Does menthol explain higher cancer rates in blacks?
SMOKING
Studies have repeatedly shown that African-American smokers disproportionately prefer menthol cigarettes, typically marketed as light or ultralight. But a study by researchers at the Harvard School of Public Health shows there's nothing light about the menthol content of those cigarettes -- and that finding may have implications for explaining why blacks, especially black men, have higher rates of lung cancer than whites. The Harvard scientists tested the unsmoked contents of cigarettes and found that light and ultralight cigarettes carried considerably more menthol than regular cigarettes. That's important because menthol can act as a numbing agent that, the researchers theorize, allows smokers to puff more deeply and, thus, cause more damage. Even though African-American smokers tend to consume fewer cigarettes than whites, they're at higher risk of dying from smoking-related diseases.
BOTTOM LINE: Menthol cigarettes may be increasing the risk of lung cancer in African-American smokers.
CAUTIONS: The researchers examined only the contents of unsmoked cigarettes. They did not examine what happens when those contents are smoked.
WHAT'S NEXT: Gregory N. Connolly, a study author and Harvard School of Public Health professor, said he would like to test cigarettes as they are smoked, and to measure the presence of menthol and other chemicals in the bodies of smokers.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Nicotine & Tobacco Research, August 2005
STEPHEN SMITH
NANOTECHNOLOGY
Harvard researchers turn algae into tiny oxen
A group of Harvard chemical biologists recently turned single-cell algae into molecular-scale beasts of burden or ''microoxen" to help them conduct research at an incredibly tiny scale. wondered if they could harness the natural movement of single-celled algae The researchers chemically bonded tiny polystyrene beads to the algae, which swim using two hair-like flagella, and guided them along water-filled channels using high-intensity light to repel and low-intensity light to attract. Ultraviolet light separated the bead from its algae courier for the drop-off.
BOTTOM LINE: Though the work won't immediately lead to anything more useful than microoxen races (yes, the scientists admit to sending their algae a few times around the proverbial track), it has potential as a biosensor, to test blood for bacteria or check water for pollution, for example. ''It would be like a foraging system," said Douglas Weibel, a postdoctoral fellow working with George M. Whitesides, the principal investigator.
CAUTIONS: The researchers had trouble controlling where the bead bonded to the algae (if the bead attached itself near the flagella, the algae couldn't swim as well). They would also like to have directed where the bead was dropped off with greater precision.
WHAT'S NEXT: Researchers want to increase their understanding of how the algae see light and improve their control over the algae.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Aug. 23, 2005
CHRIS BERDIK
BRAIN DEVELOPMENT
It's already too late to teach the kids rhythm
Maybe the reason you can't seem to get that salsa beat is because your parents didn't expose you to the right music as an infant. Six-month-olds are able to appreciate small rhythmic variations in foreign music that adults are unable to notice, but a new study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences has found that children begin to lose this ability by their first birthday. A group of American 1-year-olds was better able to detect changes in the meter of music that sounded ''Western," rather than in a Balkan folk tune with a non-Western rhythm. The researchers, including Erin Hannon, formerly of Cornell University and now of Harvard, also found that 1-year-olds could partly regain their musical abilities by regularly listening to non-Western music for two weeks but that adults could not.
BOTTOM LINE: By the end of their first year, children already have a sense of ''familiar" music and are losing the ability to hear foreign music with the same acuity.
CAUTIONS: According to Hannon, there are other ways to test whether subjects correctly recognize meter besides the ones her team tried, and it will be important to confirm the results by using other methods and music.
WHAT'S NEXT: In addition to confirming their findings, Hannon and her colleagues want to look at how listening to foreign music in infancy affects children later in development.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, published online, Aug. 16, 2005.
MICHAEL E. HOCHMAN
OVARIAN CANCER
Doctors may miss symptoms, delaying diagnosis for months
Women experience symptoms for too long before they are diagnosed with ovarian cancer, according to a new study from the University of California at Davis School of Medicine. A small number of women with ovarian cancer complained to doctors about pelvic or abdominal pain or swelling up to 12 months before their diagnosis, according to records of doctor's visits from nearly 2,000 Californians diagnosed with ovarian cancer between 1994 and 1999. One reason for the delay in diagnosis could be the type of test used, researchers said, with doctors first trying tests aimed at detecting stomach and intestinal problems, rather than ovarian cancer.
BOTTOM LINE: A woman over age 65 with abdominal pain, swelling, or pelvic pain that can't be explained by other tests should make sure her doctor tests for ovarian cancer, commonly through an ultrasound, said Lloyd H. Smith, the study's lead researcher. These symptoms are very common for a lot of illnesses so ovarian cancer shouldn't be the immediate conclusion, but it also should not be overlooked, he said. The later the fast-moving cancer is detected, the more lethal it is.
CAUTIONS: The researchers did not measure symptoms directly from the patients but instead from their Medicare records.
WHAT'S NEXT: Smith is organizing a larger, national study looking at patients whose ovarian cancer was detected early to better understand their symptoms pre-diagnosis.
WHERE TO FIND IT: Cancer, Aug. 22, 2005
KADESHA M. THOMAS 
