Gene therapy tool would target free radicals

sea-maid submitted, created time 2 months 1 day (www.sciencenews.org)

Gene therapy has been touted as a possible way to cure genetic diseases, but new research suggests that it could also fight the wear and tear that leads to cardiovascular diseases.

ScienceNews reports:

"To work within this delicate balance, researchers in Finland have developed a way to insert into human cells free radical–fighting genes that only get switched on when free radical concentrations are high. That way, the genes could stave off the worst effects of free radicals without inhibiting the molecules’ useful functions, the researchers report in the September Gene Therapy."

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Rethinking the Wrinkling: Key Genes Cause Aging

jerry submitted, created time 2 months 1 week (www.sciam.com)

Scientists may have been thinking about the causes of aging all wrong. Instead of being the result of an accumulation of genetic and cellular damage, new evidence suggests that aging may occur when genetic programs for development go awry.

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Reactive Oxygen Species Special Feature

sea-maid submitted, created time 5 months 1 week (www.pnas.org)

Dioxygen is a highly important, yet toxic, molecule that reacts in vivo to produce reactive oxygen species such as superoxide, peroxides, hydroxyl radicals, and other related species.

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New drug can protect cancer patients from radiation, but does it have other applications?

Darkfrog submitted, created time 7 months 2 weeks (www.sciam.com)

A new drug, called Protectan, can prevent radiation from causing cancer. Researchers noticed that while cancer cells used kappa-beta-a transcription factor to outlive ordinary cells, healthy gut cells also switched it on when they interacted with beneficial gut bacteria. Said researchers then purified a batch of proteins from the bacteria's flagellae and injected them into some test mice. Said mice are still alive and sniffing, even after what would otherwise be lethal doses of radiation.

The most obvious applications are in patients undergoing radiation therapy

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Rosemary chicken protects your brain from free radicals

jackson submitted, created time 1 year 1 month (www.burnham.org)

A collaborative group from the Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Burnham Institute) in La Jolla, Calif., and in Japan, report that the herb rosemary contains an ingredient that fights off free radical damage in the brain. The active ingredient in rosemary, known as carnosic acid, can protect the brain from stroke and neurodegeneration that is due to injurious chemical free radicals.

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