Swiss scientists reverse effects of cocaine

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:59:59 -0400

A group of neuroscientists has developed a method to repress the hyper-charged cells that are powered up by cocaine, reversing the effects of the potent drug and possibly pointing to a new method to control drug addiction. The Swiss scientists in the study stimulated a separate set of receptors in the brain, effectively overriding the receptors involved during a cocaine rush. "We have reversed the effect of cocaine and we show how the machinery in the cells has to be engaged in order to be reversed," said neuroscientist Christian Luscher at Geneva University.

- read the report from Xinhua

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Mice engineer to be schizophrenic

Tue, 31 Jul 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Scientists at Johns Hopkins have genetically engineered mice to carry a human gene that triggers schizophrenia, an advance that will help researchers search for new methods to control the disease. Researchers currently rely on mice that are given doses of powerful drugs such as PCP to induce schizophrenia. The gene was found in a Scottish family prone to the disease. By inserting the mutant gene into mouse DNA, the researchers were able to create mice with the type of brain abnormalities associated with schizophrenia. According to the National Institutes of Mental Health, schizophrenia affects about one percent of the population.

"Before, we would inject a rodent with a drug and say it's a schizophrenic mouse, but it did not reflect the underlying cause of the disease," said Hopkins scientist Dr. Akira Sawa.

- read the Baltimore Sun report

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Cell Biology

Swiss scientists reverse effects of cocaine

Mice engineer to be schizophrenic