alternative: LOL microbe that lives in leaves and dung

[Guest guest]

Testing new manic depression drugs in slime mould: an alternative to

the current serendipitous approach

21 Apr 2005

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/medicalnews.php?newsid=23226

Research by University College London (UCL) scientists could lead to

the development of more effective drugs for treating manic depression

thanks to a new screening approach developed in a `slime mould' - a

microbe that lives in leaves and dung on forest floors. The

breakthrough using slime mould (Dictyostelium) is the first possible

alternative to the current - accidental - method of discovering manic

depression drugs. The findings are published today in the May 2005

issue of Molecular Pharmacology.