UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News - November 3, 2007
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Sat, 03 Nov 2007 01:42:03 GMT |
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WASHINGTON, Nov. 2
Researchers breed super mouse
CLEVELAND, Nov. 2 U.S. researchers have created a line of mighty mice that can run on a treadmill for up to six hours at speeds of about 22 yards per minute.
Case Western University biochemist Richard W. Hanson said the mice are metabolically similar to Lance Armstrong biking up the Pyrenees, utilizing fatty acids for energy and producing very little lactic acid.
The report is published in the Journal of Biological Chemistry.
Hanson said the genetically engineered mice eat 60 percent more than other mice but remain fitter and trimmer, and live and breed longer than wild mice in a control group. He attributes the super metabolism to the over-expression of the gene for the enzyme phosphoenolypyruvate carboxykinases (PEPCK-C).
Researcher Parvin Hakimi developed the line of PEPCK-C mice over the past five years as part of ongoing research aimed at understanding the metabolic and physiological function of PEPCK-C in skeletal muscle and adipose tissue, the university said Friday in a release.
Mars Express probes planet's deposits
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 The radar system on the European Space Agency's Mars Express orbiter has uncovered new details about mysterious deposits on the surface of Mars.
The Medusae Fossae Formation, found near Mars' equator, may represent some of the youngest deposits on the surface of the planet, the ESA said Friday in a release.
Radar observations found the formation to be more than 1.4 miles thick in places.
"This is the first direct measurement of the depth of these deposits," said lead author Thomas Watters of the Smithsonian Institution.
The report, published in the journal Science, said the Medusae Fossae deposits intrigue scientists because they are associated with regions that absorb certain wavelengths of Earth-based radar. This had led to them being called "stealth" regions, because they give no radar echo. The radar instrument on Mars Express uses longer wavelengths than Earth-based radar experiments.
Researchers said the deposits may be volcanic ash from now-buried vents or nearby volcanoes, wind-blown materials eroded from rocks or ice-rich deposits formed when the spin axis of Mars tilts over.
China's lunar orbiter heads toward moon
BEIJING, Nov. 2 China has launched a satellite toward lunar orbit, the first step in its goal toward sending its own astronauts into space.
The lunar probe Chang'e-1 launched from a Long March 3A carrier rocket last week from the Xichang Satellite Launch Center in the southwestern province of Sichuan. It entered Earth-moon transfer orbit Wednesday and is expected to achieve lunar orbit Monday, the state-run Xinhua news service said.
Once it reaches lunar orbit it will become a circumlunar satellite, and is expected to relay pictures of the moon starting in late November.
Xinhua said this is the first stage of China's three-stage moon mission, with the second stage being a moon landing and launch of a moon rover around 2012. In the third phase, another rover will land on the moon and return to Earth with lunar soil and stone samples for scientific research around 2017.
China's first piloted space flight occurred in October 2003.
FDA calls for recall of erectile drug
WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says consumers should stop using two unapproved drug products advertised as treatments for erectile dysfunction.
The FDA said True Man Sexual Energy Nutrient Capsules and Energy Max Energy Supplement Men's Formula Capsules contain potentially harmful, undeclared ingredients. The products, often advertised as natural alternatives to approved erectile dysfunction drugs, could interact with medications and cause dangerously low blood pressure, the agency said in a news release Friday.
"The risk is even more serious because consumers may not know that these ingredients can interact with medications and dangerously lower their blood pressure," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting director of the FDA's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research.
The agency has requested that the products, distributed by America True Man Health Inc. of West Covina, Calif., be recalled.
FDA chemical analysis has shown Energy Max contains thione, an analog of sildenafil, a substance similar to the active ingredient in the approved ED drug Viagra. True Man contains the same analog or an analog of vardenafil, the active ingredient Levitra.
Copyright 2007 by UPI
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