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The Raelian Movement
for those who are not afraid of the future : http://www.rael.org
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20 October 2010 Last updated at 17:12 GMT
Gene linked to depression 'fixed' in mice
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-11589292
Brain - depression Could gene therapy help depression?
Gene therapy in mice appears to be able to "correct" a gene defect
strongly linked to depression in people.
Abnormal behaviour in mice lacking a gene in a specific brain region
was reversed after injections of a modified virus.
The US study was published in the journal Science Translational Medicine.
A UK gene therapy pioneer said that despite the need for a brain
injection, a future treatment should not be ruled out in severe
depression.
The gene, known as p11, is one of several candidates which appear to
play a role in depression.
Examination of the brains of deceased patients with depression
revealed that they had considerably lower levels of p11 in an area of
the brain called the nucleus accumbens.
It is thought to work by regulating the brain chemical serotonin,
which helps control mood, appetite and sleep.
Mice bred so that the gene is not present in the nucleus accumbens
also showed behaviour which has been compared to depression in humans,
for example appearing to lack motivation when given a swimming task to
complete.
When they were given an injection of a virus altered to restore p11 to
normal levels, their behaviour became indistinguishable from a normal
mouse.
Dr Michael Kaplitt, from Weill Cornell Medical Center, and one of the
research leaders, said: "We potentially have a novel therapy to target
what we now believe is one root cause of human depression.
"Current therapies for depression treat symptoms but not underlying
causes, and while that works for many patients, those with advanced
depression, or depression that does not respond to medication, could
hopefully benefit from our approach."
Full article on url above
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"Ethics" is simply a last-gasp attempt by deist conservatives and
orthodox dogmatics to keep humanity in ignorance and obscurantism,
through the well tried fermentation of fear, the fear of science and
new technologies.
There is nothing glorious about what our ancestors call history,
it is simply a succession of mistakes, intolerances and violations.
On the contrary, let us embrace Science and the new technologies
unfettered, for it is these which will liberate mankind from the
myth of god, and free us from our age old fears, from disease,
death and the sweat of labour.
Rael
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