One of the big quandaries surrounding the use of stem cells to repair spinal cord injuries revolves around getting the stem cells to integrate successfully with existing spinal tissue. That problem may now be solved by jello. Well, not the Jell-o kind of jell-o, but something very similar.

Researchers have found that adding stem cells to spinal implants made of hydrogels could build a bridge in spinal cords. The hydrogels are a jelly-like polymer that consists of a latticed network of amino acids making it very porous. They resemble the soft tissue that surrounds spinal cords during development in the womb. Neurons grow through the pores and create a scaffold to support the delicate stem cells. The pores are also large enough for transmission of chemical signals.

The treatment has yet to reach human trials, but has been tested successfully in rats and pigs. Up until now, stem cell treatment for spinal cord injuries has only worked for new injuries, but the hydrogels would make it possible to repair even old spinal cord injuries.

J-E-LL-O!

Thanks Shelley.

You Are 22% Evil

A bit of evil lurks in your heart, but you hide it well. In some ways, you are the most dangerous kind of evil.

I’m sorry; I have nothing for Friday Science. I’ve been super busy this week in the lab and I’ve only had a few minutes to just glance at things. So check out some of the things I’ve been glancing at this week.

Grapefruit juice has super powers

Mice testes contain stem cells

Climate changing disasters

I promise I’ll do better next week. Maybe I’ll regale you with the wonders of Bifidus regularis.

I got this from Pink Dog who got it from Shelley. Apparently I have self-asteem issues.

My Personal DNA Report

Have you ever tried to smash open a mollusk shell? They’re pretty hard right? Actually the shells are one of the strongest, but lightest materials produced by Mother Nature. Now image what we could build if we could produce a synthetic version of the shells.

Researchers at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory have managed to imitate the complex structures found in ice and mollusk shells. They created a ceramic composite that is four times stronger than current ceramics by using the physics behind ice formation. But what does that have to do with shells you say?

Mollusk shells are similar to bone and are comprised of thin layers of calcium carbonate interspersed with organic material. All of this is referred to as nacre and each layer is half a micron thick (that’s tiny). Nacre has been synthetically recreated in a lab, but it’s not easy, until now.

The team at Berkeley found that they could form these structures by freezing mineral rich water. They used a mixture of water and hydroxyapotite (mineral compound in bone). As the ice formed the minerals became trapped in the ice crystals and then they freeze dried it to remove the water, leaving behind a layer of hydroxyapotite. Increasing the speed of the freezing process decreased the layer’s thickness to one micron.

Ceramics are the substance of choice for joint-replacement because it produces fewer immune responses and lasts longer than plastics or metal. The problem with the current stuff is that it’s weak and can fracture. The new method produces a much stronger structure. But the possibilities don’t end there. Researchers envision many applications for the new ceramic from dental implants to airplane parts.

Today is mine and Chris’s 8th wedding anniversary. Yes, I realize we were cutting it close to the Ides of March, but really we were lucky the wedding even happened. When we decided to get married, we also decided that it was a good idea to do it in Las Vegas. We were poor (even poorer than we are now) and we had heard Vegas was cheap.

So, about six months prior to our wedding we went to a travel agent and set up the deal. We had to pay for it over the months because we couldn’t afford to pay all at once, but we worked hard and had it paid for two or three months early. The guy we worked with at the agency told us that we would receive our tickets and everything 60 days before departure. Sixty days rolled around and the tickets didn’t show up so Chris called the guy. He said that they would show up thirty days before our departure.

Meanwhile we had friends and family planning on going and they had all their dates and packages booked. Thirty days, no tickets. Two weeks before departure, no tickets. People could just mention the word Vegas and I’d burst into tears. I started getting a sinus infection and running a fever. We were supposed to leave on March 13th. It was all planned. People were going to be there to see us get married on the 14th. We had no tickets. Two days before we were supposed to leave, Chris called the travel agency and asked to speak to this guy’s manager. He told her everything and she told Chris that apparently this guy had booked nothing. She told him she would call him back the next day.

The next day she called back and said that she could get us on a flight leaving out on the 15th. Chris said “That’s great, but what do I tell the people who are going to be there to see us get married on 14th�. The lady said “Oh…let me call you back in an hour�. She called him back and had fixed everything (though I’m sure they ate some last minute costs). She asked us if she should just send the tickets via currier (the travel agency was in OKC, we were in Chickasha). Chris said no and that we’d drive up and get them. When we got to the travel agency, that guy was no where and every one treated us like royalty. We got the tickets and left the next morning for Vegas. After that, everything was perfect. We even won back some of the money we had used to pay for the wedding.

I can’t believe that was eight years ago. I love you Chris!

I’m always leery of doing entries like this one because they tend to attract the crazy fanatics. There’s just been too much going on in evolution research to ignore it anymore. Researchers at the University of Chicago have found over 700 regions in the human genome where strong natural selection has occurred. The changes are recent, happening only in the last ten thousand years and may be responsible for how humans in different regions continue to adapt to environmental and cultural changes.

Many of the changes detected come long after the emergence of agriculture and the formation of modern human populations. In that case the genes most strongly affected by natural selection make sense. The genes most affected are genes associated with skin color, bone structure and food metabolism.

So, why are the big changes in the genome a recent thing (if you consider the past 10,000 yrs recent)? A lot of major changes occurred for human populations starting from 10,000 on. We saw changes in population sizes, diet, and exposure to pathogens. All of these are very strong selective forces.

A good example is the gene that allows humans to digest milk into adulthood. The gene is widespread among Europeans whose ancestors relied on milk products as a major food source. Another good example deals with skin color. Researchers found five different genes associated with skin pigmentation affected by natural selection. The farther you live from the equator the lighter your skin pigmentation is going to be. For people living farthest away from the equator, it’s important to have lighter skin for the production of vitamin D, which is formed in the body after exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays.

Researchers believe that by examining how natural selection works on different populations they may be able to genes that cause human diseases such as diabetes and obesity.

On the first Sunday of every month, my Sangha reads the Five Mindfulness Trainings out loud and serves cookies and Chi Tea. I did not know this because I go so sporadically that I’ve never actually been on one of those first-of-the-month Sundays. At the end of each training the leader asks rhetorically if we have strived to achieve that particular training and I have to say that this made me squirm a little on my meditation cushion.

Probably the only mindfulness training I had been aware of last month was the first one. All the rest are down the toilet. Ok, so I haven’t stolen anything or committed any sexual misconduct (that I know of), but I haven’t given my time, energy and material resources to those who are in need. I did sign a few petitions for the Human Rights Campaign. I guess that would fall under the Second and Third mindfulness trainings. Don’t even get me started on the Fourth and Fifth mindfulness trainings. I have said terrible things about certain people who drive me crazy, eaten the equivalent of toxic waste, and watch tons of crap on TV. CRAP I tells ya!

So I’ve decided to take up a charity. I will knit baby hats and booties for premies and scarves and hats for the homeless. I think it’s a great way to use up left-over yarn and gives me something to do in between knitting projects. And if any of you out there (I’m looking at you Shelley) has any left over yarn that you’re not ever going to use for anything, send it my way and I’ll use it for the charity. Maybe I’ll even expand it to booties for the bed-ridden. That’s a great charity name!

So, we all have heard of the FBI’s most wanted list. Now, the Infectious Disease Society of America (IDSA) has comprised a list of the most deadly microbes. The Superbug hit list was designed in hopes of prioritizing efforts to make antibiotics against these now drug-resistant microbes.

Topping the list is the methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). It’s the Usama Bin Laden of the microbe world, lurking in hospital sinks and possibly water vases. It’s the cause of most hospital-borne infections, but recently outbreaks have been seen in prisons, military facilities, and schools. Researchers in Britain believe that MRSA could even be living and breeding in water amoebae often found in things like flower vases and open drinking water containers.

The list is one of many tactics of the ISDA to urge policymakers and pharmaceutical companies to put more effort into finding new antimicrobial drugs, and follows a 2004 report on spurring research and development of new antimicrobial drugs. In the report, ISDA proposed that lawmakers should grant tax breaks to companies who pursue this work. Researchers feel that the superbug crisis has yet to reach a point that would make policymakers take notice.

All I can say is ALWAYS WASH YOUR HANDS!