Sellafield under scrutiny
Article Abstract:
A survey will be carried out by the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) in the United Kingdom to learn more about the possible health effects of work at the Sellafield nuclear processing plant in West Cumbria, England. An earlier investigation suggested a relationship between leukemia in children and exposure of their fathers at the plant; the new study will gather data regarding work histories for all people employed at Sellafield since 1949. Employees' possible exposure to other carcinogenic substances has been cited as an alternative explanation for their children's illness. Another study that would link two registries, those of the National Registry of Childhood Tumours and the National Radiological Protection Board, is currently being held up by confidentiality issues. When the project begins to move, it will evaluate a large number of subjects, lending increased validity to the earlier study's findings, if results can be replicated. The effect, called the ''Gardner effect'' after Martin Gardner, a professor who described it, is considerable: a seven to eight times greater chance of fathering a leukemic child among men who received a total (lifetime) radiation dose above a certain level. Other constraints, designed to reduce intrusion into the lives of the radiation workers, have slowed access to records needed for research. Studies are also planned to evaluate Scottish leukemia rates and radiation exposure; these include only a small number of people, however. Results from two surveys near other nuclear sites, one in England and one in Scotland, will be presented soon. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
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Biological properties of a CD4 immunoadhesin
Article Abstract:
Genes that code for CD4 and for an immunoglobulin molecule (IgG) were fused to form CD4 immunoadhesin, which has properties of both molecules. CD4 is a membrane protein on T lymphocytes (a type of white blood cell) that is the receptor for human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), which causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). It can be isolated from the membrane and in that form is called soluble (not attached to a cell) CD4. It binds to the HIV protein gp120 and blocks HIV from binding and infecting T lymphocytes; it also has a long half-life in the blood plasma. Like the IgG molecule, CD4 immunoadhesin binds with a cellular receptor known as the Fc receptor. CD4 immunoadhesin can mediate the killing of HIV cells, an action known as antibody-dependent cell-mediated cellular cytotoxicity (ADCC). However, it does not mediate ADCC against cells containing the CD4 receptor with gp120 when these cells are not infected. This change is important because in AIDS patients, ADCC causes the death of cells that express CD4; CD4 would otherwise be involved in an immune response against the virus. In primates, CD4 immunoadhesin (like IgG) can cross the placenta and provide protection to the unborn fetus. CD4 immunoadhesins may be developed for therapeutic use, especially in preventing the transmission of HIV infection from the mother to the fetus. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)
Publication Name: Nature
Subject: Zoology and wildlife conservation
ISSN: 0028-0836
Year: 1990
User Contributions:
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