venerdì, dicembre 24, 2004
:: Scientific American Madness ::Here's one of my favourite magazines... unfortunately it's only available here at a rather steep price and it's too much of a hassle to ship it from the States, thus I'm resigned to reading old issues... lolz... like it's now December and I'm reading the April issue. yet, when one thinks of the time taken by scientists and such to churn out such articles, and the years long of research involved, 5 months is peanuts.
one of the articles actually mentioned edison's postmortem contribution to modern science. apparently, scientists had preserved his brain and cut out slices to examine... and voila, they found that he had more glia cells than other people! hence leading these men to embark on revealing an important function of the glia cells. contrary to what is already known (that glia cells only serve as supporting cells in the brain) glia cells and Schwann cells actually also transmit neurotransmitters (in the form of apoE/cholesterol and thrombospondin)! ATP itself, is also one of the proven neurotransmitters involved. thus, this opens up the possibility of using such cells to provide treatment for neurodegenerative diseases like multiple sclerosis! who knows... perhaps others like Alzheimer's Disease (which so commonly threatens the elderly) and Parkinson's disease might finally have a cure! or more likely, a way to slow down the process.
another article talked about how MRI, that created uniform waves throughout the entire brain matter could be used as a potential form of treatment for those with bipolar depression. apparently, such patients showed improved moods right after spending only 20min in the MRI tube. unfortunately, this does not occur with normal people (who actually react opposite by becoming quite irritated or claustrophobic).. therefore, this potential treatment cannot be used as a single-shot of happiness.
a new company Gryphon, has come up with a revolutionary... it has revolutionised genetic engineering! genetic engineering centred upon engineering of molecules to create synthetic proteins/genes... but Gryphon has actually been able to use other ways to maximise the use of such proteins... and also, managed to synthesis larger proteins than anyone else has managed to before. Eg. instead of manufacturing synthetic erythropoietin (which stimulates synthesis of red blood cells), Gryphon has revolutionised the idea itself, by making polymers that attach to sugars on two locations on erythropoietin such that that the resulting hormone is larger and thus trapped in the glomuerular membranes longer, thus allowing the hormone's action to be prolonged. :) cool isn't it?
ok there's much much more in just one edition, ranging from the sciene of language, to exploration of other planetary systems, the double whammy of pesticides, the gene that makes one alcohol resistant or alcohol sensitive... haha i sound like i'm advertising for SciAm!
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