The Cause of the Tasmanian Devil Facial Tumor Disease Discovered

It has recently been discovered that various cells that are situated in the body and help in protecting the nerves might be the cause of the Devil Facial Tumor Disease (DFTD). This deadly disease has had a devastating effect on the Tasmanian devil population in Australia. This study that was conducted by a group of international scientists has shown that finally the cause for the Devil Facial Tumor Disease, a cancer transmissible between Tasmanian Devils and first reported in 1996, can be determined. This disease that spreads through the biting of animals is usually characterized by tumors of regular size mostly located on the mouth and face, often spreading to the internal organs.

The research that was conducted in collaboration with Australian scientists and was published in the journal Science has shown that this disease stems from the growth of Schwann cells, which are usually used for protection of the fibers of the peripheral nerve. The team, led by Dr Tony Papenfuss managed to identify a genetic marker that helped to correctly identify the cause of this cancer that has led to the Tasmanian Devil’s becoming endangered species.

Dr Elizabeth Murchison, an author for the Australian National University said that the discovery of Schwann cells was a breakthrough in finding out more about the disease as currently there were no tests or other vaccines that were available for the disease. Say Dr Murchison, “After performing biopsies on the tumors in the devils, we extracted all the necessary genetic data from them.

Dr Tony Papenfuss and his team identified the genetic signature of the tumors and compared them to other tissues, finding that these signature tumors resembled those of Schwann cells. Says University of Tasmania's Menzies Research Institute, Associate Professor Greg Woods, “The finding of these Schwann cell has been a remarkable step in the right direction toward being able to further understand the disease.” All Tasmanian Devil’s usually develop tumors that are of different types and sizes. These findings will help us completely understand and identify the responsible tumors for DFTD as compared to other tumors that are present.

The research was conducted on behalf of the program “Save the Tasmanian Devil.” This program was undertaken as part of the research project to further explore the reasons for the DFTD. It was also supported by The University of Tasmania's, Dr Eric Guiler’s Tasmanian Devil Research Grant and the National Health and Medical Research Council.

Flesh-Eating Bacteria Catastrophe Can be lessened by Mutant Gene

A simple mutant gene was recently discovered by researchers at The Methodist Hospital Research Institute in Houston that had the ability of decreasing the probability of one contracting the dangerous flesh-eating disease known as necrotizing fasciitis. The study also showed that it was possible to lessen the effect that such a devastating disease had on the body by inactivating a part section of the gene.

Recent findings of this study that was funded by the American Heart Association and the National Institutes of Health, were published in the online editorial of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS)”.

Co-director of The Methodist Hospital Research Institute, Musser stated that this recent study now opens up a world of possibility in relation to studying how disease develops at the lowest level. “Now that we have been able to identify a gene mutation that can directly effect a disease, as is the case with the flesh-eating bacteria, we can go ahead and find out how to possibly create cures and treatments for those that suffer from it."

While it is quite rare, Necrotizing Fasciitis is very deadly. 30 percent of those that contract it die. The most common cause of this disease is the Group A Streptococcus (GAS) bacteria that can also cause step throat.

"Although we knew that single-nucleotide changes were one of the reasons as to the cause for the variation in genetics, there has been remarkably little research and information that has been done in respect to the damaging effects that this bacteria has,” says Musser. "It is caused by some sort of mutation in the GAS genome that results in this Necrotizing Fasciitis."

An analysis was carried out by Dr. James Musser and his team on GAS strains that were taken from those patients suffering from strep-related diseases. The analysis showed that a naturally occurring mutation in this genome brought about the destruction of the face. The study also showed that this mutation resulted in a segment of the gene turning off, thereby reducing the natural ability of the body to destroy this disease that destroys the soft tissue of the body.

By utilizing an integrated systems biology strategy, the conducted study showed that there was early termination of the MtsR protein by the MtsR mutation. It was also observed that the inactivation of the MtsR caused this flesh eating disease.

Mental ability is not affected by Ginkgo Biloba

A newly published study has shown that those adult that made use of the herbal supplement Ginkgo biloba did not show any signs of better mental ability when compared to those adult that received placebo.

Although Ginkgo biloba has been widely marketed as the solution for overcoming and improving all cognitive impairment, usually associated with old age, this recently conducted study has proved otherwise. For a long time, Ginkgo biloba was thought to help in the prevention and ultimately cure various mental impulses associated with neurodegenerative disorders such as Alzheimer disease. Says Beth E. Snitz, Ph.D., of the University of Pittsburgh, "Especially in Europe and America, G biloba was much sought after as a herbal treatment so as to effectuate a termination in the loss of any mental ability on account of age." However, many recent clinical trials that have been conducted have not brought about the required evidence to show the positive effects of G biloba on the brain.

Along with her team of colleagues, Dr. Snitz, scrutinized the observations of the Ginkgo Evaluation of Memory study to verify whether there was any slowdown of cognitive decline in older adults that were suffering from any form of cognitive impairment. In all, it was determined that there was no slowdown through the use of G biloba. There was also no conclusive evidence of it being capable of reducing the effect of Alzheimer disease in patients. All participants in the study were between the ages of 72-96 years and received daily doses of around 120-mg extract of G biloba. Within a span of eight years, the study was conducted in over six different medical centers all across the United States. Different measurement instruments and other tests were used to assess the change in the cognition.

In this study, none of the researchers found that there was any evidence of G biloba having any effect on the slowing down of cognitive decline. Irrespective of the age, race, sex or even the education of the individual, there was no evidence of any positive visible effect on specific cognitive memory domains, executive functions, visuospatial abilities, attention and language.

"In effect, our study and findings have shown that there has been no conclusive evidence to prove that it is possible to slow down the rate of cognitive decline via G biloba. Previously conducted smaller findings had also shown no conclusive linking between the consumption of G Biloba and cognitive performance,” says Dr. Snitz.

Carbon Nanotubes help to speed up Genetic Sequencing

The most optimum mannerism to customize treatment based on the genomic makeup of an individual and to personalize various diagnoses is through the faster sequencing of DNA. This would aptly benefit the medicinal and biological sectors. However today, such faster sequencing remains a very cumbersome process and is not being used in many clinics mainly on account of the large costs that are associated with it, although this might change due to the many different ground-breaking novel techniques.

At the Biodesign institute, the director of Arizona State University's Center for Single Molecule Biophysics, Stuart Lindsay along with his team of experts made use of a single-stranded ribbon of DNA to show the potential of such a method. This DNA ribbon was then used to produce spikes in voltage by threading it through a carbon nanotube. The information regarding the passing of the DNA bases through the tube, known as translocation was then recorded.

These carbon nanotubes used in optics, electronics, nanotechnology, and other scientific fields are cylindrical, versatile structures. Very often, they are made up of carbon allotropes that contain different carbon atoms assemblies, each displaying varying degrees of electrical conductivity and strength.

Most of the commonly used techniques for the reading of the genetic script, required the shredding of the DNA molecule into a thousand pieces after which, each of these sections would be read and then finally reconstructed into a complete genetic sequence by using the power of computers. Approximately 10 years ago, 3 billion chemical base pairs were decoded in what was the first human genome. Although this technique cost $1 billion dollars, it resulted in many errors as per the fragments that were read.

It was then that a newer strategy involving the use of nanopores was implemented. Here, at either end of the nanopores were electrodes that were charged with constant voltage thereby inducing ionic current throughout the nanopore's enclosed channel length. Through this channel, even a single molecule would be able to create a change in the ionic flow. After being electronically amplified, the current is then measured. Recently, many state of the art micro-manufacturing techniques have allowed various researchers to create small nanopores thus allowing many newer types of possibilities in the wake of single-molecule manipulations.

Lindsay and his team carried out a variety of different molecular simulations to find out the reasons for the large ionic currents in the nanotubes. The main hope is that by speeding up the process of genetic reading, it can become possible to identify DNA bases by their electrical current traces.

Utilizing Genes as a Means of Increasing the Efficiency and Effectiveness of Drugs

It has recently been discovered by various researchers at the University of Granada that a particular suicide gene, nicknamed 'gene E', has the ability and potential of destroying tumor cells that usually lead to colon, breast and lung cancer. These findings have shown that gene E could now be used as a means of fighting cancer causing cells thereby forming an effective treatment for cancer.

The research which was conducted by Ana Rosa Rama Ballesteros and her team from the Department of Anatomy and Human Embryology, found that it is possible to effectively reduce the dependency of the human body on drugs while at the same time, increasing its dependency on the suicide gene E.

The study proved that the bacteriophage phiX174 killer gene, also referred to as gene E, has the potential of inducing death in tumor cells. Currently, there has only been limited success and many limitations have been observed with the attempted usage of chemotherapeutic agents that had a similar functionality to gene E. Such limitations mainly resulted from the poor affinity and toxicity of the gene with the tumor.

“At present, we have noted only a limited success in the use of radiotherapy and chemotherapy, especially in the advanced stages of cancer. Our studies have also shown that gene therapy has now emerged as a potentially powerful form for combating cancer,” says Ana Rosa Rama. The recently conducted studies by Ana Rosa Rama and her team has shown that it is potentially possible to induce gene E along with other forms of cancer cure such as chemotherapy, thereby improving results while at the same time reducing the intake of any drugs in the patient. This in turn can effectively reduce the number of potential side effects.

To completely understand the functioning of gene E, the study made use of a variety of techniques that indicated the mechanism of action of gene E was actually to induce and bring about the death of the cells that caused cancer. Hence, it is no wonder that this suicide gene is the best option to target cancerous cells and induce apoptosis, thereby increasing the effectiveness of the drugs that are mainly designed to target such types of cells.

The findings of the research also showed that through the use of gene E, it might even be possible to reduce the amount of chemotherapeutic agents currently used to treat cancer. In respect of lung cancer, the scientists managed to reduce the overall dose of Paclitaxel by around 100 times and similarly attained a 14% inhibition of tumor growth due to the combination with gene E.