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Science Briefs

	Survivors of childhood cancer thrive
	Baylor receives grant to study HIV-resistant monkey genes
	Allergy sufferers should bless sneezing

Survivors of childhood cancer thrive

Most children diagnosed with cancer today are cured and have an excellent quality of life, said an expert in treating survivors of childhood cancer at Texas Children’s Cancer Center.

"Many people still think of cancer as a death notice," said ZoAnn Dreyer, MD, an associate professor of pediatrics at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "But for the majority of kids, this is not true."

Dreyer directs the Long-Term Survivors Program at Texas Children’s Cancer Center, where more than 700 survivors are followed. The oldest patients in the program are about 40 years old.

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Baylor receives grant to study HIV-resistant monkey genes

The American Foundation for AIDS Research has awarded Richard Sutton, MD, PhD, of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston a grant to investigate natural host HIV-resistant factors in monkey genes.

Researchers will remove the genes from the monkeys without harm to the animal and place the genes in a test tube with the human cells.

“I hope to determine which monkey genes may be responsible for the monkey’s resistance to infection and how the genes can lead to new HIV therapies,” said Sutton, an assistant professor of molecular virology and microbiology.

Because most monkeys cannot be infected with HIV, Sutton plans to insert monkey genes into human cells in a test tube to observe which monkey genes cause cells to be resistant.

This round of support is aimed at genetic elements in species other than humans that prevent HIV infection from taking hold in their host. The foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to supporting AIDS research.

Sutton’s laboratory focuses on the use of human immunodeficiency virus vectors for gene therapeutics and to study HIV in general.

“In the end, if we can identify this gene and figure out how monkeys have evolved to become resistant to HIV, there may yet be hope for development of natural or manufactured resistance to HIV among humans,” Sutton said.

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Allergy sufferers should bless sneezing

Don't stifle your sneeze.

Whether ladylike and whisper-silent or hurricane-force honking, sneezing makes spring miserable for allergy sufferers. But what we commonly think of as a nuisance has a powerful purpose.

"Sneezing can shoot tiny particles out of the nose at up to 100 miles per hour," said Cassius Bordelon, PhD, an associate professor of cell biology who teaches anatomy at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston. "If we couldn't sneeze, we wouldn't be able to rid the body of substances that could harm it."

Sneezing begins when people inhale foreign substances such as smoke, pet dander, pollution and perfumes through the nostrils. These substances irritate the nasal passages and stimulate nerve endings, activating a reflex inside the brain that controls the muscles in the head and neck.

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