UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

Scientists create carbon nanopipettes

PHILADELPHIA, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have created carbon nanopipettes thousands of times thinner than human hair that can measure electric current and deliver fluids into cells.

University of Pennsylvania researchers said the tiny carbon-based tool can be used to probe cells with minimal intrusion and inject fluids without damaging or inhibiting cell growth. The nanopipettes might replace glass micropipettes that are fragile at small scales, can cause irreparable cell damage and cannot be simultaneously used as injectors and electrodes, the scientists said.

The carbon-based pipettes -- developed by Professor Haim Bau and colleagues -- range in size from a few tens to a few hundred nanometers and are said to be far stronger and more flexible than traditional glass micropipettes. In addition, the pipettes are transparent to X-rays and electrons, making them useful when imaging even at the molecular level, the scientists said -- noting the addition of a functionalized protein to the pipette creates a nanoscale biosensor that can detect the presence of proteins.

The research by Bau, doctoral candidate Michael Schrlau and Barry Ziober of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine appears in the journal Nanotechnology.

Fruit flies: New tool in cancer research

ROCHESTER, N.Y., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have discovered fruit flies might provide a fast and inexpensive method of finding compounds that increase the body's anti-oxidant activity.

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have altered fruit flies (Drosophila) so they emit a green light when they are exposed to cancer-protective chemicals such as those found in broccoli, cabbage, and other foods.

The scientists said a chemical signaling system is one of the major ways the body defends itself against toxic assaults. A gene known as KEAP1 senses danger and then unleashes NRF2, which triggers rampant anti-oxidant activity in a cell.

In the new study, the scientists discovered that pathway, long recognized in people and other animals, is also active in fruit flies.

"This is one of the main mechanisms the body uses to fight off the things that give you cancer," said Professor Dirk Bohmann. "This puts cells into an anti-oxidant defense mode. Drug development and testing is very, very expensive and time-consuming. This work should speed the development of new drugs aimed at preventing cancer."

The study appears in the journal Developmental Cell.

Study: Dinosaurs had early pregnancies

ATHENS, Ohio, Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists have discovered dinosaurs often became pregnant as early as age 8, long before reaching their maximum adult size.

Ohio University and University of California-Berkeley researchers found medullary bone -- the same tissue that allows birds to develop eggshells -- in two new dinosaur specimens from different geologic periods: the meat-eater Allosaurus and the plant-eater Tenontosaurus. It's also been found in Tyrannosaurus rex.

The discovery pinpointed the age of the pregnant dinosaurs -- 8, 10 and 18 years -- suggesting dinosaurs reached sexual maturity earlier than thought, said Andrew Lee, an Ohio University doctoral student who conducted the work as a graduate student at the University of California-Berkeley with scientist Sarah Werning.

The new study suggested dinosaurs grew fast but only lived three to four years in adulthood. Offspring were probably precocious, like calves or foals, Lee said.

The research also offers more evidence that dinosaurs were less like reptiles and more like birds, he said. Although dinosaurs had offspring before adulthood, their early sexual maturity was more a function of their tremendous size than any anatomical similarity to crocodiles.

The study is reported in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

New sickle cell pain findings presented

RICHMOND, Va., Jan. 16 (UPI) -- U.S. medical scientists have discovered daily pain associated with sickle cell disease is significantly more prevalent and severe than previously indicated.

Virginia Commonwealth University researchers gave diaries to 232 sickle cell disease patients to record daily pain and indicate whether they used hospital emergency or unscheduled ambulatory care for their pain.

"The major finding of our study," said Dr. Wally Smith, a VCU professor who directed the research, "was that pain in sickle cell disease is a daily phenomenon and that patients are at home mostly struggling with their pain, rather than coming into the hospital or emergency department."

The researchers found more than half of the patients reported having pain on a majority of days. Nearly one-third suffered daily pain.

"I believe that this study could change the way people view the pain of the disease," said Smith. "And the study results have implications for medical care, and research. We need more drugs to prevent the underlying processes that cause pain in this disease. And we need better treatments to reduce the chronic pain and suffering that these patients go through."

The findings are detailed in the Annals of Internal Medicine.