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Do Zebrafish Hold the Key to Heart Regeneration? 

Posted on by Shannon Sindermann
Heart regeneration after heart attacks can stop poor health outcomes, read for more research

The human body has an incredible capacity for self-repair. Our skin can regenerate after a small cut, bones can heal after fractures and even the liver can regrow to its original size after 70% is lost or removed (3). However, when it comes to the heart, the story is very different. As Miley Cyrus once sang, “nothing breaks like a heart” – and science agrees. Unlike other organs, the heart has almost no ability to regenerate itself after injuries. In instances like myocardial infarctions, more commonly known as heart attacks, large amounts of cardiomyocytes (CMs)—the cells responsible for heart muscle contraction—are lost and cannot be regenerated, causing the formation of non-regenerative fibrotic scar tissue and, ultimately, decline in heart function (1).  

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Milk (Fat) Does a Body Good

Posted on by Sara Klink

One Milk Marketing Board campaign uses celebrities to promote its product by photographing them with milk moustaches. Glamour aside, selling cow’s milk is important to the livelihood of many farmers worldwide and generates a variety of well-appreciated products. What would pizza be without cheese? Summer without ice cream? Lunches without yogurt? Mashed potatoes without butter? Flammkuchen without crème fraiche? You can see where I am going with this. I live in America’s Dairyland where people commonly drink milk with meals. I think there is nothing better than a cold glass of milk with a rich chocolate cake. However, the Milk Marketing Board has missed a significant finding: milk fats can attenuate metastasis and some of the systemic effects of cancer and chemotherapy—at least in mice. Continue reading “Milk (Fat) Does a Body Good”