“Easily led 'ash-tray': Adolescent smokers prone to drug abuse - EurekAlert” plus 4 more

Easily led 'ash-tray': Adolescent smokers prone to drug abuse - EurekAlert
Researchers Provide Systems-Level Dissection of Regulatory ... - Genetic Engineering News
Denison students getting bug-eyed - Newark Advocate
'Speedy' protein linked to spread of aggressive cancers - Windsor Star
Ag courses should count for science credits - AG Week

Easily led 'ash-tray': Adolescent smokers prone to drug abuse - EurekAlert

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 06:19 AM PST

Public release date: 11-Dec-2009
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Contact: Steve Pogonowski
press@f1000.com
Faculty of 1000: Biology and Medicine

It is common knowledge that smoking is a health risk but why do teens become addicted to smoking more easily than adults? In an evaluation for Faculty of 1000 Biology, Neil Grunberg looks into why adolescents are more prone to substance abuse.

Grunberg describes the study, published by Natividad et al. in Synapse journal, as "fascinating" and suggests it "may have implications to help understand why adolescents are particularly prone to drug abuse".

Nicotine increases the level of dopamine in the brain, a neurotransmitter that is responsible for feelings of pleasure and wellbeing. The study looked at dopamine levels in adolescent and adult rats after nicotine withdrawal. The authors found that the withdrawal signs (physical and neurochemical) seen in adolescent rats were fewer than those observed in adults.

The study provides previously unknown mechanisms as to why there are differences in nicotine withdrawal between adolescent and adult rats. The key here, as stated by Grunberg, is "age alters [neurological] systems and interactions relevant to nicotine".

The reason that adolescents are prone to drug abuse (in this case, nicotine) is that they have increased sensitivity to its rewarding effects and do not display the same negative withdrawal effects as adults do, due to an underdeveloped dopamine-producing system.

Since rats are not subject to cultural influences, "rat studies of nicotine ... have provided valuable insights that have led to practical behavioural and pharmacological interventions", says Grunberg.

The results of this study may not stop at nicotine. Grunberg continues, "these findings might also be relevant to other addictive and abuse drugs".

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Notes for editors:

1. Neil Grunberg is a Faculty Member for F1000 Biology, Neuropharmacology & Psychopharmacology Section, and Professor at Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences, United States of America http://f1000biology.com/about/biography/4168692051025281

2. The full text of this article is available free for 90 days at http://www.f1000biology.com/article/d43fbwjsqtzb3f1/id/1166360

3. An abstract of the original article Nicotine withdrawal produces a decrease in extracellular levels of dopamine in the nucleus accumbens that is lower in adolescent versus adult male rats is at http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/sites/entrez/19771590

4. Faculty of 1000 Biology, http://f1000biology.com, is a unique online service that helps you stay informed of high impact articles and access the opinions of global leaders in biology. Our distinguished international faculty select and evaluate key articles across biology, providing a rapidly updated, authoritative guide to the biological literature that matters

5. Please name Faculty of 1000 Biology in any story you write. If you are writing for the web, please link to the website.

6. Please contact Steve Pogonowski, PR Manager, for a complimentary journalist subscription to Faculty of 1000 press@f1000.com

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Researchers Provide Systems-Level Dissection of Regulatory ... - Genetic Engineering News

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 06:55 AM PST

Dec 11 2009, 9:56 AM EST

Researchers Provide Systems-Level Dissection of Regulatory Perturbations in Cancer

GEN News Highlights

A team of Princeton University scientists has developed a systems biology approach to list the ways a particular cancerous cell has gone wrong. Using this algorithm they were able to systematically categorize and pinpoint the alterations in cancer pathways, revealing the underlying regulatory code in DNA.

Their work is published in the December 11 issue of Molecular Cell in an article titled "Revealing Global Regulatory Perturbations across Human Cancers."

The researchers developed an algorithm to sort through the behavior of each of 20,000 genes operating in a tumor cell and to detect as well as track changes in protein expression. The algorithm scans the DNA sequence of a given cell and deciphers which sequences are controlling what pathways and whether any are acting differently from the norm. By deciphering the patterns, the scientists can conjure up the genetic regulatory code that is underlying a particular cancer.

"At the present moment, we lump a lot of cancers together and use the same therapy," points out Saeed Tavazoie, a professor in the department of molecular biology at the Lewis-Sigler Institute for Integrative Genomics, who led the research. "In the future, we are aiming to be much more precise about treating the exact processes that were perturbed by the mutations."

Pathologists presently examining the tumors of sick patients analyze a small set of tumor characteristics to determine the diagnostic and prognostic class to which the cells belong. The Princeton group believes that its systems biology approach could give practitioners an encyclopedic accounting of the alterations in problem cells, spelling out the nature of the disease in much greater detail.

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fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Denison students getting bug-eyed - Newark Advocate

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 06:19 AM PST

GRANVILLE -- Donyea Moore used to be terrified of bugs. But after spending three months wading in the rivers and ponds of the Dawes Arboretum searching for aquatic insects, she isn't afraid of them anymore.

Moore is one of 23 Denison biology students who participated in an insect survey at Dawes this fall.

The students spent the past three months trapping and cataloguing the different insect species that live there. They will present their findings in an exhibit from 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday at the arboretum.

Open to all ages, the exhibit will provide a user-friendly explanation of Dawes' native insects and the methods the students used to catch them.

"We are excited to see the exhibit come together," Moore said. "There are a lot more insects out there then you think."

Dension biology professor Tom Schultz came up with the idea for the project while studying damselflies and dragonflies at Dawes. He decided to have his biology of insects class do a complete insect survey.

Although Denison students have done insect studies at the Denison Biological Reserve and several county parks, this is the first time they have studied insects at Dawes, Schultz said.

Dawes Conservation Director Lori Totman said she was excited for the students to get involved. Although Dawes has information about a few of its larger insects like butterflies and damselflies, there isn't much information about other species.

"When you think about wildlife, generally our thoughts go immediately to large animals like mammals and birds, but we don't really think about the smaller forms," she said. "This study gives us good baseline data on the insects we have here."

The students were assigned to three different areas at Dawes -- wetlands, woodlands and meadows -- and got to work capturing insects.

Using nets, black lights and traps, the students collected at least 200 insect species, Schultz said.

Because different insects appear at different times, the students spent a lot of time outside of class at Dawes, often at night and on weekends.

"They did a really good job," Schultz said. "It's an arduous tasks, and it's something that's really different from other classes. They really had to rely on each other as team members."

Once the insects were captured, the students began pining and identifying them. They took some of their findings on the road, doing presentations about native insects for local Boy and Girl Scout troops and students at Ben Franklin Elementary School, Schultz said.

"I've been especially happy with the public outreach activities," he said. "There are students in this class who (had) never touched an insect before, and to see them teach something they were afraid of six months ago is very rewarding."

Because different insects are present at different times of year, Schultz hopes to continue the survey and involve some of his future classes in continuing the project.

Although the survey was an educational opportunity for the students, it's also extremely beneficial to Dawes, Totman said.

"It's a great starting point," she said. "It may not be very important information today or five years ago, but it will be helpful to have that information 50 or 100 years from now to see how things change over time."

Totman said she is excited to see what the students found out.

"A lot of insects species can be indicators of good, quality habitats," she said. "The information they find will enable us to manage the habitats correctly and save biodiversity at the same time."

After the students show off their work on Sunday, their collection will be permanently housed at Denison, where it will be compared with similar studies done in the 1960s, Schultz said.

For Denison junior Courtney Ego, working on the survey gave her a new appreciation for insects.

"I don't think people realize all the things that take place in their own backyard," she said. "You might see an insect and think it's just a beetle, but they all do crazy, interesting things."

Anna Sudar can be reached at (740) 328-8544 or asudar@newarkadvocate.com.

fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

'Speedy' protein linked to spread of aggressive cancers - Windsor Star

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 07:31 AM PST

WINDSOR, Ont. — When diagnosed early and treated properly, breast cancer is up to 96 per cent curable today, thanks to advances in medicine and groundbreaking research.

But there are still many barriers in the fight against the disease and that's why supporting new studies and educating the public is so important, says a prominent local cancer researcher, the University of Windsor's Lisa Porter.

Porter gave an overview of some of the latest developments in breast cancer research and current therapy options at a free lecture Thursday afternoon. The biology professor and Assumption University chair in cancer research has been awarded substantial grants for her studies looking at the roles stem cells, certain hormones and proteins play in the development of cancer.

In an interview before the lecture, Porter said the research focus is now on more aggressive and rare forms of cancer, such as inflammatory breast cancer, which develops quickly and is often deadly.

Porter's ongoing research involves looking at types of breast cancers that don't respond to hormone therapies and how they can be diagnosed more quickly so that time isn't wasted trying to treat patients with drugs that aren't going to work.

Porter and her collaborators have been able to isolate a protein called "Speedy" that seems to be involved in advanced-stage breast cancer. Experiments with lab mice show that inhibiting that protein can significantly reduce the growth of the tumour, Porter said.

"It does suggest that it's a really exciting therapy that could be used for these really aggressive types of cancers that aren't responsive to hormone therapy," she said.

"One of the big things that I always try to get across to people is that cancer isn't just one disease. And because breast cancer has received the most funding and the most attention, we really have made the greatest strides in breast cancer. Those patients that are responsive to therapies and are diagnosed early are almost 100 per cent curable now."

Porter said the goal of her lectures is to educate people in the community about signs of cancer and the importance of screening. She pointed out the rare but still serious issue of breast cancer in men, which often goes undetected until it's too late.

"There is a stigma with male breast cancer -- it's seen as a female disease and men are ashamed to talk about it or even consider it," Porter said.

Men make up only one per cent of breast cancer patients, but they are more difficult to treat.

Male breast cancer is usually more advanced at the time of diagnosis and men often don't respond to conventional treatments as well as women do.

"It's important to make males realize that it can happen and that they need to watch out for signs and symptoms because they don't get screened," Porter said.

fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

Ag courses should count for science credits - AG Week

Posted: 11 Dec 2009 07:02 AM PST

New Richmond News
Published: 12/11/2009

A proposed bill that makes some sense is working its way through the Wisconsin Assembly.

The measure would allow high schools to grant students science credits for completing agricultural education courses.

Right now, Wisconsin students are required to complete two science credits during their high school career to graduate.

Classes that qualify as science include the traditional biology and chemistry courses, but any classes dealing with agriculture do not count.

People in this great dairy state should know there's something wrong with the way things are.

Anyone who has taken a high school agricultural course, or helped their kid with homework from an ag class, can tell you that the curriculum is all about science. There is a healthy dose of biology, geology, chemistry, botany, engineering and more wrapped up in every high school offering.

Of course, not every agriculture class should qualify as a science course. But a fair number of the upper-level classes should certainly qualify.

Under the state plan, agriscience courses that meet certain state standards would count as science courses. The curriculum will have to match up with established, expected outcomes from the state.

Wisconsin, more than many states, should know the value of classes under the agricultural banner. Those who choose to study ag-science or pursue careers in ag-related fields will be the ones who provide our state's food supply in the future.

And unlike many of us, who took high school science classes and soon forgot the information that was taught, farmers and employees in agricultural jobs will be using their scientific and technical knowledge on a daily basis. It makes sense to apply the appropriate ag-science classification to the high school courses that gave them some of that important knowledge.

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fivefilters.org featured article: Normalising the crime of the century by John Pilger

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Friday, December 11, 2009