Channel 42
Science is the answer to everything.

Stem cells are the body’s primal cells, retaining the youthful ability to develop into more specialized types of cells over many cycles of cell division. How do they do it? Scientists at the Carnegie Institution have identified a gene, scrawny, that appears to be a key factor in keeping a variety of stem cells in their undifferentiated state. Understanding how stem cells maintain their potency has implications for basic biology and also for medical applications.

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Recent animal studies have shown that an 80-year old drug once used to treat gastrointestinal disorders can reverse the progression of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and Huntington’s diseases. However, scientists had a variety of theories to attempt to explain how a single compound could have such similar effects on three unrelated neurodegenerative disorders. According to researchers at McGill University, clioquinol might actually slow down the aging process. The study was published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.

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A team of U of T physicists has demonstrated a way to squeeze light to the fundamental quantum limit, a finding that has potential applications for high-precision measurement, next generation atomic clocks, novel quantum computing and our most fundamental understanding of the universe.

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Researchers at North Carolina State University and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have produced the first link between a species of bacteria most commonly found in sheep and human illness.

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Scientists have discovered a new way for bacteria to transfer toxic genes to unrelated bacterial species, a finding that raises the unsettling possibility that bacterial swapping of toxins and other disease-aiding factors may be more common than previously imagined.

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An international group of scientists is linking nutrient pollution in the world’s coastal seas to an increased number of harmful algal blooms reported in recent years. When harmful algal blooms occur, they taint seafood with toxins, cause human respiratory and skin irritations and cause fish or mammal kills in coastal waters. Scientists outline nutrient pollution’s role in this increased frequency in the December edition of Harmful Algae.

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The January issue of the Journal of the American Dietetic Association features research studies focusing on everyday eating habits of consumers. Researchers look at why sack lunches may not always meet the nutritional needs of preschool children and how making time for meals directly influences diets of young adults.

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An international research team led by Newcastle University has identified a new line of bacteria they believe add flavor to some of the world’s most exclusive cheeses.

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Two children have a seizure. One child never has another seizure. Twenty years later, the other child has a series of seizures and is diagnosed with epilepsy. A study being led by researchers at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute is looking at what could possibly happen in the development of these two children that would lead to such extreme variations in their neurologic health.

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Research on the mechanisms involved in neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s, stroke, dementia, Parkinson’s and multiple sclerosis, to name a few, has taken a step forward thanks to the work of researchers who have successfully demonstrated the protective and reparative role of apolipoprotein D, or ApoD, in neurodegenerative diseases. Their discovery suggests interesting avenues for preventing and slowing the progression of this type of illness.

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