimulation that video games provide “is really about the pacing, how fast the scene changes per minute,” said Dr. Dimitri Christakis , a pediatrician at the University of Washington School of Medicine who studies children and media. If a child’s brain gets habituated to that pace and to the extreme alertness needed to keep responding and winning, he said, the child ultimately may “find the realities of the world underwhelming, understimulating.”

This article really caught my eye due to the fact that A.D.H.D. is becoming more and more common among children and teens. Sometimes I feel that this so called "disease" is not a disease at all; I feel that it is somewhat of an excuse. That is my personal opinion. I just found it very interesting that kids with A.D.H.D. use television and video games to feel better. I also found a great article with opinions from patients about A.D.H.D.

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2008/05/21/health/healthguide/TE_ADHD_CLIPS.html?ref=views

Study Suggests a Relationship Between Migraine Headaches in Children and a Common Heart Defect

Roughly 15% of children suffer from migraines, and approximately one-third of these affected children have migraines with aura, a collection of symptoms that can include weakness, blind spots, and even hallucinations. According to ScienceDaily, although the causes of migraines are unclear, a new study in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests a connection between migraine headaches in children and a heart defect called patent foramen ovale, which affects 25% of people in the U.S.

Dr. Rachel McCandless and colleagues from the Primary Children's Medical Center and the University of Utah studied children 6-18 years old who were diagnosed with migraines between 2008 and 2009. The researchers took two-dimensional echocardiograms (sonogram of the heart) of each child's heart, looking for a patent foramen ovale (PFO), a common defect in the wall between the two upper chambers of the heart. Although a PFO is not necessarily dangerous, it can allow unfiltered blood to bypass the lungs and circulate throughout the body. As Dr. McCandless explains, "Some adult studies have suggested a link between having a PFO and migraine headaches."

Of the studied children who had migraines with aura, 50% also had a PFO; this is nearly double the PFO rate of the general population. However, only 25% of children who had migraines without aura had a PFO. Dr. McCandless and colleagues hypothesize that if a causal relationship can be established, closure of a PFO with a catheter device may help in the treatment of certain kinds of migraines, specifically migraines with aura. It is her hope that "our study will help guide future research about this difficult problem."

I chose this article due to the fact that a close friend of mine suffers from migraines. It is terrible to see what she has to go through when she has a migraine. She has them so bad that she sometimes ends up vomiting from the pain. I thought it was really interesting how they related migraines to a heart defect. Who would've thought something wrong with the heart could cause pain in your head?

Scientists Find Five New Alzheimer's Risk Genes

As if Alzheimer's disease isn't scary enough, researchers have found five more genetic triggers for Alzheimer's. As you know, this disease causes severe dementia. According to researchers, if drugs or lifestyle changes can be created to counter these genetic variations, more than 60 percent of Alzheimer's cases could be prevented. However, it appears that it will be at least 15 years before a discovery like that could be made. The researchers say that the genetic variants that they found specific differences in people who get Alzheimer's. Anything from immune system variations to the way the brain processes cholesterol and lipids.

Alzheimer's has become a great problem. It ruins the life of the person affected, as well as their loved ones. Not being able to remember the names of your children is a horrible way to live. I am confident that an answer will be found within the next 20 years. Scientists, geneticists, and all researchers have pooled their knowledge into finding an answer. I think even the United States government will eventually join the full-court press, and aid researchers financially to put an end to a disease that has affected so many people. More money equals more personnel, more equipment, and a faster answer. The longer we have to wait for an answer, the longer people will have to suffer.

Genetics May Personalize Quit-Smoking Methods

Cigarette smoking seems to be one of the hardest bad habits to kick. No worries, there may be help on the way... in the form of genetic profiling. New studies have shown that a genetic profile coupled with your nicotine dependency level can map out the most effective way to quit. Researchers studied genetic blood markers of the people in the study. They combined those findings with their level of nicotine dependency to conclude what available treatment those individuals should use to quit.

As a person who has seen nearly every member of his family addicted to smoking cigarettes, this is something that hits close to home. My father has been a two-pack-a-day smoker for the better part of 30 years. My brother, despite constant warning from both my parents and myself, has succumbed to cigarette addiction. These guys are legitimate chain smokers. I fear that they will one day be the guy with throat and/or lung cancer that can't even speak properly. I wish I could convince both of them to take part in a study like this. Although, I doubt that either of them would be willing at this point in their lives. I have seen both of them try to quit cold turkey, chewing the gum, using the patch, and my Dad even looked into a hypnotist. After all of his failed attempts to quit, I don't foresee my Dad committing to a study that he would view as nothing more than a Hail Mary pass. After all, quitting is difficult.

Study Uncovers Genes That Aid Malarial Resistance

Researchers in the United States have identified 11 genes that malaria parasites use to defend themselves from our modern medicinal treatments. This could be a breakthrough in discovering better drugs to combat malaria. A team from Harvard University and the Broad Institute in Boston used advanced gene-hunting technology to break down the genetic code of the malaria parasite. They discovered 10 previously undiscovered genes that help the malaria fight off modern medicine. The scientists added extra copies of a specific gene to subjects still vulnerable to malaria medicine, and the drugs became less effective as the gene "PF10_0355" built up some sort of resistance to the malaria meds.

This study could be huge in allowing science to develop a better cure to an illness that affects approximately 300 million people in the world, and approximately 1.5 million die from it each year. Parasites seem to be getting more and more resistant to drugs every year. It's not just malaria either. Penicillin isn't nearly as effective as it used to be. It seems like Darwin and Spencer had it right, if you kill off enough of the weaker germs, the strongest ones are going to survive and multiply. Malaria is really dangerous, not so much in the United States, but around the world. It is nice to see that there may be some help on the way.

Study: Genetic Link Found Between Prostate, Womb Cancers

A genetic link between womb cancer in women, and prostate cancer in men exists. A study done at the University of Cambridge, in England, found that certain genetic variants in men and women that either develop or prevent cancer from growing in their respective regions. Certain women who have the "protective gene" are 15 to 18 percent less likely to develop cancer, and men with the gene are 21 percent less likely to develop cancer. Professor Douglas Easton said that understanding how genetic variants influence a person's risk of developing cancer is a crucial step in being able to identify high-risk groups who could benefit from closer monitoring or measures to reduce their risk of developing the disease.

Personally, with any genetic study, there is a chance that we can better understand our bodies. The more we understand our bodies, the better we can care for them. In this instance, those who have this "protective gene" can help scientists unlock a way to treat both womb and prostate cancer. Those who do not have the gene would benefit from the studies done to break down the gene, and see how it protects the body from cancer. As with any gene study, you never know what you will find, and there could always be a breakthrough on the horizon.

Season of Birth May Affect the Rest of Your Life

As it turns out, the season in which you are born may have more of an affect on you than how cold it is when your birthday roles around. A recent study claims that a season can ultimately have an affect on anything from your eyesight to your overall eating habits. Babies born in Spring months are more likely to suffer from anorexia. Scientists believe that there is a seasonal risk factor that leads to a predisposition to anorexia. Earlier studies have claimed that disorders such as schizophrenia, multiple sclerosis, and even type 1 diabetes may have link to some sort of environmental influence. This is just a few of the things that may affect Spring babies, but as for the other seasons, you should check out the article.

I think these studies are somewhat of an anomaly. If a person looks at a sample of data for long enough, there are always assumptions that can be made. As to how much truth that the study has, that is the real question. Again it comes down to the Psychology 101 argument of "nature vs. nurture." Is a person who suffers from anorexia genetically predisposed to it, or is it something that has happened in their life that has lead them into becoming anorexic? There may be some truth to these findings, but as to how accurate these assumptions are... that's really up to the reader.

Pesticide exposure in womb may hurt your child's IQ

Obviously, pesticide exposure is NEVER a good thing. Just another example of that is the recent findings that pesticide exposure in pregnant women can have negative affects on the child's IQ (intelligence quotient). As a warning to young mothers out there, if you want your child to grow up to be the next Einstein, there are certain things you should avoid while pregnant in order to keep your child from being affected. Pesticides known as organophosphates are sprayed on food crops, and can also be found berries, green beans, and other items found at a grocery store. These organophosphates are sprayed onto certain plants in order to keep bugs away. They have been linked to developmental and attention problems in children who were exposed, but they have recently learned that the problem may be originating in the mother's womb. The mother's in the study who were exposed, had children who exhibited many of the same signs of children who were actually exposed first hand.

I find it to be a little scary that pregnant women are already limited in what they can put into their body, but to think that vegetables of all things could be doing damage to the fetus is mind boggling. You would expect that from drugs, alcohol, cigarettes, and things of that nature, but from foods that are healthy for your body? I am not a hypochondriac by any stretch of the imagination, but it seems like there are health risks everywhere you look. It's almost like you can't throw a rock without it hitting something that has been found to be unhealthy for your body. I realize that vegetables are a healthy food, but how is a person to know whether their vegetables have been exposed to organophosphates?

Waist size predicts heart-disease death better than weight

The Body Mass Index (BMI) is no longer viewed as a good indicator of heart-disease. It now being called the "Obesity Paradox." As you probably know a paradox is basically a self-contradictory statement. You would think that a person whose BMI falls in one of the obese categories would be at serious risk for heart disease. However, recent studies have shown that the Body Mass Index is a flawed system when it comes to judging a person's likelihood of getting heart disease. Waist size may actually be the greatest indicator of whether or not a person is at greater risk for heart disease.

I have always heard that belly fat is the most dangerous kind of fat to have. A good distribution of fat throughout the body is a good thing, but when everything is accruing in the belly area, it can become a health risk. I think that the article is right that the BMI is flawed. The BMI does not take into account fat distribution, body shape, or the amount of muscle on a person's body. A body builder would be considered to be obese according to the BMI, but that is obviously not true. As it states in the article: "Even heart patients with apple-shaped bodies and BMIs in the normal range were at increased risk of dying sooner, which drives home the fact that normal-weight heart patients may need to lose some weight in their bellies too..." That seems rather illogical if you think about it, but it would appear to be scientifically true. So keep in mind, belly fat is dangerous fat.

Box Jellyfish Have Eyes, Allowing it to See the World Above

According to an article published on April 28, 2011 in Current Biology, box jellyfish may be more complex than what meets the eye. Though it is well known that the jellyfish is a much simpler organism in comparison to a human, box jellyfish have no fewer than 24 eyes of four different kinds. Four of these eyes, called the upper lens eyes, always peer up out of the water, regardless of how the rest of the organism is oriented. Since box jellies live in mangrove swamps, it was hypothesized that the upper lens eyes help navigate the jellyfish around their environment. Anders Garm of the University of Copenhagen said, "It is a surprise that a jellyfish - an animal normally considered to be lacking both brain and advanced behavior - is able to perform visually guided navigation, which is not a trivial behavioral task. This shows that the behavioral abilities of simple animals, like jellyfish, may be underestimated." Scientists have known that box jellies have a unique array of eyes, which help the animal respond to light, avoid obstacles, and control their rate of swimming. When studied, the researchers noticed that the jellyfish used their upper lens eyes to navigate their way by means of looking at the canopy of mangrove trees. When the canopy was obscured from their vision, the box jellies could no longer get around and did not move. Garm says, "Instead of having a single pair of general-purpose eyes like most other animals, box jellyfish have several different types of eyes used for special purposes. This means that each individual eye type is dedicated to support only a limited number of behaviors. The eyes can then be built to collect precisely the information needed, minimizing the need for further processing in a big brain. The automatic orientation of the upper lens eyes to constantly look through the water surface is a clear example of this."

I thought this article was really interesting because I, like I'm sure most people do, assumed that jellyfish were stupid creatures that cannot do anything complex because of their simplicity. Also, I thought it was REALLY cool that they have so many different types of eyes, each with its own special purpose. It makes sense why each type of eye has only a certain number of functions, though, as Garm said. It cuts down on the jellyfish's necessity to process that information through the brain. So that explains why jellyfish have such a small brain and can still perform complex behavioral tasks, like navigating through a mangrove swamp. I'm pretty sure I wouldn't be able to navigate myself through a mangrove swamp, and I'm much more complex than a jellyfish! Props to the box jellies. =]

Sea Squirts and Starfish and Eternal Life? Oh My!

Researchers at the University of Gothenburg have been studying asexually-reproducing marine organisms, such as colony-forming ascidians (sea squirts) and starfish, to try to unlock the riddle of aging. Animals that reproduce asexually by somatic cloning have special mechanisms that delay aging and provide exceptionally good health. It is useful to study these animals in order to understand mechanisms of human aging, says Helen Nilsson Skold of the University of Gothenburg. There is an enormous difference in the lengths of each organisms' life span here on Earth. Some of the organisms that reproduce asexually essentially have eternal life. For example, there are some deep-sea corals that have been around for tens of thousands of years! The team of researchers on this project have chosen to study sea squirts and starfish because their genes closely resemble that of humans. Skold says that her research "has shown that sea squirts rejuvenate themselves by activating the enzyme telomerase, and in this way extending their chromosomes and protecting their DNA. They also have the ability to discard 'junk' ... and older parts are simply broken down and recycled." In starfish, it was observed that the species that reproduced asexually had considerably better health that those that reproduced sexually. However, a consequence of asexual reproduction is that the species as a whole will have a very low genetic variation which makes them particularly vulnerable to climate change and new types of environments. "There is a high risk that these animals and plants will lose out -- and then we will lose important knowledge about the riddle of aging."

I liked this article because it reminded me of something my Bio I professor had talked about. When we were learning about DNA replication and the function of DNA telomerase, he had mentioned that researchers were looking into how to stop telomerase from cutting off the ends of DNA every time it replicates. If one could stop DNA from being cut off, we would essentially stop aging. This was also linked to a theory about how to stop cancer cells from dividing and spreading. I think it would be a great scientific feat if one day we could stop aging, but at the same time, that is messing with nature and the cycle of life. Everyone has to die sometime.

Article was found in Biology News - click here to read.

Protein Keeps Sleep-Deprived Flies Ready to Learn

A protein that helps the brain develop early in life can fight the mental fuzziness induced by sleep deprivation, according to researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.

The protein NOTCH which is important in early development also has important functions in the adult brain. A study using flies found that when NOTCH was increased the sleep-deprived flies then behaved as if they had a full nights sleep. The study also observed interactions in sleep and to develop treatments that would help the brain resist the mental impairments imposed by sleep deprivation.

Paul Shaw who leads the study became interested in the matter when his group observed that sleep deprived flies caused an increase in activity in a gene that suppresses NOTCH. The found this also similar in humans. The also also went on to show that when the suppressor is genetically disabled, which allows increased NOTCH activity, the sleep deprived flies continue to learn.

At first when I started reading this I really didn't understand why they would want to learn on ways to make people stay awake when sleep deprived. But further in the article it was explained that they wanted to do this for people who had jobs such as emergency personnel or military where sleep deprivation is common. I think it would be extremely helpful for people in those types of jobs. But it also seems a little dangerous to find ways to keep people awake for even longer.

Giant fossil ants linked to global warming

The Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a British scientific journal, published on May 4th that their study "Intercontinental dispersal of giant thermophilicants across the Arctic during early Eocene hyperthermals."

The fossil of the winged queen ant is about 50 million years old and lived in the Eacene Epoch.

Its body is is over 5 centimeters long, which is comparable to a humming bird. The ant lived in areas that had hot climates. The researchers also looked at the habitats of the largest modern ants and found that most live in the tropics. Which they believe indicates that in order for an ant to be that large it has to live in hot climates.

During the Eocene Epoch animals and plant species migrated between Europe and North America through the Artic lands. But in order for these ants to migrate through cold temperatures they believe that global warming occured in episodes around this time allowing for the giant ants to do so. They note that also this will help them understand the impacts of global warming on life.

article: http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-giant-fossil-ants-linked-global.html

I am a little grossed out that an ant could be that big and I still don't understand a lot about global warming. But this article made a lot of sense on the matter.

Selaginella genome adds piece to plant evolutionary puzzle

A Purdue University-led sequencing of the Selaginella moellendorffii(spikemoss) genome - the first for a non-seed vascular plant - is expected to give scientists a better understanding of how plants of all kinds evolved over the past 500 million years and could open new doors for the identification of new pharmaceuticals.

A team of 100 from 11 different countries was to sequence the genome of Selaginella, a lycophyte. Lycophytes are the oldest living vascular plants, which shed pores to reproduce and have a singular vascular vein through their leaves.

Scientists also discovered that the Selaginella is the only plant that has not experienced a polyploidy event, which means it does not create one or more sets of extra chromosomes. It also is missing genes that most flowers have such as controlling flowering and the stages of changing from a juvenile phase to adult. They are unsure as to how it does what other plants can do with its missing genes.

The genome of the Selaginella would help scientists understand how its genes give the plants its unique characteristics and how other plants are evolutionarily connected to it. There research is to help them understand how plants evolved as well.

This article was interesting to read. I really was never aware of how much we still have to learn about almost everything. Scientists are researching so many things and we discover/learning so many important things that will help us later in life.

US removes gray wolf from endangered list

The US has removed gray wolves off of the endangered list. The US government is removing 1,300 wolves off of the endangered list in the Rocky mountain regions. They are also looking to remove wolves off of the endangered list in the western Great Lakes region because they believe they have recovered to a healthy population.

Hunting of these animals will resume in Idaho, Montanta, parts of Utah, Oregon and Washington. They will still be protected in Wyoming as the state still needs a management plan on their population of the wolves.

This has been a legal battle since 2008 since the Fish and Wildlife service took steps to remove the wolves off of the endangered list. An annex was added to the disputed budget bill last month, removing the wolves from federal protection. This makes it the first time Congress has been involved in the removing of an animal from the endangered species list.

I can't say that I like this article, but its sort of sad. We worked so hard to re grow the almost non existent population of the gray wolf and now we want to go back to hunting it. I obviously understand we have to in order to keep the population under control. They are extremely beautiful creatures though.

article:http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-05-gray-wolf-endangered.html

Prolonged Bottle Feeding Increases the Risk of Obesity

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/05/110505083116.htm

http://www.us.elsevierhealth.com/home.jsp?sgCountry=US&sgCountry=US

Experts agree that obesity prevention should begin before children enter school. A new study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics suggests that limiting long term bottle use in children may be an effective way to help prevent obesity. Dr. Robert Whitaker and Dr.Rachel Gooze analyzed data from 6750 children to estimate the association between bottle use at 24 months of age and the risk of obesity at 5.5 years of age.

Of the children studied, 22% were prolonged bottle users. At 2 years of age they used a bottle as their primary drink container and/or were put to bed with a calorie-containing bottle. Nearly 23% of the prolonged bottle users were obese by the time they were 5.5 years old. "Children who were still using a bottle at 24 months were approximately 30% more likely to be obese at 5.5 years, even after accounting for other factors such as the mother's weight, the child's birth weight, and feeding practices during infancy," Dr. Whitaker notes.

Drinking from a bottle beyond infancy may contribute to obesity by encouraging the child to consume too many calories. "A 24-month-old girl of average weight and height who is put to bed with an 8-ounce bottle of whole milk would receive approximately 12% of her daily caloric needs from that bottle," Rachel Gooze explains. She notes that weaning children from the bottle by the time they are 1 year of age is unlikely to cause harm and may prevent obesity. The authors suggest that pediatricians and other health professionals work with parents to find acceptable solutions for stopping bottle use at the child's first birthday.

I found this article to be very interesting, it will definitely make me think twice about feeding my future children from a bottle, even before the 24 month mark. I know not all mothers have the ability to Brest feed but this may make them think twice about that option. Brest feeding eliminates the difficult task of weaning a child off a bottle, and if you skip the bottle all together and go right to a sippy cup or only break out a bottle when it's absolutely necessary (like if you had to leave a Brest feeding baby with a sitter for a few hours) it makes it easier to eliminate them and you would be decreasing your child's risk for obesity. I personality don't think baby's should go to bed with a bottle, to me that's like asking them to be over weight. Just like adults shouldn't eat right before bed because the calories have no where to go and they just sit in your body all night and contribute to weight gain, so I think that concept makes perfect sense. I think is article gives good insight to an issue many parents aren't aware of.

Renewable Energy

As the Climate has changed there are more concerns about our energy. The sun is our most vidal element to our energy sources.The world's top scientific body concluded that renewable energy in the future decades could one day represent the dominant source for powering factories and lighting homes. It is significant that this will be costly, but our future depends on it. With the green house emissions and our global energy systems, the renewable energy is indeed a must for future life.The IPPC released a report recently, the report found that renewable energy — including solar, hydro, wind, biomass, geothermal and ocean energy — represented only 13 percent of the primary energy supply in 2008. But its growth has picked up with half of new electricity generating capacity coming from renewables in 2008 and 2009. This would be a great asset for the future of our planet. Renewable energy is a natural source of energy and could benefit our planet in the near future. With the rise of Global Warming the sources of solar panels, wind mills, and other go green sorces of energy will be important. One corporation called Chevron Energy Solutions changed light bulbsof an entire ton and is estimated to save one million kilowat hours each year. That will save them over 750,000 dollers over the life spand of this project. This just lets us know that their are plenty of solutions, and ideas out there to help with our Global Warming in our future.

Hope for the Cure of Common Eye Diseases.

Our eyes are inarguably one of the most important parts of our bodies. Without our eyes day to day tasks that we are so used to doing would be almost impossible. However in some cases, unfortunate victims of diseases of the eye lose their sight and must cope for the rest of their lives without it. Among the most common of these eye-rendering diseases would be Myopia, or short-sightedness, which is the most common eye disease in the world, and Glaucoma, which is one of the leading causes of blindness in todays world. The Glaucoma gene, Caveolin, was discovered by a team of geneticists at DeCODE genetics in Iceland. The goal for the use of this new gene that was stated was to prevent risk of Glaucoma and to help aid those who already suffer from the disease. "This new discovery will open new areas in research and treatments of short-sieghtedness." Says Professor Mackey.

Eventhough i dont have vision problems i still think this discovery is very important and can be very useful in the future to us. Being able to cure blindness or even just short-seightedness is a great thing for the world. I think this can only have good things to come in the new future.

A Possible Cure for Baldness?

Baldness, or alopecia areata, is something that people have been dealing with since the history of the human species, over the years people have grown accustomed to its inevitability and have accepted it as a part of aging, and a part of life. However, according to researchers from Columbia University, baldness is not something we all have to accept. Researchers have linked the cause of hair loss to eight specific genes in humans. They found out that people who carry at least 16 or more alopecia-associated genes will be at a higher risk of hair loss. To the researchers delight, and honestly, a very convenient coincidence, the exact same genes have already been linked to diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and type 1 diabetes. "This greatly accelerated our ability to think about new drugs for these patients, since so much work has already been done for the other two diseases." Said Dr. Angela Christiano of the Columbia University Medical Center in New York.

From the findings of these eight genes, geneticists will finally be able to cure something so common and simple. For some people balding is very depressing and eventually people wont have to wear awful wigs anymore. I think this discovery will be very helpful in the future and people like Donald Trump wont have to look so ridiculous anymore.The study itself was posted in the July issue of the Journal of Nature.

Turning 'Bad' Fat into 'Good' Fat

More than two-thirds of adults in the United States are overweight, and more than one-third are obese, according to government estimates.

According to ScienceDaily, by knocking down the expression of a protein in rat brains known to stimulate eating, Johns Hopkins researchers say they not only reduced the animals' calorie intake and weight, but also transformed their fat into a type that burns off more energy. The finding could lead to better obesity treatments for humans, the scientists report.

"If we could get the human body to turn 'bad fat' into 'good fat' that burns calories instead of storing them, we could add a serious new tool to tackle the obesity epidemic in the United States," says study leader Sheng Bi, M.D., an associate professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

The Johns Hopkins study, published in the journal Cell Metabolism, looks at two types of fat made by the body: white and brown adipose tissue. White fat is the typical fat that ends up around your middle and other places, and is the storehouse for the extra calories we eat. White fat cells have a single large droplet of lipid, one of fat's building blocks, such as cholesterol and triglycerides.

Bi and his colleagues designed an experiment to see if suppressing the appetite-stimulating neuropeptide Y (NPY) protein in the dorsomedial hypothalamus of the brain would decrease body fat in rats. Located just above the brain stem, the hypothalamus helps regulate thirst, hunger, body temperature, water balance and blood pressure.

For five weeks, two groups of rats were fed a regular diet, with one group also treated with a virus to inhibit NPY expression and the other left as a control group. At the end of five weeks, the treated group weighed less than the control group, demonstrating that suppression of NPY reduced eating.

Then, researchers split each of the groups into two, creating four sets of rats. One of the treated groups of rats and one of the control groups were fed a regular diet while the other treated and control groups got a high-fat diet. Of the rats on the regular diet, the control group weighed more at the end of 11 weeks than those rats in which hypothalamic NPY expression was knocked down. In the high-fat group, the control group rats became obese; those rats in which NPY expression was silenced gained less weight.

Bi says he believes that the transformation from white to brown fat resulting from NPY suppression may be due to activation of brown fat stem cells contained in white fat tissue. While brown fat seems to vanish in humans as they emerge from infancy, the brown fat stem cells may never disappear and may just become inactive as people age.

Bi says it may be possible to transplant or inject brown fat stem cells under the skin to burn white fat and stimulate weight loss. "Only future research will tell us if that is possible," he says. This study also shows that low levels of hypothalamic NPY increase spontaneous physical activity, improve blood sugar levels and enhance insulin sensitivity in rats, but it remains undetermined whether this brown fat transformation also contributes to these effects.

I found this article to extremely interesting. You cannot go a day without hearing about obesity on the news. I feel that this research can lead to a better, more natural way to help those who are obese lose weight.

How to Communicate with an Alzheimer's Patient

Alzheimer's is known as a heritary disease, so watching my grandmother suffer from it, I like to learn as much about as I possibly can, considering some day I may suffer from it. So when I stumbled upon an article about communicating with an Alzheimer's patient, I was intrigued! Alzheimer's patients often struggle with expressing their emotions and thoughts. Give them time when asking them questions, so they can sort through what you just asked of them. They cannot receive and interpret information as fast as they once could.
The best form of communication is validation. Everyone wants their feelings validated, especially AD patients. If their feelings aren't validated, they will feel angry and upset. Remind them of old memories as well.