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I don't know if anyone else sent this to the network, but John and I found it very interesting! It was in the July 8th, Democrat and Chronicle paper here in Rochester New York. Grant funds UR study on Parkinson's Researchers say $2 million in federal cash may show that herbicides prompt the disease. Synthetic chemicals in the enviornment teamed up with certain genes, can prompt Parkinson's disease, a common neurological disorder. At least that's what University of Rochester researchers think they might find over the next 5 years, thanks to a recent $2 million federal grant."We don't have any proof of the concept yet" said chief investigator Dr. Howard J. Federoff, who directs UR's Center on Aging. But medical literature already suggests there is a "synergetic conspiracy" between genes related to Parkinson's and herbicides, he said. The UR study will concentrate on the nerve cell effects of the toxin MPTP, a chemical cousin of paraquat, a common herbicide used worldwide on stawberries, corn, potatoes, carrots and other crops. MPTP damages dopamine neurons in a way that simulates Parkinson's. Federoff's group with the study already under way,is among the first to explore the links between toxins and "susceptibility genes" for Parkinson's, a disease with no cure and no known cause. Any tests on humans or related improvements in therapy are years-even decades away, said Federoff. Parkinson's affects about 500,000 Americans, mostly of them older then 50 The disease leads to progressive nerve damage, marked by hand tremors, rigid joints and shuffling gait. Parkinson's kill cells in the brain stem that make dopamine, a chemical linked to muscle movement and control.It might be accelerated in people born with too few of these cells or in people who lose there cells too easily. Scientist already know that certain genes help kill the vital neurotransmitter cells that make dopamine. But they're not sure how such genes are encouraged by environment stresses, including potent chemicals. With the right information about interactions between vulnerable genes and environmental agents, researchers can "change the natural history" of diseases like Parkinson's said Federoff, also chief of UR's division of molecular medicine and gene therapy.