Mixed Drinks and Mixed Messages

Mixed messages

Mixed messages

plants are cloaked in hundreds of tiny projections, known as trichomes. These structures vary in function, shape, size and spacing from species to species, and it’s not known whether similar cellular differentiation programs are responsible for making trichomes in different plants. Trichomes are clearly visible in the scanning electron micrograph of a wild-type Nicotiana tabacum seedling above ...

NPY's mixed messages

According to a study on page 1575, cellular debris might help trigger the autoimmune disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Vollmer and colleagues show that endogenous complexes of RNA and protein, often released from dying cells, engage activating receptors in dendritic cells (DCs). The activated DCs then launch an inappropriate immune response against these self-complexes, thus triggerin...

BMJ Mixed messages Medical myths

Risks of energy drinks mixed with alcohol.

THE ENERGY DRINK MARKET IS A MULTIBILLIONdollar industry that uses aggressive and innovative marketing strategies to target teens and young adults. Consequently, 31% of young teens and 34% to 51% of 18to 24-year-olds report regular consumption of these products. Energy drinks contain caffeine and often other substances such as guarana (containing guaranine, similar to caffeine), taurine (an ami...