Science News (August - October, 1997)

	Science News (August - October, 1997)

	MEDICINE Stanley Prusiner wins Nobel Prize for Medicine The study of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) has generated a large amount of heated debate about the precise nature of the infectious agent that causes these diseases. Brought to the world's attention through the British 'Mad Cow' scare, the TSEs are thought, by many, to be transmitted by a 'rogue' protein called the Prion. October of 1997 saw the Nobel prize for medicine go to Stanley Prusiner who first proposed the Prion 'rogue' protein theory. However this particular Nobel award has generated a large amount of controversy amongst fellow scientists. The polemic centers around whether it has been demonstrated conclusively that the Prion is the infectious agent responsible for Mad Cow disease and other TSEs. The alternative is that like most other infections the TSEs are caused by a virus or bacteria. If such a TSE-causing virus were involved, viral and bacterial genetic material such as RNA and DNA would be present. So far such genetic material has not been found but this does not necessarily mean that it is non-existent. Nevertheless the chairman of the Nobel committee of medicine, Gosta Gharton, made it perfectly clear that the committee's decision is final. It is likely that research into the TSEs over the next few years will either confirm or contradict this years Nobel prize decision. MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY Jason-searching the underwater world Scientists have recently been investigating a region of archaeological interest within the Mediterranean sea known to contain shipwrecks. However this is no ordinary shipwreck hunt. Covering an area between Tunis, Sicily and Sardinia, the region is known to contain an enormous number of small boats and ships spread across the seabed. According to the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, eight shipwrecks have been recovered and archaeologists believe that this is just a small fraction of the total number of shipwrecks in the region. The expedition has made use of a small underwater robot called JASON. Made famous in the Titanic expedition during the early 1980s, Doctor Ballard is now using JASON to study the Mediterranean sea bed within the region of archaeological interest. JASON has recovered more than 115 different objects which remained intact during the recovery operation, testimony of the precision work of JASON which is ideally suited for underwater recovery work. Five of the eight recovered boats belonged to the roman empire. One of these appears to date to before the birth of Christ therefore making it a fairly unique finding. The search systems used during the Mediterranean expedition have permitted Robert Ballard and his team to search the sea bed at depths greater than 6000 meters. Such depth capabilities allow JASON to investigate 98% of the world's seabed. Ballard and his team now hope to use JASON in an expedition of the Black sea. MEDICINE Plant extracts provide help for the blind Perhaps the main cause of blindness amongst the aged is the deterioration of part of the eye called the Macula Lutea. Blindness caused by such deterioration is about four times more frequent than blindness caused by Glaucoma or Diabetes in people above the age of 65. Doctor Julia Levi, an immunologist, is the president of QLT Photo Therapeutics Inc., a company carrying out research into potential therapies for Cancer. The link? Both the deterioration of the Macula Lutea and the onset of cancer involve the production of abnormal tissue. The good news is that QLT Photo Therapeutics Inc. is currently developing a drug which might counteract the production of abnormal tissue in both cancer patients and patients suffering from Macula Lutea deterioration. This drug, called BPD, is plant-based. The story of BPD started during a family holiday in which Doctor Levi was with her children. During these holidays, her children developed unusual spots on their skin. Moreover these spots only appeared when her children were directly exposed to sunlight. Together with colleagues from British Columbia University in Canada, Doctor Levi was able to determine the cause of these spots -- a type of plant. The active component in this plant burns tissues, such as the skin, in the presence of sunlight. This active component is now the major ingredient of BPD. By using BPD to target the abnormal eye tissue in patients suffering from Macula deterioration, Levi and her colleagues hope that BPD will effectively 'burn away' the abnormal tissue. Instead of exposing the patients to sunlight, laser treatment will be used to activate BPD. Clinical trials are currently underway in the United states, Canada and Europe. If such clinical trials are successful, BPD could become a widely used drug for the treatment of blindness amongst the aged. GENERAL HEALTH Fluoridation of Britain water -- is British water suitable for drinking? In August of this year Doctor Jones and his colleagues from Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain published results in the British Medical Journal concerning the dental health of the British Public. More specifically a correlation was found between dental decay in 5 year old children and socio-economic deprivation, with poorer children having a larger number of dental problems. Doctor Jones and his colleagues suggested that the present level of tooth decay in the British public could have been reduced by 44% if water fluoridation had been introduced in the 1970s as part of the water treatment process in Britain. Alarmingly, most of the British public is today drinking water that is not fluoridated despite a large number of studies indicating the need for fluoridation. ENVIRONMENT The environment -- American vice-president goes public This October saw the release of a special issue of TIME magazine almost entirely dedicated to environmental issues. Amongst articles on the expansion of the world's major cities and the world that future generations will inherit came a call from the American Vice President, Al Gore, for people to play a more active role in caring for the environment. More specifically the vice-president discussed what he referred to as the problem of 'short term thinking' in which people make use of natural resources without considering the long term effects that such use will have on the environment. According to the Vice-President, if the world is to solve problems of deforestation, air pollution and ozone layer depletion, societies must think carefully about the use of natural resources. "Our challenge", said the Vice-President, " is to find new ways of addressing those problems by reaching back to our oldest values of community...". The Vice-President's message in TIME magazine comes just five years after the United Nations Rio Earth Summit during which 178 countries discussed environmental problems facing the world today. METEOROLOGY Hurricane Pauline and 'El Nino' cause catastrophe in Central and South America as well as the United States This October saw the arrival of one of the worst natural disasters to hit Mexico in the last 50 years. According to Newsweek, Hurricane Pauline has killed over 400 people and left more than 10,000 people homeless. So critical was the situation that Mexico's president, Ernesto Zedillo had to fly back from a trip to Europe. As with many such natural disasters the poor suffered most as rising waters, caused by the hurricane, washed away bad quality housing on the hills surrounding Acapulco. Hurricane Pauline comes at a time when another meteorological phenomenon, El Nino, is causing similar problems along the west coasts of Central and South America. The 'El Nino' phenomenon refers to a set of warm air and oceanic currents that arise in the Pacific ocean causing heavy flooding, rising temperatures and violent snow storms. Denver, Colorado, suffered an intense period of cold at the end of October which, according to meteorologists in the area, is due to the 'El Nino' phenomenon. Rising temperatures in the port town of Guayaquil in Ecuador have, according to the Ecuadorian newspaper El Hoy, resulted in a 10% increase in heart attacks. Moreover the country's national cholera monitoring authorities have warned about a possible increase in the incidence of cholera spurred on by the rising temperatures caused by El Nino.

MEDICINE
Stanley Prusiner wins Nobel Prize for Medicine
The study of the Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies (TSEs) has generated a large amount of heated debate about the precise nature of the infectious agent that causes these diseases. Brought to the world's attention through the British 'Mad Cow' scare, the TSEs are thought, by many, to be transmitted by a 'rogue' protein called the Prion. October of 1997 saw the Nobel prize for medicine go to Stanley Prusiner who first proposed the Prion 'rogue' protein theory. However this particular Nobel award has generated a large amount of controversy amongst fellow scientists. The polemic centers around whether it has been demonstrated conclusively that the Prion is the infectious agent responsible for Mad Cow disease and other TSEs. The alternative is that like most other infections the TSEs are caused by a virus or bacteria. If such a TSE-causing virus were involved, viral and bacterial genetic material such as RNA and DNA would be present. So far such genetic material has not been found but this does not necessarily mean that it is non-existent. Nevertheless the chairman of the Nobel committee of medicine, Gosta Gharton, made it perfectly clear that the committee's decision is final. It is likely that research into the TSEs over the next few years will either confirm or contradict this years Nobel prize decision.

MARINE ARCHAEOLOGY
Jason-searching the underwater world
Scientists have recently been investigating a region of archaeological interest within the Mediterranean sea known to contain shipwrecks. However this is no ordinary shipwreck hunt. Covering an area between Tunis, Sicily and Sardinia, the region is known to contain an enormous number of small boats and ships spread across the seabed. According to the Spanish newspaper, El Mundo, eight shipwrecks have been recovered and archaeologists believe that this is just a small fraction of the total number of shipwrecks in the region.

The expedition has made use of a small underwater robot called JASON. Made famous in the Titanic expedition during the early 1980s, Doctor Ballard is now using JASON to study the Mediterranean sea bed within the region of archaeological interest. JASON has recovered more than 115 different objects which remained intact during the recovery operation, testimony of the precision work of JASON which is ideally suited for underwater recovery work. Five of the eight recovered boats belonged to the roman empire. One of these appears to date to before the birth of Christ therefore making it a fairly unique finding.

The search systems used during the Mediterranean expedition have permitted Robert Ballard and his team to search the sea bed at depths greater than 6000 meters. Such depth capabilities allow JASON to investigate 98% of the world's seabed. Ballard and his team now hope to use JASON in an expedition of the Black sea.

MEDICINE
Plant extracts provide help for the blind
Perhaps the main cause of blindness amongst the aged is the deterioration of part of the eye called the Macula Lutea. Blindness caused by such deterioration is about four times more frequent than blindness caused by Glaucoma or Diabetes in people above the age of 65. Doctor Julia Levi, an immunologist, is the president of QLT Photo Therapeutics Inc., a company carrying out research into potential therapies for Cancer. The link? Both the deterioration of the Macula Lutea and the onset of cancer involve the production of abnormal tissue. The good news is that QLT Photo Therapeutics Inc. is currently developing a drug which might counteract the production of abnormal tissue in both cancer patients and patients suffering from Macula Lutea deterioration. This drug, called BPD, is plant-based.

The story of BPD started during a family holiday in which Doctor Levi was with her children. During these holidays, her children developed unusual spots on their skin. Moreover these spots only appeared when her children were directly exposed to sunlight. Together with colleagues from British Columbia University in Canada, Doctor Levi was able to determine the cause of these spots -- a type of plant. The active component in this plant burns tissues, such as the skin, in the presence of sunlight. This active component is now the major ingredient of BPD.

By using BPD to target the abnormal eye tissue in patients suffering from Macula deterioration, Levi and her colleagues hope that BPD will effectively 'burn away' the abnormal tissue. Instead of exposing the patients to sunlight, laser treatment will be used to activate BPD. Clinical trials are currently underway in the United states, Canada and Europe. If such clinical trials are successful, BPD could become a widely used drug for the treatment of blindness amongst the aged.

GENERAL HEALTH
Fluoridation of Britain water -- is British water suitable for drinking?
In August of this year Doctor Jones and his colleagues from Newcastle upon Tyne in Great Britain published results in the British Medical Journal concerning the dental health of the British Public. More specifically a correlation was found between dental decay in 5 year old children and socio-economic deprivation, with poorer children having a larger number of dental problems. Doctor Jones and his colleagues suggested that the present level of tooth decay in the British public could have been reduced by 44% if water fluoridation had been introduced in the 1970s as part of the water treatment process in Britain. Alarmingly, most of the British public is today drinking water that is not fluoridated despite a large number of studies indicating the need for fluoridation.

ENVIRONMENT
The environment -- American vice-president goes public
This October saw the release of a special issue of TIME magazine almost entirely dedicated to environmental issues. Amongst articles on the expansion of the world's major cities and the world that future generations will inherit came a call from the American Vice President, Al Gore, for people to play a more active role in caring for the environment. More specifically the vice-president discussed what he referred to as the problem of 'short term thinking' in which people make use of natural resources without considering the long term effects that such use will have on the environment. According to the Vice-President, if the world is to solve problems of deforestation, air pollution and ozone layer depletion, societies must think carefully about the use of natural resources. "Our challenge", said the Vice-President, " is to find new ways of addressing those problems by reaching back to our oldest values of community...". The Vice-President's message in TIME magazine comes just five years after the United Nations Rio Earth Summit during which 178 countries discussed environmental problems facing the world today.

METEOROLOGY
Hurricane Pauline and 'El Nino' cause catastrophe in Central and South America as well as the United States
This October saw the arrival of one of the worst natural disasters to hit Mexico in the last 50 years. According to Newsweek, Hurricane Pauline has killed over 400 people and left more than 10,000 people homeless. So critical was the situation that Mexico's president, Ernesto Zedillo had to fly back from a trip to Europe. As with many such natural disasters the poor suffered most as rising waters, caused by the hurricane, washed away bad quality housing on the hills surrounding Acapulco.

Hurricane Pauline comes at a time when another meteorological phenomenon, El Nino, is causing similar problems along the west coasts of Central and South America. The 'El Nino' phenomenon refers to a set of warm air and oceanic currents that arise in the Pacific ocean causing heavy flooding, rising temperatures and violent snow storms. Denver, Colorado, suffered an intense period of cold at the end of October which, according to meteorologists in the area, is due to the 'El Nino' phenomenon.

Rising temperatures in the port town of Guayaquil in Ecuador have, according to the Ecuadorian newspaper El Hoy, resulted in a 10% increase in heart attacks. Moreover the country's national cholera monitoring authorities have warned about a possible increase in the incidence of cholera spurred on by the rising temperatures caused by El Nino.

© 1997 Roberto Deyes. Printed with Permission.
The Mad Scientist Network
Washington University School of Medicine
St. Louis, Missouri, USA

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