Wednesday, May 09, 2007
Monkey, Man-Machine
I never really got anywhere in my "further research" on the bipolar genetics paper I mentioned yesterday, so I'll just go with what detail I have:
A consortium of researchers at the NIMH and abroad scanned the genomes of BPD and control groups and have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder, including one of particular interest for treatment. They identified the DGKH gene on chromosome 13, which produces an enzyme called diacylglycerol kinase eta which has something to do with the pathway on which Lithium works to control mood swings, as a possible target for novel therapies. It's not clear from the press release what the enzyme does or how it works, so if anyone knows I'd love to hear from you (leave a comment!).
Also in the brain, Chinese researchers may have found a key mutation that helped make humans what they are (i.e., different from apes and monkeys). Neuropsin is an enzyme produced in the brain and involved in learning and memory, a longer form of which is present in humans, but not other animals. This group found that this alternate splice seen in humans arose at our split from other apes and monkeys, about 5 million years ago. I really am crap on my genetics, and only having abstracts to go on doesn't help, but I think this is cool so I'm writing it!
And in other news of the not-quite-human, it seems that battlefield robots are rising the ranks of the US army as quickly as actual soldiers: human units become so attached to their bots that they award them medals and even complaining that testing them in minefields is inhumane. Is this a beginning of robot rights? The Three Laws must, to a good degree, go both ways, I think, for things to work out well.
A consortium of researchers at the NIMH and abroad scanned the genomes of BPD and control groups and have identified a number of genes associated with the disorder, including one of particular interest for treatment. They identified the DGKH gene on chromosome 13, which produces an enzyme called diacylglycerol kinase eta which has something to do with the pathway on which Lithium works to control mood swings, as a possible target for novel therapies. It's not clear from the press release what the enzyme does or how it works, so if anyone knows I'd love to hear from you (leave a comment!).
Also in the brain, Chinese researchers may have found a key mutation that helped make humans what they are (i.e., different from apes and monkeys). Neuropsin is an enzyme produced in the brain and involved in learning and memory, a longer form of which is present in humans, but not other animals. This group found that this alternate splice seen in humans arose at our split from other apes and monkeys, about 5 million years ago. I really am crap on my genetics, and only having abstracts to go on doesn't help, but I think this is cool so I'm writing it!
And in other news of the not-quite-human, it seems that battlefield robots are rising the ranks of the US army as quickly as actual soldiers: human units become so attached to their bots that they award them medals and even complaining that testing them in minefields is inhumane. Is this a beginning of robot rights? The Three Laws must, to a good degree, go both ways, I think, for things to work out well.
Labels: army, Asimov, bipolar disorder, DGKH, enzymes, evolution, geneitcs, humanity, humans, Lithium, neuropsin, neuroscience, psychology, robots
Monday, April 02, 2007
Go Play in the Mud
While the BBC article is short on details, some UK researchers have apparently found that playing in the dirt could be good for both your mood and you immune system. An interesting finding, and one that I'd really love to wave in the faces of all those obnoxiously over-clean mothers out there. You know who I mean - the ones who hover over their child's every move, waving antibacterial wipes (breeding resistant strains) and then go home to scream at the maid because there might be three molecules of dust in the nursery (where the 8-year-old still lives).
These are often the same people who demand that the pediatrician prescribe antibiotics for everything, again helping to evolve super-bugs resistant to all treatment. Sinusitis, it seems, may be a big contributer to this problem: US doctors are prescribing antibiotics at a very high rate, relative to the proportion of infections likely to be bacterial as opposed to viral. Much of this is due to a combination of provider ignorance, but a substantial chunk is that patients demand drugs, and providers have neither the time nor the expertise to explain why they don't need them.
On the upside, doctors worldwide may soon have two major concerns fewer to worry about, as researchers move to neutralizing donated blood types and growing organs for transplant. In the former case, a US team has identified a pair of enzymes for removing the A and B antigens from blood, effectively rendering it type O - the universal donor type. While not solving the blood shortage entirely, this would take immense pressure off of the supplies of rarer types.
Second, UK doctors say that they've grown heart valves in culture from marrow cells. If this technology can be applied to human hearts, and is effective, it would set the stage for a major revolution in transplant treatments. Cool!
These are often the same people who demand that the pediatrician prescribe antibiotics for everything, again helping to evolve super-bugs resistant to all treatment. Sinusitis, it seems, may be a big contributer to this problem: US doctors are prescribing antibiotics at a very high rate, relative to the proportion of infections likely to be bacterial as opposed to viral. Much of this is due to a combination of provider ignorance, but a substantial chunk is that patients demand drugs, and providers have neither the time nor the expertise to explain why they don't need them.
On the upside, doctors worldwide may soon have two major concerns fewer to worry about, as researchers move to neutralizing donated blood types and growing organs for transplant. In the former case, a US team has identified a pair of enzymes for removing the A and B antigens from blood, effectively rendering it type O - the universal donor type. While not solving the blood shortage entirely, this would take immense pressure off of the supplies of rarer types.
Second, UK doctors say that they've grown heart valves in culture from marrow cells. If this technology can be applied to human hearts, and is effective, it would set the stage for a major revolution in transplant treatments. Cool!
Labels: antibiotic resistance, antibiotics, blood, depression, dirt, enzymes, hearts, immunity, play, serotonin, sinusitis, transplantation
