Stanford Report, March 17, 2004

IN PRINT

RESEARCH SHOWING THAT BALD mice can grow hair after being implanted with a type of stem cell could lead to a cure for baldness, according to a study released online March 14 in the journal Nature Biotechnology. The project marks the first time that "blank slate" stem cells were able to induce hair growth. Biologists who study hair because of its regenerative qualities called the finding a breakthrough but cautioned that a cure for baldness is still years away, the Associated Press reported March 15. "Like with any stem cells, the amount of information needed to get us from a stem to a fully developed organ is a lot," said ANTHONY ORO, assistant professor of dermatology. "It will require a lot of things to go right and we are still a long way off."

THE SAN JOSE MERCURY NEWS reported March 9 that fast food and sodas may be taking most of the heat for America's epidemic of childhood obesity, but nutritionists are just as concerned about what's missing in the typical child's diet -- fruits and vegetables. The average California child, 9 to 11 years old, ate only three servings of vegetables and fruits a day in 2001, compared with the five per day recommended by health officials, according to a Public Health Institute survey. JENNIFER MORRIS, project director of the Stanford Prevention Research Center, reviewed the food diaries of 26 middle- and high-school students who had participated in a recent focus group and was not surprised that many of them went two or three days without eating any vegetables. (French fries and pizza sauce don't qualify in her book.) "I'm kind of hardened to how poorly children eat," she said.

ON AIR

SCIENCE IS ALL AROUND US -- NOT just in the lab, said RICHARD ZARE, the Marguerite Blake Wilbur Professor in Natural Science. And just in time for St. Patrick's Day, he has demonstrated a phenomenon known to veteran beer drinkers: Bubbles go down, not up, when ale is poured into a glass. Actually, Zare said, they go in a circle, in a "beer current," if the liquid is highly carbonated. He and Andy Alexander, a former Stanford postdoctoral student now at the University of Edinburgh, have studied the beer bubble cycle, including photographing it with a high-speed-film camera. The duo attracted worldwide attention this week on the BBC World Service, Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, CTV Canada, CNN, and ABC7 and KGO in San Francisco. Wayne Freedman, a nationally known storyteller for ABC7, was bowled over by Zare's persona. After the interview, he said, "I have just written a book about interesting characters. If I hadn't finished it, [Zare] would be in it."