UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News - January 29, 2008 : Health

WASHINGTON, Jan. 29
Tsunamis: The worst may be yet to come
LOS ANGELES, Jan. 29 A U.S. review of potential tsunami hazards suggested 2004's catastrophic tsunami was far from the worst possible scenario in Indian Ocean borderlands.

The research -- conducted by Costas Synolakis, director of the University of Southern California Tsunami Research Center, and Northwestern University Professor Emile Okal -- evaluated potential tsunami-generating sources in the area between Africa, Asia, Australia and Antarctica and calculated the tsunamis' impact.

Okal and Synolakis considered eight scenarios -- two along Southern Sumatra in Indonesia, two in the North Andaman segment of the Sumatra Subduction Zone, two sources along the Makran Subduction Zone, south of western Pakistan, and two sources south of Java.

The researchers determined Africa's east coast is vulnerable from south Sumatran tsunamis and, in particular, Somalia remains at high risk due to the focusing effect of the Maldives ridge. The Comoro Islands located between Tanzania and Madagascar would probably be affected more severely than in 2004.

The scientists also found major earthquakes in south Java would generate substantial levels of destruction in Northern Australia, despite the sparse level of development in that region.

The research is detailed in the Geophysical Journal International.

Stem cells useful in animal stroke models
POCHON, South Korea, Jan. 29 South Korean and Canadian studies suggested stroke victims might benefit from transplantation of human mesenchymal or bone marrow stem cells.

In the South Korean study, researchers transplanted human mesenchymal stem cells, or hMSCs, into animal stroke models with cerebral artery occlusion. The animals were monitored by magnetic resonance imaging at two days, one week, two weeks, six weeks and 10 weeks after transplant.

"Cells started showing indications of migration as early as one or two weeks following transplantation," said lead author Jihwan Song of the Pochon CHA University College of Medicine. "At 10 weeks, the majority of the cells were detected in the core of the infarcted area.

"We speculate that the extensive migratory nature of stem cells and their utilization will provide an important tool for developing novel stroke therapies," Song said.

In the joint Canadian-Chinese study, bone marrow stromal cells, or BMSCs, were injected into animals 24 hours following stroke. Researchers found that within seven days the animals exhibited significant reductions in scar size and cell death and improvements in neurological function when compared to controls receiving no BMSCs.

Both studies are reported in the journal Cell Transplantation.

Scientists try to save the Tasmanian devil
COLD SPRING HARBOR, N.Y., Jan. 29 U.S. scientists are racing to save the Tasmanian devil from extinction from a unique, transmissible and rapidly spreading cancer.

The process by which the cancer spreads -- physical contact -- has only been seen once before and represents a new field in cancer biology. Once an animal is afflicted, tumors appear on its face and neck, restricting the ability to eat. Within approximately three months, the devils succumb to the disease, often through starvation. Officials project that within 20 years the species could become extinct.

Researchers at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, led by native Tasmanian Elizabeth Murchison, are attempting to determine how the tumors work at a molecular level.

"Once the cancer genes are fully sequenced, we will have a better chance to identify the cause and genetic makeup of this unique cancer," said Murchison.

The uniqueness of the tumor structure also has human implications.

"We are using all of the research tools employed for understanding human tumor biology," said Gregory Hannon, a Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator who oversees Murchison's work. "A cure for the devil may have applications for humans as well."

Transplant anti-rejection drugs studied
EVANSTON, Ill., Jan. 29 U.S. scientists are using stem cells from kidney donors' bone marrow to possibly eliminate the need for anti-rejection drugs in transplant patients.

After a transplant surgery, anti-rejection drugs for the organ recipient are required but such drugs also present the potential of infection, heart disease and cancer.

If it's successfully, the new research -- led by Dr. Joshua Miller of Northwestern University's Feinberg School of Medicine -- would mean a dramatic change in post-transplant procedures.

Northwestern, one of four U.S. facilities involved in the research, has received a four-year, $2.5 million grant from the National Institutes of Health to enroll 20 patients in the study.

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