West Coast Nile
The West Nile virus has officially made it to the West Coast. A Los Angeles woman was treated for meningitis in August. Meningitis is one symptom of infection by the virus. Apparently, she had not left the Los Angeles region in the time prior to falling ill, which rules out the chance that she might have become infected in another state. Ontario, Canada has also reported its first case of the virus. The virus took three years to cross the U.S. from the time of its arrival in New York. In that time ther have been 954 cases and 43 deaths that can be attributed to the West Nile virus.
Sperm signals
Researchers at Wayne State University in Detroit, Michigan have determined that sperm aren't simply donators of genetic material. Until now, it has been thought that all directional signals for embryonic development come from the egg. However, studies of sperm RNA have now shown that there are at least 10 messenger RNA fragments involved in embryonic developmental control that exist in the sperm and not in the egg. Messenger RNA (mRNA) is involved in creating proteins; specific mRNA will produce specific proteins. This research points to the potential for determining the reasons why particular men aren't able to conceive children. It has also been theorized that problems encountered in cloning research could potentially be attributed to the lack of these particular sperm-donated mRNAs.
Joint Allergies
It was reported in the 6 September of Science that rheumatoid arthritis might be a result of an overactive immune system. It seems that mast cells, which are a specialized kind of immune cell that exist in the body's tissues, are the key to the inflammatory response of the joints. Mast cells respond to antibodies as well as foreign proteins. In the case of arthritis, the body produces antibodies that are responsive to a protein in the tissue that cushions the joints. This leads to inflammation and eventual hardening of the cushioning tissue. Until now the step that leads to that inflammation has been unknown. Researchers at Harvard Medical School in Boston injected serum containing the inflammatory antibodies into mice that lack mast cells and into mice with normally functioning immune systems. The mice without mast cells never developed any symptoms of arthritis, while the normal mice developed symptoms within 10 days. They then transplanted mast cells into the mice without them, and this led to development of the arthrithic symptoms. This suggests that mast cells are the link between the antibody culprits and the inflammatory response. This information, if it can be translated to use in humans, could eventually be useful in treating rheumatoid arthritis and other inflammatory diseases.
current science news posted by Kirsten at 9/10/2002 11:26:00 AM
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