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The Role Of Mitochondria In Neurodegenerative Diseases

A longstanding question in science has the role of mitochondria in debilitating and fatal motor neuron diseases. Mitochondria are organelles – compartments contained inside cells – that serve several functions, including making ATP, a nucleotide that cells convert into chemical energy to stay alive. For this reason mitochondria often are called "cellular power plants." They also play a critical role in preventing too much calcium from building up in cells, which can cause apoptosis, or cell death. For mitochondria to perform its functions, it must be distributed to cells throughout the body, which is accomplished with the help of small protein "motors" that transport the organelles along axons. Researchers led by Janet Shaw, Ph.D., professor of biochemistry, found that when healthy, functioning mitochondria was prevented from moving along axons – nerve fibers that conduct electricity away from neurons – mice developed symptoms of neurodegenerati...
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Why We Should Keep Smallpox Around

Smallpox as a disease is dead and has been since 1980. Should we let the virus behind it die? Variola, the virus that causes smallpox, is on the agenda of the upcoming meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA), the governing body of the World Health Organization, which is part of the United Nations. The UN would like to destroy the last known remaining live strains of the virus  but an international group of scientists led by Inger Damon, from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, argue that the WHA should not choose destruction, because crucial scientific questions remain unanswered and important public health goals unmet. Smallpox was declared eradicated in 1980, the only human pathogen for which successful eradication has been achieved to date. Since then, limited research focusing on diagnostic, antiviral and vaccine development, under close direction and oversight, has continued in two high-security laboratories--one in Russia and one in the US...
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Composition of Complex Sugars in Breast Milk May Prevent Future Food Allergies

The unique composition of a mother’s breastmilk may help to reduce food sensitization in her infant, report researchers at the University of California San Diego School of Medicine with colleagues in Canada. The findings, publishing in the June 15 issue of Allergy , further highlight the health role of human milk oligosaccharides (HMOs), which are not found in infant formula, and underscore their potential for therapeutic interventions. HMOs are structurally complicated sugar molecules unique to human breast milk. They are the third most abundant solid component in human milk after lactose (a different type of sugar) and fat. They are not actually digestible by infants, but act as a prebiotic, helping to guide development of the infant gut microbiota, which previous research suggests is a key influencer of allergic disease. Past research has shown that breastfed infants have a lower risk for a variety of medical conditions, such as wheezing, infections, asthma and ob...
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