Inside this issueCover stories“What else would you do with money?”New endowment honors a spirited St. Louis “symbol of Yale”Gene defect plays a role in early heart diseasePartnershipsForty years of research, teaching and healingStudent-run auction for New Haven charities has a banner yearThe rewards of life on the front linesGrants & contractsPeopleLifelines: Elizabeth BradleyExpert on tumor viruses will direct research at Cancer CenterTwo Yale RNA experts receive Ellison awardsHonoring fifty years of far-reaching scientific influenceScientist wins Wiley Prize for research on protein-foldingOut & aboutHealthAdvances: For better health, can the soft drinks | When cancer is a family affairScienceBuilding new bridges from lab to patientAdvances: Growing out of depression | A closer look at bacterial insurgents  
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AdvancesHealth and science news from YaleFor better health, can the soft drinks
The annual U.S. production of soft drinks exceeds 600 8-ounce servings per person. These bubbly beverages have become a fixture of our culture despite numerous studies correlating soft drink consumption with health problems. Kelly D. Brownell, Ph.D., professor of psychology and epidemiology and director of Yale’s Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity, recently led a thorough analysis of 88 previous reports on the health effects of drinking soda. In the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health, Brownell’s group reports that soda increases caloric intake and body weight, decreases intake of calcium and other nutrients and raises the risk of type 2 diabetes. Moreover, the additional calories associated with soft drink consumption add up to more than those in the drinks themselves, suggesting that drinking soda may increase hunger or decrease a sense of fullness. When cancer is a family affairIn life’s genetic lottery, we often inherit unfavorable characteristics. Some, like mom’s wiry hair, are innocuous, but certain defective genes can slowly wreak biological damage over time. In two such genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, mutations predispose their carriers to developing cancers, especially breast and ovarian cancers. To determine how prevalent and risky BRCA mutations are, Harvey A. Risch, M.D., Ph.D., professor of epidemiology, and colleagues in Ontario, Canada, asked ovarian cancer patients to report the incidence of cancers among their first-degree relatives. The patients were tested for BRCA1/2 mutations, which were correlated with the family histories. In the December 6 issue of the Journal of the National Cancer Institute, the team estimates that BRCA1/2 mutations lurk in 1 of every 99 individuals (1.01 percent) in the general population—a much higher frequency than previously thought—and that carriers are 4.6 to 102 times more likely than noncarriers to develop ovarian, testicular, pancreatic and female and male breast cancers. “Families with appreciable histories of any cancers, not just breast and ovary and not just cancers in females, should think about mutation screening because methods of prevention are becoming available,” Risch says. Growing out of depression
For decades, people suffering from mood disorders have found relief with antidepressants, but the biological basis for the action of these highly prescribed medications remains unclear. One theory, based on landmark studies by Ronald S. Duman, Ph.D., the Elizabeth House and Jameson Mears Professor of Psychiatry, proposes that these drugs exert their effects by stimulating neuronal growth factors; these proteins generate new nerve cells in certain brain areas that lead to changes in mood and behavior. With Jennifer Warner-Schmidt, Ph.D., a former graduate student now at Rockefeller University, Duman has identified vascular endothelial growth factor, or VEGF, as one such protein. In the March 13 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the team reports that VEGF is produced in the brain’s hippocampal region following administration of various antidepressants. Higher VEGF levels led to increased cell division and positive behavioral responses in well-established rat models of depression. Conversely, blocking VEGF action inhibited these effects. These findings point to the VEGF pathway as a possible target in the development of new and better antidepressant drugs. A closer look at bacterial insurgentsAmerican troops in Iraq are battling on yet another front, one as ancient as war itself, yet as modern as the post-penicillin era. Over 240 wounded soldiers have been afflicted with bloodstream infections of the antibiotic-resistant bacterium Acinetobacter baumannii. Left unchecked, this bacterium causes urinary tract infections, pneumonia, meningitis, sepsis and even death. Using DNA sequencing technology from 454 Life Sciences, a Branford, Conn., biotech company, Michael Snyder, Ph.D., the Lewis B. Cullman Professor of Molecular, Cellular and Developmental Biology, and colleagues analyzed the bacterium’s entire genome. In the March 1 issue of Genes and Development, Snyder’s group revealed that a surprising 17 percent of A. baumannii’s genetic material originated in other microorganisms. Over half of these “alien islands” contain genes that are critical to the bacterium’s ability to harm humans. The study shows that the organism has gained a tactical advantage by incorporating foreign DNA. Understanding these evolutionary adaptations will bolster the antibiotic armamentarium.  |
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