A daily pill that could cure diabetes is one step closer to reality, thanks to the efforts by the researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis who discovered how to reverse the condition.
The researchers have discovered a compound made naturally in the body that can reverse diabetes and restore normal blood sugar metabolism in diabetic mice.
This naturally occurring compound, called nicotinamide mononucleotide, or NMN, plays a vital role in how cells use energy.
Shin-ichiro Imai, MD, PhD, associate professor of developmental biology, and his colleagues were able to normalise blood sugar levels in diabetic mice by injecting them with the chemical.
"After giving NMN, glucose tolerance goes completely back to normal in female diabetic mice," said Imai.
"In males, we see a milder effect compared to females, but we still see an effect. These are really remarkable results. NMN improves diabetic symptoms, at least in mice," he added.
Imai said the discovery holds promise for people because the mechanisms that NMN influences are largely the same in mice and humans.
He and his team are now working on a way of administering NMN to mice in drinking water.
"Once we can get a grade of NMN that humans can take, we would really like to launch a pilot human study," said Imai.
The research is detailed online Oct. 4 in Cell Metabolism.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------===================--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------New radar tech can see through concrete walls!
AgenciesTags : New radar tech, see through walls, Lincoln LaboratoryPosted: Wed Oct 19 2011, 17:26 hrsWashington:
A new radar technology developed at MIT’s Lincoln Laboratory has brought science fiction into reality with its ability to see through walls.
The technology can provide real-time video of what’s going on behind solid walls, Science Daily reported.
Much as humans and other animals see via waves of visible light that bounce off objects and then strike our eyes’ retinas, radar “sees” by sending out radio waves that bounce off targets and return to the radar’s receivers.
But just as light can’t pass through solid objects in quantities large enough for the eye to detect, it’s hard to build radar that can penetrate walls well enough to show what’s happening behind.
The researchers’ device is an unassuming array of antenna arranged into two rows – eight receiving elements on top, 13 transmitting ones below – and some computing equipment, all mounted onto a movable cart.
It has powerful implications for military operations, especially “urban combat situations,” said Gregory Charvat, technical staff at Lincoln Lab and the leader of the project.
The system may be used at a range of up to 60 feet away from the wall and it gives a real-time picture of movement behind the wall in the form of a video at the rate of 10.8 frames per second.
Because the processor uses a subtraction method – comparing each new picture to the last, and seeing what’s changed – the radar can only detect moving targets, not inanimate objects such as furniture.
Still, even a human trying to stand still moves slightly, and the system can detect these small movements to display that human’s location.
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