UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News

U.S.-Mexico border wall may hurt wildlife

TUCSON, July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. biologists say the 700-mile security wall under construction along the United States-Mexico border could significantly threaten wildlife.

The scientists said the wall would alter the movement and "connectivity" of wildlife and the animals' potential isolation might be a threat to populations of some species.

But the researchers said technology and design alterations could dramatically improve the potential for animals to move more freely between the two countries.

Oregon State University Assistant Professor Clinton Epps and University of Arizona biologist Aaron Flesch looked at the potential effects of the security wall on two species -- the pygmy o owl and bighorn sheep.

They found some of the potential damage to low-flying pygmy owls could be mitigated by erecting poles near the fence to allow the owls to swoop from a perch, and planting brush to provide better cover to help them avoid predation, Epps said.

The security wall could have a bigger impact on the movement of bighorn sheep, isolating populations and potentially reducing their genetic diversity. But the scientists say a virtual fence in some areas would allow the sheep to travel, especially in steep terrain.

The researchers said other animals might also be affected by the security wall, such as black bears, jaguars, pronghorn antelope, desert tortoises and ground-dwelling birds.

The study appeared in the journal Conservation Biology.

Canine genes aid human cancer discovery

RALEIGH, N.C., July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they've discovered a gene believed to be involved in meningiomas tumors might not be as major a factor as previously believed.

North Carolina State University researchers compared human and canine genomes and discovered the gene commonly thought to cause tumors that affect the meninges, or thin covering of the human brain, might not be as important as thought for tumor formation. Humans suffering from meningioma frequently lose one copy of nearly the entire length of human chromosome 22, which consists of nearly 50 million base pairs of DNA that code for more than 500 genes.

"With so much genetic material to consider, one can see why figuring out which genes play a key role in meningiomas is extremely difficult," Professor Matthew Breen, who led the research, said. "By looking at tumors seen in both humans and dogs we have a simple way to narrow the search: we compare the affected areas of a human chromosome with related areas on dog chromosomes.

"This works because dogs and humans are genetically similar and both get the same kinds of cancers," he added. "While we share much of our genetic material, the DNA of a dog is organized differently to our own and this makes it possible to isolate smaller 'shared' regions of genetic data rather than looking at an entire chromosome."

The research appeared in the Journal of Neurooncology.

Fish was major part of early human diet

ST. LOUIS, July 13 (UPI) -- A U.S.-led international team of scientists says it has produced the first direct evidence of substantial fish consumption by early modern humans in China.

Erik Trinkaus, a professor at the University of Washington in St. Louis, said freshwater fish are an important part of the global diet, but it has been unclear when they became an important part of the year-round diet for early humans.

The new research indicates that might have occurred in China about 40,000 years ago. The scientists said an analysis of a bone from one of the earliest modern humans in Asia -- the 40,000-year-old skeleton from Tianyuan Cave near Beijing -- showed that individual was a regular fish consumer. It's the first direct evidence for the substantial consumption of aquatic resources by early modern humans in China, they said.

The study appears in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Molecule detects, treats prostate cancer

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind., July 13 (UPI) -- U.S. scientists say they have developed a prostate cancer "homing device" that could improve detection and allow the first targeted treatment of the disease.

Purdue University researchers said they synthesized a molecule that finds and penetrates prostate cancer cells, and have created imaging agents and therapeutic drugs that can link to the molecule and be carried with it as cargo.

Professor Philip Low, who led the research, said a targeted treatment could be much more effective in treating cancer and would greatly reduce the harmful side effects associated with current treatments.

"Currently, none of the drugs available to treat prostate cancer are targeted, which means they go everywhere in the body as opposed to only the tumor, and so are quite toxic for the patient," Low said. "By being able to target only the cancer cells, we could eliminate toxic side effects of treatments. In addition, the ability to target only the cancer cells can greatly improve imaging of the cancer to diagnose the disease, determine if it has spread or is responding to treatment."

There also is potential for the targeting molecule to be used to attack the vasculature of solid tumors of other types of cancers, Low said.

Two papers detailing the research appeared in the June 1 issue of the journal Molecular Pharmaceutics.