Thursday, March 23, 2017

Thought We Knew Everything? Surprise, We Didn’t


 Here are two breakthroughs you might like to know about.

Surprising New Role for Lungs: Making Blood, University of California San Francisco, Nicholas Weiler, 22 Mar 2017.

“Using video microscopy in the living mouse lung, UC San Francisco scientists have revealed that the lungs play a previously unrecognized role in blood production. As reported online March 22, 2017, in Nature, the researchers found that the lungs produced more than half of the platelets – blood components required for the clotting that stanches bleeding – in the mouse circulation.”

“In another surprise finding, the scientists also identified a previously unknown pool of blood stem cells capable of restoring blood production when the stem cells of the bone marrow, previously thought to be the principal site of blood production, are depleted.”

“’This finding definitely suggests a more sophisticated view of the lungs – that they’re not just for respiration but also a key partner in formation of crucial aspects of the blood,’” said pulmonologist Mark R. Looney, MD, a professor of medicine and of laboratory medicine at UCSF and the new paper’s senior author. “’What we’ve observed here in mice strongly suggests the lung may play a key role in blood formation in humans as well.’” Please go here for the whole story.

Breakthrough discovery may make blood test feasible for detecting cancer, Purdue University, 7 Mar 2017.

“Doctors may soon be able to detect and monitor a patient’s cancer with a simple blood test, reducing or eliminating the need for more invasive procedures, according to Purdue University research.”

“W. Andy Tao, a professor of biochemistry and member of the Purdue University Center for Cancer Research and colleagues identified a series of proteins in blood plasma that, when elevated, signify that the patient has cancer. Their findings were published in the early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.”

“Tao’s work was done with samples from breast cancer patients, but it is possible the method could work for any type of cancer and other types of diseases. The work relies on analysis of microvesicles and exosomes in blood plasma.” Please go here for the whole story.

Back When I Knew Everything - Aaron Tippin


No comments: