29 March 2011 - Bullied Mouse Braaaaiiiins

I reserve the right to skip blogging for the next few weeks if:

• I wind up getting that wrist surgery I desperately need
• There is not time for at least four hours of sleep
• I'm rushing through several weeks of material to pass the last couple of weeks of class I have left
• I'm out of town (a-freakin-gain)

Hilariously, that means I might not be blogging much.  But every morning that I can, I will!  Yaaaayscience.

No really, ya can't make this up.  I currently have enough obligations in my life to keep a small village busy and I'm searching for change in the couch to fill my gas tank (how do I manage to be in a different town one-two times a week when I work every single night?  Hey, overtime will cover it, right?  Right?  RIGHT??)

Enough of that.  Y'all have your busies, too, and that's why I do this thing!




Today's post is on mouse brains.


It seems like basic logic that a mouse who is bullied learns to be more cautious around new mice, but there's more to it than that.  Mice were placed in with bigger, meaner mice for ten minutes (I breed mice, and this makes me cringe to think about - they don't need that ten minutes to kill each other if they're serious!), then separated but left close enough to still induce stress.  They then tried placing the mice with larger, but nonthreatening (how do they figure...) mice and noted behavioral changes consistent with fear, anxiety, and cautiousness.  They then checked out the brain and noted that they had a markedly higher sensitivity to vasporessin, an important hormone associated with the behavior (and other behaviors, including in people).

Mice that were given vasopressin blockers showed less of the wary behavior when placed in with the nonthreatening mice.

You know, I am absolutely FOR using animals in labs.  I believe we have excellent standards in place by IACUC and have seen firsthand how strict the inspections are.  But man, the mouse breeder in me just really knows how serious male aggression in mice is.  They don't need ten minutes, man.  In an enclosure with little or no cover, they can rip each other right apart.  It's like cichlids.  Just, yipes.

What I'm REALLY curious about is how they tested with "non-threatening" mice.  One assumes, based on the territorial statement in the article, that the mice being tested are male.  Females can be aggressive but this is pretty rare and short-lived as they sort out a pecking order in the colony.  So if you're putting in nonthreatening mice to examine followup behaviors, how do you get a nonthreatening mouse?  It has to be male, or you have to take into account sexual hormones.  It has to be a nonfamiliar mouse or you have to take into account imprinting and familiarity, which can also incorporate hormones and scent.  So you have to have a completely new, male mouse.

Just how do you plan on getting new mouse not to attack?  Eh, I know there is a lot more going on than the summary shows, but I would LOVE to read the actual paper.  Alas, I have only access to the abstract.  :)






See you guys soon!
-Miss Mouse






References and Links:
Mouse Bullies (Physorg):
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-bullying-brain-chemistry-anxiety.html

Mouse Bullies with Bigger Words (ScienceDirect):

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0P-52C3K4S-2&_user=10&_coverDate=03%2F11%2F2011&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=gateway&_origin=gateway&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=b963eecbd72b883ea4fa2181c97afa12&searchtype=a

14 March 2011 - Mousey Smells

Hey you know that stuff that was keeping me busy this weekend?  Well, it went from a guy who scared the crap out of it to a very loving, quiet, happy home, and is being dropped off there in the morning.  :)

Lately, that's pretty much what I do.

Oh yeah, and twittering might be lax between now and Wednesday evening thanks to a fresh bout of tests being launched on me during the period of time most students are using to drink their livers rotten catch up in their studies.  So I'm sorry...priorities, ya know.  Posting shall continue, though.



Today's story is aboot mouse noses.  Baby mouse noses.  Because nothing could be more adorable (unless you hate mice).

You might already know that much of how young mice recognize each other (well really, recognize any other mice) is by smell, but it turns out this isn't already set up before they are born.  It takes a little while for the neurons in their noses to mature enough to identify mom as mom, and siblings as siblings.  It's probably the olfactory marker protein (OMP) that causes this essential development to occur.

In normal mouse pups, the choice to nurse/snuggle with mom won out 78% over that of another lactating female, but in mouse pups with no OMP, they failed to make the distinction at all.  Cool, right?  I know not everyone is thinking "man, that is really useful information for when I have a litter of orphaned mouse pups and need to find an appropriate foster mother that won't eat them that they'll actively nurse from," but it is an important point of development for more than just mice.  I wasn't under the impression that human infants identified mom by smell, though, but I do know that smell is an extremely important influence on people of any age and, thanks to conditioning, is an excellent way to trigger memories.

...Maybe this is why mom's cooking is always best?

Or maybe it's just interesting.



See you guys tomorrow,
-Miss Mouse



References and Links:
Wiggly baby mouse nosies
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-mouse-nose-nerve-cells-mature.html

10 March 2011 - Anxious Meeces

It's no secret that I love mice.  I loooove mice.  Mice are amazing, useful, and interesting creatures.  It's always nice to see research done with them because it almost always directly applies itself to understanding them better, and not just whatever was being researched.  I am always game for learning more about mice.

So anyways - scientists found that while mice are normally very hesitant about wandering out into open spaces where they could be nabbed by a predator, this fear can actually be manipulated.  They targeted specific connections in the amygdalae of the brain (or between them, I believe), which when increased in activity caused the mice to become bolder and venture out.  When dampened, however, the mice became more anxious and stuck more frequently to the walls.  Basically, controlling this portion of the brain's activity allowed researchers to adjust the amount of anxiety the mice experienced.

Tye_Deisseroth_Supplementary Movie from Deisseroth Lab on Vimeo.

The implication of course is that anxiety in people can one day be similarly treated.  We're still quite a long way from that, but it's an interesting observation that will definitely lend itself to the study of anxiety, which in people is currently extremely difficult to treat!



-Miss Mouse



References and Links:
Mouse Braaaaaiiinns:
http://www.sciencenews.org/view/generic/id/70833/title/Anxiety_switch_makes_mice_shy_no_more

6 March 2011 - Weekend Wrap-Up

Hey guys!  I gotta write this one REALLY fast.  I'm about to head out for an 8 hour drive, so it counts as a busy day!  :)  It's also shorter than it should be, I'm sorry.  I'm literally about to rush out the door!

Nifty Stories from This Week

I really like the mind-control, I mean memory enhancing or erasing, story from a couple of days ago and I'd love to highlight that one.  By controlling an enzyme in rat brains, one can either enhance or get completely rid of a memory, no matter how long it's been since that memory was initially formed.  This has the initially obvious uses like helping people with anxiety problems, recovered memories, loss of memory, etc., but if you ask me, points directly toward this:

Second for today is a particularly creepy article about four new species of fungus found in the Brazilian rainforest.  You know that parasite that gets into an ant's brain, makes it walk up to the top of a blade of grass, and forces it to wait there to be ingested?  This is kind of like that, except these fungi turn the ants into zombies, makes them crawl onto some kind of vegetation above the forest floor, locks their jaws onto the plant/thing, and sprouts out of the back of their neck to release spores that fly off into the sunset.  Holy ew.



Okay, I gotta run!!!  See you guys tomorrow!

-Miss Mouse



References and Links:
Memory Zapper:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-enzyme-erases-long-term-memories-rats.html
Zombie Ants:
http://www.physorg.com/news/2011-03-parasitic-fungi-ants-zombies.html

15 December 2010 - O What a Slacker I Be (Gene Machines and Zombie-Food)

Or maybe there just hasn't been much Science in the news lately.  I'm hoping to make the switch in the near(ish) future from relying wholly on news sources for my info to actually reading *gasp* the papers.  Wouldn't that be sweet?  One of these days I'm going to have to get back to big-people college.  I miss micro.  Hell, I kind of even miss genetics.  Having a huge library of mouse papers to peruse for the cost of tuition was pretty damned enviable, for that matter.

Okay, I really should not hate on my current college (which I adore).  I'm being tested on a surprising pleasant amount of micro and pathology in my vet tech degree.  ;)

Sorry if I'm missing big stories - feel free to point them out if you don't spot them on the twitter feed or here.  I work nights now, and unfortunately, most of the big stuff gets posted during the daylight hours when I'm fast asleep!  I do my best, though.  :)  Follow me on Twitter if you don't want to mess with the tweetish widget.

Onward!



First today isn't really Science, but...for Science.  A company (surely they aren't the only one with the goal!) is pushing gene sequencers down the same path as computers took way back when - making them smaller, faster, and more affordable.  They don't seem to pack a lot of oomph yet, but for those of us interested in genomes that are not as big as our own, they seem pretty darn flashy.  They seem aimed more at...well...me, than people with their own labs, but perhaps they can take a little outta the grant budget and let more dinero go to other equipment?  Check out the link at the end of the post for more info.

Oh, and a study out of the University of South Florida took a peek at how umbilical cord blood cells (the same cells mentioned over and over again in stem cell debates) affect the hippocampal neurons of the aging brain - rat, in this case.  Normally, this is the first area of the brain to show the effects of aging, especially in cases with Alzheimer's or other cognitive age-related disorders.  However, when HUBCs were given, the neurons appeared to be both protected and stimulated to actually grow.  Just how they helped is still speculation, but for now it's exciting to note that HUBCs may be part of the answer to disorders like Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, and others!

That's all you get today.  Told you there hasn't been a whole lot to write about!  At least I'm writing, right?  Right?



See ya!
-Miss Mouse



References and Links:
Big Talk, Little Machine
http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE6BD1KN20101214
Young Cells vs. Old Brain Bits
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/12/101214142741.htm

4 October 2010 - OCD, Breath-taking Treatments, and Terminal Cancer

Sunday's post is a day late, thanks to a severe case of the homeworks.  Actually, Tuesday's might not come at all due to the same extensive case, which will be culminating in four simultaneous tests.  :(  I'll be twittering my butt off now, though, since I have *gasp* my computer back!!

Today, I have a hefty dose of Vitamin Soft-Sciences.  And I'm going to spew it all over your computer screens.

Enough of that.

First up today is a study utilizing electrodes to treat otherwise unresponsive OCD, or obsessive compulsive disorder.  The study, published in the October Archives of General Psychiatry, implanted electrodes in the nucleus accumbens portion of the brain (which plays a role in rewards) in 16 patients whose OCD was unaffected by other treatments.  Then the study took place in three parts.  First, active stimulation (whatever that implies) was given over an eight month period to all participants, during which they were assessed for symptoms every two weeks using a 40 point scale.  Then comes the double-blind portion, in which for one month the patients were randomly assigned treatment or having the electrodes turned off for two weeks at a time.  Much assessing took place.  Finally, a year of stimulation again with 3-month assessments.  So...did it work?  Kinda!  Nine patients responded appreciably and decreases in symptoms were pretty evident (check out the link at bottom for details).  Side effects were forgetfulness and...uh...what's the term for...er...oh, right, word-finding problems.

While we have brains on the brain, there are also new and exciting findings concerning the breath-holding symptoms of Rett Syndrome, an autism spectrum disorder affecting 1 in 10,000 girls.  Breathing problems is just one of the symptoms, and can be lethal (not to mention terrifying).  Researchers found that in a mouse model with Rett Syndrome, the portion of the brain that controls breathing was actually low on a transmitter, aminobutyric acid.  So, by supplementing the aminobutyric acid and also stimulating a certain type of receptor, they successfully stopped the mouse's breathing problems, all using drugs already approved by the FDA.  Hopefully this approach will be made available quickly to help those who need it!

Last for today, because I've got quite a bit of studying to get to, new information has been found regarding terminal cancers and how to stop them in their latest stages.  Before, there didn't seem to be much you could do once the cancer had "spread."  Now, however, research is starting to show how those cancers spread and ways to target that method - specifically, something called platelet endothelial cell adhesion 1...or PECAM-1.  By creating an antibody, the anti-PECAM-1 antibody, a new approach becomes available for combatting several types of terminal cancers.  Details are in the link at the bottom of this post, but beware, it's a little full of itself.  :p

See you later!
-Miss Mouse

References and Links:
Shockingly OCD
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/569171/
Okay, you can breathe now
http://www.physorg.com/news205425548.html
It's not over til it's over (Cancer, I mean)
http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/568884/

Hey!

It's definitely been a long time, huh?  I was going crazy, I couldn't help it anymore, I had to get back to Science...so here I am!

To start us off tonight, Scientists from a group called NORDynamIC (wow.) have published a paper regarding depression and its effect on treatment for Hepatitis C (and vice versa).  The combination of treatments used for chronic HCV can sometimes result in major depression, which was tested via Major Depression Inventory tests, or MDIs.  Results showed that of 306 previously non-depressed HCV patients (determined with MDIs), 114 developed major depression over the course of treatment.  This would sometimes result in early termination of treatment and lead to lower success rates.  Also noted in the study was that a mere 1/3 of those depressed patients were correctly diagnosed for the depression in routine examinations.  No fun!  A separate U.S. study highlighted lower productivity and higher health benefit costs in chronic HCV-affected employees, as well.  To read more, check out the link at the bottom of the post.

Next, in case you haven't heard, a new topical gel has been presented as a preventative for HIV infection in women whose partners do not use protection.  The vaginal gel, called tenofovir, comes with a 39% lower chance of infection, and it turns out it also protects against herpesvirus (HSV-2) by 51%!  Apparently, HSV-2 infection can increase the chances of contracting HIV, so they're pretty impressive results!  I'm not sure I'd rely on those numbers if I didn't have to, but it's absolutely a step in the right direction!

Last for today, a new study of Down's Syndrome mice has taken our knowledge of the matter a step further.  According to the article, when an embryonic brain is developing it requires a certain balance of excitatory and inhibitory neurons.  When there are more of chromosome 21's genes Olig1 and Olig2 in Down's Syndrome mice, significantly more inhibitory neurons are produced, throwing the brain's development out of balance.  When the two genes were genetically engineered to appear only in their normal quantities...voila!  Normal balance!  Very cool.  Since people have the same two genes, this study will likely have a very large impact on the understanding and future treatment of Down's Syndrome.



Hopefully I'll see you here again on Thursday and be back in the normal swing of things!  :)
-Miss Mouse

References and Links:

Sad Hepatitis C Patients

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/07/100720165522.htm

HIV and Herpes Goo

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/07/anti-hiv-gel-also-effective-agai.html

Down's Syndrome Genes
http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=2-genes-linked-to-embryonic-brain-impairment-in-downs-syndrome

13 April 2010 - Sneaky Brain Cancer Cells, Watery Glue, Monopole Magnets, and Dance-Powered Street Lamps

Heya!

Hope everyone's week is off to a great start!  I guess technically it's Wednesday, but does it still count as Tuesday if I've been up all night?  ;)

I found a very interesting article regarding glioblastoma today, a very common and deadly brain cancer.  The average patient only survives about 15 months past diagnosis, and closer research may show why.  The main tumor generally shoots off occasional cells into the surrounding tissue, which then behave very differently from the growth itself.  Those cells are not responsive to the same therapies given to the cancer patients alongside removal of the tumor, and will actually spawn new growths later on.  As a result, pretty much every patient with glioblastoma relapses after treatment.  Now that the cells have been looked at closer and this fact about their resistance revealed, new treatments to target them as well can start to be explored.

Over at the University of Utah, a lab is checking out sea creatures and their construction habits in an effort to uncover new ideas on underwater adhesives.  Specifically, they're looking at Phragmatopoma californica, called the "sandcastle worm," which builds little, compartments for itself via tiny drops of glue and sand bits.  Other labs around the country are looking at various other sorts of marine animals looking for clues to apply to the goal.  Hopefully the methods they're working toward will aid not only in ocean-stuff, but also have first aid and health applications.  Apparently they're making progress, although it is still too soon to try it out on people.  :)

Not too long ago scientists managed to actually produce a magnet with only one end -  a monopole, but it would only work in very, very cold temperatures.  Now, however, an artificial version of this "spin ice" has been created that can behave like a monopole in room temperature.  The method employs arranging nano-sized magnets into a honeycomb structure, which as a whole behaves as hoped.  Very interesting!  I believe the applications lie in quantum computing, but I'd be talking out my rear if I tried to go into more detail.

Last for today is just really neat - France has actually installed and tried out eight modules created by Sustainable Dance Floor on the streets.  They're these sections installed into the pavement that generate power when walked across.  The goal is to reduce waste in powering city public areas (like street lamps), and to change where that power comes from.  Check it out:

Photo: Robin Utrecht/EPA

That's it for today (yesterday?), but check out the twitter feed on the right for more stories I didn't include here.  :)

See you Thursday!

-Miss Mouse

References and Links:

Brain Cancer Relapses

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100413095858.htm

Watery Glue

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/13/science/13adhesive.html

Warmish Magnets

http://www.physorg.com/news190318257.html

DDR Power

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/13/pavement-power-toulouse-streets

11 April 2010 - Stressed Mice, Tuned In Medicine, Drug Resistance, and Viruses Creating Energy

Hi!  Hope everyone had a great weekend.  :)

I don't know if you noticed or not, but I added this nifty little Twitter feature to the right hand side of the page, just under "Labels."  This is for those of you who don't want to wait for each post to see new headlines!  I'll be tweeting links to various articles I find here and there, or retweeting as the case may be.  Just a nifty little idea.

First off, experiments in mice have found that the brains of those mice with only one copy of a gene that produces "brain-derived neurotrophic factor," or BDNF, are more affected by stress.  Apparently, stress in these mice causes the hippocampus area of the brain to shrink and the dendrites to withdraw, whereas mice with the normal two copies of the gene, and therefore a normal amount of BDNF, show no physical change in that area of the brain.  Researchers are now searching to find ways to control the amount of BDNF protein so they can determine when in development supplementation would be most effective.  Very interesting!

I know I heard about hallucinogenic testing going on here and there in the recent past, but I just found another article about it.  Scientists are gathering in California this week for a pretty big conference on the topic, particularly for use with OCD, end of life anxiety, depression, PTSD, and other psychological disorders.  I cannot say this doesn't make me pretty happy.  Check out the article link at the bottom of the post to read about various tests and reactions to psilocybin in groovy experiments.  :)

Everyone's biggest fear when it comes to antibiotics is that a superbug will become resistant to everything and we'll have nothing left to beat infections with, right?  Or is that just mine?  In any case, researchers have taken a close look at vancomycin, the "last resort" antibiotic, and actually determined the mechanism by which bacteria develop resistance to it.  It had been debated whether bacteria were tipped off to the antibiotic by noticing it directly, or noticing what it was doing to their cell walls.  It turns out the former is the case, the knowledge of which may help to develop sneakier antibiotics that could still go unnoticed.  Considering the growing number of people who are affected by resistant infections, this is pretty great progress!

Last for the weekend - researchers have devised a more direct method of splitting water molecules for use in solar powered energy...things.  Mimicking the photosynthesis process of plants, a group of scientists have utilized a harmless virus in a gel (to hold conformation) to do the splitting so that hydrogen can be stored for use at any time, rather than only when the sun is shining.  Original in its particular method, the system is still in its creation phase and needs to become more cost effective, efficient, and complete before going into effect.  An end date isn't set, but it's a valuable concept and it's nice to see that it works!

Check out the Twitter feed on the right hand side of the page to see the articles I didn't include today, but were still pretty neat.

Thanks for reading, and I'll see you Tuesday!

-Miss mouse

References and Links:

Stressed Out Mice

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100410141344.htm

Psychedelic Medicine

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/12/science/12psychedelics.html

Resistance!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100411143401.htm

Virus Energy

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100411143403.htm

8 April 2010 - Omnomnomium, Things That Don't Suffocate, Volcanoes, Animal-Census, Autism

Hey!

As promised, I've got some pretty interesting news today!  :)

First, you've probably already heard about element 117, and its recent, albeit brief, appearance in a Russian cyclotron.  Researchers fired calcium ions for 150 days at a target made of berkelium, finally producing SIX atoms of 117.  They existed for less than a second before decaying.  Now...what to call it?  Some amazing suggestions (from #namefornewelement on Twitter) include:

     - Yomommium

     - Nonsensium

     - Omnomnomium

     - Newishium

     - Holycrapium

     - Internetium

     - Surprisium

     - Pandemonium

     - Fatassium

     - DeLoreum

     - Noobium

     - Steve

     - Wowthatsheavyum

     - MasterChiefium

     - Unobtainium

     - Oneseventeenium

     - Wootonium

     - Porkchopsium

That's...amazing.  :)

Next, the first multicellular organisms able to survive completely without oxygen have been found in the sediment of the Mediterranean.  These three species of Loricifera are smaller than a millimeter and, oddly enough, have no mitochondria.  In pretty much every other animal cell, mitochondria are responsible for converting nutrients to energy.  These critters, however, use structures called hydrogenosomes to convert their food to energy without ever needing to use oxygen.  Since their rather extreme environment resembles ancient Earth before widespread oxygen, it's possible these little guys might be a peek into the past.

Also, the Venus Express orbiter has found new infrared evidence that suggests Venus maaay in fact have active volcanoes.  Of course by active, they mean within the past 250,000 years for most of them.  Since Venus sports fewer scars by asteroids than expected, it had been theorized before that either a massive volcanic event covered most of the surface at once a long time ago, or ongoing volcanoes have filled in various craters here and there over time.  This finding suggests the recent, active volcanoes option, which has interesting implications for the evolution of Earth, which is similar in many ways to Venus.

Back on Earth, a group of ecologists are planning to collect information on 160,000 species of life all over the planet to form a "barometer of life."  They selected the species involved in order to best represent all ecosystems, and the plan is to update it every five years with new information from hundreds of cooperating experts and scientists.  It's basically a census, but for animals, plants, and other.  The project is hoping to provide better and more complete information to aid in gauging the "health" of the planet, determining risks to biodiversity and the environment by companies and human activities, drawing attention to the environment and its inhabitants, and directing spending.  The project itself will cost an estimated 60 million USD, and will run an annual cost of around $5 million after that.

Last today, a few articles recently came out detailing advancements in Autism research.  For those of you who know me well, you already know how big of a deal Autism spectrum disorders are for me, so this is really exciting!  First, a program at Canisius College involving 5 weeks of "summer camp" programs for children affected by high functioning autism, Asperger's, and PDD-NOS paired with parent education has shown marked improvement in the emotional behaviors of participants.  Compared with control groups, children in the program showed better social skills, emotional recognition, and conversational skills.  The program is working on improving to a level where it can be distributed to communities.  Second, it's been shown in separate experiments that oxytocin may be able to improve facial expression and emotion recognition in autistic individuals.  The study was done on a small group of ADS-affected adolescents; the experimental group was given an oxytocin nasal spray and the control group a placebo spray.  The experimental group showed clear improvement in recognizing emotions and facial expressions, but they say more testing will be needed to back up these results before we can be sure.  Lastly, methods have been discovered involving DNA tagging, or methylation, to both diagnose autism disorders via blood tests or other DNA samples (rather than brain testing), and to potentially reverse its effects.  There wasn't much to the article, but I really look forward to hearing more!  :)

That's it for today, see you this weekend!

-Miss Mouse

References and Links:

Element 117

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406181611.htm

Multicellular Organisms Sans Oxygen

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/04/anoxic-animals/

Volcanic Venus

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2010/04/venus-volcanism/

Barometer of Life

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/apr/08/barometer-of-life

Autism

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408123245.htm

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/563095/

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100408105200.htm

6 April 2010 - Links

Hey!

I'm sorry, I was way too overwhelmed today to write a decent post, :( BUT I did find a bunch of great articles yesterday and today!  So, here are your links:

Armored T-Shirts

http://ow.ly/1v72R

Nanotube black holes

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406125716.htm

Rising River Temperatures in the US

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406101444.htm

Early Emphysema Tests

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406101450.htm

Pyrimidines for Cancer Treatments

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406093512.htm

For Those Concerned about the Speed of Nano Progress without Health Testing (me)

http://www.popsci.com/science/article/2010-04/enzyme-blood-cells-breaks-down-carbon-nanotubes-paving-way-nano-delivered-drugs

Toxoplasmosis via the Iberian Lynx

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/04/100406074641.htm

Neurons Cooperating to Get Message Heard

http://www.newswise.com/articles/view/562910/?sc=swhn

Drug That Caused Birth Defects in 60s May Be Useful in Stopping Bleeding

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2010/04/notorious-drug-stanches-bleeding.html

Enjoy, and I'm sorry I couldn't write more!  I promise a real post on Thursday!  :)

-Miss Mouse