568 posts · 179,517 views
I have big dreams [don't we all?], I want to change the world. That is why I started Lunatic Laboratories, a little project that I hope will one day be a household name. Who knows, maybe it will work out, but even if it doesn't, at least it will be fun to try.
Lunatic Laboratories
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- December 17, 2014
- 02:54 PM
- 289 views
Epigenetic changes and autism
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Despite what you may think, the supposed “explosion” of children diagnosed with autism can directly attributed to better diagnosing techniques and — more importantly — the change of definition to make Autism spectrum disorders more broad. Thankfully more causes of autism have been found, none of them remotely related to vaccines and now scientists have found that chemical modifications to DNA’s packaging—known as epigenetic changes—can activate or repress genes involved in autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) and early brain development.... Read more »
Gao, Z., Lee, P., Stafford, J., von Schimmelmann, M., Schaefer, A., & Reinberg, D. (2014) An AUTS2–Polycomb complex activates gene expression in the CNS. Nature, 516(7531), 349-354. DOI: 10.1038/nature13921
Ntziachristos, P., Tsirigos, A., Welstead, G., Trimarchi, T., Bakogianni, S., Xu, L., Loizou, E., Holmfeldt, L., Strikoudis, A., King, B.... (2014) Contrasting roles of histone 3 lysine 27 demethylases in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia. Nature, 514(7523), 513-517. DOI: 10.1038/nature13605
- December 16, 2014
- 02:37 PM
- 326 views
Methamphetamine use and the onset of parkinson’s
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
We’ve all seen the PSA’s trying to show the effects of meth use and in particular, what it does to your teeth. Typically, when it comes to drug use, people will not look at the long term side effects from their addiction instead thinking in the short term. This is unfortunate because as it turns out, methamphetamine users are three times more at risk for getting Parkinson’s disease than non-illicit drug users with even worse news for women, new research shows.... Read more »
Curtin K, Fleckenstein AE, Robison RJ, Crookston MJ, Smith KR, & Hanson GR. (2014) Methamphetamine/amphetamine abuse and risk of Parkinson's disease in Utah: A population-based assessment. Drug and alcohol dependence. PMID: 25479916
- December 15, 2014
- 03:07 PM
- 272 views
Finding the neurons that deal with distraction
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
What’s that over there!? The next time you are around people, count how many people are on their phone? Distractions invade every aspect of our lives. Status updates, text messages, email notifications all threaten to steal our attention away from the moment. While we fight the urge to check the phone, our brains are making constant judgment calls about where to focus attention. The brain must continually filter important information from irrelevant interference.... Read more »
Ahrens, S., Jaramillo, S., Yu, K., Ghosh, S., Hwang, G., Paik, R., Lai, C., He, M., Huang, Z., & Li, B. (2014) ErbB4 regulation of a thalamic reticular nucleus circuit for sensory selection. Nature Neuroscience. DOI: 10.1038/nn.3897
- December 14, 2014
- 01:28 PM
- 299 views
Scientists find a drug (currently used) to turn white fat to brown
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
It seems like we’ve been on a weight loss campaign here at the labs, but there just has been so much new and interesting research on the subject to report on, this is no exception. Researchers have uncovered the mechanism by which white fat cells from humans (an important distinction) gets reprogrammed to become browner.... Read more »
Anne Loft, Isabel Forss, Majken Storm Siersbæk, Søren Fisker Schmidt, Ann-Sofie Bøgh Larsen, Jesper Grud Skat Madsen, Didier F. Pisani, Ronni Nielsen, Mads Malik Aagaard, Angela Mathison.... (2014) Browning of human adipocytes requires KLF11 and reprogramming of PPARγ superenhancers. Genes . info:/10.1101/gad.250829.114
- December 13, 2014
- 01:51 PM
- 356 views
High fat diet leads to brain inflammation and obesity
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The stomach strikes again, or so it seems. We’ve already covered how your stomach seemingly controls your brain and your blood-brain barrier, but now it seems that what you eat –not too indirectly related to your stomach– might make you fatter, but not in the way you might be thinking thinking. What you are eating may be causing inflammation in the brain.... Read more »
Valdearcos, M., Robblee, M., Benjamin, D., Nomura, D., Xu, A., & Koliwad, S. (2014) Microglia Dictate the Impact of Saturated Fat Consumption on Hypothalamic Inflammation and Neuronal Function. Cell Reports. DOI: 10.1016/j.celrep.2014.11.018
- December 12, 2014
- 02:13 PM
- 505 views
A new type of memory storage on the horizon
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
For those of us old enough to remember the days of the Apple II, you know that storage has exponentially increased. Even just 10 years ago 20+ gigs of data seemed huge, now my cellphone has 64 gigs. Yet we still need more data storage and we are looking for new ways to get it. Now a way to use weak molecular bonding interactions to create well-ordered and stable metal–organic monolayers with optoelectronic properties has been found. The development could form the basis for the scalable fabrication of molecular optoelectronic devices.... Read more »
Shimizu, T., Jung, J., Imada, H., & Kim, Y. (2014) Supramolecular Assembly through Interactions between Molecular Dipoles and Alkali Metal Ions. Angewandte Chemie International Edition, 53(50), 13729-13733. DOI: 10.1002/anie.201407555
- December 11, 2014
- 12:08 PM
- 368 views
What makes us fat, OR food vs. physiology
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
There is a heir of mystery surrounding weight loss and fat in general. Have you ever heard you have all the fat cells you’ll ever have — that’s false by the way. Then there is fad diets like gluten free — proven to do nothing unless you actually have a diagnosed gluten allergy — or adkins, but now researchers believe they’re on track to solve the mystery of weight gain – and it has nothing to do with indulging in holiday eggnog.... Read more »
Woeller CF, O'loughlin CW, Pollock SJ, Thatcher TH, Feldon SE, & Phipps RP. (2014) Thy1 (CD90) controls adipogenesis by regulating activity of the Src family kinase, Fyn. FASEB journal : official publication of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology. PMID: 25416548
- December 10, 2014
- 04:51 PM
- 233 views
Worms’ “mental GPS” could help improve mental health
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Imagine this, you’ve misplaced your cell phone. You start by scanning where you remember leaving it: on your bureau. You check and double-check the bureau before expanding your search around and below the bureau. Eventually, you switch from this local area to a more global one, widening your search to the rest of your room and beyond.... Read more »
Adam J Calhoun, Sreekanth H Chalasani, Tatyana O Sharpee. (2014) Maximally informative foraging by Caenorhabditis elegans. eLife. info:/http://dx.doi.org/10.7554/eLife.04220#sthash.lVQ5aANV.dpuf
- December 10, 2014
- 03:54 PM
- 378 views
Depressed? Laughing gas might help
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Nitrous oxide, or laughing gas, has shown early promise as a potential treatment for severe depression in patients whose symptoms don’t respond to standard therapies. In other words, it might actually live up to it’s name and as they say laughter is the best medicine. The pilot study is believed to be the first research in which patients with depression were given laughing gas.... Read more »
Nagele P, Duma A, Kopec M, Gebara MA, Parsoei A, Walker M, Janski A, Pahagopoulos VN, Cristancho P, Miller JP, Zorumski CF, Conway C . (2014) Nitrous oxide for treatment-resistant major depression: a proof-of-concept trial. Biological Psychiatry. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsych.2014.11.016
- December 8, 2014
- 03:13 PM
- 294 views
Scientists find a hormone that makes you fatter
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Our waistlines are expanding, it’s no secret that around the world despite rampant hunger people are also getting fatter. While there are many things that are contributing to this — our increased food security, the cost of food, fast food, the increasing sugar supplied in food, etc — there are other theories as to why we are getting so heavy. Scientists have pointed towards bacteria, gut microbiota, and many other causes for our increased weight, now add to that list a common hormone that we all produce.... Read more »
Crane, J., Palanivel, R., Mottillo, E., Bujak, A., Wang, H., Ford, R., Collins, A., Blümer, R., Fullerton, M., Yabut, J.... (2014) Inhibiting peripheral serotonin synthesis reduces obesity and metabolic dysfunction by promoting brown adipose tissue thermogenesis. Nature Medicine. DOI: 10.1038/nm.3766
- December 7, 2014
- 01:16 PM
- 291 views
Study suggests lefties actually earn less
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Much has been thrown at left-handed people—they are quick to anger, quickly scared and, with the exception of heads of state, are more or less life’s losers. There was even a time where left handedness was “beaten out” of children in school. Conversely, there have been much bestowed upon left-handed people—they are creative and score highly on certain tests. Obviously, scientists need to rely on more than popular notions to make connections, if any, between left-handed people and success.... Read more »
Goodman, J. (2014) The Wages of Sinistrality: Handedness, Brain Structure, and Human Capital Accumulation. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 28(4), 193-212. DOI: 10.2139/ssrn.2020437
- December 6, 2014
- 02:19 PM
- 283 views
Mapping the spinal circuitry to fight phantom pain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Pain typically has a clear cause–but not always. When a person touches something hot or bumps into a sharp object, it’s no surprise that it hurts. But for people with certain chronic pain disorders, including fibromyalgia and phantom limb pain, even a gentle caress can result in agony and for some — like my sister — the pain can be almost never ending.... Read more »
Duan B, Cheng L, Bourane S, Britz O, Padilla C, Garcia-Campmany L, Krashes M, Knowlton W, Velasquez T, Ren X.... (2014) Identification of Spinal Circuits Transmitting and Gating Mechanical Pain. Cell, 159(6), 1417-1432. PMID: 25467445
- December 5, 2014
- 03:58 PM
- 467 views
Move over solar pannels, introducing spray-on solar cells
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Solar panels, they are big, heavy, cannot flex, and are still very inefficient. While efficiency isn’t the big issue, flexibility has relegated solar panels to rooftops and solar farms. Well that is until now, researchers have just invented a new way to spray solar cells onto flexible surfaces using miniscule light-sensitive materials known as colloidal quantum dots (CQDs)—a major step toward making spray-on solar cells easy and cheap to manufacture.... Read more »
Kramer, I., Moreno-Bautista, G., Minor, J., Kopilovic, D., & Sargent, E. (2014) Colloidal quantum dot solar cells on curved and flexible substrates. Applied Physics Letters, 105(16), 163902. DOI: 10.1063/1.4898635
Carey GH, Kramer IJ, Kanjanaboos P, Moreno-Bautista G, Voznyy O, Rollny L, Tang JA, Hoogland S, & Sargent EH. (2014) Electronically active impurities in colloidal quantum dot solids. ACS nano, 8(11), 11763-9. PMID: 25376698
Kramer, I., Minor, J., Moreno-Bautista, G., Rollny, L., Kanjanaboos, P., Kopilovic, D., Thon, S., Carey, G., Chou, K., Zhitomirsky, D.... (2014) Efficient Spray-Coated Colloidal Quantum Dot Solar Cells. Advanced Materials. DOI: 10.1002/adma.201403281
- December 4, 2014
- 04:30 PM
- 435 views
Finding the real cost of climate change
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
How much does global warming really cost the world? Determining the Social Cost of Carbon helps put a actual dollar value on the climate damages per ton of CO2 released, and is used by -- among others -- policymakers to help determine the costs and benefits of climate policies. Remember, even on a global scale, the bottom line will always be profit. But now a group of economists and lawyers urge several improvements to the government's Social Cost of Carbon figure that would impose a regular, transparent and peer-reviewed process to ensure the figure is reliable and well-supported by the latest facts.... Read more »
Pizer, W., Adler, M., Aldy, J., Anthoff, D., Cropper, M., Gillingham, K., Greenstone, M., Murray, B., Newell, R., Richels, R.... (2014) Using and improving the social cost of carbon. Science, 346(6214), 1189-1190. DOI: 10.1126/science.1259774
- December 3, 2014
- 04:35 PM
- 367 views
New peptide might treat spinal cord injury
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
In nature there are plenty of animals that can regenerate nerves, even some mammals have the ability to regenerate them, but unfortunately we do not. However, there is some great news on the horizon, scientists have developed a new chemical compound that shows extraordinary promise in restoring function lost to spinal cord injury. The compound, which the researchers dubbed intracellular sigma peptide (ISP), allowed paralyzed muscles to activate in more than 80 percent of the animals tested.... Read more »
Lang, B., Cregg, J., DePaul, M., Tran, A., Xu, K., Dyck, S., Madalena, K., Brown, B., Weng, Y., Li, S.... (2014) Modulation of the proteoglycan receptor PTPσ promotes recovery after spinal cord injury. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature13974
- December 2, 2014
- 04:31 PM
- 337 views
Synthetic biology breakthrough: The world’s first artificial enzymes
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Like mad scientists working away in some secret location we have created life… well sort of. It may sound like something out of a Sci fi movie, but scientists have created the world’s first enzymes made from artificial genetic material. Their synthetic enzymes (which are made from molecules that do not occur anywhere in nature) are capable of triggering chemical reactions in the lab and are the building blocks for life.... Read more »
Taylor, A., Pinheiro, V., Smola, M., Morgunov, A., Peak-Chew, S., Cozens, C., Weeks, K., Herdewijn, P., & Holliger, P. (2014) Catalysts from synthetic genetic polymers. Nature. DOI: 10.1038/nature13982
Pinheiro, V., Taylor, A., Cozens, C., Abramov, M., Renders, M., Zhang, S., Chaput, J., Wengel, J., Peak-Chew, S., McLaughlin, S.... (2012) Synthetic Genetic Polymers Capable of Heredity and Evolution. Science, 336(6079), 341-344. DOI: 10.1126/science.1217622
- December 2, 2014
- 12:51 PM
- 514 views
Our Increased carbon dioxide output causes global warming and now we have proof
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
Global warming, it’s a bigger deal than some people seem to realize. For years science has pointed to the increased carbon dioxide output as the main reason for man-made global warming. However, there has been no evidence to directly link CO2 output to global warming, well until now. Research has identified, for the first time, how global warming is related to the amount of carbon emitted.... Read more »
Goodwin, P., Williams, R., & Ridgwell, A. (2014) Sensitivity of climate to cumulative carbon emissions due to compensation of ocean heat and carbon uptake. Nature Geoscience. DOI: 10.1038/ngeo2304
- November 30, 2014
- 01:31 PM
- 379 views
Even more bad global warming news
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
While everyone (but seemingly the media) is on basically the same page with the fact that global warming is a human caused problem — and one we need to fix the effects of this change are still coming to light. Human-induced changes to Earth’s carbon cycle – for example, rising atmospheric carbon dioxide and ocean acidification – have been observed for decades. However, a new study showed human activities, in particular industrial and agricultural processes, have also had significant impacts on the upper ocean nitrogen cycle.... Read more »
Kim IN, Lee K, Gruber N, Karl DM, Bullister JL, Yang S, & Kim TW. (2014) Chemical oceanography. Increasing anthropogenic nitrogen in the North Pacific Ocean. Science (New York, N.Y.), 346(6213), 1102-6. PMID: 25430767
- November 29, 2014
- 03:35 PM
- 286 views
Vegetable oil in the fight against gastric disease
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The bacterium Helicobacter pylori is strongly associated with gastric ulcers and cancer. Unfortunately, treating the bacteria with antibiotics is difficult and with the increase in antibiotic resistance it can be a dangerous fight to take on. Given the high rate of ulcers and stomach cancers, the need for a better treatment is becoming more apparent. New research may bring hope (and of all things) in the form of vegetable oil.
... Read more »
Thamphiwatana Soracha, Marygorret Obonyo, & Liangfang Zhang. (2014) In vivo treatment of Helicobacter pylori infection with liposomal linolenic acid reduces colonization and ameliorates inflammation . Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 201418230. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1418230111
- November 28, 2014
- 11:56 AM
- 295 views
New discovery sheds light on the forming brain
by Dr. Jekyll in Lunatic Laboratories
The cerebral cortex, which controls higher processes such as perception, thought and cognition, is the most complex structure in the mammalian central nervous system. Although much is known about the intricate structure of this brain region, the processes governing its formation remain uncertain. Research has now uncovered how feedback between cells, as well as molecular factors, helps shape cortical development during mouse embryogenesis.... Read more »
Toma K., & C. Hanashima. (2014) The Timing of Upper-Layer Neurogenesis Is Conferred by Sequential Derepression and Negative Feedback from Deep-Layer Neurons. Journal of Neuroscience, 34(39), 13259-13276. DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1523/jneurosci.2334-14.2014
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