Advances

(Advances gives a glimpse of the many significant research projects at the university. Tell us about your discoveries by e-mailing: wisweek@news.wisc.edu.)

Tracks in iron help map microbial world
Reading the narrow bands of iron found in some sedimentary rocks, university scientists may have found a way to assess microbial populations across time and space, opening a window to the early history of life on Earth and possibly other planets.

Writing in the journal Science, a team of scientists led by geochemist Brian L. Beard describes a geochemical signature in iron as indicative of life. If the technique is confirmed and refined, it could be used to trace the distribution of Earth’s microorganisms in the distant past, and it could help resolve disputes about the existence of past life on other planets such as Mars.

Iron is vital to plant, animal and microbial life. Nearly all organisms ingest it in the course of daily life. If scientists can devise a method to distinguish between iron that has been processed by a living organism and iron that has not been metabolized, they will have a way to measure the distribution of microbes on Earth billions of years ago. Because iron is common on the moon, planets and other objects in space, the technique could be used to detect signs of past life beyond our own planet.
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Study: Policies interfere with pain management
Good pain control is an essential component of medical care for people with serious illnesses, but state policies can stand in the way of pain relief, according to a study by the Pain and Policy Studies Group at the Comprehensive Cancer Center.

Says David Joranson, group director: “State policies aimed at preventing drug abuse often fail to recognize that these drugs are also necessary for medical purposes. Ironically, some new state laws that were meant to improve patients’ access to pain management may actually make them harder to get.”

Although there are many treatments for pain, pain experts agree that opioid drugs (like morphine) are the most effective treatment for severe pain, which may accompany many illnesses, including cancer. The study is the first phase of a major pain and public policy research project funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Princeton, N.J. To get the report, “Achieving Balance in State Pain Policy,” contact the Pain and Policy Studies Group, 1900 University Ave., Madison, WI 53705; phone: 263-7662; fax: 263-0259; e-mail: ppsg@macc.wisc.edu.
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Breast cancer study compares drug therapies
University researchers are seeking postmenopausal women interested in participating in a national study designed to find more effective ways to prevent breast cancer.

The study, which is expected to enroll 22,000 women across the nation, will seek to determine whether the osteoporosis-prevention drug raloxifene (trade name: Evista) is as effective in reducing the chance of developing breast cancer as tamoxifen (trade name: Nolvadex) has proven to be in a prior study.

“Women at an increased risk of developing breast cancer need options for preventing this disease that present a minimum of side effects,” says James Stewart, medical oncologist at the Comprehensive Cancer Center. “We already know that tamoxifen is beneficial for this purpose, but perhaps there is something even better.”

More information: 262-5223.