November 2004
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Study to identify biomarkers for heart disease, diabetes in obese |
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Human genome refined |
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Online resources save teachers before the bell |
Study to identify biomarkers for heart disease, diabetes in obese
Stopping health complications before they begin in overweight women is the focus of a study at Baylor College of Medicine.
Christie Ballantyne, MD, a BCM professor of medicine, said the $50,000 grant awarded by The Women's Fund for Health Education and Research will help detect biomarkers in women with the metabolic syndrome well before the onset of serious health problems.
"This project will attempt to identify new markers which could help pick out which overweight people are going to be the ones developing cardiovascular disease and diabetes," said Ballantyne, the principal investigator of the study. "We have a real problem with obesity, especially in Houston ."
The study will focus on the metabolic syndrome, in which patients typically have excess body fat, high triglycerides and blood pressure, low HDL cholesterol, and impaired glucose metabolism. One approach will evaluate gene expression of fat tissue, which will be monitored during the study in obese women before and after a period of weight loss. The other will compare protein profiles between obese women with the metabolic syndrome and other obese women who do not have the metabolic syndrome.
"If we can find ways to identify which people who are overweight are going to become diabetic, we can perhaps get more aggressive with therapy," said Ballantyne, also a cardiologist at The Methodist Hospital in Houston . "The goal is the prevention of health problems by finding a better way of targeting at-risk individuals, whom we could then treat by implementing lifestyle modifications and weight loss remedies, with drugs for obesity in the pipeline."
Human genome refined
An updated version of the human genome appearing in the current issue of the journal Nature is virtually complete and accurate, said members of the International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium that worked to refine the draft version announced February 2001.
The new version has only 341 gaps and contains the sequence of 99 percent of the gene-containing portion of the genome. With an error rate of one per 100,000 bases, it confirms old information about the genome with some new revelations. For example, said Richard Gibbs, PhD, director of the Baylor Human Genome Sequencing Center that is a key member of the consortium, the new estimate for the number of genes is now reduced slightly, to just over 20,000.
"This is the first nearly complete sequence for a vertebrate," he said. "It is an important advance that will allow us to better understand the genetic make-up of humans as well as the forces governing disease and the cycle of life.
"This finished sequence has allowed us to discover that more than 1,000 genes were acquired recently through the duplication of already existing genes," said Gibbs. "These kinds of refinements make using this key tool more precise in defining human disease and understanding development in the human organism."
Online resources save teachers before the bell
Often overwhelmed by mounting responsibilities and engulfed by budgetary constraints, many teachers find it difficult to stay current with continual advances in science content. Fortunately, help is only a mouse-click away.
Educational outreach initiatives at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston ease the burdens on life science teachers, especially those in under-funded school districts.
BioEd Online, an educational website produced by Baylor's Center for Educational Outreach, provides middle and high school science teachers with a wide array of free instructional resources, such as slide sets, streaming video presentations, and laboratory activities. The site assists biology teachers who are trying to balance hectic schedules and numerous responsibilities by offering accurate, current information, reinforced by lessons and web-based materials that address important and timely issues like nutrition and obesity, biodiversity, and mad cow disease. Many of these resources can be downloaded and implemented within an hour of class time.
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