Nexus - 0703 - New Times Magazine-pages

Page Content (OCR)

LY BD © oF VEN? HIBERNATION GENES IDENTIFIED IN HUMANS CHINESE DOCTORS HAIL ANTI-CANCER TREATMENT lhe discovery could pave the Ne way for human hibernation of the kind foreshadowed for astro- nauts in the film 200]: A Space Odyssey, now 30 years old. Human hibernation could make ultra-long-haul space travel feasi- ble, with crews effectively put to sleep for months or even years. The United States Army, which has been funding the research, is interested in the concept of induc- ing protective hibernation in battle- field casualties to keep them alive when medical help is not at hand. Researchers in Britain are also investigating the role of genes in the mini-hibernation of Siberian hamsters, with the aim of triggering similar genes in humans to help people lose weight. But the first use of hibernation technolo- gy is likely to be in transplant surgery, where donor organs would be preserved on shelves for weeks or months by putting them into a state of deep sleep. After a five-year project, Matthew Andrews, Associate Professor of Genetics at North Carolina State University, has identified two genes—PL and PDK-4— which appear to mastermind hibernation. One stops carbohydrate metabolism, which ensures that the glucose that animals have hinese surgeons have made a breakthrough in cancer treat- ment after turning a patient's malig- nant tumour into a ball of ice, the Xinhua news agency said on Saturday. Surgeons at Xijing Hospital, in the northwestern city of Xian, inserted a superconductive knife, two millimetres in diameter, into the tumour of a liver cancer patient, the agency said. By forcing high-pressure argon and helium gas through the knife- point, they were able to lower the temperature of the tumour to -140° Celsius (-220° Fahrenheit). "In 60 seconds, the tumour became an ice ball," the article reported, adding that "all cancer cells were killed". "The operation took only 30 minutes. The patient felt no pain and there was no bleeding," the agency reported. "The therapy is a breakthrough in cancer treatment," said Dou Kefeng, a surgeon in charge of the operation, who was quoted in the article. (Source: Xinhua News Agency, Beijing, 12 February 2000, via Reuters, http://news. excite.com/news/r/0002 12/05/health-china- cancer) stored in their body from their last meal is preserved for use by the brain and central nervous system. The second gene controls the production of an enzyme that breaks up stored fatty acids and converts them into usable fats for fuel. As a result, the animal can tick over on its stored fat. The researchers found that the genes can be made to work in similar ways in humans. The PDK-4 gene, for example, is switched on by starvation, when its job is to conserve glucose. (Source: The Sunday Times, UK, 6 February 2000) AUSTRALIAN TAX OFFICE CAN LEGALLY BEND THE TRUTH [ its zeal to "deter schemes that seek to reduce any GST liability, obtain or increase any refunds of GST and alter the timing of a payment of GST", the Australian Tax Office has bestowed some awesome powers upon the Commissioner: "For the purpose of making a declaration under this subdivision, the Commissioner RV AN wee emit LEGALLY BEND THE TRUTH ~— = engerent of [ its zeal to "deter schemes that seek to =) fin (Narn reduce any GST liability, obtain or 2 oh tf O @nm increase any refunds of GST and alter the \ Aan \ iTS timing of a payment of GST", the WA | C) SA ee Australian Tax Office has bestowed some | ‘ Z ——=== awesome powers upon the Commissioner: l- Y Pi Pp oO "For the purpose of making a declaration VWoytax purp 8 ples mW under this subdivision, the Commissioner ma may: SURGEON BRICKLAYER (1) Treat a particular event that actually - , ~ happened as not having happened; and ee rym BN - 23, (2) Treat a particular event that did not "¢@ c aa Sr ‘ actually happen as having happened and, if Cee a r _ xBy appropriate, treat the event as (a) having Py, > \\ happened at a particular time, and (b) hav- ing involved particular action by a particu- lar entity; and (3) Treat a particular event that hap- ta a eG Laaxadenre Mae, we a jain pened as (a) having happened at a time dif- a — eal ferent from the time it actually happened, RECYCLER BvTcHEerRu ¢ ove bran or (b) having involved particular action by a particular entity, whether or not the event a on pane 6 = NEXUS APRIL — MAY 2000