School of Medicine

A look at the activity of 24 genes in 52 patients as those genes respond to the chemotherapy drug 5-fluorourancilOncologists aren’t sure exactly why patients with the same cancer often respond very differently to the same treatment, but a growing body of evidence suggests the answer lies somewhere in the genes. Now researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis have become the first to profile the activity of whole sets of genes involved in processing chemotherapeutic drugs.

As our brains mature, we tend to use the red regions more frequently for these certain tasks, using the regions represented in blue less.Children activate different and more regions of their brains than adults when they perform word tasks, according to investigators at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. Reporting in the journal Cerebral Cortex, the researchers say those changes in regional brain activity from childhood to adulthood may reflect the more efficient use of our brains as we mature.

Adolescence can be a trying time for the whole family.Adolescence is characterized by dramatic physical changes as young people grow from childhood to physical maturity. During adolescence, we gain 50 percent of our adult weight and 20 percent of adult height while going through puberty and developing the ability to reproduce. With so many physical and emotional changes occurring at the same time, Washington University adolescent medicine researchers at St. Louis Children’s Hospital say it’s important for parents to be prepared for change. They also must be ready to listen to their children at any time, day or night, and do as much as possible to stay involved in their lives.

Drawing by an autistic childA research team at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis has identified regions of DNA that may be related to risk for autism. The researchers are learning how autism is inherited, and to identify genetic factors, they’re studying families and looking for traits that normally aren’t considered autistic but have connections to autism risk. Several studies have demonstrated that autism has a strong genetic component. If one child in a family is autistic, there’s about a 10 percent chance that a sibling also will have autism.

For technicians in the Genome Sequencing Center (GSC) at the School of Medicine, work is going to go a whole lot faster — hundreds of times faster, in fact. Fast enough to sequence the entire genome of a bacterial organism in one day instead of several weeks.

Courtesy of Cell MetabolismMay ’05 coverWhere fat comes from determines whether the body can metabolize it effectively. Researchers at the School of Medicine have found that the “old” fat stored in the body’s peripheral tissues — that is, around the belly, thighs or bottom — can’t be burned efficiently unless “new” fat is eaten in the diet or made in the liver.

Listed below are this month’s featured news stories. • Autism study (week of May 4) • Low fat, not no fat (week of May 11) • West Nile virus cure (week of May 18) • Improving Crohn’s disease (week of May 25)

Researchers may now be a step closer to understanding what causes cataracts and what may help prevent them.

The American Academy of Neurology has honored him with the Potamkin Prize for Research in Pick’s, Alzheimer’s and Related Diseases.

During last year’s Komen St. Louis Race for the Cure, the Siteman Cancer Center fielded the event’s third-largest team.