Science Spin 58 May 2013 | Page 9

Applying results iN FebruAry the european research Council awarded 60 grants , each worth up to € 150,000 , to help researchers commercialise their results . This follows an earlier round in September 2012 under which 33 grants were awarded . in this round , one award went to a researcher at university College Dublin , Professor Martin Albrecht , who is developing a solar powered catalytic technique for splitting water to generate energy . www . sciencespin . com

UPFRONT

Research grants reSeArCHerS have until 14th August to apply for Marie Curie fellowship grants . This year funding amounts to € 227 million , and about 1,000 researchers will benefit this year .

Marie Curie fellows receive broad ranging support enabling them to gain experience in institutions abroad .

Losing fat

A pArticulAr type of immune cell , known as invariant natural killer t-cell , iNKt , has been found to have a controlling influence on fat . An international team of researchers led by Dr Lydia Lynch at TCD , and involving Prof Donal O ’ Shea and Prof Cliona O ’ Farrelly from TCD , has found that with obesity these cells are lost , but they can be restored when weight is lost . it was thought that these iNKt cells were uncommon in humans , but the researchers discovered that they are plentiful in fat , and that they have a role in regulating body weight . the decrease in iNKt had been noted initially during studies of patients attending St Vincent ’ s Obesity Clinic . These patients with low levels of iNKt had a higher risk from heart attacks and type 2 diabetes than lean individuals . However , if they had lost weight following a surgical intervention to restrict the gut , ( bariatric surgery ), iNKT increased back to normal levels .

Support for these findings came from animal studies in which mice were put on a high-fat diet . With weight gain , the iNKT cells were lost , but when put back on a normal diet , weight was lost and the iNKT cells returned .

To get more details , the same tests were carried out on different strains of mice , one a normal control , and two deficient in iNKT . Given the high-fat diet , all the mice gained weight , but the iNKtdeficient ones grew 30 per cent fatter than the controls , and they developed the mouse-equivalent of diabetes 2 in six weeks . in a follow-up study , iNKt cells were harvested from the normal mice and injected into mice that were iNKT deficient . remarkably , the diabetes 2 in these fat mice was reversed , yet while continuing to eat a high-fat diet they lost about ten per cent of their weight .

Finally , the researchers administered a lipid known as alphagalactosylceramide , aGc , to mice with a diminished pool of iNKT cells . This lipid is known to activate iNKT cells , and it was found that a small dose of aGc resulted in a dramatic improvement , reducing weight and reversing diabetes 2 .

Patenting genes

ACCOrDiNg to a ruling , made by Australia ’ s Federal Court , naturally occurring genes can be patented . in a controversial case , Justice John Nicholas decided that the act of removing a gene is artificial , and therefore a patent can be applied to it . The case arose out of a patent filed by Myriad genetics . The company was developing a diagnostic test for cancer , and the ruling means that Myriad genetics now holds an exclusive right on diagnostic tests based on detection of a naturally occurring gene .

Fighting infections

CHeWiNg of betal leaves is widespread in india and countries in south east Asia and the use of this stimulant goes back thousands of years . The plant , Piper betle , is a creeper , extensively grown in West bengal as an economic crop .

Debmalya barh from the institute of integrative Omics and Applied biotechnology in West bengal , with a team of international researchers , have found that one of the compounds in the leaves , piperdarine , acts as a powerful antibiotic against a number of pathogens including those causing tuberculosis and hemorrhagic diarrhoea . reporting their findings in Integrative Biology and Plos One , the researchers claim that piperdarine is more powerful than common antibiotics , such as Chloramphenicol , Penicillin and Ampicillin . the article in Plos One is available from http :// dx . plos . org / 10.1371 / journal . pone . 0052773

Marine Institute

Foras na Mara

Ireland ' s National Agency for Marine Research and Innovation

Our Ocean

A Shared Resource

www . marine . ie

SCIENCE SPIN Issue 58 Page 7