Newspapers / The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, … / Oct. 15, 1992, edition 1 / Page 11
Part of The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.) / About this page
This page has errors
The date, title, or page description is wrong
This page has harmful content
This page contains sensitive or offensive material
Biomedic Researchers Savor Seafood Favorites BY DONALD j. FREDERICK National Geographic News Service Today's shore dinner may be to morrow's medical miracle. Delicacies such as lobster, squid, monkfish and clams are as popular in research laboratories as they are in restaurants, and are yielding new insights into everything from epilep sy to the sense of smell. "Biomedical researchers here and at facilities around the world study marine organisms bccausc these rel atively simple animals share one bi ology with us," says Harlyn O. Halvorson, retiring director of the Woods Hole Marine Biological Lab oratory in Woods Hole, Massachus etts. "But unlike humans and other higher animals, marine organisms liave an elegantly simple physiolo gy. Their basic life processes can be studied with greater ease and effi ciency." Lobsters soon may yield new in formation on the sense of smell. The big-clawed crustaceans smell with two small antennae located between their eyeballs, waving them con stantly in the water, much as ele phants sniff the air with their trunks. "Humans do poorly at immediate ly locating the source of odors, but a lobster can sit there and sniff a little bit and say, 'Hmn, I know the direc tion of this smell,'" says Jelle Atema, a Boston University biolo gist who is one of the scientists from many institutions who are doing re search at the marine laboratory. "We're trying to learn how the an imal's brain filters the right informa tion and how that information is used to zero in on odor sources." The researchers also hope to turn the lobster's olfactory sensitivity in to a "nose" for a small, unmanned submarine. "The nose would be in the form of an artificial intelligence program that we've developed from our lob ster findings, and it would steer the underwater robot to odor sources," ?* wmaL. . 'V v. PHOTO BV ROBERT f. SISSON C NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC SOCIETY TRANSLUCENT AS PHANTOMS, sauids speed through the darkness, aided by nerve fibers known as giant axons. Thousands of the squids' nerve fibers, the largest in the animal kingdom, are being stud ied at various research laboratories and have helped provide safer anesthetics and drugs for control ling epilepsy. Atema tells National Geographic. "One obvious application would be to program it to find the source of dangerous underwater pollutants." At the Marine Biological Lab oratory, nothing has been studied more than the squid's giant axons. These nerve fibers, although only .02 inch in diameter, are the largest in the animal kingdom. The giant fibers trigger the light ning-quick motions that enable the squid to jet away from danger. More than a mile of usable nerve fiber is collected annually from some 10,000 squid at the lab. Axon research has contributed to safer anesthetics and to drugs for controlling epilepsy. Current work is expected to yield new knowledge about Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Come See Our Taylor WATERSTOVE* Ron Taylor 1-800-545-2293 (919)862-2576 Hwy. 701 South Taylor Mfg. Inc. Elizabethtown, NC 28337 Visit Showroom in Elizabethtown VOTE DON WARREN COUNTY COMMISSIONER DISTRICT 1 Paid for by the candidate uWe want to take the lead in breeding the white mice of the sea" other crippling neurological disor ders. The humpbacked and ungainly looking angler fish has joined the battle against diabetes. Known to seafood lovers as the monkfish, the creature has an organ that contains insulin-producing cells similar to those in humans. Too little insulin, or faulty insulin action, causes blood-sugar levels to rise and can re sult in diabetes. Brian Noe, an Emory University professor of cell biology, is analyz ing crucial hormones in the cells. "We're still learning basic answers to questions about how these cells normally do things," he says. "If you don't know the normal process, then you really don't have a basis upon which to ask questions about what causes it to be defective." In addition to diabetes, Noe says, his work may shed new light on cer tain abnormalities in human repro ductive systems. Clam cells, too, are under the lab oratory's microscopes. The sperm and eggs of the succulent mollusk are fertilized to study the process of cell division, important in cancer and fertility research. "You can watch the major cell processes in real time on an ordinary light microscope," says Robert Pal azzo, a University of Kansas cell bi ologist. "We believe that if we can learn the intricacies of the cell-division mechanism, we can develop better therapeutics, better strategies to at tack dividing cancer cells more pre cisely. That way we could also mini mize the damage caused by chemo therapy to healthy cells which are not in the state of replication or divi sion," Some flounder and other cold-wa ter fish produce a novel set of an tifreeze proteins that bind liny ice This Week's Special 1985 Dodge Caravan SE $3,450 Automatic, AC, 7 passenger Check out this & many more outstanding values on the tot! Sea Oats Motors, Inc. See Angell Kraft, Billy Gibson Today! Rick Callender, Service Technician Bus. Hwy. 17 N., Shallotte-754-2404 C1W THE BRUNSWICK BEACON crystals, lower the freezing point of blood and prevent the fish from freezing. Researchers think that someday the proteins might be use ful in preserving human organs for transplants. Most of the marine animals used in research at the Woods Hole labo ratory have been captured in the wild, where their genetic back ground, reproductive state and gen eral health are unknown. To help remedy this deficiency, the lab recently opened its Marine Resources Center, where the crea tures' health will be carefully moni tored and pure genetic strains devel oped for biomedical research. Alan M. Kuzarian, the laborato ry's acting director, says, "We want to take the lead in breeding the white mice of the sea." Ted Parker Homes Sales, Inc of Conway ?Factory Outlet for Sterling Homes ?Redman Double and Single Wides ?Fleetwood Double and Single Wides Free Delivery & Set Up in Brunswick County Call Toll Free 1-800-624-2115 Corner of Hwy. 544 and 501 Bob Timberlake's luscious three-layer have em inviting lodge look which will warm up any room. Loom woven by Goodwin Weavers SPECIAL SALE AFGHANS IN STOCK $OQ99 OJ/ *4 9** value *L The Uft Potter's kT ^ Wheel I I* 1 842-4670 Mon.-Sat. 10-6. Sun. 10-2 ? Holden Beach Causeway Discover the Deals on 1992 Clearance Priced Homes CHOICENTER Wavne Culbertson. RHS Wayne Culbertson, RHS Ann Brown, RHS HOMES BY ANN Hwy. 17 N.. Shallotte, 754-5147 Dining as you like it. . . GOLF and COUNTRY CLUB AT CALABASH Whether Christmas par ties or special functions, for a few or a crowd , let Piper's Restaurant take care of your needs. Call us today. We also invite you to a delectable breakfast or lunch in our elegant dining room. Or, enjoy cocktails in Piper's lounge. All ABC permits. Old Georgetown Road ? Calabash ? 579-9373 for the Records " The Office of Register of Deeds is an office of service. It is not an office of trial and error... of learning, but an office of knowledge. The custodian of your records has but one opportunity to record an instrument and it must be recorded correctly or remain wrong forever. As custodian of your records for the past 11 years, I invite you to inspect the books for accuracy. All the records of this office, including the financial report, are, quite literally, a matter of public record. Examination of these records will confirm a return of over $400,000 to the General Fund of this county (even after expenditures from the budget for upgrading equipment to provide a faster, more efficient service). We remain under budget even with the decline in real estate activity due to the current recession. These figures are reported to the local media on a monthly basis and are available for your scrutiny. ROBERT J. ROBINSON (Democrat) Register of Deeds PAID FOR BY THE COMMITTEE TO RE ELECT ROBERT J ROBINSON
The Brunswick Beacon (Shallotte, N.C.)
Standardized title groups preceding, succeeding, and alternate titles together.
Oct. 15, 1992, edition 1
11
Click "Submit" to request a review of this page. NCDHC staff will check .
0 / 75