Scifibee

Injected tiny particles called quantum dots reduce symptoms in mice primed to develop a type of Parkinson’s disease, although tests in people are some years away. Quantum dots are just a few nanometres in size – so small they become subject to some of the strange effects of quantum physics. Unlike most medicines, that makes them tiny enough to pass from the bloodstream into the brain. Byung Hee Hong of Seoul National University in South Korea and his colleagues wondered if they would affect the molecules involved in Parkinson’s. This disease is thought to be caused by a protein called synuclein, found in nerve cells, folding into the wrong shape. This triggers a chain reaction of misfolding in nearby synuclein molecules. The result is a build-up of long strands or “fibrils” of the protein, killing neurons. Hong’s team found that in a dish, quantum dots made from graphene bind to synuclein, stopping it from clumping into new fibres and breaking up existing ones. “We didn’t exp...

We're beginning to understand the causes of ageing and how to reverse the process, thanks to apples. A team has found that a combination of dasatinib – a leukaemia drug – and quercetin – an extract from apple peel – can make elderly mice live 36% longer. These drugs were chosen for their ability to selectively kill so-called senescent cells. These abnormal cells are in the process of breaking down, but they resist dying. They usually start appearing in the human body in our 60s, although they can arise much earlier in people who are obese or experience a chronic disease. Some have suggested that these cells kick the ageing process into action. Now James Kirkland of the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota and his colleagues have shown that this does seem to be the case. When they injected small numbers of senescent cells into young, 6-month-old mice, their speed, endurance and strength fell by 20-50% within a few weeks, sinking to the level of a typical elderly, 2-year-old mouse. ...