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A.
Another Way to Cut Down Amount of Carcinogens While
Cooking Meat
Narrator:
This is Science Today. It's been long established
that well-done meat contains carcinogenic compounds
called heterocyclic amines. Fairly recently, researchers
discovered that pre-cooking meat in a microwave
cut down on these compounds. Now biomedical scientist
Mark Knize, of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory,
says a simple flip of the wrist can also reduce
these compounds.
Knize:
We recently found that if you flip the meat frequently
during cooking, that also makes a big reduction
in the amount of the heterocyclic amine carcinogens
that are produced. I think you have to go with whatever
fits your food preparation methods or your lifestyle.
If you're cooking in a frying pan, just flipping
seems to do the same thing as the microwave precooking.
Narrator:
Knize and his colleagues are working to solve what
really causes cancer in people and are these amine
carcinogens involved?
Knize:
We're studying from several angles - the cooking
is one small part of it, but the biological effects
are also being investigated.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
The Gene Pill: A New Concept in Gene Therapy
Narrator:
This is Science Today. A new concept in gene therapy,
in which normal proteins - including insulin - can
be delivered to the bloodstream in one simple pill,
has been patented. Dr. Stephen Rothman, a professor
of physiology at the University of California, San
Francisco, is one of the inventors of this technique,
which is often referred to as the 'gene pill.'
Rothman: It's an attempt for
a short-term therapy, not a long-term cure. The gene
pill can be given daily or even more frequently, as
long as you need it. But it's not an attempt to make
a permanent change in the cells and in the biological
system.
Narrator: Rothman says the reasons for
this are practical.
Rothman:
You may want to treat somebody only for a short period
of time - you don't want a permanent treatment. It
also allows you to adjust dose. You could start out
with lower doses and increase the dose. Whereas, it's
much harder to do that if you make a permanent change
in the cell.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Researchers Hoping to Predict Wildfire Behavior in
Real Time
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Imagine a computer model program
that could predict the behavior of a wildfire and
how to contain it in real time? That's just what scientists
at the Lawrence Livermore and Los Alamos National
laboratories are working on. Mike Bradley, an atmospheric
scientist at the Livermore Lab, says the program is
similar to weather prediction.
Bradley:
The models embody the full set of physical equations
that determine the behavior of the wildfire - the
chemistry, the radiation, the variation in the fuel
as affected by the progression of the fire. And actually
simulate within the virtual world of the computer,
the wildfire behavior.
Narrator:
The fact this system would simulate not only the fire
and the weather, but the two components together -
is what's essential to the concept.
Bradley:
We just really believe that this program has a high
potential to save lives, to protect property, to preserve
natural resources and possibly even to protect endangered
species.
Narrator:
Although the program is not available yet, Bradley
says it's generating positive feedback from various
agencies. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
A One-stop Shopping Environmental Research Center
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Researchers at the University
of California, Riverside's College of Engineering
Center for Environmental Research and Technology -
otherwise known as CE-CERT - are working to improve
the understanding of the environment and develop an
assortment of future environmental technologies. Joe
Norbeck, director of CE-CERT, likens it to one-stop
shopping.
Norbeck:
If you look at the air pollution problem on an urban
and regional scale and you look at all the parts of
that complex system, what CE-CERT does is address
just about every one of those parts, with the exception
of health effects work.
Narrator:
Some of the projects at CE-CERT include building vehicles
of the future powered by hydrogen; measuring emissions
from vehicles of all types using a high tech laboratory
on wheels, and studying transportation systems research.
Norbeck:
When we first started, a lot of people thought we
were just for California, but actually our program
now is international and the purpose of it in our
initial mission was to be an interface between industry
and the regulatory community.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Some Practical Advice for New Parents
Narrator:
This is Science Today. New parents often decide to
share the responsibility of waking in the middle of
the night to prepare an infant for feeding. But Kathryn
Lee, a professor of nursing at the University of California,
San Francisco, says while this is a great way for
fathers to be supportive, it's not really efficient.
Lee:
It's just that it didn't work in real life -
it was the fathers who had to still go off and work
during the day and maintain a job and usually has
a higher income, but that income they count on during
the course of childbearing. So to have him sleep deprived
by getting up in the middle of the night is not cost
effective.
Narrator:
Besides, Lee says women - especially new mothers -
are naturally more vigilant and can fall back asleep
easier, whereas men tend to sleep right through the
crying and have a harder time sleeping once they wake
up.
Lee:
I think there are other ways that the father can be
more supportive. If he can come home early, so that
she can take a late afternoon nap, then that would
be probably much more helpful.
Narrator:
For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
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