Thursday, 9 February, 2012

Cholera can kill with record speed. The bacterium is easy to control — if wastewater and drinking water are treated. Haiti — chronically corrupt, painfully poor, and wasted by the January quake, is paradise for the cholera bug. How is cholera prevented, and what are the enduring gifts of this deadly bug?

To stay young, science says you drastically cut calories. It works for fruitflies, rodents, monkeys, and every mammal that has been tested. A new study proves that the benefit requires the Sirt-3 gene. Could Sirt-3 be the key to an anti-aging drug treatment?

Aware that a small amount of function often returns after a stroke, neurologists have helped neurons recover after an experimental stroke. Mice that got a candidate drug that blocks GABA, the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, recovered up to half of their motor control. In the future, can we treat strokes that cannot be prevented?

Heard the rumor that people are happy — or not — depending on their genes and upbringing? “My bad,” says a 24-year study from Germany, which finds the opposite. Attitudes toward money, employment and neurotic mates all play a big role resetting your “happo-stat.”

Impacts and concussions can cause long-lasting, even permanent brain damage. Millions of Americans have traumatic brain injuries. Could experimental techniques help mice and people?

A federal court has thrown the field of embryonic stem cell research into confusion. Last week, research that destroys embryos could not get federal bucks — even if those embryos were doomed or destroyed years ago. This week, it can. How is the legal yo-yo affecting researchers — and desperate patients?

Urban farms are sprouting in the most unlikely places. Advocates say they help with nutrition, obesity and job training. They build community and help immigrants assimilate, cut energy usage, and cool the planet. But does the reality match the claims? Food is flowing, but what’s new with farming in the city?

Fruit flies have a signaling pathway that helps them choose protein or carbohydrate, depending on the situation. The switch, which is also implicated in aging and cancer, exists in a wide variety of animals, including you. Does a new study explain why so many cultures eat rice and beans?

The psychedelic ’60s are over, but how do hallucinogens transform consciousness? Can psychedelics treat distress? Psilocybin produces mystical experiences that seem to relieve the terror of terminal illness and soothe post-traumatic stress disorder. Ecstasy may ease obsessive-compulsive disorder. What are we learning now that the bans on psychedelic research are easing?

Salamanders and fish can regrow perfect limbs and fins after amputation. We can’t grow a replacement arm, but can the salamander’s natural regeneration teach about faster wound healing? The latest research on limb regeneration suggests growth factors and equipment that could be ready for the clinic in a few years.