 | Discoveries
Gene Links Leukemia, Brain Cancer
Researchers at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota have discovered that a gene involved in an often fatal infant leukemia is also associated with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. The discovery provides a common thread to the biology of leukemia and brain cancer. The original purpose of the research was to find out what role the gene plays in infant leukemia. Researchers found that it is the master regulator of hundreds of genes, meaning that it allows for self-renewal and expansion of both normal and abnormal cells. A search to uncover whether the gene is associated with other conditions found that it is present in stem cells in the brain and in glioblastoma.
Genes Might Determine Prognosis
Certain genes can influence a person’s likelihood to contract particular diseases. Now, research at the Masonic Cancer Center, University of Minnesota demonstrates that genetic markers may also show a person’s likelihood to survive the disease. The research successfully identified combinations of genes associated with early relapse of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the white blood cells. The results raise the possibility that a person’s genetic background exerts an important influence on the patient’s prognosis and response to treatment. The goal of the research is to predict how effective and toxic a particular drug treatment will be based on the patient’s genetic profile, and develop individualized assessments and predictions for the right drug at the right dose. This approach could avoid unnecessary treatments for patients unlikely to respond to a particular drug while targeting treatments to those who will benefit most.
Speaking of Spanish
A study in the University of Minnesota Medical School that examined middle school-age youths’ social networks found that speaking Spanish is not significantly associated with substance abuse among Latino youth, a finding at odds with previous studies conducted nationally. After considering multiple risk and protective factors in their research model, including social networks, age, gender, and parental monitoring, researchers found that Spanish language use was neither protective nor a risk factor. Rather, it was simply an indicator of who youth were interacting with and how they preferred to interact. Social network members, defined as the people with whom the youth had the most highly valued relationships, were found to be strongly influential. The strongest predictor of substance use was a large percentage of high school-aged social network members, whereas networks that consisted of a larger number of extended family members and other adults were found to be very protective. The highest protective factor was the youths’ perception that their parents were involved in their lives.
Not Against the Grain
Elementary school students will eat more whole grains when healthier bread products are gradually introduced into their school lunches, according to a study by researchers in the University of Minnesota Department of Food Science and Nutrition. The study monitored how much bread students threw away at two Minnesota elementary schools during the course of a year, and whether that amount increased as the percentage of whole-grain flour in the bread was gradually increased. Both red and white whole-grain flour were added incrementally to products, but students showed no strong preference for either type of flour. Students did not throw away more bread products until the percentage of whole-grain flour in the bread and rolls reached 70 percent. The research is important because it shows that a gradual approach to improving children’s overall diets can be successful both for parents and school food-service workers.
Stalagmite Tells a Tale
U of M geology and geophysics researchers, along with their colleagues in China, have uncovered evidence that climate patterns contributed to social upheaval and the fall of dynasties in ancient China. Their research identifies a natural phenomenon that may have been the last straw for some Chinese dynasties: a weakening of the summer Asian monsoons, which are critical for cultivating rice. Such weakening accompanied the fall of three dynasties.
The research rests on climate records preserved in the layers of a 118-millimeter-long stalagmite found in Wanxiang Cave in Gansu Province. The stalagmite was formed over a period of 1,810 years; stone at its base dates from A.D. 190, and stone at its tip was laid down in 2003, the year it was collected. By measuring amounts of the elements uranium and thorium throughout the stalagmite, the researchers could tell the date each layer was formed. And by analyzing the “signatures” of two forms of oxygen in the stalagmite, they could match amounts of rainfall—a measure of monsoon strength—to those dates.
Researchers discovered that periods of weak summer monsoons coincided with the last years of the Tang, Yuan, and Ming dynasties, which are known to have been times of popular unrest. Conversely, researchers found that a strong summer monsoon prevailed during one of China’s “golden ages,” the Northern Song Dynasty. Researchers said the finding illustrates the promise of paleoclimate science in understanding climate effects on society and culture.
More Diverse=More Fertile
A study by University of Minnesota researchers conducted at Cedar Creek Ecosystem Science Reserve shows that biodiversity increases soil fertility and could be used to restore depleted agricultural land. The common view is that soil fertility requires decades or even centuries to develop. But the research demonstrates that plant diversity speeds that process by simultaneously introducing and retaining more nutrients in the ecosystem.
Using an 11-year-old prairie experiment at Cedar Creek, researchers collected soil from prairie communities that varied in the number of plant species they contain. Seedlings grown in soil from diverse prairie communities weighed 70 percent more than seedlings grown in soil from single species. Researchers said the use of diverse mixtures of prairie plants could increase crop yields for food or cellulosic biofuels and be beneficial for wildlife, in addition to restoring soil fertility.
Music to Baby's Ears
By the age of 9 months, infants can tell the difference between happy and sad music, according to a study coauthored by a researcher from the University of Minnesota College of Education and Human Development. Five-month-old babies were able to recognize an upbeat tune, such as Beethoven’s “Ode to Joy,” but unlike the 9-month-olds they were not able to tell the difference between it and a sadder composition, such as the Seventh Symphony. The study monitored how long babies looked at an emotionally neutral face while different types of music were played. When the baby looked away from the face, the music stopped and researchers played a new song. Babies who noticed a switch from happy to sad music, or vice versa, looked at the face three to four seconds longer, indicating renewed interest.
- Cynthia Scott
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