Clipmarks | Deepti's 'research' clips

Monkeys genetically modified to have Huntington's Disease

Mon, 19 May 2008 13:14:04 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: One of the two surviving monkeys has developed symptoms including involuntary movements of the hands and face. The other has no symptoms of the disease yet but may develop them later.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Scientists have created monkeys genetically modified to have Huntington's disease in an effort to gain a deeper understanding of the fatal ailment and uncover clues to possible new treatments

Huntington's -- incurable and hereditary -- is caused by a single abnormal gene in which certain nerve cells in the brain waste away. People are born with the gene but symptoms typically do not appear until middle age

Those with the progressive, degenerative disease experience uncontrolled movements, emotional disturbances and mental deterioration

People typically die within 10 to 15 years after symptoms arise

The scientists at Emory University's Yerkes National Primate Research Center in Atlanta said the monkeys are the first primates genetically modified to have a human disease

Of the five baby monkeys born using this process, two died within about a day, another one died in about a month and two are still living at age 10 months

Tags: disease, research, genetics, modification, study

Average-looking men are most trusted

Wed, 23 Apr 2008 05:12:25 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Average-looking men with good manners are among the most trusted, while good-looking men are trusted the least, a new survey suggests

The survey, conducted in Canada and the United States by public relations firm Ketchum Global Research Network and brand development firm MARC Research, showed that men with good manners are considered more attractive than those without

only 17 percent of the Canadians surveyed trust good looking men

Tags: men, trust, survey, canada, us

Mushroom extract may stop breast cancer growth

Wed, 16 Apr 2008 14:41:52 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Extracts from a mushroom used for centuries in Eastern Asian medicine may stop breast cancer cells from growing and could become a new weapon in the fight against the killer disease, scientists said on Tuesday

Laboratory tests using human breast cancer cells show the mushroom called Phellinus linteus has a marked anti-cancer effect, probably by blocking an enzyme called AKT. AKT is known to control signals that lead to cell growth

Phellinus linteus -- called song gen in Chinese medicine, sang-hwang in Korean and meshimakobu in Japanese -- has previously been shown to have anti-tumor properties on skin, lung and prostate cancer cells

The new research on breast cancer, however, marks the first time that scientists have started to understand how it works

Dr Daniel Sliva of the Methodist Research Institute in Indianapolis said the mushroom extract reduced uncontrolled growth of new cancer cells, suppressed their aggressive behavior and blocked new tumor-feeding blood vessels

Tags: mushroom, breast, cancer, asia, disease

Cloned cells treat Parkinson's in mice

Tue, 25 Mar 2008 14:10:33 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Researchers who used cloned embryonic stem cells to treat Parkinson's disease in mice said on Sunday they worked better than other cells

they found that a mouse's own cloned stem cells were far less disruptive to its body than cloned cells taken from other mice

One disease always named that may benefit from this technology is Parkinson's

Tags: cloning, research, mice, parkinson, disease, treat

Research finds networks of genes behind obesity

Tue, 18 Mar 2008 05:26:41 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Overeating disrupts entire networks of genes in the body, causing not only obesity, but diabetes and heart disease, in ways that may be possible to predict, researchers reported on Sunday

The researchers developed a new method of analyzing DNA and used it to discover that obesity is not only complex -- something already known -- but complex in ways that had not been previously understood

people who have a higher body mass index

have characteristic patterns of gene activation in their fatty tissues not seen in DNA taken from blood

Some people have networks that predispose them to diabetes when they become obese, others to high cholesterol and clogged arteries

Some network patterns appeared to predispose some people to so-called metabolic syndrome, in which patients develop a cluster of symptoms including high blood sugar, high blood pressure and clogged arteries

And a lucky few can become obese with no apparent direct health consequences, at least as concerns heart disease and diabetes

Tags: research, health, obesity, disease, genes

Poor Memory in Sleep Deprivation Linked to "Not Seeing"

Mon, 03 Mar 2008 07:33:08 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: However, others appeared to be better off than others at visual tasks, despite the lack of sleep, which might make it feasible to create tests of suitability of candidates for jobs where sleep deprivation is unavoidable. This would probably involve the use of functional magnetic resonance brain scans, which allow us to observe and compare people’s brain’s working patterns in sleep deprived states.

Clip Source: brainblogger.com

cramming all night in the weeks before the test, isn’t such a good strategy after all

New research suggests that poor memory as a result of sleep deprivation is not so much as a result of not getting enough sleep that will allow the visual memory to consolidate in the brain; it has more to do with a fundamental defect of the sleep-deprived brain failing to “see” patterns it expects to

These results could have profound implications for those who have jobs requiring regular periods of sleeplessness, like intensive care workers, HGV drivers, air traffic controllers or even army operatives. Crucial action relying on “seeing” correctly might be an integral part of some aspects of these jobs, a worsening of which is the precise problem when we are sleep deprived. In these situations, mistakes linked to seeing incorrectly can always be ascribed to sleep deprivation

Meanwhile it seems like a good idea to finish our exam preparation way before the last couple of weeks

Tags: sleep, memory, research, study, scientists

cancer diagnosis breakthrough

Mon, 18 Feb 2008 06:34:53 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: The researchers went on to study a length of hair representing 6 months' growth from a breast cancer patient whose hair fell out following chemotherapy. X-ray diffraction at three points along the hair showed clear evidence of the ring at the position furthest from the hair root, a fainter ring at the middle point, and complete absence of the ring close to the root.

"This progressive reduction in the intensity of the ring appears to correlate with the patient's course of treatment and possibly indicates the eradication of the cancer as a result of that treatment,"

As for the reason for the ring pattern, they suggest it may represent "incorporation of extraneous lipid material into the fiber as a result of the presence of a tumor." It may also be that the disease affects hair follicles in some way.

Further testing is needed to establish the accuracy of this methodology as a diagnostic test for breast cancer, they conclude

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Blood test detects ovarian cancer early

In 2005, Mor's team first described a panel of biomarkers that can detect stage I and II ovarian cancer.

In the present trial, reported in the medical journal Clinical Cancer Research, the researchers expanded the panel from four proteins to six, and used a sophisticated assay system to measure protein levels in 362 healthy women and 156 patients newly diagnosed with ovarian cancer.

Alone, none of the biomarkers could distinguish the cancer patients from the healthy comparison group, the researchers report. When all six biomarkers were measured, however, the test identified 95 percent of the cancer patients

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Hair sample may provide breast cancer diagnosis

The investigators "successfully and consistently generated the basic alpha-keratin X-ray diffraction pattern in every hair sample."

Hair from the breast cancer patients produced

the superimposition of

a distinctive low-intensity ring

This ring sign was fairly accurate in identifying breast cancer

Tags: cancer, breast, ovarian, research, study, diagnosis

Gene Research May Help Explain Autistic Savant

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 13:20:21 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: The superior learning ability of these mutant mice in a specific realm is reminiscent of human autistic savants

Clip Source: www.sflorg.com

Mice lacking a certain brain protein learn some tasks better but also forget faster, according to new research from MIT that may explain the phenomenon of autistic savants in humans. The work could also result in future treatments for autism and other brain development disorders

mice genetically engineered to lack a key protein used for building synapses--the junctions through which brain cells communicate--actually learned a spatial memory task faster and better than normal mice

But when tested weeks later, they couldn't remember what they had learned as well as normal mice, and they had trouble remembering contexts that should have provoked fear

The mice in the study had smaller dendritic spines and weaker brain synapses. Their enhanced spatial learning is similar to that of mice engineered to have a mutation in another protein--neuroligin3--that binds directly to Shank1 and is also associated with autism

Tags: autism, savant, research, mice, study, disorder

Lions getting AIDS?? c'mon!

Thu, 14 Feb 2008 12:32:20 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: blogs.britannica.com

some HIV researchers are focusing their studies on the big cats because many are infected with feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)—the cat equivalent of HIV

FIV, HIV, and related viruses, including simian immunodeficiency virus (SIV) in primates and bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) in cattle, are known as lentiviruses

Research on FIV is important in the realm of drug development for HIV, primarily because FIV is more amenable to laboratory research than HIV

FIV does not infect humans and thus does not come with the tangle of biohazard regulations associated with HIV

If these drugs prove effective, they could be used to treat individuals infected with HIV and to treat animals infected with related viruses

benefits of FIV research are far-reaching, and positive advancements in the knowledge of lentiviruses is inevitable, affecting not only conservationists and HIV scientists but also those of us who keep domestic cats as pets

Tags: lions, aids, hiv, disease, research, immunity, cats

Study explains how protein keeps hunger at bay

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 07:36:40 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

Diets high in protein may be the best way to keep hunger in check, U.S. researchers said on Thursday in a study that offers insight into how diets work

They found that protein does the best job at keeping a hunger hormone in check, while carbohydrates and fats may well deserve their current nasty reputation

The study, which will appear in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, looked at the effectiveness of different nutrients at suppressing ghrelin, a hormone secreted by the stomach that stimulates appetite

They also found that eating carbohydrates resulted in a strong ghrelin suppression at first, but ghrelin levels rebounded with a vengeance, rising to an even higher level

Basically, the carbohydrates eventually made people even hungrier than before they had eaten

the findings may aid in future research on the effectiveness of different diets

And the study likely means that nightly bowl of ice cream is out. "That is a bad idea no matter what,"

Tags: proteins, hunger, food, diet, study, research, appetite

BERT And ERNI Proteins Control Brain Development

Tue, 08 Jan 2008 08:17:00 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.scientificblogging.com

Scientists at University College London have discovered how two proteins called BERT and ERNI interact in embryos to control when different organ systems in the body start to form, deepening our understanding of the development of the brain and nervous system and expanding our knowledge of stem cell behavior

The new research published this week in PLoS Biology solves the puzzle of how vertebrates prioritize the order in which they begin to develop different sets of structures. During development, only a few signals instruct cells to form thousands of cell types, so the timing of how cells interpret these signals is critical

An international research team led by Professor Claudio Stern of the UCL Department of Anatomy & Developmental Biology has shown that the first stage of development of the brain and nervous system is, paradoxically, a block on its progression

Tags: proteins, brain, development, nervous system, cells, embryos

Pre-pregnancy weight linked with child's weight

Wed, 07 Nov 2007 11:26:31 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The amount of body fat a child accumulates over time may be related to their mother's body mass index prior to and during pregnancy, study findings suggest

The investigators analyzed body fat measurements for 216 mothers who participated in a nutrition study during pregnancy and 216 of their children during infancy and again at 9 years of age. Their findings are published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism

They found that height-adjusted fat mass measurements among the children correlated with the mother's pre-pregnancy body weight and late-pregnancy upper arm circumference

For each one point increase in the mother's pre-pregnancy body mass index, their son's and daughter's fat mass index rose by 0.26 and 0.44 of a point, respectively

Further research is needed to determine if this association is from the effect of a mother's excess weight prior to pregnancy; the effect of a mother's lifestyle on that of her child; or a genetic factor passed from mother to child

Tags: pregnancy, baby, mother, health, weight, research, fat

...And the award goes to ‘vanilla from dung’

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 14:11:19 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Past winners have included the creator of the plastic pink flamingo, the inventor of an alarm clock that runs and hides and a researcher who reported the first known case of homosexual necrophiliac behaviour in the mallard duck

Clip Source: www.hindustantimes.com

Scientists who discovered that Viagra helps hamsters overcome jet-lag and managed to extract vanilla flavouring from cow dung took centrestage at the 17th annual Ig Nobel Awards

The awards, a tongue-in-cheek homage to their Scandinavian counterparts, were announced during a raucous ceremony on Thursday at Harvard University in Massachusetts to honour some of the more obscure and bizarre scientific discoveries

Among the winners were a British-US duo who examined the side effects of sword swallowing and a Spanish team who finally answered the question of whether rats can discriminate between Japanese and Dutch spoken backwards

Research highlighted by this year’s awards ranged from a study of how sheets wrinkle and how the word “the” causes headaches for indexes to why humans can’t stop eating when presented with an apparently endless bowl of soup

The winners were permitted just 60 seconds to give their acceptance speeches

Tags: ig nobel, award, research, odd, bizarre

DNA uniting factor in Lebanon

Mon, 10 Sep 2007 14:53:48 GMT

clipped by: Deepti
clipper's remarks: Geneticist Pierre Zalloua has charted the spread of the Phoenicians out of the eastern Mediterranean by identifying an ancient type of DNA which some Lebanese, Syrians and Palestinians share with Maltese, Spaniards and Tunisians
A seafaring civilization which reached its zenith between 1200 and 800 BC, the Phoenicians' earliest cities included Byblos, Tyre and Sidon on Lebanon's coast. Their link to Lebanon, has long been a subject of controversy in a country split between an array of religious communities. "Negotiating these waters is a very delicate job," Zalloua said.
Seeking to set themselves apart from their Muslim compatriots, some Lebanese Christians have drawn on the Phoenician past to try to forge an identity separate from the prevailing Arab culture.
"Whenever I use the word 'Phoenician', people say 'this guy is trying to say we are not Arabs'," said Zalloua, himself a Christian. After five years of research, his work has shown what Lebanese have in common.

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

A Lebanese scientist following the genetic footprint of the ancient Phoenicians says he has traced their modern-day descendants, but stumbled into an old controversy about identity in his country

The genetic marker which identifies descendants of the ancient Levantines is found among members of all of Lebanon's religious communities, he said. "It's a story that can actually unite Lebanon much more than anything else."

The marker, known as the J2 haplogroup, was found in an unusually high proportion among Lebanese, Palestinians and Syrians tested by Zalloua during more than five years of research. He tested 1,000 people in the region

Clip Source: www.reuters.com

The same marker was found in unusually high proportions on other parts of the Mediterranean coast where the Phoenicians are known to have established colonies, such as Carthage in today's Tunisia

Many Lebanese were keen to take part in the research, giving either a blood sample or a cheek swab so DNA could be extracted from their cells

Tags: lebanon, dna, lebanese, people, history, phoenicians, research

Indian Universities feature in top rankings list

Tue, 07 Aug 2007 10:19:25 GMT

clipped by: Deepti

Clip Source: www.gulfnews.com

Four Indian education institutions figure in the latest world university rankings, which continue to be topped by the universities of Harvard, Cambridge and Oxford, for their strengths in teaching and research.

The Indian Institutes of Technology (IITs), the Indian Institutes of Management (IIMs), the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) and Delhi University (DU) all featured in the rankings.

The IITs rank was 57th in the world's top 200 universities list while the IIMs rank was 68th. The JNU came 183rd in The Times Higher Education Supplement, an authoritative journal in academia

In the list of the world's top 100 science universities, IITs rank was 33rd, while in the list for top technology universities, the IITs jumped to third place, only behind the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the University of California, Berkeley

The IIMs rank was 68th in the list of top technology universities

Tags: india, university, list, top, teaching, research, education