Developments to Watch
Edited by Neil Gross
A Longer Shelf Life for Transplant Organs
In the past decade, the number of kidney transplants performed each year in the U.S. has jumped by almost 50%. Veterinary researchers at the University of Wisconsin at Madison can claim part of the credit for that. In 1985, they developed a synthetic solution of acids and organic agents that allows kidneys and other organs to be stored safely outside the body up to three days--longer than was possible with earlier, blood-based solutions.
The same group, led by veterinary surgeon Jonathan McAnulty, has now tinkered with the recipe and extended its preservative capability to six days. Even over such a long stretch, McAnulty says the kidneys suffer only half the damage they typically do in today's solutions. Less extensive cellular damage means the organs are less likely to deteriorate after transplantation, a process that often leads to rejection.
The secret to the new solution is a mixture of proteins called trophic factors, which help cells stay healthy and growing. So far, the work has been limited to dog kidneys, but McAnulty believes the method is applicable to human organs. Transplant surgeons at the university aim to get Food & Drug Administration approval to begin tests on humans as soon as December.
By Michael Arndt
Is It Anthrax? There's a New Way to Find Out Fast
During last year's Anthrax attacks, scientists took weeks to identify some traces of suspect white powder. The samples were often small, the methods error-prone, and skilled investigators scarce. Chicago's Nanosphere Inc., a Northwestern University spin-off, says its biomolecular detection system can, with improved accuracy, test water and air samples in two hours or less. It will try out this system over the next 12 months, aided by some $2 million in Defense Dept. funding.
Nanosphere Chief Operating Officer Vijaya Vasista says the system consists of a novel imaging device about as big as a shoebox. Inside is a chamber containing tiny electrically active gold spheres bound with snippets of DNA known as oligonucleotides. These correspond to DNA characteristics of known pathogens, such as anthrax or plague. Exposed to an air or water sample containing target pathogens, the spheres will adhere to complementary DNA associated with the target. This triggers an electrical signal, which is amplified and transmitted to lights outside the box.
By Roger O. Crockett
Blocking Liver Damage
Too much acetaminophen, the active ingredient in Tylenol and other painkillers, can cause liver damage. Indeed, scientists say accidental and intentional overdoses of the drug are the most common cause of acute liver failure in the U.S. In September, an advisory panel to the Food & Drug Administration called for warning labels to note the risks more clearly.
Better labels will help. But at the same time, scientists at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston are looking for ways to shield the liver from the painkiller's potentially deadly side effects. In a study reported in the Oct. 11 issue of Science, the team reports that a natural steroid called androstanol blocks a liver protein called CAR--for constitutive androstane receptor--that breaks the painkiller into toxic by-products. In mice, the steroid prevents liver failure. "If we could find the same sort of inhibitor for a human version of CAR, it would probably have a similar effect," says David D. Moore, a professor at Baylor's Molecular & Cellular Biology Dept. He says that overdose patients are now treated with N-acetyl-cysteine, which bolsters the liver. But in the future, painkillers could be combined with a molecule like androstanol to prevent side effects--so long as the molecule does not obstruct the metabolism of other drugs.
By Faith Keenan
From Japan, a Robot That Minds the Home
 This is bound to be the next wave in Japanese geek chic: remote-controlled home robots. Researchers at Fujitsu Laboratories Ltd. in Tokyo's Kawasaki high-tech corridor just took the wraps off a prototype robot called Maron-1 that can be controlled from outside the home with a mobile phone. It looks like a small vacuum cleaner, but the two-wheeled, two-eyed, 11-pound robot is smart and highly versatile.
Suppose it's the middle of the day, and you want to check up on an elderly, bedridden relative, or see if you remembered to lock the doors and switch off the stove. You dial up Maron using a cell phone with special software. Once the connection is made, your phone screen becomes a monitor and you can explore your home through Maron's video-camera eyes.
By tapping in codes on the keypad, you can instruct the robot to tour your flat, find a destination stored in its memory, adjust the room temperature, or even record a TV program. If your lighting system is equipped with an infrared sensor, Maron will be able to turn the lights on and off. The machine can also be programmed to act as a roving security guard; in the event of a break-in, it will sound an alarm and dial a preset number for help. The robot can't climb stairs. But it's equipped with sensors so it doesn't crash into walls.
Takashi Uchiyama, a board member at Fujitsu Laboratories, says the robot could be available next year, for about $1,600. "In the future, people will be spending more of their everyday lives with robots," he says. "This is the initial step for home robots."
By Irene M. Kunii
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Copyright 2002, by The McGraw-Hill Companies Inc. All rights reserved.
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