In Review

Research Notes

Colorblindness Finding Sheds Light on Retinal Diseases

Up to one third of the light-detecting “cones” in a colorblind person’s eye can be missing without affecting visual acuity, according to a new study by researchers at Rochester’s Center for Visual Science. The surprising findings, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, were possible thanks to a system developed by center director David Williams and colleagues that maps the topography of the inner eye in exquisite detail. The system is based on adaptive optics, a technology which was originally developed to help astronomers see more clearly through the Earth’s atmosphere.

Gene Find Aids Cavity Fight

Forcing bacteria to choke on their own acids may offer one way to stop cavities, say Rochester microbiologists who have discovered a chink in the armor that bacteria use to survive in the hostile environment of the human mouth. Streptococcus mutans or S. mutans latches onto teeth, eats sugar, and then secretes acid, making the bacteria the Number One cause of tooth decay around the world. The secret of its success? The bacterium rearranges its cell membranes to make itself impervious to the acid assault that it lets loose. In a paper in the Journal of Bacteriology, microbiologist Robert Quivey Jr. of the Center for Oral Biology and graduate student Elizabeth Fozo report that they have found the gene responsible for changing the bacteria’s membrane. When they knocked out the gene, the bacteria’s defenses fell.

Science-Based Curriculum Shows Gains for Young Children

Preschoolers are learning skills and expanding their world through a science-based curriculum developed by Lucia French, associate professor at the Margaret Warner Graduate School of Education and Human Development. French designed and expanded her ScienceStart! curriculum for city and suburban children during the past decade. More than $1 million from the U.S. Department of Education provided the opportunity for her to train teachers and support staff, and continue to test and document the curriculum’s effectiveness. In the past three years, French and her staff have worked with 30 preschool programs, almost 100 teachers, 60 paraprofessionals, and more than 2,250 children in the Greater Rochester area.

Strong Plays Role In Landmark Heart Failure Trial

Patients at risk of heart failure who are treated with a combination of medicine and a particular kind of pacemaker-type device had significantly fewer hospital stays and lower death rates than those treated in other ways, according to a nationwide study that included Strong Memorial Hospital’s cardiology department. Strong was among 128 centers taking part in the three-year study of 1,600 people, the largest ever designed to measure death and hospitalization rates in congestive heart failure patients. Results of the study were published in the New England Journal of Medicine.

Radiation Combo Boosts Brain Cancer Survival Rates

People with cancer that has spread to the brain—about 40 percent of all cancer cases—live longer and enjoy a better quality of life if they are treated with a combination of radiation techniques, according to research conducted in part at the James P. Wilmot Cancer Center. The study, which appeared in The Lancet, shows a 33 percent increase in survival for patients with a single brain metastasis who receive whole-brain radiation therapy followed by stereotactic radiosurgery. The findings help increase treatment options for people with metastatic disease.