SCULPTING LASER PULSES
THE MIND Warren Warren, chemistry
TARGET DATE Ongoing
LOWDOWN Shrinking the laser for good
Wish you could look inside your body with something as small as a pen? Warren's lasers may eventually be able to do just that.
After reassessing the physics behind conventional imaging techniques and manipulating light impulse shapes, the chemist has developed a new type of laser.
"The amount of laser we use is about the size of a laser pointer, but it's because we sculpt the laser pulses that we can do things," Warren says.
Eventually a laser could inspect the chemical composition of cells in an organism to determine whether a body is heading toward disease-long before it begins expressing symptoms.
Such a panacean examination may be far in the future, but Warren is currently working with dermatologists to develop easier ways to diagnose skin diseases. Using the laser, doctors could examine moles for melanomas. Instead of seeing just the very top of the lesion, however, the cutting-edge technology would make the entire mole visible-without any cutting.
"So [a doctor] could just touch it to the mole and figure out whether it's dangerous or not," he says.
The current model of the laser is approximately the size of a table, so there is still work to be done to get down to the size of a book and bring it into a doctor's office.
MULTITASKING MOLECULE
THE MIND Jonathan Stamler, medicine and biochemistry
TARGET DATE 2023
LOWDOWN One molecule, many diseases
What happens when a nitric oxide molecule can't attach to its protein? Asthma, sickle cell anemia, high blood pressure, Parkinson's or heart failure.
Stamler has found that nitric oxide-which his research team has designated as the third major blood gas-controls components of many prevalent diseases.
But nitric oxide's ability to bind so specifically and powerfully can potentially be stopped-Stamler's drug proposal is already in the works and will soon enter into clinical trials.
TURNING OFF THE OBESITY SIGNAL
THE MIND Tony Means, medicine
TARGET DATE Ongoing
LOWDOWN Finding a treatment for the neural disorders that lead to obesity
The question of obesity has puzzled researchers for years-could it be caused simply by a bad diet and snacking? Fat chance.
"The central control of overeating is here," Means says, tapping his forehead. "It's in the brain."
For some, an imbalance of key brain chemicals just won't let them leave the dinner table. A neural target-an enzyme known as CaMKK-stimulates the NPY neurotransmitter. Too much NPY in turn fails to let the body know it's full.
Means is working to develop a drug to block CaMKK, leading to a drop in NPY levels and a drop in overeating. The next step is working with drug companies to turn the idea into a much-needed cure.
"It's the power of the brain," Means says. "We realize how important it is when we think about the heart, for example. but in this case, there's a defect that has effects elsewhere in the body."
DEFEATING MALARIA-AGAIN
THE MIND Timothy Haystead, pharmacology and cancer biology
TARGET DATE 2011
LOWDOWN Developing and distributing a new vaccine
Global health is a new Duke buzzword. And Haystead is right in the center of the University's push into the developing world with an effort to come up with a treatment for a drug-resistant strain of malaria.
Chloroquine, the conventional anti-malarial drug, has been used since World War II, but now most organisms are immune. As a result, malaria deaths are on the rise-up to an astounding 5 million people a year.
"Our approach is to take the old drug, try to figure out how it works and possibly fix it so it can work again," he says of his antidote that will go into early-stage testing within a year. "We're having some success there."
But even though the biological prospects for the drug are strong, finding funding for its development and distribution is a whole separate challenge. Drug companies have little incentive to invest in a drug when the people who need it can't afford it.
But Haystead says malaria has regained its momentum as a big medical issue, in large part because it is one of the primary causes championed by the Gates Foundation, started by Duke grad Melinda Gates and her husband, Bill Gates.
COUNTING WITHOUT WORDS
THE MIND Liz Brannon, psychological & brain sciences
TARGET DATE Ongoing
LOWDOWN Numerical representation in infants & monkeys
Brannon can count on babies to discriminate among numbers before they can even talk.
Can people recognize that there are three objects before they even know what the word "three" means? Apparently so, her research shows.
Number representation appears before language in human development and is also present in non-human primates.
"We represent numbers in a more basic way than you might think of with math classes in high school or college-so without language and without arbitrary symbols," she says.
DISSECTING CAMPAIGN MONEY
THE MIND John Aldrich and Michael Munger, political science
TARGET DATE Ongoing
LOWDOWN Finding who gives & why
Right in between two presidential elections, Aldrich is busy sifting through tons of mail from campaign donors, analyzing their monetary trends and strategies. Together with Munger and others across the country, Aldrich is examining the ways in which citizens donate money to presidential campaigns.
"Depending on what we find, we may have something to say to [policymakers] about how best to revise the nomination process," Aldrich says.
HAPPY SHOPPERS?
THE MIND Carl Mela, marketing
TARGET DATE Ongoing
LOWDOWN Discounts may not be as effective as you think
A store has a sale, people buy a lot and go home happy; the store makes money and is deemed a healthy establishment. Right?
Wrong.
Mela has been working to dispel the misconception that short-term marketing efforts, like discounts, support overall brand and company health. He's been on the road giving corporate America the tools and strategies to adopt long-term perspectives.
NEW TACTIC TO FIGHT HIV
THE MIND Bryan Cullen, microbiology
TARGET DATE 2021
LOWDOWN Drug to block protein in HIV attacks
Cullen recently discovered a complex interaction between proteins in HIV and those in normal human cells.
Vif proteins in the virus destroy cells' inhibitory proteins, clearing the path for the virus to attack.
He says most researchers focus on other aspects of HIV, but he hopes to develop a drug which will eliminate the specific protein in the virus that enables it to move in and destroy in the first place.
BIOSENSORS
THE MIND Homme Hellinga, biochemistry, pharmacology, cancer biology
TARGET DATE 2011
LOWDOWN Manipulating cells to respond on command
The grass might be greener for Hellinga-in fact, it may be glowing a fluorescent green.
He says he is currently one of the only people in the world who can manipulate nucleotides, change amino acids and alter a protein's environmental response in this way.
So how about bacteria that glow green in response to explosives? Been there, done that.
Smoke detectors that detect nerve agents and gases? Check.
But Hellinga is less interested in these James Bond-like applications than in medical uses. For instance, if a protein can sense blood sugar levels it can send signals to a pump in an artificial pancreas, which releases insulin as needed, revolutionizing diabetes treatment.
CARBON NANOTUBES
THE MIND Jie Liu, chemistry
TARGET DATE 2011
LOWDOWN Super-strong and cheap metal
Liu may not be able to bend steel with his bare hands, but he may be well on his way to replacing it with something better.
Liu has spent the past seven years meddling with carbon nanotubes-a type of material discovered in 1991, stronger and more efficient than many metals.
Though the material may eventually end up very big-forming the superstructure of next-generation airplanes and space shuttles-it starts out on a very small scale.
The nanotubes are tiny straw-shaped arrangements of carbon atoms, possessing extremely strong conductive, electric and mechanical properties.
"They can be semiconductors or they can be metallic-that's why people are interested," Liu says.
Get The Chronicle straight to your inbox
Signup for our weekly newsletter. Cancel at any time.