Japan

Artificial molecules cure cirrhosis in animal study

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:59:59 -0400

Japanese scientists have found a way to deliver a payload of artificial molecules designed to prevent cells from secreting collagen, possibly pointing to a new approach to treating cirrhosis that could be commercialized in just a few years. In a study involving rats, the research team created artificial molecules that blocked the creation of collagen in liver stellate cells. The molecules were wrapped in vitamin A so that the stellate cells would absorb the molecules, allowing the therapy to work. Cirrhosis--a hardening or scarring of tissue--is caused by heavy drinking as well as hepatitis C and B. Yoshiro Niitsu at the Sapporo Medical University School of Medicine in Japan said the approach cured cirrhosis in rats.

"We want to carry out clinical tests with private companies and put this to practical use within five years," one of the researchers told AFP by telephone.

- read the AFP report

Genetic experiment erases fear in mice

Tue, 18 Dec 2007 06:59:59 -0500

By genetically engineering mice, scientists in Japan were able to switch off their fear of cats. The project involved disabling functions of the olfactory bulb in the brain, which receives information about smells directly from the nose. The lesson here is that fear is hardwired into mice and is not a learned behavior. The work also indicates that human response to smells, such as rotten food, may also be hardwired into us as well. The work may also advance new therapies for treating anxiety.

Tokyo University's Ko Kobayakawa says that instead of being immobilized by fear or fleeing on first sight of a cat, the mouse mutants sometimes played with them or sniffed them. The scientists chose a particularly docile cat for their experiment.

- read the article from the National Post

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Japanese scientist operates on lean budget

Tue, 14 Aug 2007 06:59:59 -0400

Shinya Yamanaka shook the stem cell research field with his work taking adult skin cells and turning them into embryonic stem cells. The key was identifying 24 genes that were the odds-on favorite for reprogramming the cell and then narrowing it to four that worked. In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Yamanaka discusses how he operates a barebones lab on a million dollars a year, marveling at the billions of dollars that are spent in the U.S. Researchers in Japan, he says, are lone wolves. And he notes that ESC research is widely understood in the U.S., but barely registers on the Japanese psyche.

- read the report from The Wall Street Journal (sub. req.)

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