When Canadian science graduate Christopher Charles visited Cambodia six years ago he discovered that anaemia was a huge public health problem.
In the villages of Kandal province, instead of bright, bouncing children, Dr Charles found many were small and weak with slow mental development.
Women were suffering from tiredness and headaches, and were unable to work.
Pregnant women faced serious health complications before and after childbirth, such as haemorrhaging.
Ever since, Dr Charles has been obsessed with iron.
Anaemia is the most common nutritional problem in the world, mainly affecting women of child-bearing age, teenagers and young children.
In developing countries, such as Cambodia, the condition is particularly widespread with almost 50% of women and children suffering from the condition, which is mainly caused by iron deficiency.
The standard solution - iron supplements or tablets to increase iron intake - isn’t working.
The tablets are neither affordable nor widely available, and because of the side-effects people don’t like taking them.
Lump of iron
Dr Charles had a novel idea. Inspired by previous research which showed that cooking in cast iron pots increased the iron content of food, he decided to put a lump of iron into the cooking pot, made from melted-down metal.
During a launch, 300,000 U.S. gallons of water are poured on the launch pad.
Most of the giant white clouds that billowed around the shuttle at each launch were water vapor generated as the rocket exhaust boiled away huge quantities of water.
For people who don’t have time to bathe or access to fresh water, a South African college student has a solution: a shower gel users simply rub onto their skin. One small packet replaces one bath, and users never need any water. Ludwick Marishane’s inspiration was a lazy friend, but his invention will be a boon to people who live in areas where clean water is in short supply.
Researchers at Stanford University have created HIV-resistant T-cells, a breakthrough that, if proven successful in humans, could potentially stop the virus from developing into AIDS.
The discovery was announced in Tuesday’s issue of Molecular Therapy, and according to researchers, could replace lifelong drug treatments and protect the immune systems of those infected.
A new study describes the use of a kind of molecular scissors to cut and paste a series of HIV-resistant genes into T-cells. […] By inactivating a receptor gene and inserting additional anti-HIV genes, the virus was blocked from entering the cells, thus preventing it from destroying the immune system.
HIV works by entering and ultimately killing an individual’s T-cells, leading to a collapse of the immune system. Researchers were quick to point out that the therapy is not a cure for HIV, but rather a method to make patients immune to it.
“Once [a person contracts HIV], they become susceptible to all sorts of infections and cancers, and that’s what kills the patient ultimately–not the virus,” explained the study’s principal researcher, Dr. Matthew Porteus, to The Huffington Post. “So our goal is to build an immune system that is resistant to the virus.”
In theory, Porteus and his team could replace a percentage of a patient’s T-cells with the HIV-resistant cells. As the HIV-sensitive cells would die off, the resistant cells would reproduce, eventually creating an immune system of entirely HIV-resistant cells.
“The body has an incredible way of balancing itself,” explained Porteus. “The virus would have no more cells to infect.”
Currently, doctors use drug therapy to help achieve this affect. But because the HIV virus is notorious for mutating, many patients must take dozens of pills a day for the rest of their lives. Should the gene therapy prove successful, the pills–and their sometimes unbearable side effects–would no longer be necessary.
“If you put one roadblock in front of HIV, it is very good about getting around that,” said Porteus. “What we’ve done in our study is shown that we can add multiple layers of protection, creating what is essentially a complete resistance to HIV.”
The Stanford breakthrough is one of several increasingly positive studies in the fight against HIV. In 2007, researchers in Berlin completed a stem cell transplant on an HIV-positive man that appeared to cure him of the virus. Dubbed the “Berlin Patient,” Timothy Ray Brown is still HIV-free four years later.
“The obvious question is why we don’t we do that for everyone,” said Porteus. He explained that the conditions for such a phenomenon are so rare, that a stem cell cure might not be practical on a large scale.
“But if we can create immune systems that are protected against HIV, you could reach a state where you had a fully-functioning immune system with a low level of HIV infection that wouldn’t cause any problems,” he added.
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, researchers plan to conduct more lab work before starting animal testing. The team hopes to begin testing on humans within the next five years.
New study is a further testament to the hardiness of the water bear
The water bear is the cockroach of microbes; they nearly always pull through when researchers throw them into Armageddon-like conditions. Now it seems that even their unborn young have unprecedented endurance.
The microscopic animals called water bears already have quite a number of accomplishments under their belts. In experiments, they’ve survived the vacuum of space, large doses of radiation, extreme heat, extreme cold, and extreme pressure, giving scientists cause to believe that the little guys could potentially live on other planets and weather long journeys across space…
But to pull this off, they’d have to reproduce. Scientists have now exposed water bear eggs to three of these stressors—extreme temperature, vacuum, and a dose of radiation so strong that exposure to even a fraction of it would kill a human in days. They found that provided the eggs are given a chance to dehydrate themselves and go dormant, surprising numbers that survive: more than 70% of eggs for the temperature test, and more than 50% for the radiation test, while vacuum-exposed eggs hatched at similar rates as control eggs.
In a study published this month in the Journal of Neuroscience, scientists reported on a new receptor target that distinguishes those actively addicted to methamphetamine from non-addicted controls. The images of a variant of a dopamine receptor present a new target for possible drugs to reduce cravings for meth.
The study, discussed here, used a chemical probe that specifically bound to D3 (dopamine subtype 3) receptors. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter known to be involved in the reward system. Using a PET scanner to examine the brains of active addicts allowed scientists to see where the chemical probe was most concentrated. Because the number of receptors has increased in addicts, and because dopamine is associated with cravings, the idea is to block the D3 subtype and switch off cravings.
This could be a key development because it gives a biological mechanism underlying the almost irresistible cravings that meth addicts endure. It is those cravings which drive them to seek out more of the drug, even when they know it is harming them. Until now, the neurological basis for these feelings was unknown, although some type of dopamine involvement was suspected.
The study doesn’t clear up all the mysteries, nor will it necessarily lead to a “cure.” However, it is a step along the path. With a target to shoot for, pharmaceutical companies can now investigate possible drugs to counteract the activity at the D3 receptor. It is likely that other behavioral cues will also remain important and treatment that addresses life issues will still be needed, even if a drug therapy eventually emerges.
The research is also thought to apply to other stimulant style drugs, like cocaine. It is probably not a window into cravings for narcotics however. Morphine and derivatives are marked by significant physical addictions and while cravings are associated with all forms of addiction, opiates probably have a different mechanism.
distinguishes those actively addicted to methamphetamine from non-addicted controls. The images of a variant of a dopamine receptor present a new target for possible drugs to reduce cravings for meth.