Help for Chestnuts
A new preparation is being used to fight the bane of chestnut trees, the chestnut gall wasp. According to Prof. Gabriel Łapanowski of the Research Institute of Pomology and Floriculture in Skierniewice, the preparation is less invasive than previously applied solutions. The holes in the tree trunk where the preparation is applied are shallower and there are fewer of them. Moreover, the new preparation gets to the leaves within two weeks instead of two months as was previously the case, rendering them decidedly unappetizing to the pest. Research shows that a single application protects the tree for at least four years. The small gall wasp is a major threat to European chestnuts, having infested most of the Old Continent. Part of its life cycle takes place in the leaves of chestnut trees. Infested leaves curl up, dry out and fall off, leaving the trees more vulnerable to damage and disease.


Huge Planet Discovered
An international team of astronomers has discovered a planet with a mass of 4.6 times that of Jupiter orbiting around star HD 17092. The team is led by Prof. Andrzej Niedzielski from the Toruń Center of Astronomy of the Nicolaus Copernicus University and Prof. Aleksander Wolszczan from Pennsylvania State University.

The planet is somewhat farther from the star than the Earth is from the Sun, but its period of revolution is only a few days shorter and its orbit is more elliptical.

HD 17092, weighing 2.3 times as much as the Sun and with a circumference 10 times greater, is the third most massive star around which a planet has been observed. Invisible to the naked eye, it lies within the Perseus constellation, about 300 light years from Earth. HD 17092 is a red giant, a star that is in a highly advanced stage of development. The Sun is expected to become a red giant in about 5 billion years.


Cure for Alzheimer's Closer
Wrocław scientists have developed a drug to treat Alzheimer disease. Thirty years ago, Prof. Józef Lisowski and Prof. Maria Janusz from the Institute of Immunology and Experimental Therapy of the Polish Academy of Sciences were on the trail of discovering the therapeutic protein complex, colostrinine. They were studying the properties of colostrum, a thin yellowish fluid secreted by the mammary glands of sheep during parturition. They discovered that it contained a protein that could help Alzheimer's sufferers. A British company bought their patent, and then commissioned Prof. Antoni Polanowski from the Faculty of Biotechnology at Wrocław University and Prof. Tadeusz Wiluszow to develop a method of mass-producing colostrinine.

The Americans started to take an interest in the project. We can thank them for getting the drug into pharmacies. Colostrinine will initially be available as a therapeutic food additive. Several years' additional testing will be required before it can be recognized as a drug.


Genes Affect Breast Cancer Treatment
Research has confirmed that a woman's genetic predisposition can have a big influence on the outcome of breast cancer treatment. The study was conducted by a team of scientists led by Prof. Jan Lubiński of the International Hereditary Cancer Center at Pomeranian Medical University in Szczecin. According to Lubiński, doctors can shorten the odds of success by selecting the most appropriate chemotherapy process according to whether the patient's genetic code contains a dysfunctional, mutated gene. He believes that this discovery may be helpful in treating other types of cancer in the near future.

Lubiński's team analyzed the efficacy of a variety of pre-operative treatments in about 3,500 women under 51 from 20 hospitals throughout Poland. About 800 women in an advanced stage of the illness were deemed fit for pre-operative chemotherapy. As predicted, this proved ineffective in most cases due to the presence of the mutated gene.


Biosensor Detects Carcinogens
Polish scientists have constructed a biosensor that can quickly measure the amount of acrylamide, a dangerous carcinogen found in roast and baked potatoes, especially chips and fries. When constructing the biosensor, the team of scientists from the Polish Academy of Sciences in Olsztyn led by Dr. Jerzy Radecki, made use of a previously discovered phenomenon that takes place when acrylamide is combined with hemoglobin, the pigment that gives the blood cells responsible for transporting oxygen around the body their red color.

The sensor consists of a specially prepared carbon electrode whose surface is combined with hemoglobin. Changes are registered on an analytical apparatus which enables a very precise calculation of the amount of acrylamide.

Several years ago the Swedish National Food Administration alerted the world to the dangers of acrylamide in heated food. As a result of tests carried out in many institutes, acrylamide was listed as a potential carcinogen.
Compiled by Tadeusz Belerski