Melbourne Researchers Make Link Between Diabetes and Depression

Australian researchers have found a connection between diabetes and depression. The research has been presented to The Royal Australia and New Zealand College of Psychiatrist conference Cells,Circuits and Syndromes in Hobart, Tasmania this week by Dr Carol Silberberg.

Dr Silberberg, from the University of Melbourne, told the conference that recent research suggests depression can alter the way the body processes glucose and that, in turn, can complicate treatment of both conditions. Dr Silberberg said there were high rates of depression, anxiety and eating disorders among people with Type 1 diabetes.

“There’s growing evidence that diabetes can actually impact on depression and visa versa, so there’s actually what we call a bio-directional relationship and there is some evidence that depression can actually alter how the body processes glucose which can complicate things.” Dr Silberberg said. ”The main thing at the moment is recognition and, in particular for General Practitioners, we’re trying to get the message out there that mental illnesses are a significant problem particularly in patients who have difficult to control diabetes.”

Earthshine: The New Way We Search For Life

Scientists have developed a new method to study reflected light from the Earth that can correctly measure the amount of cloud cover, ocean and vegetation on our planet. The research, reported in the journal Nature, will allow astronomers to eventually study the atmospheric and surface features of planets in other solar systems. Scientists including Dr Michael Sterzik from the European Southern Observatory in Chile used spectroscopy and light polarisation to look for chemical bio-signatures in Earthshine – sunlight reflected by the Earth onto the surface of the Moon and back again.

Light passing through the Earth’s atmosphere contains a tell-tale spectrum revealing the elements within the gas. It is also strongly polarised by scattering from air molecules, aerosols and cloud particles, and by reflection off the oceans and land. By combining these characteristics in a technique called spectropolarimetry, Sterzik and colleagues successfully obtained information about the Earth from reflected light that wouldn’t be achieved by normal spectroscopic readings alone. Read the full article »»»»

University of Melbourne: Stem Cell Breakthrough for Parkinson’s Disease

Australian scientists have developed a new technique using stem cells, in the hope to replace damaged cells in Parkinson’s disease. The technique could be developed for application in other degenerative conditions.

Researchers at the University of Melbourne have made a breakthrough in the use of stem cells to treat Parkinson’s disease.Stem cells can be used to allow the body to produce dopamine, which prevents Parkinson’s.Until now, treatment has been too risky because some of the stem cells can become carcinogenic. Scientists have now found a way to identify and separate the therapeutic cells from the dangerous ones.

“We have made some recent progress in that area by identifying novel molecules on the therapeutic cells that allow us to target them and essentially pull them out and purify them,”  said Dr Lachlan Thompson of the University of Melbourne. ”I think that will really potentially be an important breakthrough on the road to clinical translation. Read the full article »»»»

Australian Researchers Develop Nanotech Paintable Solar Crystals

Printable, flexible solar cells that could dramatically decrease the cost of renewable energy have been developed by PhD student Brandon MacDonald in collaboration with his colleagues from CSIRO’s Future Manufacturing Flagship and the University of Melbourne’s Bio21 Institute.

Australian researchers have developed solar panels which can be painted or printed directly onto a surface. With help from the CSIRO, University of Melbourne PhD student Brandon MacDonald has produced solar cells so small they can be suspended in liquid, such as ink or paint. MacDonald hopes the new technology will be two to three times cheaper than solar cells currently on the market, Macdonald says he expects the cells to hit the market within 5 years. These solar panels will be made of nano-crystals with a diameter of just a few millionths of a millimetre. MacDonald says they will use just 1 per cent of the materials needed to make traditional solar panels.

“Using nano-crystal inks, they can be manufactured in a continuous manner, which increases throughput and should make the cells much cheaper to produce, we can then apply this ink onto a surface, so this could be glass or plastics or metals” Read the full article »»»»