UPI NewsTrack Health and Science News - August 20, 2007 : Health

Aug. 20
Endeavour crew prepares for landing
HOUSTON, Aug. 20 The seven astronauts aboard space shuttle Endeavor were preparing Monday for their return to Earth.

The STS-118 crew's undocking Sunday from the International Space Station came earlier than planned because National Aeronautics and Space Administration controllers were fearful Hurricane Dean might affect mission control in Houston later in the week.

The crew Monday morning completed tests of Endeavour's systems and engines that will be used for re-entry and landing. Other Monday activities were to include stowing equipment and a 30-minute de-orbit briefing.

Endeavour's first landing opportunity will occur Tuesday at 12:32 p.m. EDT at the Kennedy Space Center, with the de-orbit burn occurring at 11:25 a.m. A second opportunity is available at the Florida spaceport at 2:06 p.m., with the de-orbit burn occurring at 1 p.m.

The STS-118 crew spent nearly nine days at the ISS, conducting four spacewalks and continuing construction of the space station.

Study aims to delay Alzheimer's onset
TEL AVIV, Israel, Aug. 20 Israeli scientists working on a cure for Alzheimer's disease have determined a better way to penetrate the blood-brain barrier might be through the nose.

Scientists know plaque formation is what causes the onset of neurological diseases such as Alzheimer's and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis.

Now Tel Aviv University researchers led by Professor Beka Solomon have found administering a harmless bacterial virus known as a "filamentous phage" through nasal passages allows it to enter the brain and lock onto plaques associated with Alzheimer's.

The idea of sending a treatment through the nasal passage was a logical one, said Solomon, since Alzheimer's plaques first appear in the olfactory bulb. That's why one of the early symptoms of the much-dreaded disease is loss of smell.

To test her hypothesis, Solomon and colleagues treated mice with the phage, and found the mice that had exhibited Alzheimer's symptoms regained their sense of smell and demonstrated memory improvement. After one year of treatment, they had 80 percent fewer plaques than untreated mice.

Solomon recently presented the findings in Canada during a meeting of the American Society for Microbiology.

NASA spacecraft are 30 years old
WASHINGTON, Aug. 20 The National Aeronautics and Space Administration is marking the 30th birthday of its two Voyager spacecraft as they head toward interstellar space.

The missions of Voyager 1 and 2 are ongoing odysseys, marking an unprecedented and historic accomplishment, NASA said.

The Voyager spacecraft were launched in August and September 1977 and both are still returning information from distances more than three times farther away than Pluto.

"The Voyager mission is a legend in the annals of space exploration," said Alan Stern, associate administrator for NASA's Science Mission Directorate. "It opened our eyes to the scientific richness of the outer solar system, and it has pioneered the deepest exploration of the sun's domain ever conducted.

"It's a testament to Voyager's designers, builders and operators that both spacecraft continue to deliver important findings more than 25 years after their primary missions to Jupiter and Saturn concluded."

Voyager 1 currently is the farthest human-made object at a distance from the sun of about 9.7 billion miles. Voyager 2 is about 7.8 billion miles from the sun, NASA said, noting each spacecraft travels approximately 1 million miles per day.

Scientists work to sequence conifer genes
ATHENS, Ga., Aug. 20 U.S. scientists are working to sequence pine genes in the first of a series of projects designed to expand the gene catalog of six conifer families.

University of Georgia Professor Jeffrey Dean is leading the project at the U.S. Department of Energy's Joint Genome Institute. The research is part of a genome analysis of biological organisms that has implications for helping wean the nation's dependence on fossil fuel, according to the JGI.

"The wood from conifers will almost certainly be an important component of this nation's biomass energy strategy," Dean said, "but despite extensive commercial plantations they remain essentially an undomesticated species. Information from this project will greatly enhance the ability of our tree improvement programs to develop pines tailored to suit the needs of the future bioenergy industry."

By comparing genes expressed by different conifer species in similar conditions, scientists hope to be able to more quickly identify the key genes controlling tree growth and development.

The project includes David Neale of the University of California-Davis, Glenn Howe of Oregon State University, Kathleen Jermstad of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, and Deborah Rogers of the Center for Natural Lands Management.