IMMUNOLOGY: Microengraving Technology Documents Autoimmune Steps in Diabetes
New microengraving technology allows scientists to take a closer look at immune cells than they were able to in the past. In a study applying the technique to clinical samples for the first time, Elizabeth Bradshaw, David Hafler, and their colleagues isolated particular immune cells and printed a readout of each one’s characteristics. The work, appearing in the October Clinical Immunology, identified rare autoreactive B cells in the blood of a patient with diabetes, enabling the investigators to pinpoint the source of insulin autoantibodies in the patient’s blood. The technology may eventually become a useful clinical tool for early diagnosis of autoimmune diseases and for monitoring patients’ responses to drugs during clinical trials.

AGING: The Human Brain Makes an Evolutionary Jump
New findings from the lab of Bruce Yankner, reported online Oct. 2 in PLoS One, demonstrate fundamentally distinct aging mechanisms in the mouse brain versus the human brain. Large regulatory networks that underperform as the human brain ages appear unaffected in the mouse. These findings shed light on why it has been so difficult to create mouse models for neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s.

MEDICAL ETHICS: Conscience and Care
In a paper posted online Aug. 28 in Theoretical Medicine and Bioethics, Dan Brock argues that there are three conditions under which doctors and other healthcare providers can refuse to give care without shirking their duties if they believe a professionally accepted practice is deeply immoral. These conditions could guide public policy and individual decision-making, Brock says.

Copyright 2008 by the President and Fellows of Harvard College