Word: strongly
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...Alzheimer's is, of course, the central question driving legions of researchers. Are some people's brains capable of building detours around damaged neural circuits? Is there a gene that may help certain people rebuild and repair damaged brain tissue better than others can? Iacono suggests that's a strong possibility, pointing to the presence of one particular gene, APOE2, in 30% of patients with asymptomatic Alzheimer's. The next step in his research, he says, is to understand how this gene works...
Although the results are untested in humans, they do suggest that aging could be slowed by drugs. Exactly how rapamycin works is "still an open question," says Randy Strong, a pharmacology professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio and one of three lead authors of the study. But he and his colleagues were prompted to test the aging effects of rapamycin, which was discovered in Easter Island soil samples about 40 years ago, after noting that the compound appeared to affect cell growth in lab animals in much the same way as calorie-restricted diets...
Scientists think rapamycin's cellular target - called mTOR for "mammalian target of rapamycin" - helps regulate the body's response to nutrients and may also, according to Strong, "gear up responses to stress," such as the oxidative stress that damages proteins and DNA and contributes to disease development. "What we're doing with rapamycin," Strong says, "is we're actually tricking the cells into thinking that they're depleted of nutrients. Rather than the animals losing weight - we haven't noticed any weight loss - they may be just using their proteins more efficiently, and then repairing proteins more efficiently...
Rapamycin's life-extending effect has been demonstrated by other researchers in past studies of worms, fruit flies and yeast; the drug appears to interfere with a similar cellular process in those species too. "I think this is a big leap from those invertebrate species to mammals," says Strong, who is also a senior research scientist for the Department of Veteran Affairs. "This gives us a good idea that perhaps it would work in humans...
...pressure off the Obama Administration. Since the coup, the White House has had to walk a fine line between cultivating a new, less interventionist image for the U.S. - which has too often aided military coups in Latin America - and "responding to the hemisphere's desire that it take a strong lead in defending democratic norms," says Vicki Gass, senior associate for rights and development at the independent Washington Office on Latin America. "There will have to be a negotiated settlement to this crisis, and while Latin America appreciates the U.S.'s new style of engagement, it's also still wary...