ScienceCache
Vol. 160
Feb. 16, 2004
NEUROLOGISTS CREATE A FONT OF HUMAN NERVE CELLS
Scientists have created an unlimited supply of a type of nerve cell found
in the spinal cord – a self-renewing cell line that offers a limitless
supply of human nerve cells in the laboratory. Such a supply has long
been one goal of neurologists anxious to replace dead or dying cells
with healthy ones in a host of neurological diseases. In this study,
appearing in the March issue of Nature Biotechnology, scientists led
by neurologist Steven Goldman then used the cells to partially repair
damaged spinal cords in laboratory animals, re-growing small sections
of the spinal cord that had been damaged. Doctors emphasize that tests
in people with damaged spinal cords or other neurological conditions
are a long ways off. The team created the unique cells by introducing
a gene called telomerase, which is responsible for the ability of stem
cells to live indefinitely, into more specialized “progenitor” cells.
In normal development, these progenitor cells give rise to very specific
types of spinal neurons, but they do so for only short periods of time,
because they lack the ability to continuously divide. With the newly
added telomerase gene, the spinal progenitor cells were able to continuously
divide while still producing only specific types of neurons. The outcome
was a line of immortal progenitor cells, capable of churning out human
spinal neurons indefinitely.
Full story
SMART SOFTWARE GIVES SURVEILLANCE EYES A “BRAIN”
In these days of heightened security and precautions, surveillance cameras
watching over us as we cross darkened parking lots or looking over our
shoulders at airports may seem reassuring, but they’re only of
use if someone is watching them. Researchers at the University of Rochester’s
computer science laboratories have found a way to give these cameras
a rudimentary brain to keep an eye out for us, and the research is already
been licensed to a Rochester company with an aim toward homeland security. “Compared
to paying a human, computer time is cheap and getting cheaper,” says
Randal Nelson, associate professor of computer science and creator of
the software “brain.” “If we can get intelligent machines
to stand in for people in observation tasks, we can achieve knowledge
about our environment that would otherwise be unaffordable.” Far
from being an electronic “Big Brother,” the software would
only focus on things for which it was trained to look--like a gun in
an airport, or the absence of a piece of equipment in a lab. The technology
has been licensed to local company PL E-Communications, which has plans
to develop it to control video cameras for security applications. “We’re
hoping to make this technology do things that were long thought impossible--making
things more secure without the need to have a human operator on hand
every second,” says Simpson. Nelson and the company were connected
through the Center for Electronic Imaging Systems (CEIS), which promotes
economic development and technology in the greater Rochester region and
New York State.
Full story
MAKING OF MOUSE MARKS MOVE TOWARD “MITOCHONDRIAL
MEDICINE”
There sits in most mammalian cells what amounts to a lock-box of DNA
tucked away from the bulk of genetic material. While scientists routinely
cut and paste snippets of life’s blueprint to learn more about
life and to treat disease, crucial DNA within cellular structures known
as mitochondria has remained off-limits. That’s beginning to change,
though, thanks in part to work described in the Feb. 10 issue of the
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Scientists created a
new kind of mouse by replacing the genetic material in the mitochondria
of one species with that from another in a gene-swapping exercise necessary
if doctors are to understand several currently untreatable human diseases.
The work marks one of the most successful forays yet into the manipulation
of DNA in the mitochondria, cellular structures that play a vital role
in creating energy that power cells. “What we call mitochondrial
medicine – how specific mitochondrial mutations and deficiencies
lead to disease – didn’t even exist 15 years ago. Now the
field is in its infancy. The ultimate goal is improved treatment for
people with disorders that currently can’t be treated,” says
Carl A. Pinkert of the Center for Aging and Developmental Biology.
Full story
LASER LABORATORY OFFERS HIGH SCHOOL SUMMER RESEARCH PROGRAM
The Laboratory for Laser Energetics (LLE) is accepting applications for
its 2004 high school summer research program. Approximately 12 students
from area high schools who have finished their junior year will spend
eight weeks this summer working at LLE on projects related to LLE’s
60-beam Omega laser, the world’s most powerful fusion laser. Students
will also attend seminars in the areas of science and technology. In
the past, several projects have led to recognition in national science
competitions, including the Intel Science Talent Search and the Siemens
Westinghouse competition. Three students from the 2003 program were among
just 300 nationwide who reached the semifinals of the Intel competition.
Applications are due by March 19.
Full story
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