A.
Detecting Viral Contaminants in Drinking Water Supplies
Narrator: This is Science Today. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, has awarded scientists at the University of California , Riverside a grant to develop a fast and effective method to detect disease-causing viruses in drinking water supplies. Environmental microbiologist, Marylynn Yates says the EPA does not require that drinking water be tested for viral contamination.
Yates: Because the amount of time that it takes to get the results from that test can be several weeks. And the cost of doing one of those tests is on the order of several hundred to a thousand dollars to look for essentially for one type of virus.
Narrator: Viral contaminants, such as hepatitis A and E or rotavirus claim the lives of hundreds of thousands of children in the developing world. Nationally, waterborne viruses sicken over 100 thousand people each year.
Yates: Our goal at the end of this project is to have a system that will enable us to detect infective particles in a very short period of time.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
B.
A Protein Marker that's Predictive of Cardiac Events
Narrator: This is Science Today. A protein marker for a cardiac hormone called B-type Natiuretic Peptide, or BNP, which goes up when the heart is stressed, has been found to be a good predictor for the risk of cardiac events and death in patients with pre-existing cardiovascular disease.
Whooley: There are always new protein markers. You never know whether they have any independent predictive value beyond what we already know, which is that patients who smoke and who don't exercise and who are obese who have high cholesterol are going to do worse.
Narrator: Study leader Mary Whooley of San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center , says even after adjusting for all other risk factors, this protein marker called NT-proBNP, was clearly very predictive of cardiac events.
Whooley: It seems to pick up an element of risk that we're otherwise not detecting with our currently available measurements, like echocardiography, blood pressure, smoking, cholesterol. Maybe we can figure out some new therapy to target the patients at higher risk to help that would in fact improve their outcomes.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
C.
A USDA Grant Funds Research to Prevent Future E.coli Outbreaks
Narrator: This is Science Today. In 2006, more than 200 people were sickened, and at least three people died, after consuming spinach contaminated with E.coli . To prevent future outbreaks in food crops, growers and processors are working with University of California-based scientists and specialists to study the biology, ecology and possible sources of E.coli in agricultural systems. Royce Larsen is one of several university advisors cooperating on a USDA research initiative.
Larsen: We're now going to take a look at livestock, wildlife and movement of E.coli. We want to know what the sources are, what the potentials are, what the risks are with them and then, if they are a source, how does it move? Those are all questions that we know a little bit about but not very much. And so, it's a big gap in our knowledge but it's affecting the whole industry.
Narrator: The four-year grant will also include outreach and best management practices. For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
D. A Bone Loss Study of Astronauts also Benefits Populations on Earth
Narrator: This is Science Today. A study looking into the causes and possible treatment of bone loss resulting from the prolonged weightlessness of space travel will not just benefit astronauts. Study leader Roger Long, an endocrinology research fellow at the University of California , San Francisco , says here on Earth, patients who are immobilized due to injury experience the same type of bone loss.
Long: When there's prolonged bed rest, there's not much stimulation on the bones. So, these individuals that will lose bone and it's been well-documented that prolonged bed rest weakens the bones and reduces the strength and mechanical properties of bone. So, there are ground-based models of weightlessness in individuals that have to spend prolonged periods of time in bed for whatever reason.
Narrator: This includes a patient population with traumatic spinal cord or brain injuries.
Long: So, there's the possibility that an application of this research not only extends to astronauts, a limited population, but actually have a much more general application.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
E.
Possible Applications for a New Anti-microbial Method
Narrator: This is Science Today. Researchers at the UCLA School of Dentistry have come up with a way to efficiently kill harmful bacteria while leaving helpful bacteria intact. Wenyuan Shi, a professor of oral biology, says potentially treating tooth decay and periodontal disease with their method, called Specific Targeted Anti-Microbial Peptide, or STAMP, is just a first step.
Shi: Actually, the similar problem covers all our bodies – and whether it's a vaginal infection, nasal infection, cystic fibrosis in the respiratory tract and a lot of the digestive tract. All this we medically call mucosal surface. You have existing bacterial population there and you always want building up normal flora. But not always the flora is normal; often you have a pathogen in there that causes disease. And right now, just like in dentistry, we rely on the general antimicrobials to control those problems and they often lead us to the same problem – it kills the good and the bad bacteria at the same time.
Narrator: For Science Today, I'm Larissa Branin.
