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"It is true, and thus the question of whether it is sad or happy has no meaning whatever."
Bernhard Schlink



Science is best when discussed: leave your thoughts and ideas in the comments!!



Tuesday, May 30, 2006

Leaves and Drugs 

Another reason to love tea: a Baylor study indicates that a key component of green tea, epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), inhibits HIV binding to the CD4 molecule (a step critical to the virus' infection of T-cells) in vitro. It's of course unknown how or if this effect will be seen in vivo, but it's certainly a promising result.

Tea leaves are good for you, but poison ivy is nasty. And, it seems, on its way to becoming nastier: a Harvard-Duke study indicates that the plant grows better and faster in high-CO2 conditions, and becomes more poisonous. That means that with global warming (partially due to increased atmospheric CO2 levels), we'll have more poison ivy and it'll be more unpleasant. Thanks, H2 drivers!

A small Penn State study suggests that naltrexone, a drug used to treat drug and alcohol addiction, may help in treating Crohn's disease. Current treatments are expensive, unpleasant, and not very effective, so this could be a really significant breakthrough.

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