Research Roundup

New method may control cancer

Rochester scientists have used a technique called RNA interference to impair cancer cells' ability to produce a key enzyme called telomerase that gives cells the lethal ability to divide rampantly without dying. The team, led by Peter Rowley, professor of genetics, used RNA interference to disrupt the production of telomerase in various cancer cells including colon, skin, cervical, and lung cancer.

Scientists crafted tiny snippets of double-stranded RNA, tailored to seek out the chemical message in the cell that conveys the instructions for making telomerase. Those snippets attracted enzymes and, together, they sought out and destroyed the cells' chemical messages for making telomerase. The research was presented July 14 at the annual meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research in Washington.

Study says seafood safe for mothers

A study led by Medical Center researchers shows that the low levels of mercury found in ocean seafood pose no detectable risk to pregnant women and their babies. The study is the latest from a team led by Gary Myers, professor of neurology; Tom Clarkson, professor of environmental medicine; and Phil Davidson, professor of pediatrics, who are studying a group of children born in 1989 and 1990 in the Republic of the Seychelles, an island nation in the Indian Ocean. More than 600 children have been evaluated five times since their birth, and no harmful effects from the low levels of mercury obtained by eating seafood have been detected.

"Consumption of fish is generally considered healthy for your heart, yet people are hearing that they should be concerned about eating fish because of mercury levels," says Myers. "We've found no evidence that the low levels of mercury in seafood are harmful."

Response to trauma examined

The Medical Center is one of 10 centers nationwide taking part in a five-year, $38 million study of the body's response to severe injury such as burns and trauma. Funded by the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, the study will examine the factors that can tip the delicate balance of a severely injured body toward recovery and those factors that cause people to die from such injuries, sometimes weeks after the injury occurred.

Clinical and basic scientists will attempt to tease apart the complex set of events culminating in the immune system's reaction to a traumatic injury. By identifying those factors, researches may be able to develop guidelines that can help physicians choose the best treatment in response to a life-threatening injury.

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