Daily Archives: January 15, 2010

Helping paws

January 15, 2010 | Editor | Leave a comment

Artificial limbs, called prosthetics, can help people with physical disabilities lead happier and more active lives.  Did you know they can help animals do the same?  Yes, they can.  Chance, Molly and Cervantes are just a few of the animals who can live active lives thanks to prosthetics.

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Sharing more than our homes and lives

January 15, 2010 | Editor | Leave a comment

When there’s talk of diseases shared by people and animals, the focus is usually on diseases that are transferred from animals to people.  However, they can go the other way, too.  In fact, researchers in the U.K. have found evidence that the bacteria Staphylococcus aureus actually jumped from people to chickens about 38 years ago.  As a result, the bacteria has become a common infection in chickens and can cause severe lameness.

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Learning from Rufus and his friends

January 15, 2010 | Editor | Leave a comment

When you hear “naked mole rat,” you might think of Rufus, the naked mole rat in the cartoon “Kimpossible.” Although Rufus is a great cartoon sidekick for Kim and Ron, studying real naked mole rats might just help us find the Fountain of Youth. Although naked mole rats are rodents, just like mice and rats and others, they are very different. For one thing, they live MUCH longer—naked mole rats have lived to be 28 years old! Compare that to mice, which only live a couple of years. They also don’t seem to get cancer—at all—which makes them very unique. Scientists are studying them to try to find out just what makes them live so long and why they seem to be immune to cancer. If they can solve those mysteries, people might be on the way to longer, healthier, cancer-free living. Read more in the New York Times.

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