The three blind mice might not have to stay that way much longer. British scientists have shown for the first time that they can improve vision in rodents—by transplanting light-sensitive cells into their eyes. The research could lead to new treatments for millions of people suffering from common forms of blindness, such as retinitis pigmentosa and age-related macular degeneration, says Rachael Pearson, a Royal Society Research Fellow at University College London.The achievement was hailed by biologist Stephen Rose, chief research officer of the Foundation Fighting Blindness, a private ... Read More
Mouse-Infest Destiny
November 1, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
UNTIL A FEW WEEKS AGO I didn’t have the slightest interest in mouse urine. But after some study I’ve concluded that it is covertly running and ruining the world, strangling small children, and driving the profits of Big Pharma. I came to know mouse urine, the molecules of which are known as MUPs (Major Urinary Proteins), and specifically as Mus m 1, because the molecules were stubbornly clinging to the studs of a cabin that I recently bought. Though I didn’t yet know the molecular names or weights of my MUPs, I knew they were there. Mice had burrowed through the cabin’s fiberglass ... Read More
Vibrating Mice Shake Up the Fight Against Diabetes
October 24, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
In a case of genuine good vibrations, a daily shake-up may help stave off diabetes in over-eating young people. It works in young mice, at any rate, and it works well, says Georgia Health Sciences University’s Dr. Jack C. Yu. The shaking is a 20-minute session of whole-body vibration developed by the Soviet Union’s space program to prevent muscle and bone loss during long periods of weightlessness. Its reception since has been mixed: Biomechanical stimulation has since been linked to a number of positive effects, such as improved strength and reduced bone loss, even as studies have ... Read More
The Neurobiology of Fear
September 14, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Fear, like fire, is our friend when it isn’t raging out of control. Awareness of a potential threat activates the famous fight-or-flight impulse, facilitating a quick response. Once we realize the fright was actually a false alarm—that wasn’t a burglar you heard downstairs, just the cat—we rapidly return to a state of repose. But too often, people suffering from anxiety disorders fail to respond to the all-clear signal. This leaves them in an ongoing state of heightened tension, which—if it lasts long enough, or gets triggered often enough—can take a severe physical and mental ... Read More
‘The Pill’ for Men
August 16, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Some 10.7 million American women take an oral contraceptive and soon, many men might, too. Researchers at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute recently found a compound that makes male mice reversibly infertile without stunting their sex drive. Two years ago, researchers at Dana-Farber created a hybrid molecule that was able to inhibit BRD4, a cancer-causing gene. Soon the researchers learned that the molecule, named JQ1, also inhibits another protein, BRDT, which is crucial for the development of mature sperm. “We wondered, could the JQ1 molecule, intended initially for cancer, have ... Read More
From AT&T to ADHD
June 29, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Dr. Hugh Taylor was curious when he read a report saying mothers of kids with behavioral problems seem to spend a lot of time on cell phones. Did the moms’ chatty habits affect the children’s behavior, he wondered, or could cell phones themselves somehow cause the kid’s attention deficit disorders? Taylor, a Yale School of Medicine professor who studies fetal development, decided to find out. So he got cell phones for 33 expecting mice. The professor suspended the phones a few inches above the rodents' feeding bottles. Then he left them on an active, though silent, call for the ... Read More
Apples: An Anti-Obesity Pill?
June 21, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Could an apple a day help keep obesity away? In a new study, researchers at the University of Iowa found that ursolic acid, a compound found in the waxy skin of apples, increased muscle mass and reduced total body weight. The researchers put two groups of mice on high-fat diets where 55% of their calories came from fat. But for one of the groups, researchers added an ursolic acid supplement to their diet. The mice that had the supplement developed more muscle mass, were able to exercise longer and had an increase in brown fat—a type of tissue that burns large amounts of calories to ... Read More
Rodents in the News
June 8, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
Milk may join red wine in goosing metabolism and longevity —Cell Metabolism via Science Daily Move over, “Madagascar 3”: Now we can see mice brains … in 3-D —Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory via Pop Sci Might skin cells be transformed into stem cells to treat Alzheimer’s? —Cell Stem Cell via ABC News Targeting the brain’s appetite control switch suggests we could flip it to ‘off’ —Cell via ABC News Decades-old antidepressant found to slow colon cancer growth —PLOS One via Focus Taiwan “Rogue” stem cells now blamed for ... Read More
Secondhand Smoke Linked to Dementia
May 28, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
With frustrating vagueness reflecting the limitations of our knowledge, the Mayo Clinic website reports Alzheimer’s disease is caused by “a combination of genetic, lifestyle and environmental factors.” Newly published research provides evidence that one of those environmental factors may be secondhand cigarette smoke. Researchers in Hong Kong report chronic exposure to smoky air apparently affected the brains of rats. “These changes might serve as evidence of early phases of neurodegeneration,” they write in the online journal PLoS ONE, “and may explain why smoking can ... Read More
Less Intestines, Less Diabetes
May 23, 2012 • By • Leave a Comment
By surgically removing a portion of the small intestines of a group of rats with type-1 diabetes, researchers were able to greatly lessen some of the disease’s effects. The surgery, which eliminated the upper portion of the digestive tract, activated what are called “novel sensing mechanisms” lower down, and improved the rats' ability to regulate their blood sugar. At the University of Toronto, Tony Lam and his assistant Danna Breen performed “duodenal-jejunal” bypass surgery -- taking out most of the rats’ upper intestine and part of the middle section. The jejunum is below ... Read More
