Redating an archaeological discovery has a ripple effect, according to Associate Professor of Archaeology Julie Hansen . Brass-making was a technological leap for the Nuzi, and it causes us to look at other aspects of their society much more carefully. We don't know where they got zinc. If they traded for it, that would obviously affect their interactions with other societies of their era. This is the start of a very exciting investigation.
Hypertension can run in the family.
A team of School of Medicine researchers, led by Professor Haralambos Gavras , has begun to identify the genes involved in abnormal blood pressure. This genetic information would give physicians advance warning that preventive measures were needed. Gavras and his colleagues are searching the genomes of mice and humans for the possible causes of hypertension. The disorder, often without obvious warning signs, affects one in four adults and can have devastating consequences, including heart and kidney disease and stroke. In one part of the study, Gavras and collaborators induce hypertension in mice by changing their environmental conditions, associating the results with differences in their genes, and searching human genomes for corresponding genes that could similarly affect blood pressure.