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News & Notes

Sheddling light on osteoporosis

Clifford Rosen, M.D.,

Osteoporosis, a disease of low bone mass and deterioration of bone tissue, afflicts about 10 million Americans, mostly women. According to the National Osteoporosis Foundation, it causes 1.5 million bone fractures with a direct cost of $20 billion a year. The Jackson Laboratory in January organized the 13th Annual Maine State Symposium on Osteoporosis to help improve the outlook.

Cochaired by Clifford Rosen, M.D., of the Maine Medical Center and The Jackson Laboratory, and Larry Raisz, M.D., of the University of Connecticut, the symposium gathered scientists and clinicians to share research, present case studies and discuss diagnostic developments. Bringing scientists and clinicians together is critical for moving scientific knowledge into the clinic for the benefit of patients. Scientists at the Laboratory continue to study osteoporosis in both clinical and laboratory environments. It's a formidable challenge to find the genes involved, but it's clear that genetics plays an important role in the development of osteoporosis. The research findings are vital to developing the next generation of therapies.

Rainbows on the brain

Harvard University researchers led by Jeff Lichtman, M.D., Ph.D., had a problem. How can you investigate neuron connections when there are billions of them and they all look the same? With innovative thinking and a bit of good fortune, they have developed a new technique in mice that makes it much easier to distinguish neurons from one another. As reported in Nature, their idea yielded better-than-expected results, highlighting individual neurons with one of almost 90 different colors.

The images are not only stunning but extremely valuable. As scientists delve further into the mysteries of our own brain—and how to heal it—these so-called "Brainbow" mice, now available from The Jackson Laboratory, are a powerful new tool for discovery.

Hope for better leukemia therapies

Led by Leonard Shultz, Ph.D., of The Jackson Laboratory, researchers recently developed a new way to investigate a dangerous cancer, acute myelogenous leukemia (AML). Chemotherapy treatments for AML are generally effective at first, but research has implicated rare cells called cancer stem cells in the high incidence of cancer recurrence.

As reported in Nature Biotechnology, Dr. Shultz and collaborators created a way to research human leukemia in mice. Using their system, the researchers characterized where the stem cells locate within the bone marrow, demonstrated that leukemic stem cells can initiate and renew the disease, and showed that they are highly resistant to conventional chemotherapies. Working with the new research techniques, scientists now have the ability to focus on the development of patient-specific AML therapies that are targeted to leukemic stem cells.

Victor McKusick awarded the Japan Prize

Victor A. McKusick, M.D.

Victor A. McKusick, M.D., cofounder of the internationally renowned Short Course on Medical and Experimental Mammalian Genetics held each year at The Jackson Laboratory, is the 2008 recipient of the prestigious Japan Prize in Medical Genetics and Genomics. Dr. McKusick is a trustee emeritus of the Laboratory and currently University Professor of Medical Genetics at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. The Short Course has attracted a long list of top genetics researchers through the years and will celebrate its 50th anniversary in July 2009.

"Dr. McKusick is most deserving of this award, which many in the scientific community compare in stature to the Nobel Prize," said Jackson Laboratory Director Richard Woychik, Ph.D.

Robert Braun, Ph.D., selected as chair for research

The Jackson Laboratory selected a distinguished scientist in its field of reproductive genetics, Robert Braun, Ph.D., as its new associate director and chair for research. Dr. Braun joins the Laboratory from the University of Washington School of Medicine. Laboratory Director Richard Woychik, Ph.D., described Dr. Braun as "an internationally prominent scientist with the highest research credentials."

Dr. Braun earned his undergraduate degree in molecular, cellular and developmental biology, chemistry and mathematics at the University of Colorado, Boulder, and his Ph.D. in the Tufts University School of Medicine department of microbiology. He started with the University of Washington in 1986, when he joined as a postdoctoral fellow. The recipient of many honors and awards, Dr. Braun previously worked at The Jackson Laboratory as a visiting scientist in 2001-2002.