11th April- Breakthrough for Alzheimer’s
Research at the University of California presents a new way of treating Alzheimer’s. Dr Huang and his team found that a form of the gene APOE, called APOE4 increased amyloid production in human neurons but not in the neurons of mice which shows why some of the drugs have not been effective. To fix the APOE4 Dr.Huang and his team applied a previously developed ‘structure corrector’ to the gene and found that it restored any defects allowing it to function normally.
20th April- Growing organs in arms
A U.S soldier lost her ear in a car accident but luckily doctors were able to use cartilage from her ribs to construct a new ear. The cartilage was then placed beneath her skin in her forearm where it will grow with blood vessels and a new nerve so she will be able to feel it. In a few years doctors hope that the new ear will be indistinguishable from the old one.
29th April- Dark chocolate could boost vision
A preliminary study shows that adults who ate a bar of chocolate saw a significant increase in visual clarity and contrast sensitivity in the 2 hours after consumption. Dark chocolate contains flavonoids which are also believed to improve cognitive functioning and heart health. The scientists say, “The findings reported suggest that a single dose of dark chocolate improves visibility of small, low-contrast targets within 2 hours compared with milk chocolate, but the duration of this difference and clinical relevance remains uncertain.” More research is needed to determine whether dark chocolate is actually effective.
11th May- Scientists discover how the brain stores similar events
Previously it was believed that the brain cells in the hippocampus were remapped when you visited the same place or repeated an action, however now, scientists believe that the brain stores separate ‘recordings’ in the dentate gyrus. The complex memorise are converted into more simple representations in a process called pattern separation. The dentate gyrus assists this process by activating different neurons when animals are in different environments.
~ Yumna
Sources:
Medicalnewstoday.com
medicinenet.com
newscientist.com
medicalxpress.com
PentaMedics 