This Week's News
Researchers at the University of Bath in England have successfully turned liver cells into pancreatic cells. They did this by inserting an 'identity' gene into the liver cells that basically tells them to stop being liver and to change into pancreas. Once the cells become pancreas, the gene switches off. Potentially, this capability might allow us to treat diabetes by taking a sample of a patient's liver, inserting the gene, changing it to functional pancreas, and transplanting the new pancreatic tissue in place of the defective tissue. The pancreas is responsible for producing insulin. The inability to do so effectively results in diabetes. Read more
here.
Modified ink-jet printers are being used to print 3-D cellular structures. Until now, printing of living tissue has been relegated to 2-D arrays of cellular material. This marks a huge step for the development of technology to create entire organs. It is the researchers hope that they will be able to create blood vessels and circulatory systems that are the key to nourishing and maintaining whole organs. Read more
here.
Archaeologists in China have uncovered the remains of a previously unknown, winged dinosaur, the
Microraptor gui. This dinosaur is thought to be one of the missing links in the story of bird flight. However, with its 2 pairs of wings, it hardly resembles the birds of today. The fossil remains suggest that birds might have evolved flight in a tree-down fashion instead of from the ground-up. Read more
here.
Researchers are using sensors in interesting ways to study the oceans. In one study, Norweigian scientists have placed sensors on the backs of White whales in order to collect data about the conditions beneath the ice in the Arctic. Since the whales dive deeper than humans are able to, it makes sense that they become natural research vessels. When they surface, information collected by the sensors is transmitted via satellite to the researchers' computers. Similarly, in order to study the conditions that cause red tides to flourish in the Gulf of Mexico, scientists have designed special water-faring gliders to collect data for them. The gliders will slowly glide from the surface of the water to the sea floor and then float back to the surface. They will repeat this process continually until they are retrieved by the researchers. And, like the whales, the data they collect will be sent to the researchers via satellite each time they surface. Read more
here here or
here.
Lean mice at Harvard Medical School ate all they liked, never gained weight, and lived longer than control mice. Is this the dieters holy grail? Probably not. The researchers involved had to make the mice lean by disrupting their fat cells ability to react with insulin. Fat cells need insulin to start the fat storage signal. If fat cells can't react with insulin, there is no fat storage. Although, the mice did live longer, it is not known whether they lived better than their control counterparts. Such a study is a long way from being attempted in humans. Read more
here.
current science news posted by Kirsten at 1/28/2003 05:16:00 PM
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