RESEARCH AT DARTMOUTH

Medical School researchers have identified a gene that triggers the death of leukemia cells. Acting like a switch, the gene turns on a program that destroys certain leukemic cells and possibly other tumor cells. The finding may pave the way for devloping new cancer-killing drugs, according to Ethan Dmitrovsky, research team leader and professor and chair of pharmacology and toxicology.

The amount of algae present in water may affect how toxic mercury moves through fish in the food chain. Dartmouth researchers have found that in bodies of water with large amounts of mercury-absorbing algae the concentration of mercury is dispersed, and the plankton that eat algae don't ingest high levels of mercury. Likewise, fish that eat the plankton are exposed to smaller amounts of the metal. In water bodies with less algae, the mercury level in each organism was more concentrated. "Changes that cause the algae to increase or decrease can also quickly produce changes in the amount of mercury that moves through the ecosystem," says biology professor Carol Folt. Discerning the mechanism of mercury distribution, she says, will lead to "more precise advisories about human consumption of fish."

Using angioplasty and stents to treat a common cause of leg pain can be easier on patients and cost half as much as surgery, according to a study by radiology professor Michael Bettmann. Crampy pain while walking is a common symptom of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), an underdiagnosed condition that affects approximately 10 million Americans. PVD is caused by a hardening and narrowing of the blood vessels, and the leg pain can be treated surgically with bypass grafting or radiographically with angioplasty and stents. "The cost differential between surgery and minimally invasive intervention is huge, while there is no significant difference in the effectiveness of the treatment," says Bettmann, director of clinical research for radiology at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. The minimally invasive therapy also offers a shorter recovery time.