|
Scientists
Cross Pigs With Spinach
Thursday,
January 24, 2002
The
experiment involved inserting the
spinach gene into a fertilised pig
egg - the GM pigs produced less fat
than normal
Excerpts
from article
describing a new spin on Popeye's "I'm strong to the finish
'cause I eat my spinach" pitch:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
Scientists
in Japan say they have successfully implanted vegetable genes
in a living animal for the first time. Researchers at Kinki
University near Osaka inserted genetic material from spinach
into a pig, which they say will produce healthier pork.
The
experiment, which began several years ago, has yielded two generations
of pigs with the spinach gene known as FAD2.
Research
team leader Akira Iritani said the pigs with the spinach gene
had produced less fat than normal.
"It
is confirmed for the first time in the world that a plant gene
is functioning properly in a living mammal, not in a cultured
cell," said Professor Iritani. ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
Scientists
Develop Possible 'Cloning Alternative'
Thursday,
January 24, 2002
Excerpts
from article
describing research into the possibility that adult stem cells
may be able to be differentiated into any adult cell in a manner
similar to embryonic stem cells:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
An
American scientist may have discovered a cell in adults that
can turn into every single tissue in the body. Until now, it
was thought that only embryonic stem cells could do this.
...
Work is in its early stages but efforts are now being made to
turn the adult cells into tissues such as muscle, cartilage
and brain cells, which can be transplanted back into the patient.
The
research has not been published in a scientific journal. However,
it has been carried out by a highly respected team and received
favourable reviews from those familiar with the work.
...
scientists say that at this early stage of research, it is prudent
to keep all options open. One expert is sceptical about the
findings, questioning the nature of stem cells.
...
Stem cell researchers say it is too early to tell whether the
ultimate stem cell has been discovered and most believe research
with embryonic stem cells must continue.
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
In
Senate, Findings Intensify Arguments on Human Cloning
Friday,
January 25, 2002
Embryonic
stem cells
Excerpts
from article
describing Senate hearings on human embryonic cloning:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
A
Senate subcommittee yesterday heard impassioned arguments for
and against a proposed ban on research involving human embryo
clones, an ethically charged topic that grew even more so this
week with the release of controversial scientific findings.
Yesterday's
hearing highlighted the increasingly convoluted politics of
human embryo research, a field of science that proponents believe
will lead to an exciting new era of regenerative medicine and
that opponents decry as unethical.
... Scientific and political currents collided again yesterday
when proponents of a ban touted new evidence that bone marrow
cells taken from adults might have the same curative potential
as embryo cells -- and as the scientist who led that research
countered that her work was being misinterpreted to suit legislative
agendas.
"Even
though we're excited about the fact that there seem to be cells
in adult tissue that seem to have greater potential than we
thought, it's too soon to say they have the same potential and
capabilities as embryo cells," said Catherine M. Verfaillie,
the University of Minnesota biologist who led the recent studies.
Verfaillie
opposes any ban on embryo research. The new work, she said,
"does not mean we should eliminate a whole line of research."
...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
Antioxidant
Prevents Type 1 Diabetes In Mice
Friday,
January 25, 2002
Excerpts
from article
describing the possibility that type 1 diabetes may some day
be a preventable disease and that the chances of organ transplant
rejection may some day be decreased though the use of a synthetic
antioxidant:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
A
new study shows that a synthetic antioxidant can delay and prevent
the onset of autoimmune diabetes in mice.
The
antioxidant protected insulin-producing beta cells from lethal
oxygen radicals generated in diabetes.
To
the researchers’ surprise, the antioxidant also blocked
the ability of the immune system to recognize beta cells, the
target of the autoimmune attack in diabetes.
The findings ... suggest that antioxidants may be useful against
diabetes as well as other autoimmune diseases and organ-transplant
rejections.
“These data show that antioxidants protect against diabetes
on two fronts. They not only mop up destructive oxygen radicals,
but also alter the immune response.”
... “That suggests the intriguing possibility that we might
one day treat a variety of autoimmune diseases by altering the
oxidant/antioxidant balance of immune system.”
In
autoimmune, or type 1, diabetes, the immune system mistakenly
recognizes beta cells as foreign invaders and initiates an attack
against them.
During
the attack, inflammatory cells release oxygen radicals that
damage beta cells and eventually cause them to die.
As
increasing numbers of beta cells are destroyed, the body produces
less and less insulin, leading to diabetes.
Approximately
1 million people in the U.S. have type 1 diabetes, and about
30,000 new cases are diagnosed each year. ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
|
Unfertilised
Monkey Eggs Give Stem Cells
Saturday,
January 26, 2002
Excerpts
from article
describing the use of parthenogenesis to yield stem cells in
monkeys (for references to parthenogenesis, see the 112401
and 112601
issues of the Pro-Humanist FREELOVER Daily) ...
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
US
scientists have given details of how they managed to get the
unfertilised eggs of monkeys to start dividing like embryos
- a process known as parthenogenesis - and then "harvest"
them for special cells.
Parthenogenesis is well documented in insects and lizards but
is not normal in higher animals.
The researchers ... are trying to develop the technique in humans.
They
believe parthenogenic embryos could provide a useful source
of stem cells. ... Researchers think that because parthenotes
are incapable of developing into a foetus, their use may bypass
some of the ethical objections that have dogged current experiments
on normal embryos.
...
Parthenotes have been created from mice eggs - and even monkey
eggs before. But this new research ... goes a few steps further.
Chemical
triggers directed the
development of stem cells
It
shows that 77 monkey eggs were exposed to chemicals designed
to make them think they had been fertilised by sperm. Twenty-eight
of the eggs started dividing like embryos, with four continuing
the development up to the blastocyst stage, where researchers
can extract the stem cells that are the "parents"
of all the tissues in the body.
The
research team used more chemical triggers to direct their monkey
stem cells into becoming muscle and fat cells and even beating
heart cells. But ... the most remarkable differentiation was
the development of neurons that produced the important brain
chemical lacking in Parkinson's sufferers, dopamine.
...
The monkey stem cells were also injected into living mice to
further demonstrate that they could develop into useful cell
types.
...
"The potential clinical applications include treatment
of diseases where specific cell types have become dysfunctional,"
he said. "These diseases include a broad array of medical
problems, such as Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases, heart
disease and diabetes."
...
But such applications would most probably be limited only to
women of reproductive age. Men do not produce eggs and to transplant
into them tissues derived from parthenotes containing a female
genetic "signature" would invite rejection. ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
Throwing
the DNA Switch
Wednesday,
January 30, 2002
Excerpts
from article
detailing the capability to manipulate DNA, an advance which
may some day lead to a cure for genetic diseases such as cancer:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
With
the kind of precision that makes engineers drool, scientists
can now manipulate DNA using remote control. By
the mere flick of a switch, they can make small loops of the
"life molecule" snap open and shut. This could advance
the treatment of certain life threatening diseases in the future.
In
particular, it might eventually enable doctors to switch genes
on and off at will which, in theory, could revolutionise the
way cancers are tackled. The
development is the latest example of so called nano-engineering,
which involves the fabrication and control of structures that
measure just a few millionths of a millimetre across.
...
"One could even imagine turning genes on and off electronically
in the future" ... And that, in a sentence, is the holy grail
of many research doctors. One of the most feared diseases could
be treated with far greater efficiency if this kind of control
was possible.
Cancer
occurs when oncogenes, the accelerators, get out of control, causing
massive cell growth; or when suppressor genes, the brakes, jam
and fail to stop it.
"If
you could control these genes, you could control cancer,"
Dr Wassan told BBC News Online. By turning off overactive accelerator
genes or turning on faulty brake genes the disease could, theoretically,
be cured.
The
therapeutic application is a long way off, but this discovery
is undeniably a step in the right direction. "It sounds
ingenious." ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
Hundreds
Missing After Lagos Blasts
Wednesday,
January 30, 2002
Excerpts
from article
describing the devastating loss of human life due to an explosion
at a military armoury in Nigeria:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
The
Nigerian Red Cross says more than 1,000 people are still missing
in Lagos - three days after explosions at a military armoury
which caused more than 600 deaths. Most
of the missing are young children ... aged between four and
11 years.
Public
anger turned on the military after the devastating blasts which
sent shells, bombs and rockets raining down over the city.
The
biggest loss of life occurred when hundreds of people fleeing
the area ran into a canal and drowned. ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
Gene
Chips Predict Breast Cancer Outcome
Thursday,
January 31, 2002
Excerpts
from article
describing the experimental use of gene profiling to attempt
to ascertain the type of breast cancer tumour an individual
has, thereby allowing the proper treatment to be applied:
-
- - begin excerpts - - -
Faint
dots glowing on thumbnails of glass could help diagnose and
treat breast cancer. By revealing which genes are switched on
in tumours, the dots may help doctors tailor therapy to maximize
its effectiveness and minimize side-effects.
One in
ten women in the United States and Britain get breast cancer;
half die from it.
... most women receive a toxic combination of hormone treatment
and chemotherapy, in case cancer cells lurk elsewhere in their
bodies. Yet
only about 20% of women have tumours aggressive enough to require
this worst-case-scenario therapy. "The rest would be cured
by radiotherapy and surgery alone."
...
Stephen Friend ... and his colleagues have developed a way to
recognise aggressive tumours from the genes they express. If
it works in the clinic, the technique should "significantly
reduce the number of patients who receive unnecessary treatment",
says Friend.
...
painting a tumour's genetic portrait is almost certainly the
future of oncology, says Aparicio. In nearly all cancers, classifying
what kind of tumour a person has is crucial to their long-term
survival. ...
-
- - end excerpts - - -
Source:
|
