A. Researchers Seek to Better Understand Autism
Narrator: This is Science Today. One of the fastest growing developmental disabilities in this country is autism, a neurological disorder that affects normal functioning of the brain and impacts areas of social interaction and communication skills. About 1.5 million American children and adults are affected and yet, there is no known single cause for autism. Researcher Irva Hertz-Picciotto of the University of California , Davis Mind Institute, says they're interested in looking into a wide variety of environmental factors.
Hertz-Picciotto: Metals are one important class of chemical compounds that have a known effect, in that they do affect the nervous system.
Narrator: Picciotto, an environmental epidemiologist, says the Mind Institute is also interested in pesticides.
Hertz-Picciotto: Pesticides are used widely. They're used around buildings, they're used in agriculture. So pesticides are of interest because often the pesticides are designed to affect the nervous system of other species, whether it's rodents or insects.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
An Ancient Mutation May Have a Role in Disease Today
Narrator: This is Science Today. Mitochondria are the power plants of cells - helping control body temperature and the synthesis of ATP, a chemical form of energy. Researchers at the University of California , Irvine have discovered that key mutations in the mitochondrial DNA of migrating early humans helped them adapt to colder climates and may even play a role today in why certain people are prone to certain diseases. Study co-leader Douglas Wallace, explains mitochondria are the major source of oxygen radicals in the body.
Wallace: If your mitochondria are burning very hot and fast, then all of the calories are going to be making heat but if they're burning sluggishly, more of the calorie energy will go up in smoke and you'll get more oxygen radicals.
Narrator: Oxygen radicals kill off cells and lead to several age-related diseases.
Wallace: So what has been found is that the people with the mitochondrial DNA lineages that have the tendency to make more heat, they are protected against Alzheimer's and Parkinson's disease.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
Using Unmanned Aircraft Vehicles (UAVs) to Study the Environment
Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers at the University of California , San Diego 's Scripps Institution of Oceanography led 18 successful data-gathering missions over the Indian Ocean using instrument-bearing, unmanned aircraft vehicles, or UAVs. Scientist Veerabhadran Ramanathan explains how these lightweight aircraft can be used to probe pollution particles in clouds.
Ramanathan: Pollution enters the atmosphere from below, then gets into the clouds, changes the clouds, produces more cloud drops, which in turn reflects sunlight and that impacts the climate. So, to study this problem, we need one aircraft flying below the cloud and one flying inside the cloud and the third aircraft above the cloud to see how this pollution goes through the clouds and changes the solar radiation field.
Narrator: Ramanathan predicts that five years from now, there will be hundreds – possibly thousands – of UAVs to probe how we are modifying or polluting the climate.
Ramanathan: This campaign was such a spectacular success. It established lightweight UAVs as the future to study the environment.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D.
A Novel Development May Improve Results After Cataract Surgery
Narrator: This is Science Today. Cataract surgery is one of the most common procedures done in the elderly in the United States . During the surgery, cloudy lenses are removed and then an implant, usually made of plastic, silicone or acrylic, is placed inside the eye. Dr. Dan Schwartz, director of the retinal service at the University of California , San Francisco , says everyone requires a different powered lens.
Schwartz: It's just like shoe size and so before surgery, they measure the length of your eye and the curvature of your cornea and based on those measurements, are able to determine the power of lenses you need in your eye. But because of imprecision in the way the eye heals after surgery because of pre-existing things like astigmatism, a lot of times it's very difficult to predict exactly the power you're going to need until the eye is healed. And by that time it's too late because they lens is already in your eye. So probably 40 to 50 percent of patients, to get their best possible vision after surgery wear glasses.
Narrator: Schwartz and colleagues have developed light-adjustable lenses that can be reshaped with light after the eye has healed.
Schwartz: It's a way of, after surgery, modifying the power of the lens, which heretofore, had been impossible.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Drug Companies May Benefit from Bee Communication Research
Narrator: This is Science Today. A Brazil-based study of stingless bees offers new insight into communication strategies when competing for food. James Nieh, an assistant professor of biology at the University of California , San Diego , says bees use two main forms of communication: sounds or dances within the hive or by leaving scent markings outside to lead the rest of the hive to food sources.
Nieh: In the research we have been doing, we found this interesting strategy where some bees don't produce a complete trail. They in fact create a short trail that just points from the nest towards the food source. But only in the last 50 or so meters to the food source, so there is a big gap there. My idea is perhaps this makes it harder to find for other bees.
Narrator: Nieh says their research may benefit drug companies interested in the medicinal value of stingless bee honey and resin.
Nieh: Knowing more about their communication system, how they find these flowers and bring back these nectars, which may have medicinal compounds, may help us.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
