A.
The Challenge After the Completion of the Human
Genome Project
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Now that the Human Genome
Project is complete, scientists and industry leaders
face the challenge of finding a common language.
Ed Penhoet, a professor in the School of Public
Health at the University of California, Berkeley,
says that understanding the phenotypes of the genome,
or how each gene expresses itself physically, will
take cooperation across fields.
Penhoet:
Health is a phenotype. And it results from the intersection
of biology, and biology in this sense means primarily
genetic behavior and environment. And so many of
us have been trying to think along these lines about
the intersection of these three crucial elements
in driving any phenotype, including health.
Narrator:
Penhoet says scientists and industry leaders
will have to work on the culture of sharing of information
that was established during the Human Genome Project.
Penhoet:
And really put some serious attention into
the problem of what does sharing information mean
- you could share words, but if you don't understand
the meaning of the words, you really haven't engaged
in sharing in a meaningful way.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
The Benefits of Group Activity Exercise
Narrator:
This is Science Today. Studies have shown that among
the nation's inner-city African-American women of
childbearing age, over half are obese. This puts
them at greater risk to develop serious health problems
as they reach middle age. Judith Stern, a nutrition
professor at the University of California, Davis,
says one of the big problems is a lack of exercise.
Stern:
And what I'd say is, if you live
in the inner-city, there have to be group activities.
It's successfully been done in Boston, it's a 'stick
together' campaign where you walk a little bit more,
you eat a little bit better and you take a little
off.
Narrator:
And in post-menopausal women, Stern says
an increase in physical activity can help prevent
'middle-age spread', which often affects this age
group and has been associated with an increased
risk for heart disease and cancer. So once again,
Stern says group activity may be the way to go.
Stern:
Do it
with your friends, do it with your children - in
fact, do it with your grandchildren. Kids are really
happy for you as a parent or a grandparent to be
a little healthier.
Narrator:For
Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
How an Anti-Seizure Drug Treats Chronic Pain
Narrator:
This is Science Today. You may not have guessed
it, but medications designed to treat depression
and epilepsy can also be effective at treating chronic
pain. Dr. Michael Rowbotham, director of the University
of California, San Francisco's Pain Clinical Research
Center, explains how drugs that target specific
chemicals can treat various disorders.
Rowbotham:
The tricyclic antidepressants were discovered actually
before the 1960s to relieve pain in some patients.
It was only later figured out that the chemical
transmitters in the brain and spinal cord, serotonin
and norepinephrine, were actually very important
at how pain signals were regulated.
Narrator:
So one drug could treat both disorders. The same
is true for anti-seizure drugs and chronic pain.
Rowbotham:
Damaged nerves can generate electrical signals that
look very much like what is seen in the brain during
an epileptic fit. And anti-seizure drugs that work
on sodium channels and calcium channels are the
two types that seem to be the most effective for
treating chronic pain.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
Genetic Sequencing's Effect on Biology
Narrator:
This is Science Today. When the U.S. Department
of Energy tapped the University of California-managed
Joint Genome Institute to participate in the sequencing
of the Human Genome Project, institute director
Eddy Rubin says two things happened between the
start and completion of the sequencing.
Rubin:
One thing is that we got really good at generating
sequence and secondly, sequence turned out to be
incredibly valuable for all kinds of biology. And
so right now there is enormous numbers of communities
of scientists and biologists, ranging from geologists,
people that study the organisms living at different
places in the Earth to people interested in evolution
that want their segment of the biosphere sequenced.
Narrator:
Rubin says this makes the Joint Genome Institute
one of the largest and most cost-effective of the
large scale sequencing centers worldwide.
Rubin:
And so we have organisms waiting to go through our
sequencing machines that will, I think, accelerate
biology in all different ways.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
The Rise of Smoke-free Laws
Narrator:
This is Science Today. By now, a lot of cities have
passed smoke-free laws in public places, including
restaurants and bars. Stan Glantz, director of the
Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education
at the University of California, San Francisco,
says California, Delaware and New York have passed
smoke ordinance laws and these laws are now spreading
not just nationwide, but all over the world.
Glantz:
The tobacco industry likes to portray these smoke-free
laws as some kind of whacko California thing. But
Helena, Montana is not California. I mean, places
in Texas are passing these laws. Iowa, Nebraska,
and then plus on the East coast now, too. So these
laws are appearing all over the place. All the air-conditioned
restaurants in Thailand are smoke-fee, which is
about 80% of them. So I think we've really gotten
to a tipping point with this issue now and I think
it's not going to take much longer before we pretty
much have smoke free environments everywhere.
Narrator:
For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
