Ancient man walked on modern feet
NAIROBI, Kenya, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- Anthropologists say ancient footprints found in Kenya show that early humans walked on the same type of foot modern humans walk on.
John W.K. Harris, a professor of anthropology at Rutgers University, and colleagues said fossils of two right footprints that date back 1.5 million years display anatomically modern features.
The footprints found at Rutgers' Koobi Fora Field School in Kenya show the big toe parallel to the other toes, unlike apes where the big toe is separated in a grasping configuration useful in the trees. The footprints also show a human-like arch and short toes, typically associated with an upright bipedal stance, the university said in a release.
The findings are published in the journal Science.
Voice box transplants may be possible
LONDON, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A team of British and European Union researchers is seeking permission to begin clinical trials of a technique that would allow voice box transplantation.
The scientists say new stem cell technology may allow a voice box to be transplanted in a way in which anti-rejection drugs would not be necessary, the BBC reported Friday. Doctors say covering a donated voice box with a patient's own stem cells may prevent organ rejection.
Britain's Royal College of Surgeons is preparing to debate whether the benefits of the technically difficult surgery outweigh risks, the report said.
CO2 linked to prehistoric global cooling
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- U.S. researchers say a reduction in greenhouse gases likely caused the relatively swift formation of ice in Antarctica millions of years ago.
Matthew Huber, assistant professor of earth and atmospheric sciences at Purdue University, said ice formed on Antarctica 35.5 million years ago over a period of about 100,000 years. That is considered an "overnight" shift in geological terms, the university said Thursday in a release.
"Our studies show that just over 35 million years ago, 'poof,' there was an ice sheet where there had been subtropical temperatures before," Huber said. "Until now we haven't had much scientific information about what happened."
Computer modeling suggests the cooling was caused by a reduction of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
Mark Pagani, professor of geology and geophysics at Yale University, said air and ocean surface temperatures dropped as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit during the cooling period.
"Previous reconstructions gave no evidence of high-latitude cooling," Pagani said in the release. "Our data demonstrate a clear temperature drop in both hemispheres during this time."
The findings are published in the journal Science.
Scientists move closer to MD solution
COLUMBIA, Mo., Feb. 27 (UPI) -- A University of Missouri team of scientists identified the location of the genetic material vital to curing muscular dystrophy.
Dongsheng Duan said Duchenne muscular dystrophy, which predominantly affects males, is the most common type of muscular dystrophy. Patients with Duchenne muscular dystrophy have a gene mutation that disrupts the production of dystrophin. Absence of dystrophin starts a chain reaction that eventually leads to muscle cell degeneration and death.
A previous study by Duan discovered a potential delivery method to replace the mutated genes with healthy genes. Following the replacement of these genes, Duan observed that dystrophin production was restarted in animals with muscular dystrophy.
However, while dystrophin is vital for muscle development, the protein also needs several "helpers" to maintain the muscle tissue.
One of these "helper" molecular compounds is nNOS, which produces nitric oxide. This is important for muscles that are in used during high intensity movements, such as exercise.
In the study, scheduled to be published in The Journal of Clinical Investigation, the team identified the location of genetic material responsible for the production of nNOS.
In addition, after genetically correcting mice with the new dystrophin gene, the team discovered that the missing nNOS was then restored in the dystrophic muscle, so when the mice exercised they did not experience the muscle damage or fatigue.
