Magic bullet theory

From Pathway, the magazine of the Royal College of Pathologists of Australasia, Summer 2007:
You’re mowing the lawn on a fine Sunday morning, when suddenly an invisible band wraps around your chest, squeezing tightly and painfully until you can hardly breathe. This is what patients with angina pectoris fear: the ‘elephant sitting on my chest’ sensation that strikes with little warning and lasts for up to 20 minutes. Read more.

T cell turnoff

From Scientific American, December 2007:
HIV is devastating because it attacks and destroys the body’s defense system against pathogens, leaving patients fatally exposed. So what would possess scientists to treat HIV-positive patients with drugs that suppress the immune system? Read more.

Meeting of models helps reduce toxic waste

From Process magazine, October 2007:
An unfortunate twist of chemistry means that one of the earth’s most beautiful metals requires one of the planet’s most deadly compounds to extract it from an ore body: gold mining relies on the use of cyanide to dissolve gold into solution so it can be recaptured as pure metal.
The inevitable by-product of this process is a cyanide-containing slurry that is discharged into specially constructed tailings dams, where the solids settle out and the solution can be reclaimed for reuse.
The recently introduced International Cyanide Code, which sets voluntary guidelines on the quantity and concentration of cyanide being released into tailings dams, recognises the importance of reducing cyanide discharge.
Parker Centre researchers at CSIRO Minerals have taken a novel approach to reducing discharge and ultimately meeting new standards. Using computer modelling, the team investigated a method of reducing cyanide discharge while increasing the amount of water reclaimed and reducing the need for other reagents, such as lime, used in the gold extraction process. Read more. (pdf file, page 9)

Bowel program works but needs men

From Australian Doctor, 1 November 2007.
THE first year of the National Bowel Cancer Screening Program has been encouraging, although issues such as a poorer male participation rate and delay in colonoscopy follow-up are yet to be resolved, a leading gastroenterologist says.
About 156,000 Australians took part in the first stage of the faecal occult blood test-based screening program, returning 11,000 positive tests and leading to the diagnosis of more than 100 suspected cancers, according to data released at the Australian gastroenterology week conference in Perth last week. Read more.