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Argentinian Researchers Use Telescience to Study Microscopic Biological Structures

August 2004 — To help understand the effects of oxygen deprivation on brain synapses in infants, a researcher from Argentina plans to use electron microscopy and tomography tools offered by NCMIR's Telescience.

Despite advances in health care, approximately three of every 1000 babies born in Argentina suffer from perinatal asphyxia, a lack of oxygen during birth (Younkin, 1992). According to Dr. Héctor Coirini of the University of Buenos Aires, "many asphyctic babies die during the newborn period, and 20-30% of the survivors have long-term neurological sequelae, including attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, cerebral palsy, seizures, and mental retardation." Dr. Coirini will use end-to-end electron tomography through Telescience to image cellular and subcellular structural changes that occur in the infant brain as a result of perinatal asphyxia.

In the past, Dr. Coirini's research would have required traveling thousands of miles to gain access to electron tomography imaging and computational resources, which do not exist in Argentina. Today, however, advances made by Telescience are allowing scientists like Dr. Coirini to perform research using state-of-the-art technology from their desktop computers.