Science Sunday: Wrap-up of recent advancements in science from EurekAlert!

U of M researchers discover fast-acting cyanide antidote
University of Minnesota Center for Drug Design and Minneapolis VA Medical Center researchers have discovered a new fast-acting antidote to cyanide poisoning. The antidote has potential to save lives of those who are exposed to the chemical -- namely firefighters, industrial workers and victims of terrorist attacks.

Study maps life in extreme environments
A team of biologists have developed a model mapping the control circuit governing a whole free living organism. This is an important milestone for the new field of systems biology and will allow the researchers to model how the organism adapts over time in response to its environment.

New drug targets may fight tuberculosis and other bacterial infections in novel way
Researchers from Weill Cornell Medical College in New York City say exciting new molecular targets -- so-called "virulence factors" that bacteria use to thrive once they are in the host -- present an alternative, potent means of stopping TB, leprosy and other bacterial illness.

Researchers show that fibrosis can be stopped, cured and reversed
University of California, San Diego researchers have proven in animal studies that fibrosis in the liver can be not only stopped, but reversed. Their discovery, to be published in PLoS Online on Dec. 26, opens the door to treating and curing conditions that lead to excessive tissue scarring such as viral hepatitis, fatty liver disease, cirrhosis, pulmonary fibrosis, scleroderma and burns.

Sea cucumber protein used to inhibit development of malaria parasite
Scientists have genetically engineered a mosquito to release a sea-cucumber protein into its gut which impairs the development of malaria parasites, according to research out today (21 December) in PLoS Pathogens. Researchers say this development is a step towards developing future methods of preventing the transmission of malaria.