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Home > UC Science Today > The weekly roundup - July 29th
Podcast: UC Science Today
Episode:

The weekly roundup - July 29th
Category: Science & Medicine
Duration: 00:01:50
Publish Date: 2016-07-25 19:00:00
Description: This week on Science Today. Our bodies naturally produce byproducts that may not be too healthy for us but are usually adept at maintaining balance. So, when a medication leads to an excess of molecules that are harsh on the body, we should probably be concerned, right? Researcher Aldrin Gomes of the University of California, Davis says common pain relievers known as NSAIDs, like ibuprofen, do just this. "These NSAIDs were actually inducing something called reactive oxygen species – stuff that our body produces naturally but in small amounts." Aldrin explains how these molecules can stress heart cells and are even linked to disease. We then go from the heart to the skeletal system and hear from biomedical scientist Gabriela Loots of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory. She's investigating the tendency of aggressive cancers to metastasize to bone. "There are certain molecules, for examples, that once secreted by the bone they seem to create this environment that’s very attractive to the cancer cells to go there and to grow." So Loots and her team are now trying to understand how to manipulate the environment of a tumor to prevent this spread. Also on the cellular scale, UCSF researcher Jeremiah Osteen is studying how a specific toxin in tarantula venom can very selectively target what’s known as a sodium channel, which much of the nervous system uses to carry signals to your brain." "What was very interesting and serendipitous for us was that it was selective for a certain subtype of sodium channel. And that’s really what allowed us to study that sodium channel using the toxin." Osteen says this toxin will help give insight into a particular pain pathway. Listen to this and other episodes about the University of California research. Subscribe to UC Science Today on iTunes or Stitcher. You can also follow us on Facebook. Thanks for listening. Until next time, I’m Larissa Branin. Subscribe to Science Today: iTunes: apple.co/1TQBewD Stitcher: www.stitcher.com/podcast/science-today Follow us on Facebook: www.facebook.com/ucsciencetoday Stories mentioned in this roundup: https://soundcloud.com/sciencetoday/pain_relief https://soundcloud.com/sciencetoday/cancer_bone https://soundcloud.com/sciencetoday/pain_pathway
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