Traveling Companions: Drugs, Sex and Syphilis

Interstates, we know, give many of us the travel bug--but now it turns out they can be conduits for other, less pleasant bugs as well.

Intrepid epidemiologists from the University of North Carolina and the University of Pittsburgh stumbled on this fact while reviewing a decade of syphilis cases in North Carolina. From 1985 to 1994, a veritable syphilis epidemic occurred in the U.S., peaking in 1990. As the scientists waded through their stats, they found something interesting: Rates of syphilis were twice as high in North Carolina counties bordering an interstate highway. And not just any old highway: I-85, I-77, I-40 and I-26 showed no such pattern. Only I-95 did.

Why on earth? Drugs and sex, suggest the scientists, who report their studies in the March issue of the American Journal of Public Health. A drug epidemic preceded the syphilis epidemic--and I-95 is a major drug-trafficking route for that area. It also links North Carolina to two regions that had high rates of syphilis already: New York City and southern Florida. Thus, reason the researchers, it’s possible that people were exchanging sexual favors for cocaine up and down the highway, and passing on extra, unforeseen souvenirs in the process.

Might we suggest a little something from the truck stop gift shop instead?

Emu Burgers? In U.S., Idea Just Isn’t Flying

Ratites don’t whet appetites the way big, juicy cattle do--not in America, anyway. That’s the sad news from a study reported recently in the Journal of the American Dietetic Assn.

We know you’re dying to know what a ratite is, so here, with no further ado, are the facts: Ratites are large flightless birds, and the one we’re going to tell you about is Australia’s emu, the second-largest bird in the world. These days, U.S. farmers are selling emu meat via the Web in a variety of forms--steak, ground, medallion, you name it. Pound for pound, it contains one-eighth the fat of beef.

But healthful doesn’t necessarily mean flavorful, as anyone who’s tasted fat-free “cheese” would know. Not that emu meat’s that bad: Studies performed at Ohio University in Athens merely reveal that average Americans think it tastes less yummy than beef or turkey when served up as a burger patty.

The approach to selling emu meat, suggest the scientists, should be twofold. One, remind people of the meat’s low-fat healthfulness. Two, try different recipes. Emu au vin? Tandoori emu? Sounds a lot better than nonfat “cheese.”

Of Mice (and Flies) and Men

Two findings from the animal kingdom this week. Why? Because, well, because animals are our friends, and because even distantly related ones (fruit flies, say, or mice) are eerily similar to us, if you look at the genes they contain. “Fruit flies are just little people with wings,” comments UC Berkeley molecular biologist Corey Goodman. “And a mouse is just a furry fruit fly.” Thank you, Dr. Goodman.

For instance, it turns out that a tiny gene that dictates the color of a fly’s eye (luscious red or pale, ghostly white) is inside humans too. But in us, it isn’t dictating eye color. Instead, scientists report in the latest issue of Molecular Psychiatry, certain forms of that gene may give men a tendency for panic attacks and other mood disorders. Kind of like Jeff Goldblum in “The Fly.”

In mice, meanwhile, a really important advance has been made, just in time for Girl Scout cookie season. A lucky little rodent has been genetically engineered so that it can eat whatever it wants--rodent chow slathered with cocoa frosting, box after box of Thin Mints, you name it--and it hardly puts on any weight and never develops diabetes. So reports Science magazine.

The finding, say the authors, could one day lead to drugs with similar effects for people. Just think! No more fat-free “cheese” or potato chips. Oh, happy, happy days.