Keep Up
Somewhere along the line of our evolutionary history, we lost our regeneration that was probably existent in a distant ancestor. So, researchers have comprised a list of genes that animals use to regenerate tissue. Surprisingly, these genes tend to have counterparts in humans. What may be key to regeneration is the sequences that regulate the activation of these genes during an injury, not the genes themselves. Tissue regeneration enhancer elements (TREEs) are sequences that turn on genes in injury sites. Researchers have discovered dozens of regeneration genes like neuregulin 1 and fibroblast growth connectors. What has not been dealt with, though, are the regulatory elements that turn these genes on, keep them on, and turn them off. Researchers wanted to see if such sequences exist, so they began to try to pinpoint their location. It had been known that enhancer elements control when genes are turned on in a developing embryo, but it was unknown whether or not these elements help with regeneration. Researchers looked for a gene that was strongly induced during an injury in a zebrafish, and found leptin b. Researchers looked through the 150,000 base pairs of sequence that lie around leptin b and found an enhancer element 7,000 base pairs away. Then, researchers tested whether these TREEs could be put to use in mammals. Researchers attached a TREE to a gene called lacZ, which produces a blue color when it is turned on. These elements from a zebrafish could be used to activate gene expression in the injured paws and hearts of mice. I find this issue of particular importance because with the discovery of more TREEs, we may be able to help regenerate tissue within humans. Doing so would help to save lives potentially and would greatly impact people who have lost limbs or body parts. This poses the question of whether people will be genetically modified in the future so that they may be more efficient human beings and spend less time being injured. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/04/160406140405.htm
0 Comments
PAH (polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) are found in the environment as a result of motor vehicle emissions, as well as the burning of oil, tobacco smoke, and other combustible sources. Researchers have found that prenatal exposure to PAH may lead to self-regulation problems like ADHD later in life for the child. The research team tested blood samples from mothers and analyzed the behavior of 462 mother-child pairs. Maternal blood was tested for PAH exposure. The children were tested with the Child Behavior Checklist at ages 3-5,7, 9 and 11.Scores from this test were used to create a composite score for the Deficient Emotion Self-Regulation Scale. The higher the score, the less of a capability to self-regulate. Researchers found that children who had mothers with higher exposure to PAH had a higher DESR score, and thus less of an ability to self-regulate. The fact that PAH can lead to ADHD may indicate that PAH is an important factor to a rang of mental health problems. Researchers think that prenatal exposure to PAH damages neurons that direst motor, attentional, and emotional responses. I believe this issue is of particular importance because it shows how harmful our own actions are against ourselves. If PAH we release into the atmosphere is causing this amount of harm, other chemicals can be doing even more harm. Also, the behavioral problems that are the result of such exposure can lead to societal problems in the future, as people will be less able to self-govern and be good citizens. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160317094525.htm Bee numbers are declining globally due to colony collapse disaster, and this is putting farmers' livelihoods at risk. Despite the European Union banning the use of neonicotinoid pesticides, the problem of losing bees still looms. Scientists are still not entirely sure of all the workings of how pesticides interact with bees. However, researchers from Poland have developed a method for analyzing 200 pesticides at one time to see what is really going on. With bees being the pollinators for 80% of crops and wildflowers in Europe, it is important to find out the effects of pesticides on the insects. To adequately understand what is going on, we must find out which pesticides are found in bees and at which concentrations. This would help to see what the effects of certain combinations are now and over time. The research team used QuEChERS, which is currently used to detect pesticides in food, to test bees for 200 pesticides at the same time. 57 different pesticides were found to be in the bees. I find this issue of particular importance because bees are incredibly important when it comes to food production. We need to properly understand how our pesticides are affecting them before all the bees are gone, for then we would have to start hand pollinating crops, which would just be costly and annoying. Really this issue needs to receive more attention since it deals directly with our food supply. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/03/160310111849.htm In 2007, China passed the US as the country that emits the most greenhouse gases. But if one follows where most of China's products go, the blame clearly shifts to other places. China's per capita consumption-based footprint is small, as the export a lot of their products to other countries. A team of researchers looked at 43 countries and 5 regions from a consumption standpoint, and found that consumers are responsible for more than 60 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions and 80 percent of the world's water use. It was seen that consumers are directly responsible for 20 percent of all carbon emissions, which results from driving cars and heating hoes. What was surprising, though, was that consumers are indirectly responsible for four-fifths of all carbon impacts through the simple purchase of products and the resources that were needed to produce those goods. A good example is water use. While it may be thought that shortening shower length can help to reduce water use, what would really help would be to cut down meat consumption. Cows are terrible inefficient at converting grains into meat, and so one kilo of meat of beef requires 15,415 liters of water to be produced. Researchers also looked at the difference in water use when producing soy milk and cow's milk: a liter soy milk needs only 267 liters of water (with only about 62 percent of that water actually growing the soybeans) while a liter cow milk needs about 1050 liters of water. Processed foods also need lots of resources, as it takes lots of water to grow the raw materials, lots of oil to ship the materials, and lots of energy to produce and package the final product. (By the way, it takes 17,000 liters of water to produce one kilo of chocolate). When the researchers looked at countries, they found that the richer a country is, the more its inhabitants consume. The more a person consumes, the bigger that person's impact is on the environment. The US is the worst country with 18.6 tons of CO2 equivalent per capita. I find this issue of particular importance because it highlights the fact that change in environmental thinking really needs to start at the individual level. Personal choices to become vegan or vegetarian can cut water use by much more than simply taking shorter showers. Also, just cutting back on buying products can help to reduce an individual's impact on the environment. People should spend more on services instead, as this has the benefit of not only reducing a person's carbon footprint but expanding a person's experiential knowledge. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160224132923.htm A team of researchers examined stem cells in flies' intestines.They used genetic tools to essentially turn on genes that would make the cell more male or female. When this was done, it was observed that the female cells tended to multiply more. This appears to allow the female gut to grow during reproduction. This may be present in flies, as well as humans to optimize nutrition transfer to the fetus. The research team found that female intestines were more prone to develop tumors. This may be a sort of trade-off: the female gets a larger gut to help in reproduction, but at the same time, this gut may be likely to become cancerous. It is known that sexual organs are able to change into the opposite with just one genetic change. So, sexual organ cells have their sexual identity constantly reinforced throughout their life. This may be the first time that this practice has been observed in other types of cells. It has been assumed that organs may function differently in different sexes because of hormones and such, but differences are not due only to hormones and developmental history. The mechanism that works for determining a cell's sex is a certain type of cascade. This cascade was found to not be fully at work in non-sexual organs, so it was assumed that organs had no sex. But in this experiment where sex was known to change this same cascade that supposedly determines sex was still not at work. So, it is now suspected that organs use a different type of cascade to determine sex. I find this issue of particular importance because discoveries like this may help us better understand the differences between males and females. What first should be determined is whether or not this applies to humans. Understanding differences may help us to better treat certain diseases and may help us understand why a particular sex is more likely to get a disease. Basically, having more knowledge about our bodies will let us be more effective at taking care of them. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160217140624.htm Using DNA analysis, researchers have found strong evidence for what appears to be an early migration of modern humans (us). Researchers have based this theory off the analysis of one particular Neanderthal's remains that were discovered in the Altai Mountains, which are near the Russia-Mongolia border. In this Neanderthal, parts of modern human DNA were found. This is particularly interesting because we have found human DNA in a Neanderthal genome, rather than Neanderthal DNA in a human genome. Since the Neanderthal can be dated to have lived about 100,000 years ago, it may be concluded that a human had to have mated with this Neanderthals ancestors. This conclusion is acceptable because present-day Africans have no traces of Neanderthal DNA within their genomes, so interbreeding between Neanderthals and modern humans only occurred after humans migrated out of Africa and into Eurasia about 60,000 years ago. This select Neanderthal from the Altai Mountains must have had a human ancestor that migrated to Eurasia before the large human migration, about 100,000 years ago. The group of ancestors for this Neanderthal is believed to have separated from other humans in Africa around the time when human groups were splitting from one another, around 200,000 years ago. There must have been a large gap in time from when the group left other groups of humans and when they contributed to the Neanderthal's DNA before the group of non-modern humans was lost to extinction. I find this issue of particular significance because it tells us part of the story of where we, as a species, came from, though the new lineage discovered is not necessarily an ancestor of ours. It is interesting that there was another combination of genes that, for some reason, did not thrive as we did. I feel sad for the lineage of Neanderthals that were not able to stay as a species. It also seems weird to me that some people have sequences of Neanderthal DNA within their own genome. I may be part Neanderthal myself come to think of it, with my short height and all. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160217140302.htm Soon, we may all be able to charge our phones by simply plugging it into our shoe. The technology could be footwear-embedded and harvest energy that can be stored for later use. This footwear-energy technology could be especially useful for the military, for soldiers currently carry heavy batteries to power all of their mobile devices. Also, this technology could provide a power source to people who live in remote areas and do not have a reliable power grid. Theoretically, 10 watts of energy can be produced per shoe, which can actually be a lot when compared to energy use of small mobile devices: cell phones need only about 2 watts. To convert mechanical motion into electrical energy, researchers attempted to use the reverse electrowetting approach. In this approach, a conductive liquid interacts with a nano-film coated surface and creates electricity. However, for this to work, the liquid has to be moving with high frequency, which would not be quick enough with simple walking. So. researcher developed the "bubbler." In the "bubbler," two plates are separated by a small gap filled with conductive liquid. The bottom plates has tiny holes from which small gas particles can form. Bubbles are developed that reach the top plate and then pop, swishing around the conductive fluid within the gap. The quick speed of all this delivers the high frequency needed to generate sufficient power while walking. In theory, 10 kilowatts per square meter may be generated with this technology. I find this issue of particular importance because this may be yet another source of electricity that can help to reduce our carbon footprint (pun intended). As mentioned previously, this technology could help our military by preventing soldiers from carrying heavy batteries. With this type of energy source, people would be able to charge their mobile devices without having to tap into the electrical grid, thereby reducing our reliance on it and helping us to manage our energy use more responsibly. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160211090238.htm Logging has long been known to disrupt the environment of native species that happen to live in the rainforest, but now it has been revealed that logging may help to create favorable habitats for invasive species. The black rat is an invasive species that was sent all around the world by European explorers in the 1600s. These rats have brought with them diseases that infect native mammals. Though rats are nearly everywhere, they tend to avoid dense forests, for in these forests are trees that take up most of the sunlight and do not provide enough of it for underbrush to grow for the rats. Also, the piles of leaf litter on the ground make rats especially susceptible to predators that are keen in their auditory senses. Logging leads to more overgrowth that may shield the rats. Also, a logged forest has fallen wood that can be the perfect grounds for bugs to thrive in; being that rats like to eat bugs, this works out in their favor. I believe this issue is of particular importance because these invading rats may outcompete native mammals and disrupt the natural order of things in the rainforest. Small mammals are important players in the maintenance of rainforests, being spreaders of plants seeds and being a food source for larger animals. Without such an ecological niche being filled, or being half-filled by a rat, the rainforest may have a hard time thriving. This is just one reminder of the danger of introducing nonnative, invasive species into delicate ecosystems. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/02/160201220122.htm A new study shows that while the size of climbing animals increases, so does the proportion of the amount of their bodies covered with adhesive footpads. This sets a limit on the use of this climbing strategy, as a larger animal would require impossibly large footpads. Mites use approximately 200 times less of their body area for adhesive pads than geckos, and a human would need around 40% of his or her total body area to be able to scale walls like Spiderman. This translates to 80% of the front side of a human body, or a US shoe size of 114. Smaller animals have a larger ratio of body surface area to volume, whereas bigger animals have much more volume for the small amount of body surface area they have. This is a problem for larger animals attempting to climb, as they are too heavy and can only have a certain amount of their body surface actually be adhesive. It turns out that geckos appear the to be about the limit size for animals to have adhesive footpads. One solution for larger animals to perhaps make sticky footpads even stickier, which is what some frogs have done. I find this issue of particular importance because now I can never grow up and be Spiderman, which is somewhat disheartening, given that we are told from an early age that we can be whatever we want to be. Ah, but there may in fact be a way to fulfill the dream of being super-heroic: even stickier adhesive pads. With such sticky pads, people would be able to scale walls or windows with ease, rather than have to use some sort of scissor-lift or crane. Since scissor-lifts and cranes require some sort of energy input (usually electrical), being able to use adhesive human power instead could be a way to save some electricity. The idea also reminds me of a scene in Mission Impossible where Tom Cruise has to climb up a skyscraper with similar footpads that work with suction instead of adhesive. So, if sticky footpads can help a spy assassinate a dictator or villain that has some environmentally destructive plan for running his or her domain, then sticky footpads can help alleviate the problem of further harm to the planet. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160118184359.htm At the University of Kansas Cancer Research Center, researchers have been studying a reoccurring protein found in many types of cancer(especially colorectal): Mushashi. It is believed that Mushashi causes abnormal cells to divide and develop into tumors. Studies have been undertaken to observe the relationship between Mushashi and APC, a tumor-suppressing protein. It appears as though APC regulates Mushashi and keeps it from being overexpressed. In this fashion, APC indirectly helps to stop the tumor-creating pathways of Wnt and Notch, which both encourage cancer cell multiplication. In reality, both Mushahi and APC regulate each other, with an effect of keeping either of them in check. Work is being done to find an inhibitor of the Mushashi protein. However, this proves to be a particularly difficult task, as the Mushashi protein is an RNA-binding protein, making a smaller target for the drug researchers are trying to create. Researchers have found a naturally occurring compound derived from cotton called gossypol. Gossypol directly binds to the RNA-binding pocket found on Mushashi, thus inhibiting Mushashi from expanding tumors. Gossypol works by stopping cells from dividing, as well as causing cell death in colon cancer cells. When gossypol binds to Mushashi, it stops Wnt and Notch from signaling and encouraging cancer cell multiplication. I find this article of particular importance because it may be a some type of cure for cancer, or at least some type of cancer. Many people, including children, are dying because of cancer, so any type of cure, even if it may be limited, is helpful to the generic research and goal of curing all types of cancer. Biochemistry such as this also interests me, as it deals with the some of the smallest imaginable things that are within each one of us. What seems remarkable to me is that such infinitesimal, apparently distant objects actually are the necessary building blocks for life, and actually make the biggest differences in life, including death. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160112144649.htm |
AuthorI'm Angel Archives
April 2016
Categories |