Medicine & Health

A rare, inherited form of mental retardation has led scientists at the School of Medicine to three important “travel agents” at work in the developing brain. The agents make it possible for brain neurons to travel from where they are born to other brain regions where they will permanently reside.

Urinary tract infections are among the most common infections acquired in hospitals, with most linked to the use of catheters. New research suggests that some urinary tract infections could be prevented if patients receive an antibiotic at the time they have a urinary catheter removed.

Richard Wilson, PhD, director of The Genome Institute at Washington University School of Medicine, was named the world’s most-cited researcher by Thomson Reuters’ ScienceWatch. The list of most influential researchers also included Elaine Mardis, PhD, Li Ding, PhD, and Robert Fulton, all of The Genome Institute.

Nitrous oxide — best known as laughing gas — is one of the world’s oldest and most widely used anesthetics. Despite its popularity, however, experts have questioned its impact on the risk of a heart attack during surgery or soon afterward. But those fears are unfounded, a new study indicates.

The School of Medicine plans to construct an energy-efficient, multistory research building dedicated to interdisciplinary research. Positioned along McKinley Avenue just west of Taylor Avenue, the six-story building eventually will house 138,000 square feet of highly flexible, open laboratories. Shown is a rendering of the building.

Although there will be no exterior construction fences or lane closures yet, later this month all floors of the Kingshighway, Steinberg and Yalem buildings will be vacant and considered a construction zone. Access to the buildings will be restricted to authorized personnel and contractors. Work taking place over the next several months is in preparation for demolition of those buildings, which will begin in late summer.

Researchers have identified a way to trigger reproduction in the laboratory of clusters of human cells that make insulin, potentially removing a significant obstacle to transplanting the cells as a treatment for patients with type 1 diabetes. Pictured in blue are the cells and in green, the insulin.

States that want to reduce rates of adult smoking may consider implementing stringent tobacco restrictions on teens. Washington University researchers discovered that states with more restrictive limits on teens purchasing tobacco also have lower adult smoking rates, especially among women.

In the Association for Molecular Pathology v. Myriad Genetics decision, the Supreme Court unanimously held that naturally occurring DNA sequences are “products of nature” and therefore cannot be patented. “The Court’s holding represents a significant shift form the status quo,” says Kevin Emerson Collins, JD, patent law expert and professor of law at Washington University in St. Louis. “It reverses both the lower court and twenty years of precedent at the United States Patent and Trademark Office.

Scientists at the School of Medicine have measured a significant and potentially pivotal difference between the brains of patients with an inherited form of Alzheimer’s disease and healthy family members who do not carry the mutation. Randall Bateman, MD, is the study’s senior author.