Word: developable
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Dates: during 2000-2009
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Meanwhile, research teams are scrambling to create animal models for autism in the form of mutant mice. They are beginning to examine environmental factors that might contribute to the development of autism and using advanced brain-imaging technology to probe the deep interior of autistic minds. In the process, scientists are gaining rich new insights into this baffling spectrum of disorders and are beginning to float intriguing new hypotheses about why people affected by it develop minds that are strangely different from our own and yet, in some important respects, hauntingly similar...
...autism. They are focusing on the teratogens' impact on a gene called hoxa1, which is supposed to flick on very briefly in the first trimester of pregnancy and remain silent ever after. Embryonic mice in which the rodent equivalent of this gene has been knocked out go on to develop brainstems that are missing an entire layer of cells...
Currently Courchesne and his colleagues are looking very closely at specific genes that might be involved. Of particular interest are the genes encoding four brain-growth regulators that have been found in newborns who go on to develop mental retardation or autism. Among these compounds, as National Institutes of Health researcher Dr. Karin Nelson and her colleagues reported last year, is a potent molecule known as vasoactive intestinal peptide. VIP plays a role not only in brain development but in the immune system and gastrointestinal tract as well, a hint that other disorders that so frequently accompany autism...
...from food," says Lois Gold, director of the Carcinogenic Potency Project at the University of California, Berkeley. You should also eat at least five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, go easy on red meat and exercise regularly. Taking these steps can't guarantee that you will never develop cancer, but they may tip the odds in your favor...
...milk shake, but a controversial study suggests that consuming dairy products--especially milk and cheese--can reduce the risk of insulin-resistance syndrome, a precursor to diabetes. The researchers found that overweight young adults who ate dairy at least five times a day were 70% less likely to develop the problem. One reason: the lactose in milk and cheese is metabolized slowly and may help regulate blood-sugar levels. Better yet, you might try mixing some oatmeal with your milk. The combination of fiber and milk, say scientists, may reduce the risk of insulin-resistance syndrome even further...