Laboratory Equipment

An omega-3 fatty acid found in fish, known as DHA, prevented age-related vision loss in lab tests, according to recent medical research from the Univ. of Alberta. Yves Sauvé, a researcher in the Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, and his team discovered that lab models fed DHA did not accumulate a toxic molecule at the back of the eyes. The toxin normally builds up in the retina with age and causes vision loss.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Fish-Oil-May-Prevent-Age-Related-Vision-Loss-060112.aspx

Cutting the amount people drink to just over half a unit a day could save 4,600 lives a year in England alone, according to a modeling study by researchers published in the journal BMJ Open. Half a unit of alcohol is as little as a quarter of a glass of wine, or a quarter of a pint. That’s much lower than current British government recommendations of between 3 to 4 units a day for men and 2–3 units for women.

The researchers set out to find the optimum daily amount of alcohol that would see fewest deaths across England from a whole range of diseases connected to drink. Previous studies have often looked at the separate effects of alcohol on heart disease, liver disease or cancers in isolation.

“Although there is good evidence that moderate alcohol consumption protects against heart disease, when all of the chronic disease risks are balanced against each other, the optimal consumption level is much lower than many people believe,” says lead author Melanie Nichols of the BHF Health Promotion Research Group in the Department of Public Health at Oxford Univ.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Half-a-Unit-of-Alcohol-a-Day-is-Best-060112.aspx

A specific antioxidant supplement may be an effective therapy for some features of autism, according to a pilot trial from the Stanford Univ. School of Medicine and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital that involved 31 children with the disorder. The antioxidant, called N-Acetylcysteine, or NAC, lowered irritability in children with autism as well as reducing the children’s repetitive behaviors. The researchers emphasized that the findings must be confirmed in a larger trial before NAC can be recommended for children with autism.

Irritability affects 60 to 70 percent of children with autism. “We’re not talking about mild things: this is throwing, kicking, hitting, the child needing to be restrained,” says Antonio Hardan, the primary author of the new study. “It can affect learning, vocational activities and the child’s ability to participate in autism therapies.”

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Antioxidant-May-Treat-Some-Features-of-Autism-053112.aspx

Scientists are reporting development of a new paper-based device that can warn workers that they are being exposed to potentially unhealthy levels of airborne metals almost immediately, instead of the weeks required with current technology. The report on the device, which costs about one cent to make and could prevent illness in the millions of people who work with metal, appears in ACS’ journal Analytical Chemistry.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Device-Senses-Airborne-Metals-in-Minutes-Not-Weeks-053012.aspx

Scientists know that Vitamin D deficiency is not healthy. However, new research from the Univ. of Copenhagen now indicates that too high a level of the essential vitamin is not good either. The study is based on blood samples from 247,574 Copenhageners. The results have just been published in the reputed scientific Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism.

Vitamin D is instrumental in helping calcium reach our bones, thus lessening the risk from falls and the risk of broken hips. Research suggests that vitamin D is also beneficial in combating cardiac disease, depression and certain types of cancers. The results from a study conducted by the Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences now support the benefits of vitamin D in terms of mortality risk. However, the research results also show higher mortality in people with too high levels of vitamin D in their bloodstream.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Excess-Vitamin-D-is-Unhealthy-053012.aspx

For 50 years scientists have been unsure how the bacteria that gives humans cholera manages to resist one of our basic innate immune responses. That mystery has now been solved, thanks to research from biologists at The Univ. of Texas at Austin.

The answers may help clear the way for a new class of antibiotics that don’t directly shut down pathogenic bacteria such as V. cholerae, but instead disable their defenses so that our own immune systems can do the killing. Every year, cholera afflicts millions of people and kills hundreds of thousands, predominantly in the developing world. The infection causes profuse diarrhea and vomiting. Death comes from severe dehydration.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Cholera-Discovery-Could-be-Key-to-New-Antibiotics-053012.aspx

Single cell oils (SCO), produced by and extracted from some single-celled microorganisms, are featured with high levels of the major very long chain polyunsaturated fatty acids (PUFA). SCO are essential for health and potential sources of bio-diesel. There has been a long history of interest in the exploitation of microorganisms as oil and fat providers, due to the continuing diminution of arable land and climate change making animal and plant sourced oils even more limited. However, such endeavor has been progressing hardly, mostly because the efficiencies of oil synthesis by microorganisms are normally too low to be applied in industry at a reasonable price.

The article “Ion-beam-mutation breeding of an arachidonic acid biosynthesis microorganism and its industrial fermentation control,” by Z. L. Yu and Q. Huang et al., from the Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, published in Chinese Science Bulletin, has started to shed light on this issue. Cells of the oil-producing fungus Mortierella alpine were genetically modified by their patented technology, known as ion beam biotechnology, and screened using procedures tailored for oil yield. They obtained one strain: 50 percent of its biomass was fatty acids, of which 70 percent was arachidonic acid.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Modified-Fungus-Produces-Much-Needed-Oil-052912.aspx

An international research team has manufactured a new protein that can combat deadly flu epidemics.

The paper, featured on the cover of the current issue of Nature Biotechnology, demonstrates ways to use manufactured genes as antivirals, which disable key functions of the flu virus, says Tim Whitehead, assistant professor of chemical engineering and materials science at Michigan State Univ.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-New-Protein-Fights-Deadly-Flu-052912.aspx

A new study suggests that aspirin and other similar painkillers may help protect against skin cancer. Published early online in CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society, the findings indicate that skin cancer prevention may be added to the benefits of these commonly used medications.

Previous studies suggest that taking nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, or NSAIDs, which include aspirin, ibuprofen, and naproxen, as well as a variety of other nonprescription and prescription drugs, can decrease an individual’s risk of developing some types of cancer. Sigrún Alba Jóhannesdóttir, BSc, of Aarhus Univ. Hospital in Denmark, and her colleagues looked to see if the medications might decrease the risk of the three major types of skin cancer: basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, and malignant melanoma.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-NSAIDs-May-Help-Prevent-Skin-Cancer-052912.aspx

Aggressive efforts to lower blood pressure in people with diabetes are paying off – perhaps too well, according to a new study.

The research shows that there have been dramatic improvements in blood pressure control among patients with diabetes in the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, with as many as 82 percent of patients having blood pressure controlled and 94 percent getting appropriate BP treatment. However, given the dramatic rise in control, as many people now may be getting over-treated with blood pressure medications as are being under-treated.

That suggests it might be time to reconsider the current one-size-fits-all approach to blood pressure control, and turn to a new model that adjusts the blood pressure goal according to the individual, say a team of researchers from the VA Ann Arbor Healthcare System and the Univ. of Michigan Health System.

Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Personalized-Treatment-Needed-for-Blood-Pressure-Control-052912.aspx