Seniors Can Beat Injury This Winter

(HealthDay News) -- What many people regard as a winter wonderland can be a minefield of safety hazards for older adults, with snow and ice a major cause of debilitating falls. Cold weather, lack of exercise and isolation can take their toll, too.

To help seniors stay safe this winter, experts at the University of Indianapolis offer up these tips:

· Put your best foot forward. Wear appropriate footwear with good traction when outdoors.
· Clear the way. Spread road salt, sand or kitty litter on sidewalks and driveways.
· Don't do too much. If public sidewalks haven't been cleared, ask friends or neighbors for help with grocery shopping and other errands. Find someone else to handle snow shoveling and other strenuous and potentially dangerous outdoor chores.
· Exercise indoors. This could mean walking in place, riding a stationary bicycle or working out with a fitness video. Daily stretching exercises help maintain flexibility. Before you start any exercise program, consult with your doctor.
· Dress for the weather. Cold temperatures are a serious threat to seniors, especially those with dementia or Alzheimer's disease.
· Inadequate warm clothing can result in frostbite and hypothermia.
· Stay warm inside. Keep houses heated to above 65 degrees F and dress in layers to maintain body heat. Individuals who have difficulty paying the heating bill should contact their heating supplier for ways to continue service through the winter.
· Watch out for a silent killer. If you have a fireplace, gas furnace or gas-powered heater, install carbon monoxide detectors in your home.
· Stay in touch. Make an effort to socialize with family, friends and neighbors. Depression is more common in the winter and bad weather can mean social isolation for older adults. If you can't visit in person, have a telephone chat.

More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has more winter safety tips.

Retirees Could Use Workplace Wellness Programs

(HealthDay News) -- Telephone nurse counseling and regular mailings are among the methods that could persuade the many retired employees who drop out of workplace wellness programs to return to the programs, says a University of Michigan (U-M) study.
The researchers looked at a workplace wellness program offered by the United Auto Workers and General Motors, and found that retirees dropped out of the more comprehensive parts of the program, such as health screenings, doctor's visit vouchers, and counseling for risky health behaviors.
The workers probably abandoned these services because they were mainly offered at the workplace, said study author Louis Yen of U-M's Health Management Research Center. However, Yen and his colleagues found the GM retirees were more likely than current GM employees to use communication-based wellness services offered through newsletters and telephone calls.
"Retirees frequently move and are not located in the same community as the employer. Therefore, mail, telephone and Internet programs may be the most successful in reaching this important group," Yen said in a prepared statement.
The study appears in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Behavior.
Boosting retiree participation in workplace wellness programs could save companies a great deal of money in terms of health benefits.
"The vast majority of these programs are available only to active employees. Retired employees are often excluded from the health promotion program, even though many employers pay a large part of their health-care costs," Yen said.
More information
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has information about healthy aging for older adults.

Elderly Alcoholics Get Equal Heart Attack Care

(HealthDay News) -- Elderly alcoholics who are hospitalized for heart attacks receive treatment equal to those elderly patients who are sober.
That's the conclusion of a recent study of Medicare patients across the United States by Yale University School of Medicine.
The study was undertaken out of concern that elderly patients diagnosed with alcohol abuse problems could be a vulnerable population that might receive substandard treatment in hospitals.
"I think the concern was that, as we know, patients who have mental health diagnoses can experience some level of stigma when they enter the health-care system," study co-author Dr. David Fiellin said in a prepared statement. Previous work had shown that patients with mental disorders, including substance abuse, were less likely to get lifesaving heart procedures such as bypass and angioplasty surgery.
Earlier research had also shown that elderly patients are often discriminated against in treatments that require organ transplants.
Fiellin and his colleagues analyzed data on 155,000 patients aged 65 and older admitted to hospitals with heart attacks. Of those, about 1,300 also had alcohol-related diagnoses on their charts.
Compared to other patients, the alcoholics were as likely to receive ACE inhibitor drugs, aspirin, angioplasty and advice to quite smoking. They were somewhat less likely, however, to receive beta blocker drugs.
The study appears in the latest issue of Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research.
More information
The National Institutes of Health has more about alcoholism among the elderly.

Breastfeeding Medicine

New Rochelle, NY, July 31, 2006—In Recognition of World Breastfeeding Week, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. (www.liebertpub.com) will provide free online access to Breastfeeding Medicine for the entire month of August.

Breastfeeding Medicine, the official publication of the Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine, is a new international peer-reviewed medical journal that provides physicians with the evidence-based information they need to further educate themselves, their hospital staff, and patients on all aspects of breastfeeding to ensure optimal care for both mother and infant.

All published issues are available free online at www.liebertpub.com/bfm
“A new level of interest in breastfeeding coupled with widespread evidence-based research on the benefits of breastfeeding was the impetus for Breastfeeding Medicine,” said Mary Ann Liebert, President and CEO of Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. “Breastfeeding has a major impact on healthcare outcomes and costs since the baby has fewer medical problems (such as ear infections, allergies and obesity), as does the mother (such as lower incidence of breast and ovarian cancer). It gives me great pleasure to extend online access to everyone for the month of August,” she added.

Breastfeeding Medicine publishes original scientific papers, reviews, and clinical case studies on a wide spectrum of topics in lactation medicine such as: the epidemiology, physiological and psychological benefits of breastfeeding; breastfeeding recommendations and protocols; health consequences of artificial feeding; optimal nutrition for the breastfeeding mother; breastfeeding indications and contraindications; breastfeeding the premature or sick infant; breastfeeding in the chronically ill mother; management of the breastfeeding mother on medication; and much more.

The Academy of Breastfeeding Medicine is a worldwide organization of physicians dedicated to the promotion, protection, and support of breastfeeding and human lactation through education, research, and advocacy. The Academy’s 2006 Annual International Meeting, “Current Controversies in Breastfeeding Medicine,” is taking place on September 19-22, 2006 in Niagara Falls, NY. For further details and to register, visit (www.bfmed.org)

Mary Ann Liebert, Inc. is a privately held, fully integrated media company known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research, including Journal of Women’s Health, Pediatric Asthma, Allergy, & Immunology, and Obesity Management. Its biotechnology trade magazine, Genetic Engineering News (GEN), was the first in its field and is today the industry’s most widely read publication worldwide. A complete list of the firm’s 60 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available at www.liebertpub.com

Key Fat And Cholesterol Cell Regulator Identified, Promising Target

Researchers at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital have identified how a molecular switch regulates fat and cholesterol production, a step that may help advance treatments for metabolic syndrome, the constellation of diseases that includes high cholesterol, obesity, type II diabetes, and high blood pressure.

The study is now published in the online version of the scientific journal Nature and will appear in the August 10th print edition. "We have identified a key protein that acts together with a family of molecular switches to turn on cholesterol and fat (or lipid) production," says principal investigator Anders Naar, PhD, assistant professor of cell biology at Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts General Hospital Cancer Center.

"The identification of this protein interaction and the nature of the molecular interface may one day allow us to pursue a more comprehensive approach to the treatment of metabolic syndrome." High levels of cholesterol and lipids are linked to a number of interrelated medical conditions and diseases, including obesity, type II diabetes, fatty liver, and high blood pressure.

This set of conditions and diseases, known as metabolic syndrome, are afflicting a rapidly increasing portion of society and serve as a major risk factor for heart disease, the leading cause of death in the developed world. Treatments for diseases associated with metabolic syndrome have focused primarily on individual elements, such as high LDL-cholesterol (targeted by the cholesterol-lowering statin drugs).

However, more effective ways to treat all of the components of metabolic syndrome are needed. One attractive approach might be to target the genetic switches that promote cholesterol and lipid synthesis, but it would require a detailed understanding of the regulatory mechanisms before drug targets can be identified. After eating a meal, a family of proteins act as switches to turn on cholesterol and fat (or lipid) production.

This family of proteins is known as SREBPs, or sterol regulatory element binding proteins. Between meals, the production of cholesterol and lipids should be turned off, however, excess intake of foods, coupled with lack of exercise, appear to disturb the normal checks and balances that control SREBPs, resulting in overproduction of cholesterol and lipids. In the Nature paper, the HMS and MGH Cancer Center team has shown that a protein called ARC105, which binds to SREBPs, is essential in controlling the activity of the SREBP family of proteins. "ARC105 represents a lynchpin for SREBPs control of cholesterol and lipid biosynthesis genes, which may provide a potential molecular Achilles heel that could be targeted by drugs" says Dr. Näär. The researchers initially found that after removing ARC105 from human cells by a process called RNAi, SREBPs were no longer able to activate cholesterol and lipid biosynthesis genes.

To validate these findings in a physiological setting, the researchers turned to the microscopic worm C. elegans, a favorite model organism among those studying evolutionarily conserved biological processes because of its rapid generation time and relative simplicity of genetics, and which had previously been used to study mechanisms of fat regulation.

Through a collaborative effort with the worm genetics group of Anne Hart, PhD, HMS associate professor of pathology at the MGH Cancer Center, the team demonstrated that the C. elegans homologues of SREBP and ARC105, known as SBP-1 and MDT-15, respectively, are necessary for production and storage of fat. The worms had regular fat production when SBP-1 and MDT-15 functioned normally, but when researchers used RNAi to knock out function of either SBP-1 or MDT-15, the worms lost their ability to properly store fat, lay eggs, and move normally. "The striking effects of the RNAi knock downs in C. elegans suggest that the ARC105/SREBP pathway may play a key role in lipid production in humans," said Laurie Tompkins, PhD, of the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, which partially supported the research. "This work highlights the value of model organisms in helping us understand cellular processes that impact human health."

The research team also showed that removal of ARC105 in human cells by RNAi also negatively affects the same key SREBP target gene as identified in C. elegans. This suggests that the molecular switch is evolutionarily conserved (and therefore likely physiologically important). Exhaustive biochemical detective work performed by the Näär group together with the group of Gerhard Wagner, PhD, HMS professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology, identified exactly how SREBP and ARC105 interact. They found a flexible tail on the SREBP molecule that fits into a specific groove on a region of ARC105 called KIX. The researchers analyzed the amino acid sequence of the ARC105 protein, testing many different sections using NMR spectroscopy to eventually find the KIX area--just one tenth the area of the larger ARC105 protein--that specifically binds to SREBP.

This specific interaction between SREBP and ARC105 might be a target for small molecule drugs, according to Dr. Wagner. "While RNAi completely knocks out a protein including its other functions, perhaps not related to fat metabolism, a small molecule is a more subtle tool that could eliminate one protein-to-protein interaction," says Dr. Wagner.

Finding a molecule that attaches to and inhibits the flexible tail of SREBP is unlikely, but a search for inhibitors to fit the grooved KIX site looks much more promising. The team is already initiating high-throughput screening at Harvard Medical School's Institute of Chemistry and Cell Biology to identify small molecule inhibitors of the KIX site. "Of course there are numerous hurdles that would need to be overcome before finding specific and effective treatments based on these findings," says Dr. Naar.

If small molecules that specifically interfere with the interaction of SREBPs and ARC105 could be identified, careful studies in human cells and in mice would be needed to verify the specificity and efficacy in repressing cholesterol and fat production. "Unforeseen side effects of such small molecules in mouse studies or in human clinical trials could also emerge, prohibiting further follow-up", cautions Dr. Naar. ### The National Institutes of Health, the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation, and the Milton Foundation of Harvard University supported the study. HARVARD MEDICAL SCHOOL
http://hms.harvard.edu/

Harvard Medical School has more than 7,000 full-time faculty working in 10 academic departments housed on the School's Boston quadrangle or in one of 48 academic departments at 18 Harvard teaching hospitals and research institutes. Those Harvard hospitals and research institutions include Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Cambridge Health Alliance, The CBR Institute for Biomedical Research, Children's Hospital Boston, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Forsyth Institute, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Joslin Diabetes Center, Judge Baker Children's Center, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Massachusetts General Hospital, Massachusetts Mental Health Center, McLean Hospital, Mount Auburn Hospital, Schepens Eye Research Institute, Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital, and the VA Boston Healthcare System.

MASSACHUSETTS GENERAL HOSPITAL
http://www.mgh.harvard.edu/
Massachusetts General Hospital, established in 1811, is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School. The MGH conducts the largest hospital-based research program in the United States, with an annual research budget of nearly $500 million and major research centers in AIDS, cardiovascular research, cancer, computational and integrative biology, cutaneous biology, human genetics, medical imaging, neurodegenerative disorders, regenerative medicine, transplantation biology and photomedicine. MGH and Brigham and Women's Hospital are founding members of Partners HealthCare HealthCare System, a Boston-based integrated health care delivery system. Contact: John Lacey
Harvard Medical School

Breast implants linked to suicide, but not cancer

NEW YORK (Reuters Health) -- A large Canadian study adds to evidence that women with breast implants do not face a higher risk of cancer or other major diseases, but they may have a higher-than-average rate of suicide.

Among the more than 40,000 women in the study, those who'd received cosmetic breast implants had lower-than-average risks of dying from breast cancer, heart disease and a host of other major diseases.

The findings, published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, are in line with those of several past studies. Despite concerns that implants might be a risk factor for cancer or other major illnesses, researchers have generally found lower risks among breast implant recipients.

"To some extent, what you're seeing is a screening effect," said Dr. Howard Morrison of the Public Health Agency of Canada in Ottawa.

That is, women who undergo elective invasive surgery are necessarily in good health, and may have lower-than-average risks of various diseases.

Together with past studies, the new findings should be generally reassuring to women with implants, according to Morrison, whose colleague at the health agency, Dr. Paul J. Villeneuve, led the study.

But the research also confirmed another finding that several studies have now uncovered: Women with breast implants commit suicide at a higher-than-average rate.

"These findings agree fundamentally with those of past reports," Morrison said. "The one thing that lights up is this increased suicide risk."

Though this study could not dig for the reasons, Morrison noted that other studies have found poorer self-esteem and elevated rates of depression and other psychiatric disorders among women who opt for breast augmentation.

The current findings are based on data from 24,558 women who received breast implants between 1974 and 1989, and 15,893 women who had other types of plastic surgery during the same time period. The researchers tracked deaths through 1997.

Compared with rates for the general population, women in both surgery groups were about one-quarter less likely to die of cancer, and their risks of death from other major diseases were similarly lower.

Women with implants were, however, 73 percent more likely than those in the general population to commit suicide, while women who had other forms of plastic surgery also had an elevated suicide rate.

The risk was not dramatic, Morrison noted, as few women in the study committed suicide -- including 58 of the more than 24,000 breast implant patients.

Still, he said it "seems reasonable" to suggest plastic surgeons refer implant seekers for mental health consultation when they suspect the patients are at high risk of a psychiatric disorder or suicide.

Copyright 2006 Reuters.

All rights reserved.
This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.

Watching Pro Wrestling on TV May Spur Violence Among Teens

MONDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Watching professional wrestling on TV encourages aggressive behavior in teens when they date.
And these violent tendencies are more pronounced in girls who watch more wrestling.
Those are the conclusions of a new study by Wake Forest University researchers, who reported their findings in the August issue of the journal Pediatrics.
"Both among male and female students, the frequency with which they watched wrestling was associated with a number of indicators of violence and weapon-carrying," said lead author Robert H. DuRant, a professor of pediatrics and social science and health policy at Brenner Children's Hospital, part of Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.
"Of particular concern was that the frequency of watching wrestling was associated with being both the perpetrator and victim of date fighting," DuRant said. "This association was stronger among female adolescents than among male adolescents," he added.
In the study, DuRant's team asked 2,228 North Carolina high school students how many times they had watched wrestling on TV in the past two weeks. Among boys, 63 percent said they'd watched wrestling, and 24.6 percent had watched it six or more times during that period. Among girls, 35.1 percent said they had watched wrestling, and 9.1 percent had done so six or more times during the two-week period.
Boys who watched wrestling were more likely to start fights with their dates, be a date-fight victim, and carry a gun or other weapon. They also said they drank alcohol or used drugs during their last fight, the researchers found.
For girls, watching wrestling led to higher rates of starting a fight with a date, being a victim of a date fight, carrying a gun at school, fighting, fighting at school, and being injured in a fight. And like boys, these girls said they drank or used drugs during a fight, the study found.
"The more children and adolescents are exposed to violence, the more likely they are to engage in violence -- and media plays a part," DuRant said.
Part of the problem with professional wrestling, DuRant said, is that women are often degraded and appear as both the victims and instigators of violence. And this has a spillover effect for teens who watch wrestling, he said.
In addition, he noted, women in wrestling programs are often referred to in derogatory terms. "The message you hear is that violence against these women is often justified. This is a constant message the kids are receiving," he added.
DuRant admits that watching wrestling by itself is not the sole cause of violent behavior among teens. "It is one causal factor in the overall socialization of these kids. It's another media source that has a negative effect," he said. "Watching wrestling is just another nail in the coffin."
Gary Davis, vice president of corporate communications at World Wrestling Entertainment Inc., called the study a rehash of an earlier report by the same researchers.
"The researchers could not find a direct causal relationship between watching wrestling and health-risk behaviors," Davis said. "The study ignored other factors that might lead to the types of behaviors discussed in the study. Its findings, therefore, are less than conclusive."
"In contrast to the findings of this flawed study, many of our fans attest that watching World Wrestling Entertainment programming has been a positive experience for them and their children," Davis added. "Many teens viewing our programs credit them with furthering their self-esteem and confidence. Parents point to using WWE programs as incentives for academic achievement. An overwhelming majority of the parents who watch our programming do so with their children. More than half of these parents consider watching our programs with their children as important family time. As always, WWE encourages parents to be actively involved with their children in what they view on television and on the Internet."
One expert thinks the new study reflects the impact of media on promoting violence among teens.
"This study is consistent with hundreds of other studies on violent media and aggression," said Brad Bushman, a professor of psychology at the University of Michigan.
Bushman said he also thinks there is something different about the minority of girls who watch wrestling. "The women who are attracted to that type of entertainment may not be representative of the average woman," he said.
Bushman added that he thinks that about 10 percent of the cause of violence among teens is due to violent media. The majority of influence comes from a child's experience at home, school and with friends, he said.
However, teens look to the mass media for images to emulate. "They look to the mass media to decide what a real man is like or what a real woman is like," Bushman said. "What they see if they look at wrestling is that real men and women solve their problems with aggression and force."

More information
The American Academy of Child & Adolescent Psychiatry can tell you more about TV violence and children.
Last reviewed: 08/07/2006 Last updated: 08/07/2006

Study Examines Latex Transfer to Food in Packaging

MONDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- Food packaging that contains latex should be labeled in order to prevent latex-sensitive people from being exposed to potentially deadly levels of the allergen, a group of experts said in response to a recent study.
The U.K. study found that a third of food packaging tested was contaminated with latex and that, in some cases, the latex was transferred to the food. One brand of chocolate biscuit contained 20 times the amount of latex that can cause a reaction. It's believed that as little as a billionth of a gram (1 ng/ml) can be enough to cause a reaction.
Researchers measured the presence of four major latex allergens in 21 types of food packaging for fruits and vegetables, meat, confectionary, pastry and dairy products. The highest latex levels were on ice-cream wrappers. One ice-cream wrapper had more than 370 ng/ml of latex, and the ice cream itself contained about 14 ng/ml.
One company told researchers that it sprayed entire wrappers with latex adhesive, so that the wrappers could be sealed with minimum wastage.
The study was published in the Journal of the Science of Food and Agriculture.
The findings are significant, experts from the U.K. Latex Allergy Support Group (LASG) Advisory Panel told the journal Chemistry & Industry.
"For a few people, natural rubber latex is a very potent allergen, and for these individuals, there is no safe level of exposure," LASG representative Graham Lowe said in a prepared statement. Latex transfer to food could account for some currently unexplained reactions, he noted.

More information
The American Academy of Family Physicians has more about latex allergy.
Last reviewed: 08/07/2006 Last updated: 08/07/2006

Anesthesia Drug Rapidly Lifts Depression, Researchers Say

(HealthDay News) -- A single dose of an anesthesia drug produced relief from depression in as little as two hours in a small group of patients for whom several other treatments had failed, U.S. government researchers report.

The researchers said, however, that the drug, ketamine, is unlikely to be used in the treatment of depression because of possible side effects, including psychosis. But the new finding does signal an important direction for future research.

Currently available antidepressants can take weeks to work. "That was similar to the sound barrier. We felt we couldn't pass it," said Dr. Carlos A. Zarate Jr., lead author of the study and chief of the mood disorders research unit at the National Institute of Mental Health.

He added, "Now the sound barrier is broken. That doesn't mean you can get on the plane and take off right away, but it means it's possible that we can come up with a treatment that works very rapidly. That's down the road."

Ketamine is novel not only for the speed of its effect, but also because it targets a new system in the brain.

"It's novel because all antidepressants that are currently available work on neurotransmitters that are monoamines like dopamine and serotonin. That's the focus of the current antidepressant armamentarium," explained Dr. Richard A. Friedman, director of the psychopharmacology clinic at Cornell University's Medical Center in New York City.

"Ketamine involves a particular system of the brain called glutamate. It's the main excitory neurotransmitter in the brain," he said.

Depression is a chronic, disabling condition affecting almost 15 million Americans -- almost 7 percent of the adult U.S. population -- in any given year. Some 4 percent of people with depression will end their own lives, resulting in 30,000 suicides each year.

Unfortunately, about half of people with depression don't receive treatment and, of those who do get treatment, only about 40 percent get the best, "evidence-based" treatment. Some people still don't get better even with this type of treatment, however.

This is one of the first studies in humans to look at the effect of ketamine on depression, although previous animal studies had shown promising results.

For the study, which is published in the August issue of the Archives of General Psychiatry, 18 treatment-resistant patients with depression were randomly assigned to receive either one intravenous dose of ketamine or a placebo. Participants had tried an average of six antidepressant medications without success in the past.

Depression improved within one day in 71 percent of participants who received ketamine; 29 percent of those became nearly symptom-free within one day. Thirty-five percent of those receiving ketamine still showed benefits after several weeks. Those in the placebo group showed no improvement.

One week later, participants were given the opposite treatment, unless they were still showing a benefit from the ketamine.

"People had tried six to seven antidepressants on average and had been ill for 30 years. The current episode was three years in duration," Zarate said. "All people who went through this reported a tremendous relief of suffering."

Short-term side effects, including perception disturbances, went away usually before the antidepressant effect kicked in. Participants were given a relatively low dose, so they did not experience the more severe side effects.

Ketamine works by blocking the N-methyl-D-aspartic acid (NMDA) receptor, which receives signals for glutamate. Using ketamine to block glutamate's action on the NMDA receptor also seemed to have a secondary effect on another brain receptor, the AMPA receptor.

Zarate and his team are now looking at several ways to use this information for depressed patients. "We're looking to see if we can refine ketamine for clinical use by taking care of side effects," he said. "We're also looking at other drugs."

More information
For more on depression, head to the National Institute of Mental Health.
Last reviewed: 08/07/2006 Last updated: 08/07/2006

Scientists Recreate an Ancient Gene

MONDAY, Aug. 7 (HealthDay News) -- In an effort to better understand evolution, U.S. scientists reversed the process and reconstructed a 530-million-year-old gene by combining segments of two modern mouse genes that descended from the ancient one.
The process of a single gene dividing into multiple genes, which then mutate, "has occurred many times in evolution, but no one has put it back together again. We are the first to reconstruct an ancient gene," researcher Petr Tvrdik, a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah, said in a prepared statement.
"We have proven that from two specialized modern genes, we can reconstruct the ancient gene they split off from. It illuminates the mechanisms and processes that evolution uses, and tells us more about how Mother Nature engineers life," Tvrdik added.
The genes in the study were Hox genes, which direct the action of other genes during embryo development. The findings were published Monday in the journal Developmental Cell.
"It provides further evidence at the molecular level of how evolution has occurred and is occurring, and thus makes the process less mysterious. We've shown some of the elements involved in the process of evolution by reversing this process and reconstructing a gene that later became two genes," Mario Capecchi, distinguished professor and co-chairman of human genetics at the university's school of medicine, said in a prepared statement.
Being able to use modern genes to reconstruct ancient genes raises the possibility of a new kind of gene therapy, the researchers said. It may be possible to insert a portion of a related gene into a disease-causing mutant gene in order to restore normal function and cure the disease.

More information
The Nemours Foundation has more about genes.
Last reviewed: 08/07/2006 Last updated: 08/07/2006