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The article discusses research on the role of activated protein C in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). It references the study "Activated Protein C Therapy Slows ALS-Like Disease in Mice by Transcriptionally Inhibiting SOD1 in Motor Neurons and Microglia Cells," by Berislave Zlokovic et al published in a 2009 issue of "Journal of Clinical Investigation." It has found that APC crosses blood-spinal cord barrier and postpone microglial activation. It also downregulates SOD1 gene in microglial cells, microvessels and motor neurons.

The article discusses research on the potential for sialic acid metabolites to serve as treatment for hereditary myopathy. It references the study "Prophylactic Treatment With Sialic Acid Metabolites Precludes the Development of the Myopathic Phenotype in the DMRV-hIBM Mouse Model," by M. C. Malicdan et al, published in the 2009 issue of the periodical "Natural Medicine." The study's findings suggest that hyposialylation plays a key role in the pathogenesis of distal myopathy with rimmed vacuoles-hereditary inclusion body myopathy (DMRV-hIBM).

Reports that gene therapy with neprilysin, an enzyme that naturally degrades Β amyloid in the brain, has shown promising results in a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Injection of a vector expressing human neprilysin directly into the cerebrum of mice with induced amyloidosis, which caused shrinkage of amyloid deposits; Use of gene therapy to reduce Β amyloid successfully.

Six landmark genomics studies were published in December 2002. In two complementary studies, an international group of researchers present a high quality draft sequence of the genome of the laboratory mouse (Mus musculus), together with virtually complete transcriptome data. A third paper provides a preliminary comparison of the partial genome between different inbred mouse strains. The remaining studies use information from the mouse sequence to analyse characteristics of human chromosome 21, providing a glimpse of what lies beyond genome sequencing as researchers start to analyse how genes are expressed in different tissues at different stages of development. Mark Boguski (Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center, Seattle, WA, USA) considers elucidation of the mouse genome 'a great scientific achievement,' but stresses that its real value will come in what it can tell us about ourselves.

Reports on research which indicates that mice of normal weight who were given an intermediate dose of C75, an inhibitor of fatty acid synthase, regain their normal eating patterns after only a day, whereas obese mice continue to eat less and lose weight. Details of research by Daniel Lane et al of Johns Hopkins School of Medicine in Baltimore, Maryland; How the researchers studied dietary-induced obesity in mice.

Focuses on a report suggesting that the lifespan of cloned mice is significantly shorter than that of mice with the same genotype born after normal mating. Details of research by Atsuo Ogura et al at Riken Bioresource Center in Tsukuba, Japan; Indication of immune dysfunction because of reduced antibody production and phagocytic activity.

Discusses the use of two mice models to study the molecular events that occur during the development of adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer. How the models give researchers valuable insight into the process of tumorigenesis; Description of the research of Harold Varmus and Tyler Jacks; What the researchers hope to learn from the mice.

Details the research of Christopher Hunter and colleagues at the University of Pennsylvania in Pennsylvania on tumor growth in mice infected with Toxoplasma gondii. Suggestion that severe infections can cause tumors to shrink and regress; Finding that no immune cells or factors are implicated in the process; Plan of the group to search for possible factors that might be responsible for the systemic repression of angiogenesis.

States that the entry point of a sperm when it fertilizes a mouse egg determines the plane along which the zygote first divides, according to researchers in England. Implications for the findings for the understanding of human embryology; Details of the sperm entry point (SEP) study made by Magdalena Zernicka-Goetz and Karolina Piotrowska of the Wellcome/CRC Institute in Cambridge.