Author: Jo Louise Seltzer

Invaders wreak havoc.

No, we are not referring to Attila the Hun or Hagar the Horrible. In scientific context, invaders are plants or animals whose introduction by humans to a new environment allows them to displace native species and change the ecology of that area.

One particularly successful plant invader is bush honeysuckle. It forms a dense understory in many of our local forests. It borders roadways — Ladue Road being a good example — and it finds its way into many of our backyards and gardens. Its red berries taste good to birds, so seeds are readily spread into new territory.

Conservationists and environmentalists have been concerned about honeysuckle’s dominance for a long time, but many of us have not felt threatened by the pretty bush.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Why do some people have a high tolerance for pain, while others experience the slightest touch as painful? Why do some injured soldiers perform heroic feats and claim that they felt no pain at the time?

Nobody quite knows, but new findings by Meinhart Zenk and Toni Kutchan at the Donald Danforth Plant Science Center offer some tantalizing possibilities.

Humans and other mammals excrete morphine in their urine. That has been known for a long time. The levels of morphine are also known to vary widely. The source of the morphine has been the unanswered question until now.

Zenk and colleagues in Germany showed in a recent article that mice, and presumably all mammals, have the metabolic equipment to manufacture morphine from the amino acid tyrosine, found in all proteins. Furthermore, the way morphine is produced by mammals mimics the same chemical steps as the pathway that the opium poppy uses.

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

Women who are diagnosed with breast cancer may soon be helped by a discovery made in 1880 by Alexander Graham Bell.

Currently, the removal of the lymph nodes draining the breast is a routine diagnostic procedure to see whether the cancer has spread. The surgery is invasive and often has significant side effects, including fluid retention, swelling and limited range of motion. In most cases — 80 percent — the test shows that the cancer hasn’t spread. That is a relief to the patient. But both doctors and patients have long hoped for a way to learn these results without surgery.

Now Washington University professors are developing techniques using Bell’s photoacoustic effect. The new imaging technology being developed by Lihong Wang and his colleagues will identify the sentinel lymph node (the first one to drain the breast) and guide the doctor in taking a needle biopsy. For most patients, that biopsy will reveal that the cancer has not spread and those underarm nodes can remain in place and keep working to drain the area.

What is the photoacoustic effect, and how does it translate to medical imaging?

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.

For gardeners, a trip to the local garden center in the spring is as tempting as a visit to the candy store.  How do you choose between your old favorites and all the gorgeous new varieties?  And aren’t there lots more new plants every year than you found twenty years ago?

Yes, there are indeed many more choices today than in the past.  This explosion is due to both the impact of technology and the globalization of the gardening industry.

Developing, growing and marketing new varieties for gardens is big business.  According to Bruce Butterfield of the National Gardening Association, about one in three American households (36 million) participate in flower gardening.  These households spend $2.3 billion on flowers and their care. In addition, parks, municipalities and businesses now maintain floral displays.  This country is in a veritable blooming boom.

And of course the suppliers of plants are anxious to be the ones to market the next big thing.  According to St. Louisan Bill Ruppert of National Nursery Products, you may be tempted next year by a black petunia.  And here in the Midwest, garden centers will be featuring the annual Angelonia, a snapdragon-like flower that loves heat.
Continue reading How does your garden grow? With lots of new varieties, thanks to technology and globalization

Because she is driven by a belief that everyone—including those with injuries and disabilities— should live a full life, Carolyn Baum has overseen the transformation of occupational therapy from a clinical specialty into a true science.

Patients getting rehab in the program she directs at Washington University School of Medicine might have their range of motion measured in 3-D before and after therapy.  And the therapy might include playing a video game similar to “Space Invaders” with an adapted Wii.  They will certainly be assessed with a number of tools she and colleagues have developed that build upon what the patient can do so that they can, as she puts it, “live their lives.”

 

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This article was originally published in the St. Louis Beacon.