We (students, professor, and TA)
are going to work together to determine the topics we will study for
the latter part of the class. Now that each of you have submitted
an article that you feel would be worthwhile to study, we are all going
to work together to decide which articles we will cover. Please
email me your top 5 choices, numbered from 1 (favorite) to 5 (fifth
favorite), and a short, less than 100 words description of why you
chose each of these five article. Your rationale for choosing the
articles should include why you think it is important for us to study
these topics, and/or why you think the topics are interesting.
The articles are listed below.
The format of the assignment
should be as follows:
Your name
Bio 301L
1) Favorite: Article title
This is my favorite article because...
2) Second Favorite:
Article title
This is my second favorite
article because...
3) Third Favorite: Article
title
This is my third favorite
article because...
4) Fourth Favorite:
Article title
This is my fourth favorite
article because...
5) Fifth Favorite: Article
title
This is my fifth favorite
article because...
Please include your assignment in the body of an
email and send it to
me by noon on October 9, 2006. This homework will be graded on
a
scale of 0-3 points based on your rationale for choosing the
five articles. I will subtract 0.5 points for each day
late. After I receive all of your
submissions, I will post the schedule for the rest of the semester.
Articles: in no particular order:
Avian H5N1 Influenza in Cats
Thijs Kuiken, Guus Rimmelzwaan, Debby
van Riel, Geert van Amerongen, Marianne
Baars, Ron Fouchier, Albert Osterhaus
Science 8 October 2004:
Vol. 306. no. 5694, p. 241
The following article mainly adresses the experiments that disproved
the general thought that cats were generally resistant to influenza A.
This discovery of the characteristic of the Avian flu allows scientists
to redesign the view of how the virus spreads and what roles can/do
cats play. The question proposed in the article is that, ultimately
will the virus change and adapt specifically for humans and be able to
spread from human to human? This to me is a pretty serious topic since
now we are such a small world and it all can start with a cough.
Early Detection of Lung Cancer: Clinical Perspectives of Recent
Advances in Biology and Radiology, Fred R. Hirsch, Wilbur A. Franklin,
Adi F. Gazdar and Paul A. Bunn, Jr., Clinical Cancer Research, Vol. 7,
5-22, January 2001
Lung Cancer is
becoming one of the most common causes of cancer death with less than
15% of patients surviving five years after diagnosis. Researches
conclude that the reason for this poor prognosis is heavily dependent
on the lack of diagnostic methods for early detection and the lack of
successful cures. However, scientists have made
significant advances over the past ten years through the study of
molecular biology, pathology, and radiology. It is with these
advances that scientists are now closer than ever to finding a way to
reduce the mortality of lung cancer. The
question posed in this new research deals with new technological
advances like the LIFE bronchoscope that has proved to be much more
ideal than the conventional X-ray, and whether or not this early
detection of lung cancer will be able to identify biomarkers leading to
chemoprevention.
Embryonic Stem Cells for Medicine, Pederson, Scientific American
Magazine, 6, April 1999.
The article discusses the use of being able to isolate cells to
basically force them to grow into whatever we want. It deals with the
morality of the issue of getting the cells from the embryos and then
"manipulating" there growth. It gives the example of a guy having a
heart attack and by the time he reaches a hospital only one-third of
his heart is working and that by using stem cells the part of his heart
needed to make him better can be created and implanted with virtually
no rejection from his immune system.
I think this would be an interesting topic for class because it
would allow us to see how cells form and would show us the different
functions of the cell. But at the same time it would allow us to better
understand the impact that cell growth can have on us.
"BRIT1 regulates early DNA damage response, chromosomal integrity, and
cancer"
Rekha Rai, Hui Dai, Asha S. Multani, Kaiyi Li, Koei Chin, Joe Gray,
John P. Lahad, Jiyong Liang, Gordon B. Mills, Funda Meric-Bernstam and
Shiaw-Yih Lin
"Cancer Cell" Vol. 10 Issue 2, p 145-157, Aug 2006
BRIT1 is a gene located on chromosome 8p23.1, a region implicated in
the development of several malignancies, including breast, ovarian and
prostate cancer. Researchers wanted to know what role BRIT1 might
play in transmitting DNA damage signals and how a depletion of BRIT1 in
cells would affect levels of chromosome aberrations and genomic
instability. The studies indicate that the gene plays a direct
and important role in the DNA damage response pathway and that BRIT1
expression seemed to have an inverse correlation with genomic
instability, chromosomal aberrations, and metastasis. This
suggests that it functions as a tumor suppressor gene, and researchers
hope that further understanding of this function will lead to new
therapeutic approaches for cancer.
This article seemed apropriate for a myriad of reasons but especially
because it pertains to five out of six of the professor recomended
subjects. Not only is the article relevant to class material, but
it is presented in such a way that its significance can be grasped with
only a limited scientific literacy; the rammifications of the findings
are broad enough to be appreciated by those of us who have no idea what
"chromosome 8p23.1" means. Also, given that the article concerns
a subject of perpetual scientific inquiry(cancer), it is important that
it be as recent as possible. Published in August of this year,
this article presents the latest developments in this field of research
and does so with enough figures to be what I would consider visually
compelling, making it an apropriate candidate for an interesting class
discussion.
Season of Birth Contributes to Variation in University Examination
Outcomes,
Martin Fieder, Hermann Prossinger, Karoline Iber, Katrin Schaefer,
Bernard
Wallner, and Susanne Huber, American Journal of Human Biology, Vol. 18,
p.
714-717
The authors of this article raise the question, “Does the season you’re
born in
affect your schoolwork?” To carry out the experiment, the scientists
created a
database of thousands of students, both male and female, at the
University of
Vienna and collected their examination results (a minimum of five) and
their
dates of birth. They found that females born in autumn and winter did
not
score as well as those born in spring and summer, and males born in
performed
worse than those born in other seasons. This article would be
interesting to
discuss because we as students can relate to it. Perhaps it can provide
some
answers to those of us who study for weeks and still fail miserably on
exams,
and now we have scientific proof for our parents as to why we flunked
out of
school!
Article Title:
Systematic Size Study of an Insect Antifreeze Protein and Its
Interaction
with Ice
Authors Name: Kai
Liu, Zongchao Jia, Guangju Chen, Chenho Tung, and Ruozhuang Liu
Journal Title:
Biophysical Journal
Volume: 88
Page Numbers:
959-970
Date of
Publication: February 2005
Description:
How
can organisms survive sub-zero temperatures? Anti-freeze proteins play
an important role in helping organisms have the ability to depress such
conditions and live in these kinds of environments. Insect’s
anti-freeze proteins are looked at more closely than humans because
more a greater population of insects live in human-intolerable places.
Insect anti-freeze proteins consist of many repeating loops. In order
to understand how many loops the structure needs to survive freezing
temperatures, an understanding between the relationship of anti-freeze
loops and anti-freeze ice interaction, which starts anti-freeze
activity, must first be reached. Since the creation of additional loops
of anti-freeze proteins according to the temperature is a suitable
hypothesis, the initial action of the ice binding to the anti-freeze
proteins in order to initiate the growth is also something to consider.
A found trend found among anti-freeze proteins is its remarkable small
size. Another hypothesis in this experiment is the relation between the
size of the insect and its number of repeating loops.
The
experiment’s results found that anti-freeze protein-ice interaction
energy increases with the increasing of loops to a certain amount, and
from there, the loops begin to gradually decrease.
Breaking New Ground: Soil Communities and Exotic Plant Invasion²
John N. Klironomos, Benjamin E. Wolfe
Bioscience; Volume 55, Issue 6; pages 477-478; June 2005.
Think about it: studying the ground to understand why dirt is the way
it is
seems pointless. But what the soil can tell biologists is the
importance of
biodiversity among terrestrial ecosystems. Klironomos and Wolfe admit
it is
difficult to make strong generalizations about the effects of exotic
plants
on soil communities, because only a handful of published studies have
documented the effects of invasive plant species on the composition and
functioning of these communities. Nevertheless, in current times and in
numerous ecosystems, an invasion of exotic plant species is causing
major
shifts in the composition and function of soil communities, according to
researchers. The question is though, what will be the ultimate effects
that
the exotic plant species will have on native plant communities? One must
also consider the attributes of the native communities that make them
susceptible to invasion. Scientists have only recently developed the
tools
to analyze the composition of soil communities. It has been revealed
that
invaded communities are completely different in organic composition from
native communities. Major functions considered include the rates and
dynamics of biogeochemical processes and the habitat aptness for other
organisms. Furthermore, there is an emerging awareness that belowground
communities need to be incorporated into ecosystem management because
of the
plant invasions. Klironomos suggests that understanding differential
responses to invasion can provide important practical information about
the
impacts of exotic plant invasions, as well as insight into the basic
ecology
of soil food webs and controls on soil biodiversity.
Klironomos and Wolfe assert, ³As an exotic plant species invades a
community, it can alter links between native aboveground and belowground
communities, including the timing, quality, and spatial structure of
plant-derived soil inputs.² If an exotic plant species invades a
community,
the quantity, quality, and timing of litter production can be altered.
This
alteration may result in changing the nutrient inputs into the soil;
increased litter production from the exotic plants has the potential to
lead
to increases in fire intensity and frequency. With that, changes in fire
regime could indirectly alter soil communities through soil community
function and structure (figure 2).
The major biological change occurs in microbial communities¹
compositions in
the soil. The composition of the microbial communities is determined by
phospholipid fatty acid profiles. Another assertion made is that
specific
groups of microbes have Œsignature¹ fatty acids in their biomass.
Those
Œsignature¹ fatty acids can be extracted from the soil and used to
detect
the presence and abundance of the groups of microbes. Phospholipid fatty
acid analysis assesses the changes in the production of phospholipids.
However, biodiversity among organisms that are affected by aromatic
alteration of their habitat cannot easily be observed or tested. It is
more
useful to have knowledge of the net effect on soil communities for full
understanding an invasion process has on the soil. A more traditional
method used for evaluating the soil diversity involves incubation of
soil
extracts. Feedback has been interpreted through the observation of the
change in the composition of the soil organisms within the communities.
The
change is measured by observing the alteration of abiotic or biotic
components of the soil communities. Many soil organisms produce
extra-cellular enzymes. Any of these enzymes can degrade complex
substrates
in the soil, thus altering the availability of nutrients and the
development
of a species (figure 5). An example given in the article about some
orchids
is that they are dependent on soil fungi for establishment and growth.
If
dominance by an exotic plant species has eliminated these fungi from a
community, the orchids are at risk for elimination. It may be necessary
to
introduce propagules of the fungus to the site in order to save the
orchids.
The importance of restoration of invaded habitats will become more
apparent
in time to soil ecologists, plant ecologists, and specialists.
An exotic plant species has the capacity to invade an ecosystem and
alter
the soil community composition. Changes in soil communities may
directly or
indirectly effect ecosystem processes, throwing everything off. By
changing
ecosystems¹ properties and processes, a direct effect on plant
growth
occurs, as well as alterations in biogeochemical cycling and soil
structure.
Native soil communities play fundamental roles in ecosystem properties
and
processes, which is ultimately why the potential alteration of soil
communities by exotic plant invasion is of concern.
"Conservation at a distance: A gentle way to age", Carina Dennis,
Nature, Vol.442, Pg. 507-508, 3 August 2006
This
article is focusing on the way researchers collect infromation about
the age of whales. For a long time, the only way to learn the age of
these whales is to kill and disect them in order to examine the
lamination rings formed in their ear wax. Trying to
stop whaling,
a group of researchers led by Peter Harrison is developing genetic
techniques to age humpback whales from
their sloughed skin. By analyzing the telomeres from the collected
skin. Telomeres are short, repeated piece of DNA at the tip of the
chromosome. These telomeres tend to shorten as whales age. One
disadvantage of determining age of whales this way is that the result
is not accurate. Some of the other problems involve getting mixed or
dead and damaged skin samples. But if the group succeed in determining
age from skin samples, many whales' lives can be saved!
Cancer cell study deepens fears over cellphone safety. Graham-Rowe,
Duncan. New Scientist. Vol 176 Issue 2366, p6. 10/26/2002.
The article is talking about how radio waves from cell phones could
promote growth of tumors. There has beeen an on-going debate on whether
or not cell phones cause cancer or other related neurological problems,
and I think through finding different articles about different research
studies dealing with cell phone usages, this topic would be interesting
to talk about in class.
Turning Yellow, Christine Soares, Scientific America, April 10, 2006
The problem posed in this article is to see if it is possible to add
foreign proteins to the yellow fever vaccine so that it can fight other
germs creating a “universal” vaccine.
The problem or the risk here is that adding other immunological
proteins could disable the original vaccine's funtion. It would be
interesting to read and talk about this article in the course so that
we could relate it to different topics seen in class like the steps in
strong inference to see the experiment designed to answer this question
and how it is proven, how or what infected cells this immunity attacks
now that we understand cells. We could see how the cell is affected
with the virus and what parts of the cell contributes to fighting the
virus and how is it done. We could also relate this article to the gene
or inheritance or even evolution lectures examining how this vaccine
could lower the risk of having certain kind of virus being transmitting
it to the next generation. I think the most important comparison is the
parts of the cells fighting against a virus using the yellow fever
vaccine.
Digital RNA regulation of complex organisms., Mattick, John S., Gene
Therapy &
Regulation (VSP International Science Publishers); Vol. 2 Issue 4,
p313-319,
2004
This article discusses the possibility that the RNAs that do not code
protein
have a direct impact on the complexity of the human body. With such a
minuscule difference between the DNA of humans and earthworms, how can
it be
that humans form complex internal organs along with bones and muscles?
Previously the purpose of the non-protein-coding RNA was not exactly
clear.
This article states that those RNA send genetic signals into the system
in a
specific order which helps form the shape of the cell's extracellular
membrane.
This formation is what enables our bodies to build all our complex
systems.
This is truly fascinating because its an interesting discovery that
could
seriously change the way we look at the coding inside a cell. Also,
this has
interesting implications on the evolution of humans as well as all
complex life
forms.
Article title: Genetic quality and sexual selection: an integrated
framework for
good genes and compatible genes.
Author’s name(s): Bryan D. Neff and Trevor E. Pitcher
Volume 14 Issue 1
Journal title: Molecular Ecology
Volume: 14
Page number(s): Mol Ecol. 19-38.
The date of publication: January 2005
I think this "sexual selection" article is interesting because it
describes how
and why other mammals "choose" their "mates". It is a little different
in the
human selection because now we are more involved in the psychological
and
emotional part of sexual or natural selection. Humans not only search
for
someone they think will be "compatible" or have "compatible genes" AND
someone
that has "good genes" for a high fitness or for a healthy "reproduction
process". I also think it will be interesting to learn as to WHAT makes
us
choose WHO we choose and WHY we choose them. They discuss biological
mechanisms
for acquiring and promoting offspring genetic quality and categorize
these into
three stages during breeding: (i) precopulatory (mate choice); (ii)
postcopulatory, prefertilization (sperm utilization); and (iii)
postcopulatory,
postfertilization (differential investment). I don't know, kind of
things
sounds cool to know why we are with who we are with! Some people may
have more
of some gene that makes them want to be with someone that is very
masculine and
powerful, rather then someone that is protective and caring?
Prions: proteins as genes and infectious
entities
Reed B. Wickner, Herman K. Edskes, B. Tibor
Roberts, Ulrich Baxa, Michael M. Pierce, Eric D. Ross and Andreas
Brachmann
Genes and Development. 2004 18: 470-485
Well,
I was surfing the web for articles on diseases, I was able to stop at a
title that caught my attention, “Prions: proteins as genes and
infectious entities. In our lectures, we have
gone through the functions and purposes of proteins, “the
‘doer’s’ of the cell�; the article as a
whole can be summarized
through the title itself. It is about proteins that function as
genes and infectious diseases. It starts off by describing a
prion; “a prion is an infectious protein.� The
class by now should all know the function of a protein—they
allow
chemical reactions to take place; support the cell; move things from
one place to another within the cell and they also send signals.
Just
imagine what would happen if the “doers� were in fact
infectious,
the article goes through with this explanation. The change of a protein
to a prion makes the cell toxic; even then, the proteins are still able
to carry out normal cellular functions. There are three genetic
criteria for a prion. The
first is Reversible Curability; this explains how a prion is able to
reversibly change back into its normal health state, a protein. The
second property is, “Overproduction of the protein increases
the
frequency with which the prion arises.� The last is,
“the gene for
the protein is required for propagation of the prion�.
The
article moves on to explain the other types of prion’s such as
the
mammalian and how cell modifying proteins have the potential to be a
prion too. There are several types of prions;’ URE3, PIN,
URE2, etc. The
article was difficult to understand, however, I think that it would be
interesting to explore this; it branches out to several other areas as
well. There were also several appealing experiments that were preformed
with prions. The
article was able to come to three main conclusions; the first was that
if a yeast were to have four prions, many other organisms are likely to
be found to harbor such entities. The second was why a cell chooses to
carry out a function using a prion. The last was how the cellular
components limit the roles taken by [some] prion. I
would explain further, but as I said before, the article was no walk in
the park the was a lot of scientific terms that were difficult to
comprehend. However, despite the diction, it should be fun to
explore if chosen.
Mood, cognition and serotonin transporter availability in current and
former ecstasy (MDMA) users: the longitudinal perspective.(Original
Papers)(methylenedioxymethamphetamine ). R. Thomasius, P. Zapletalova,
K. Petersen, R. Buchert, B. Andresen, L. Wartberg, B. Nebeling and A.
Schmoldt.
Journal of Psychopharmacology 20.2 (March 2006): p211.
Summary:
This article explores the relationship between MDMA usage and mood,
memory, cognition, and serotonin levels. An initial experiment found
that in ex-ecstasy users there did seem to be permanent serotonergic
damage, and that mood and cognition were also affected. The current
study reviewed in the article hoped to gather more conclusive data
about this effect. The number of test subjects were reduced to about
half but included many from the original experiment. The testers
divided the groups into three categories: current ecstasy users,
ex-users and non-drug users. The testers tried to account for the
affects of other drugs used, common for many current and former MDMA
uses. Three rounds took place. In each round, subjects went through a
battery of tests to check memory recall and evaluate mood. Some also
received brain scans focusing on five regions of the brain most likely
affected. The conclusion of this second experiment again found damage
in memory and psychological impairments, which they estimated to last
two and a half years or more after quitting MDMA. However, the testers
urged to use caution when making judgments because the evidence is
still inconclusive. The challenge is getting concrete test results from
an experiment dealing with mood and emotions. The testers also
indicated difficulty in accurately analyzing the neural affects in the
brain with current technology. My interest in this article is in
exploring the effects of recreational drug substances on
neurotransmitters and neural connections in the brain. I liked that the
article allowed for other types of drugs and their contributing
affects. I would like to further explore the role of neurotransmitters,
specifically serotonin, on mood, cognition and memory, and how it is
affected by these drugs and other chemicals.
Respect thy neighbor!, Dereck C. Radisky and Mina J. Bissell,American
Association for the Advancement of Science,Volume 303,p.775,Feb 6, 2004.
Cell interaction posses many questions and theories about cell
replication,
disease, evolution, and death.The interactions in this article between
cells
and their surrounding materials emphasize the importance of cell
structure and
cell disease. Stromal cells are the supporting framework for the matrix
of the
cell. Even possibly deadly cells, such as epithelial cells, need
stromal cells
to survive. This article examines the way in which stromal cells reduce
the
possibility of tumors produced in epithelial cells. In "Respect thy
Neighbor,"
Radisky and Mina write of Bhowmick's, a researcher, discoveries about
the
effects of stromal-epithelial interaction as a determinate for whether
or not
epithelial cells develop tumors.
Stromal cells are surrounded by a fibroblast. This is a cell that aids
in
connecting the tissues of other cells. Bhowmick researched the gene
TGF(beta).
He concluded that this gene, when interacted with other selected genes,
can
promote and reduce tumors in the epithelial cells. Oddly enough
TGF(beta) can
be present in a cell and have polar affects. The benefit of the
existence of
TGF(beta) is understandable when broken down to the very core of its
process to
suppress tumors.
TGF(beta) combines with other genes and forms a complex. This complex
is called
Active TGF(beta)signaling complex. Another complex is formed along with
TGF(beta), called Active BMP signaling complex(see figure). These two
complexes
signal the genes to phosphorylate,which means to add a phosphate. After
a
phosphate has been added the process of transcribing the DNA in a
certain
sequence is started. This process takes place in the
fibroblasts(micro-environment). The fibroblast acts as an adviser to
the genes;
directing them to phosphorylate, which then in turn creates the proper
DNA to
replicate into a healthy stromal cell. If this sequence is maintained
with no
errors the genes are fulfilling their job. However, the problem strikes
when
some of the genes that form the complexes are not present. When this
happens
the stromal cell has been mutated. This mutated cell is the destructive
side of
the TGF(beta)gene, because it increases creation of tumors in
epithelial cells.
Stromal-epithelial cell interaction does indeed have an affect on the
evolution,
replication, disease and death of the cells. Their interaction does
have other
factors that determine the type of outcome the interaction will receive.
TGF(beta) is a prominent gene that can ultimatly determine the
exsitnece of a
healthy stromal gene, but more so give birth to a tumor in epithelial
cells.
Being able to stop the defective stromal cell, caused by lack of
TGF(Beta),could give way to a stronger possibility of cancerous tumors
becoming
less apparent by deeply understanding the interaction between stromal
and
epithelial cells.
Pesticide use and menstrual cycle characteristics among premenopausal
women in the agricultural health study
By: S.L. Farr, G.S. Cooper, J. Cai, D.A. Savitz, and D.P. Sandler
American Journal of Epidemiology, Volume 160, Number 12 p. 1194-1204,
December 15th, 2004
It is known that certain pesticides disrupt the estrous cycle in
animals on farms. The authors wanted to know if there is an association
between pesticide use and women's menstrual function as well. The study
was done on about 3,100 women living on farms, that were premenopausal,
not pregnant, and not taking oral contraceptives. Some women are
actively using pesticides on their farms and some are not. The
authors' goal was to conclude what effect, if any, the pesticides had
the women's menstrual cycle. Period length, missed periods, and
strength were all documented.
It think this would be a very interesting topic to investigate becuase
it relates to many people in the class. Most of us are
unknowingly consuming pesticides on our fruits and vegetables on a
regular basis, and I think it would be of interest to find out what
effect this has on us. Women have problems with their cycle all
the time, and there are many factors blamed for this. Some of these
include, diet, weight, smoking, and stress, but never once have a heard
of pesticides as having an effect. Finding this out to be true
would just be one more compelling reason for farmers to stop use of
pesticides on their produce.
“The pangenome concept: a unifying view of genetic information”
Victor V. Tetz
Medical Science Monitory
Volume 11
July 2005
Pages 24-29
In “The pangenome concept: a unifying view of
genetic information,” the author, Victor V. Tetz, describes the sum of
all of the genes in every organism in the world as the pangenome.
This pangenome is made of every multicellular organism, unicellular
organism, and non-cellular organism, such as viruses.
Interestingly, the mass of the non-cellular organisms’ genes is greater
than the sum of the masses of the multicellular organism’s and the
unicellular organism’s. The author uses visual imagery describing
the pangenome as the ocean of all the genes in the world. Next,
Tetz describes how stability and variability are responsible for the
continuation of the pangenome. First, in stability, it is
important that there are different genes, and that the death or
extinction of an organism lead to the loss of the genes in the
pangenome. This preservation of genes occurs due to evolution,
descendants keep the DNA of their ancestors, and by cells transferring
DNA to and from other cells, despite their uni/mulitcellularity.
However, the main recipients of DNA are unicellular organism’s and
viruses. In this, the author then proposes a meaning for
death. He says that death causes an organism to enter the food
chain, and naked, unprotected DNA can survive alone for hours, until it
is either incorporated into a new organism or it dies. The second
part of the maintenance of the pangenome is encompassed by the concept
of variability. This means that it is important for there to be
new gene types. Tetz says this is caused by mutations, especially
those found in the highly mutating RNA viruses. He says a fast
way for this to occur is to place these new genes into the
chromosome. This implies a transposon type effect. Tetz
describes positive effects, improvements in the pangenome, negative
effects, problems in the pangenome, and neutral effects, neither good
nor bad. The author then begins to discuss the possibility of
global epidemics, such as SARS, a clearly negative impact. Tetz
then concludes his reasons for classifying genes into the
pangenome. He says his reason for doing this is so that research
into genetic modification and similar studies will understand their
affect on the global level. This could lead to medical
breakthroughs, and hopefully prevent medical disasters. The
overall point is to improve diagnosis, treatment, and medication,
involved in disease.
I think this may be an interesting subtopic for
the class to discuss when discussing such topics as disease,
experimental treatment, and stem cell research, to name a few. It
could possibly lead the class to realize that what may be good for us
can negatively affect the others. It shows us that our genome is
not just ours, that our genome is a small part of the global genome,
the pangenome. Furthermore, it is this genome, not just our human
genome that science needs to work on improving. Simply because we
isolate all of the problems within our genome, does not mean it is
invincible. It is vulnerable to the ever mutating, ever adapting
genomes of the endless bacteria and viruses that encompass the
globe. I think this would be an interesting article for the class
to discuss to realize that scientists need to look at genes globally
first to solve localized problems.
Gene Expression of Ornithine Decarboxylase in Lung Cancers and Its
Clinical Significance, Tian H, Huang Q, Li L, Liu XX, Zhang Y, Acta
Biochim Biophys Sin (Shanghai). 2006 Sep;38(9):639-45
This article deals with gene therapy treatments of lung cancer, namely
using viruses. The researchers are attempting to find the answer to
what effect Ornithine decarboxylase (apparently an important enzyme in
polyamine biosynthesis that is increased in cancer cells and is
complementary to the initiation codon) will have on lung cancer cells.
Their results showed that the Ornithine decarboxylase inhibited the
growth of cancerous cells, interrupting the G1 phase of the cell
replication process.
I believe this article would make a good class because of the wide
application that the findings could have on all types of cancer. While
lung cancer specifically was what they studied, the researchers found
implications for preventive measures in other cancers, such as prostate
cancer. What’s more, this research and others like it are important as
it gives another treatment option to those cancers that do not respond
to chemo or radiation therapy, or for those individuals for which chemo
or radiation cannot be administered. While this article admittedly had
no compelling visually stimulating charts or graphs, I think it is a
shame that the majority of people do not seek to learn about new
treatments for diseases such as cancer, and largely do not care, until
some sort of tragedy touches their lives. A class on this subject
manner could quickly bring the students up to date on the latest
treatments of cancer, as well as hopefully pique the interest of
students and bring them “out of the dark” so to speak.
"Clonal Adaptive Radiation in a Constant Environment." Ram Maharjan,
Shona Seeto, Lucinda Notley-McRobb, and Thomas Ferenci. Science.
Vol. 313, No. 5786, pages 514-517.
In this article, the researchers explore how
Escherichia coli
adapts to a uniform envrionment with a single resource. They found that
the results, "suggest ecological specialization for multiple niches is
not essential for bacterial diversity." (p. 517). This would be
interesting to discuss in class because it discusses how a particular
strand of E. coli adapts in its environment and then compares the new
strand of E. coli to the parent strand. According to the researchers'
discoveries, "A single fitness solution, or survival of the fittest, is
not the only answer in a competitive environment." (p. 517). It
challenges our notion of why some things evolve the way they do and
what the particular affects of some mutations might be.
HIV Turns Off Immune Cells, David Biello, Scientific American,
publication date:
August 21, 2006
This article focuses on functioning cells that should help to fight off
the HIV
infection. However, they are being turned off by a molecule pathway
know as
PD-1 (Programmed Death-1), which thus does not allow for them to do so.
The
article also explores what would happen if the switch was blocked and
how the
cells within an infected person/animal would react. The researchers
focused on
places like South Africa where rates of AIDS are very large, throughout
their
research they found that 71 people infected with HIV had a higher level
of
PD-1, "compared to uninfected controls." Thus helping to aid in their
conclusions of the research.
This article is interesting because it helps to show that there are
some break
throughs happening in science and if they can be conquered and
controlled, then
perhaps we can find a cure for such diseases sooner than we thought.
Identification of Two Origins of Replication in the Single Chromosome
of the Archaeon Sulfolobus solfataricus
Nicholas P. Robinson, Isabelle Dionne, Magnus Lundgren, Victoria L.
Marsh, Rolf Bernander and Stephen D. Bell
Cell Press, Volume 116, Issue 1, Pages 25-38, 9 January 2004
This article talks about the difference in the eukaryotic and the
bacterial chromosomes and their method of replication.
The research goes on to explain the experiments that were conducted on
these choromosomes to identify the two active origins of replication
in the bacterial chromosome. The eukaryotic chromosomes are also
looked into and the two origins that the eukaryotic chromosoms have
are identifies by certain data. Both experiments contain
information
about the proteins in the different growth phases and cell stages.
The article would make for an interesting class discussion because I
think that the issue of understanding how the eukaryotic and the
bacterial chromosomes replicate in their own distinct way could later
on help with experiments that require the data over either of the two
chromosomes.
Repairing the Nervous System with Stem Cells, Dr. David M. Panchision,
Regenerative Medicine 2006, pages 35-43, August 2006
This article discusses the various strategies to curing nervous system
diseases such as Parkinson's, Huntington's, Alzheimer's and Lou
Gehrig's disease. Dr. Panchision notes that the brain contains
slow-dividing cells (referred to as adult neural stem cells) that
generate neurons and glial cells later in an adult's life that act as a
repair mechanism of sorts. He discusses two ways to implement these
cells: activate the existing stem cells in a person's brain and
implanting cultivated stems cells into the brain, causing them to be
differentiated into the desired cells. The article goes in depth to
making a cure for Parkinson's. It addresses previous attempts at curing
the disease, and goes on to explain new, successful techniques that are
being developed using stem cells. Dopamine levels are the primary
factor in Parkinson's disease; tests made on Parkinsonian lab rats have
shown that stem cells differentiated into dopamine neurons successfully
regulated dopamine levels, causing the symptoms of Parkinson's to wane.
Spinal cord injury, strokes, and Lou Gerhig's disease are also tested
with stem cells in this article, producing various results, from minor
changes to major improvements. It is noted in this article that stem
cells seem to be actively drawn to damaged areas of the brain.
I believe that this article is very
interesting and would be
a great addition to lectures. Ethics aside, this is an important issue
that needs to be talked about. I believe that lectures about stem cells
will provide students with the proper facts so that they can make
educated decisions on what they believe is right.
Genetic Diversity and Linkage Disequilibrium in the Polynesian
Population of Niue Island
authors: William G. H. Abbott, Ingrid M. Winship, Edward J. Gane,
Sitaleki A.
Finau, Stephen R. Munn, and Colin F. Tukuitonga
journal title: Human Biology
volume: 78
page numbers: 131-145
date of publication: April 2006
The modern population of Niue Island descended from a single
homogeneous pool of
founders and has remained genetically isolated. This article questions
the
relationship between the the complex genetic diseases, and similarities
and
differences in genetics that are common within this isolated group. It
examines
Y-chromosome lineages, mitochondrial DNA lineages, and linkage
disequilibrium
all studied within this small genetic pool.
I think this would make for a cool class because its interesting to see
the
outcome of having a small genetic pool such as the Niue Islanders. It
would
also be interesting to debate the effects this has on certain genetic
diseases.
“Fine-Tuning Plant Defence Signalling: Salicylate versus Jasmonate”, G.
J. M. Beckers, and S. H. Spoel, Plant Biology, 8, 1 – 10, 12/22/2005
In this article, the authors discuss salicylic acid, (SA), and jasmonic
acid, (JA), and their dependent signal transduction. The purpose
of this article is to further investigate the relationship between SA
and JA, and how they work together to protect the plant. They
give an analysis of their present understanding of the molecular
mechanisms of cross-talk between these defenses, but they want to find
out what the key aspects are that are involved in this interaction
between SA and JA. I think that this article would make for an
interesting class discussion because it discusses how plants have
different mechanisms to defend themselves against different types of
pathogens and herbivorous insects. They have interacting signal
transduction pathways, with SA and JA being two of the most important
elements of this system. These two signaling molecules are very
important in the signaling process. I thought that it was really
interesting how plants can protect themselves from further infection
after being attacked by a pathogen, insect infestation, and
necrotrophic pathogens that kill the host cell before feeding.
These different threats to the plant require different defensive
responses, which is why cross-talk between the different defenses is
extremely important to the well being of the plant. I think that
further discussion of how these two acids work together to protect the
plant would be very intriguing. I also think that it would nicely
complement our previous class discussions on how plants protect
themselves from extreme temperatures.
The Shortest Telomere, Not Average Telomere Length, Is Critical for
Cell Viability and Chromosome Stability, Michael T. Hermann, Margaret
A. Strong, Ling-Yang Hao, and Carol W. Greider. Cell, Volume 107,
67-77, 2001.
This article suggests that telomerase inhibition may be a
possibility for cancer treatment. However, reduced tumor formation is
not seen in all cases. But the studies do show that telomerase
plays a role in killing the tumors, and it may help "narrow the choice
of which cancers to target for telomerase inhibition."
The question this article addresses is whether it is the
average telomere length or the shortest telomeres that determine the
eventual death of the cell.
So many today are affected by cancer; it's probably a rarity
nowadays to not know someone first hand or at least through a friend
that has had this terrible disease. Both my grandfather and aunt died
of cancer, and so any small steps in finding "cures" is of great
interest to me, and probably also to most people, and therefore
discussion of this topic would lead to an interesting class.
The effects of long-term
endurance training on the immune and endocrine systems of elderly men:
the role of cytokines and anabolic hormones.
Milton Hideaki Arai, Alberto JS Duarte,and
Valéria Maria Natale. Immun Ageing. 2006; 3: 9. Published online
2006 August 25
It
is well known that as we age our immune and endocrine systems decline
in efficency. The purpose of this article is to show that through
long
term conditioning of the body, we can slow this eventual deterioration
of our immune and endocrine systems. I think this would be a very
interesting article to study in class because it is not only something
that is relavent to the course, but also something we all can take into
consideration in our own lives. Through this article, we can take
things that we learn about in class such as the function of T cells and
hormones in the body, and see how the regulation of their levels in our
body can have a significant effect on our health as we age.
I find it
interesting how this study proves how a healthy, active lifestyle
does
in fact have a positive effect on our quality of life and bodily
functions as we age.
“Alcohol-related genes: contributions from studies with genetically
engineered
mice,” Crabbe, John C.; Phillips, Tamara J.; Harris, R. Adron; Arends,
Michael
A.; Koob, George F., Addiction Biology, Vol. 11 Issue 3/4, p195-269,
75p,
September 2006
I think this article is interesting because it discusses which genes in
the
brain act in response to alcohol. The article attempts to answer this
question
by using genetically engineered mutations in mice that make an effort
to show
certain responses such as sedative effects and toleration for alcohol.
The
article also discusses certain experimentation methods that may change
the data
that is collected; and works to find a more cohesive way to experiment
and
provide conclusive results regarding the result of these mutations on
alcohol’s
effects.
Contribution of Bone Marrow–Derived Cells to Skin: Collagen Deposition
and Wound
Repair, Carrie Fathke, Lynne Wilson, Jonathan Hutter, Vishal Kapoor,
Andria
Smith, Anne Hocking, and Frank Isik, Stem Cells: The International
Journal of
Cell Differentiation and Proliferation, vol. 22, pg. 812-822, 2004
The article, Contribution of Bone Marrow–Derived Cells to Skin: Collagen
Deposition and Wound Repair, questions and explores the benefits of
transplanting cells from one part of the body (bone marrow) to help
generate
new cells on the skin. It presents data that show the cells from bone
marrow
are considerably advantageous at healing wounds and transcribing
collagen. The
data also shows that bone-marrow derived cells are chiefly used in
reconstructing the skin’s fibroblast population. This article would be
an
interesting topic to discuss in class because it not only deals with an
important topic in the world of current events (stem cell research),
but it
also poses the remarkable question itself: can we transplant cells to
cultivate
growth/healing in foreign areas on the body? In this case of growing/
healing
skin, the possibilities would be significant as far as healing wounds,
burn
victims, etc.
NANO-ROBOTS NOT YET ON PATENTING HORIZON, Ed White, Nikkei
Nanotechnology, March 11, 2003.
The article brings up the possible near-future of nanotechnology in the
biomedical and pharmaceutical fields. Possible nanoparticle
treatments
free of side-effects for incurable diseases, gene therapy, and more
effective drugs are the main topics of the article.
Work
has already been done with gene therapy in yielding better crops
through nanoparticulate chemistry, and more advanced aspects of gene
therapy in humans are a viable possibility in the near future. The
plausible future for nanotechnology in biologic aspects are mind
boggling and definitely worth looking into for class. Aspects of gene
manipulation and cell interaction are briefly mentioned, and discussion
on the topics should incorporate what we are learning now while going
into the details of how new technology will make use of the information.
The inheritance of cognitive skills: Does genomic
imprinting play a role?, Lisa M. Goos & Irwin Silverman, JOURNAL
OF NEUROGENETICS, vol. 20 number 1-2, pg 19-40, January-June
2006
“Framing the Future: Embryonic Stem Cells, Ethics and the Emerging Area
of Developmental Biology”, William B. Hurlbut, Pediatric Research,
Volume 59, Pages 4-12, 2006.
This article dicusses the moral, social, and ethical issues that
surround stem cell research. It starts off by giving a background of
this field in biology and then it discusses all the legislation and
laws that have been passed in regards to it. It shows how lawmakers and
leaders all have different opinions and are torn between supporters of
each side. The article then raises the question of how ethics in stem
cell research and what a possible compromise for its supporters and its
opponents can be. The article was well-written and draws attention from
the very beginning from the fact that it recognizes how controversial
this issue really is. This controversy was apparent through examples
such as the difficulty that scientists have had in selecting the proper
equivalent terms for words like ‘zygote’. The article also asks where
life really starts and points out how difficult it is to draw the line
at where an embryo is actually a living being, but it presents the
reader with both sides of the argument. It explains all the possible
arguments that a supporter of stem cell research may have, such as
claiming that life does not exist until gastrulation, twinning,
implantation, or until a being can function. In response to this, the
article states how people can argue that embryos have all the
characteristics and potential to be a human being, and this being
always had ‘function’, although we cannot see this in the embryo’s
early stages. After all this evidence is presented, it is up to the
reader to make an informed decision. Furthermore, the article asks what
the benefits of stem cell research are and what possible risks might
occur. It brings up the point that not every disease can be cured
through this type of research and that people fear this process will
lead to the creation of more ‘perfect’ humans. Lastly, the article
raises the question of what good solutions to this sensitive topic
exist. It goes on to show how Altered Nuclear Transfer (ANT) might be a
good compromise and explains what this process consists of.
This article would make for an interesting class because there are
tremendous amounts of controversy, rumors, hard sentiments, and
misinformation surrounding the topic. Spokespersons and celebrities
appear on television trying to get people’s support for the research,
while the president tries to impose limits on it. These high-profile
arguments are only the beginning of future arguments that will arise
about when life actually starts and whether or not embryonic research
is ethical. It would be beneficial for students to learn about this
because many of the people that listen or even take part in this debate
are poorly informed or not informed at all on the matter and what
possible solutions exist.
“Short-Term Impact of 1997/1998 ENSO-Induced Disturbance on Abundance
and Genetic Variation in a Tropical Butterfly.”
Cécile Fauvelot, Daniel FR. Cleary, and Steph BJ. Menken
Journal of Heredity
Volume 97, Number 4
Pp. 367-380
July 13, 2006.
This
study determined the genetic and demographic impact of habitat loss
after the 1997/1998 El Niño Southern Oscillation in the
Indonesian
Borneo, which in this region caused drought and fire. After
the fires, forests affected by it presented fewer butterflies. The
genetic variation of the remaining butterflies increased because the
butterflies from the affected areas immigrated to the non-affected
areas.
This article is interesting because, as the article itself express,
“habitat loss after disturbance may lead to local population extinction
but may augment genetic diversity in remnant local populations because
of increased gene flow” (367). El
Niño Southern Oscillation was a natural phenomenon that affected
the
environment, but there are other phenomena that affect the environment
and which effects are enhanced by men’s actions. The
greenhouse effect is one of these phenomena, in which several gases
prevent the heat of the Sun to go back to space, therefore increasing
global warming. Maybe if we study the effects of El Niño
Southern
Oscillation in the population size of the butterflies we will be more
conscious in our daily decisions such as buying recyclable products,
riding bikes instead of cars, etc. We have to remember that in the
particular case of the butterflies studied in this article luckily
there wasn’t an extinction of the specie; continuing harming the
environment may not have this same result with other species.
"Celiac disease goes against the grain." Amerine, Emmie. Nursing
Feb2006, Vol.
36 Issue 2, p46.
This article touches on the matter of Celiac disease, which is an
autoimmune
intolerance to gluten. The matter presented reflects upon the different
triggers of this disease, targeting genetic predisposition to be a
prominent
factor. The disease has a wide range of forms from extreme sensitivity
and
symptoms to very few at all. This article focuses on what damage is
caused by
this genetically predictable disease, and the ways to identify it in an
individual.
This article would make for an interesting class discussion and such
because it
combines the genetic quality of life that has been recently focused on
in class
with a disease that is relatively unknown, but much more common than
estimated.
It characterizes how simply having the genetic characteristics for this
gluten
intolerance can lead to extreme forms of Celiac disease, in the aspect
of
varying symptoms. While the disease is not a household term for most
people,
it could very possibly be "living" in that household through an
unknowning
member. Celiac disease is brought on by the domination of genetics, and
that
alone is discussion worthy.
Stem Cells, Scientific and Political Issues
Dr. Irving Weissman
New England Journal of Medicine 346
Pg. 1576 - 1579
May 16, 2002
This article is good because it lays out everything scientists know
about stem cell research and everything that can be accomplished by
continuing stem cell research in an unbiased manner. Weissman
then goes on to discuss the ethical and political issues which are
affecting his research. I think this is a good article for our
class because we are also learning about cells but might not realize
what a huge impact research in this field has on medicine and society.
"Calorie Restriction Promotes Mammalian Cell Survival by Inducing the
SIRT1 Deacetylase." Haim Y. Cohen, Christine Miller, Kevin J.
Bitterman, Nathan R. Wall, Brian Hekking, Benedikt Kessler, Konrad T.
Howitz, Myriam Gorospe, Rafael de Cabo, David A. Sinclair. Science
Magazine, Vol. 305, p. 390-392, 16 July 2004.
This article relates caloric intake to cell life, which may be
interesting as we relate it to our own daily calorie intake. The
experiment uses rats for testing, and also includes some comparison in
human cells. It proceeds to demonstrate that a chemical released by
cells with restricted calorie intake (versus 'ad libitum' or 'to the
full' calorie intake) relieves cell stress, thus shower lesser signs of
aging. There are many figures in this article, but they are all graphs
showing advanced chemical relations. It also includes many particular
numbers, possibly making the article confusing or overwhelming, but the
subject was nonetheless intriguing because of its relevance in our own
dieting habits.
Marine Cyanobacterial Symbioses
E.J. Carpenter
Biology and Environment
Volume 102, Issue 1, pages 15-18
Published 2002
Summary:
This article discusses the symbiotic relationship that develops between
cyanobacteria and various organisms/micro-organisms in the ocean.
According to the author, not very much is known about this topic right
now. The article deals briefly with a few of these symbiotic
relationships, explaining the chemical, ecological, and biological
balance that must occur. It's not the most exciting topic or the
easiest to understand upon reading, but I think the article does a good
job with discussing the multiple layers of this biological interaction
that occurs in many places in the ocean.
The Role of Women's Alcohol Consumption in Managing Sexual
Intimacy and Sexual Safety Motives,
Maria Testa, Carol VanZile-Tamsen, Jennifer A. Livingston, and Amy M.
Buddie, Journal of Studies on Alcohol, volume 67, pg665-674, September
2006
The studies conducted on women metioned
in this arcticle were meant to isolate the effects on women's ablity to
percieve sexual risk factors when intoxicated. In other
words, what the
researchers are trying to analyze is the relationship between alcohol
consumption in women and their reactions in certain social situations.
The two main question asked are "Does the consumption of
alcohol make
it harder for women to recoginze sexual assault risk factors?" and
"Does the consumption of alcohol lower women's intentions to resist
sexual advances". I believe our class would befenit from examining this
study because, first and foremost, we are college students. We are no
angels. By this, I mean to say that with us being the proclaimed
"number one party school" a study on booze, sex, and women, might keep
some of us awake, especially the girls in our class since we are the
exmined specimens in the study. It might also help the boys in our
class to realize the part they play in the sexual assault game when
drinking.
Isolation and Characterization of the TIGA genes, whose transcripts are
induced by growth arrest
N. Yabuta, H. Onda, M. Watanabe, N.Yoshioka, I. Nagamori, T. Funatsu,
and S.Toji
Nucleic Acid Research, 2006. Vol 00, No.00 1-15
Published September 14,2006
According the article Isolation and Characterization of the TIGA
genes, most cells in adult eukaryotic organisms do not divide. It is
said that they tend to remain in a stage called the quiescent state or
G0 phase in which macromolecular synthesis is largely reduced. It is
known that three conditions, serum starvation (G0-s), contact
inhibition (G0-c), and terminal differentiation (G0-t) can induce
eukaryotic cells to enter the quiescent state. (All genes have been
loosely termed TIGA for Transcript Induced by Growth Arrest) However,
the true question is how quickly or how effectively can the TIGA genes
make the cells go into the quiescent state. All three genes obviously
share some similarities but they, “diverge in other aspects.” In order
to answer their questions, scientists isolated 44 novel genes and
upregulated them after serum starvation, contact inhibition, and
terminal differentiation to get the desired results. I think that this
article is extremely interesting because not only is it in correlation
to what we have been recently learning about genes, but I think it is
highly beneficial in cancer research. If the quiescent stage can be
rapidly induced, then cells don’t divide, thus preventing the spread or
creation of more cancerous cells.
"Toxicty and mAChRs binding activity of Casseopia xamachana venom from
Puerto Rican coasts" by Faisal F.Y. Radwan, Laura, G. Román,
Krishna Baksi and Joseph W. Burnett. Toxicon, volume 45, pages
107-112, January 2005.
The objective of the research is to examine the toxic properties of a
type of venom found in a jellyfish that is native to Puerto Rican
coastline and the surrounding waters. I find that it is relevant
as a
potential candidate to discuss in class because the researchers deal
with interactions among living cells and foreign substances that could
potentially harm the organism on the molecular level. Seeing as
how a
large portion of our class is dedicated to studying organisms from
their most minute components, this is, in essence, taking our studies
of mollecular biology to another level.
Genetics of human obesity,Karine Clément, Comptes Rendus
Biologies, Volume 329,
Issue 8,608-622, August 2006
This specific article has to do with obesity and how the environment and
heredity affect this problem. Genes have a major role with obesity and
mutations can cause other diseases related to obesity. The question "is
genetic
risk for obesity due to disease-producing common alleles?" is the
hypothesis. I
think this would be an interesting article to learn about because
obesity is a
rising problem in today's society.
"Mast Cells Can Enhance Resistance to Snake and Honeybee Venoms,"
Metz, Piliponsky, Chen, Lammel, Abrink, Pejler, Tsai, Galli, "Science,"
Volume 313, pp. 526-530, July 28th 2006
Mast cells help contribute to reduced morbidity and mortality from
asp-bites and bee-stings. They're already a part of our immune
system,
but a part that, until now, we thought was the culprit for
venom-related poisonings. How do these mast cells work? Why
did we
think them harmful? What can be done with them that could aid in
the
treatment of venom poisonings? The world of anti-venom is
certainly in
need of a modernization. Right now we have to capture poisonous
snakes
etc. and physically extract their venom in order to create an effective
anti-venom. Is there a better way?
Allometry of Alarm Calls: Black-Capped Chickadees Encode Information
about Predator Size
Science Magazine 24 June 2005
Vol. 308 no. 5730
pp. 1934-1937
Templeton, Greene, and Davis recorded the calls of
chickadees when presented with fifteen different species of predators,
13 birds and 2 mammals, hoping to find evidence that the nature of the
calls depends on the size and behavior of the predator.
The researchers investigating black-capped chickadee calls
did not closely follow the rules of strong inference. They
devised a hypothesis, then set out to prove it right. They
produced very thorough and convincing data, with thirteen different
predators varying widely in size. However they failed to rule out
other factors besides predator type and behavior (whether stationary or
moving) that could affect the chickadees call. Templeton, Greene,
and Davis claim the control experiment negates all the factors but the
ones they are researching. The article never explained how close
the predators were. They should all be the same distance from the
chickadees, otherwise it could be said distance plays a role in the
chickadees call. I hypothesize that a closer, stationary predator
would cause more alarm than a moving predator farther away. There
is no way of knowing this from the article, as they did not design the
experiment to test distance. However there is no evidence in the
article that they controlled the experiment to rule distance out as a
factor. Several other things could have an influence on the
chickadees call that the researches failed to rule out, including color
variations among species, and time of day the experiments were carried
out. The chickadees’ calls are probably even more sophisticated
than Templeton, Greene, and Davis believe.
Hormones and Behavior, Volume 50 Issue 4, November 2006. "The effect of
gonadal hormones and gender on anxiety and emotional learning." pp.
539-549. Donna J. Toufexis,Karyn M. Myersa and Michael Davisa
Women
experience depression, dysthymia, as well as anxiety disorders at a
significantly higher rate than do men. These changes are triggered
during stages of the female's reproductive life, and "is greatest at
times of ovarian hormonal flux like puberty, following childbirth, and
at menopause." One hypothesis for this disparity may be the difference
in social culture between men and women and their willingness to report
such disorders. The socializing of women to be more "in touch" with
their emotions, at least in our realm of the world, may also translate
into an increased susceptability to depression, etc. Yet, an additional
explanation for this observation could be suggessted, one
which involves the effects of the ovarian hormones (namely
estrogen and
progestins) when they preform at their peak, or during the reproductive
years. Testosterone's effect on anxiety levels is also investigated.
This study, conducted on rats, examines the behaviors of male,
differently staged female, and castrated male rats who are injected
with testosterone, estrogen or progesterone and subjected to different
tests of their anxiety levels.
WHY YOU SHOULD CARE:
Sexual
dimorphism of the brain is examined in this article, evaluating
different emotional learning capabilities due to different levels of
hormones within an individual of either sex. Neither Estrogen nor
Testosterone is found to be the superior hormone, but each neccessary
both in terms of their interaction WITHIN an individual (male or
female), and BETWEEN individuals- Both working to increase fitness and
reproductive success.
Article - A transposon-induced spontaneous mutation results in low
-amylase content in rice
Authors - Hiroaki Saika, Mikio Nakazono, Akira Ikeda, Junji Yamaguchi,
Shunpei
Masaki, Motoki Kanekatsu and Keisuke Nemoto
Journal title - Plant Science
Volume – 169 Issue 1
Page number - 239 - 244
Date of Publication - July 2005
I’ll be perfectly honest with you when I say that I understood about
10% of this
article (if even) but from what I identified the only question that
arose is why
is there a suppression of B-amylases in the germinating process of rice
seeds? I
think that this article would be fun to study because it would be
interesting to
identify the region that is responsible for the suppression for this
B-amylase
activity. There must be only a slight distinction that causes the
suppression.
So far as I know rice is a form of carbohydrate and I think that
amylase is a
group of enzymes that catalyze the hydrolysis of starch to sugar to
produce
carbohydrates, I found this research to be interesting because it would
be cool
to figure out what is suppressing the B-amylase. In the experiment 6
different
brands of rice were used and it only got down to a brand called
nipponbare.
Using an analysis called QLT using something called BILs (which were
derived
from the Nipponbare and Kasalath rice) the results showed consistent
values for
the BILs mode of 3-4units per milligram of protein. The Nipponbare had
way more
B-amylase value than did the Kasalath. There was in insertion of a
mutator-like
element in one of the promoter regions was thought to have suppressed
its
expression which decreases b-amylase activity in the rice Nipponbare.
This
mutator that was used is the most active plant transposon and is used
is used
for gene tagging. Many of these mutator-like elements were found in the
rice
genome. Some mutator-like element cDNA clones have been isolated
meaning that
rice has its own mutator-like transposon system.
Evidence of sexual reproduction of woolly apple aphid in New Zealand
Author: W.R.S Sandanyaka and U.G.M Bus
Journal: Journal of Insects
Volume: Volume 5, Issue 27
pp.: 1-7
Date: November 2005
The following article talks about evidence being found that sexual
reproduction
occurs in the woolly apple aphid in New Zealand. Reproduction usually
occurs
with the apple and elm plants as hosts. Some were placed in a
glasshouse as
well as outside. They noticed that the ones outside had less sexual
morphs
because the alates are busy dispersing into the environment looking for
an
apple or elm tree to cotinue the sexual reproduction. These alates were
important in the eastern United States to spread the species across long
distances. However, their importance is not as great in other areas
because
sexual forms deposited by alates rarely mated and no evidence of
traveling to
elm in New Zealand was found. Some believe that it develops without
eggs on
apple plants because it spends winters either in the air or on roots.
It would
be really interesting to find out if it needs other plants to reproduce
or if it
is asexual. Then we could relate this to other plants or topics if
needed.
"Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes", David A. Sinclair and
Lenny Guarente,Scientific America, Volume 294, pp. 48-57,
March 2006
Research on the longevity genes began with the idea that evolution
would favor an increased life span. A group of genes was found
that increased the ability of an organism to withstand a stressful
environment and therefore live a longer and healthier life. These
researchers focused on a family of genes which has found to be present
in all the organisms that they studied so far, SIR2.
They first asked: What caused baker's yeast to grow old and if a
single gene might control aging in this simple organism? They screened
yeast for long lived cells hoping to find genes responsible for
longevity. The scientist found a mutation, SIR4 that caused instability
in the cell. They found that by adding SIR2 to the yeast cell that the
cells life span increases by thirty present.
The researchers wondered: What the SIR2 gene does? They found a
connection between SIR2 and metabolism, and a possible connection
between aging and calorie intake. In some organisms a reduction of
calories caused the SIR2 gene to be activated. Though it also caused
some of those organisms to become infertile and this did not work
for mammals.
Next the researchers wanted to better understand the role of SIR2
in mammals. The mammalian version of SIR2, SIRT1 is more complicated.
In mice and rats it allows cells that would normally die to survive
stress.
Most people want to live longer and healthier lives. This article
focuses on the idea that through research of these longevity genes that
someday humans actually could resist the aging process and live an
extended life. It is interesting that with farther research of genes
scientist could find a way to tweak genes and control human
aging.
“Lentivirus-Mediated RNA Interference Therapy for Human
Immunodeficiency Virus
Type 1 Infection” Kevin V.Morris, Human Gene Therapy, 2006.Vol. 17, No.
5, p.
479-86
The question posed in this article is ‘can gene therapy deliver a
specific gene
to a pre-determined target cell that will end with a therapeutic
result?’ Gene
therapy is a method under investigation for the treatment of cancer and
AIDS.
There are two methods used for gene therapy, and they are non-viral and
viral.
The viral vectors used for gene transfer include retroviruses,
andenoviruses,
herpes simplex virus anf flaviviruses. Lentiviruses, a type of
retrovirus,
have the ability to infect a target cell. It posses a complex genome and
contain a plethora of regulatory and accessory genes involved in
modulation of
viral gene express, assembly of viral particles, and structural and
functional
alterations in the infected cell. The use of lentivirus vectors in
humans will
require investigators to develop a large-scale production methods that
are
unavailable. Once these obstacles are overcome, the potential for
modifications of the human genome using lentiviral vectors is virtually
unlimited.
“Transitions from Nonliving to Living Matter”, Steen Rasmussen, Liaohai
Chen,
David Deamer, David C. Krakauer, Norman H. Packard, Peter F. Stadler,
Mark A.
Bedau, Science, Vol. 303 no. 5660, pp 963-965, February 13 2004.
The main question of the article is how did the first life forms arise
from
nonliving matter, which leads to the larger question of the origin of
life.
The researchers can either attempt to create a living cell by the
“top-down
approach” in which they can try to genetically modify real cells into
their
smaller parts or the more popular “bottom-up approach” of creating a
living
cell from nonliving elements. Researchers have produced chemical
systems that
can metabolize lipids but a true cell that can “regenerate itself,
replicate
itself,” and evolve has not been produced.
This article would be pertinent to the class in that it examines the
functions
of DNA, RNA, and lipid vesicles and how researchers are trying to use
them to
create a living cell. It is also an interesting article in itself as it
considers the very broad and significant question of the origin of life.
Title: Lithium Treatment and Thyroid Abnormalities.
Journal
Title: Clinical Practice and Epidemiology In Mental Health (found
through Pubmed). Authors: Alberto Bocchetta and Andrea
Loviselli. Published: 12 September 2006
This article is about two researchers
who reviewed all of the old papers/experiments dealing with the
relationship between the use of lithium and thyroid
abnormalities.
They reviewd all of the articles in "Pubmed" dealing with this subject
and develolped their own conclusion. According to Bocchetta and
Loviselli, although a connection between lithium use and thyroid
abnormalites have long been recognized, lithium is sitll the "gold
standard" for treatment among manic-depressive patients years
after it
was been introduced. According to their research, lithium affects
the
thryoid by inhibiting its ability to release it's hormone, causing
hypothyroidism. Although most patients have "compensatory
mechanisms"
that counteract the inhibition of the thyroid hormone, there are a
minority that do not. The article states that hypothroidism is
usually
developed at the beginning of the lithium treatment and if a patient
has been using lithium for several years, their chance of developing
hypothroidism is just as likely as anybody else. The authors
suggest
that pretests should be done before a patient begins the use of
lithium. And if hypothroidism is developed whith the use of lithium, it
is not reccommened to stop taking the medicine. The article
concludes
by stating that although thyroid disorders are a problem, the
effectiveness of the drug is undeniable and should not be banned.
"The Influence of Gender and Body Characteristics on Upright
Stance", I. Farenc, P. Rougier, and L. Berger, Annals of Human Biology,
Vol. 30, No. 3, pages 279-294, 13 November 2002
The
question of this article is what makes us walk upright as humans
because it is important to how humans act. This article would be
interesting to study because it shows us how we behave like we behave.
It shows us why we walk how we walk. If we were to crawl around on our
knees, we would behave, possibly, in a totally different manner. We
often take our upright stance for granted, but
in actuality it is very
complex and and scientific. While inherently informative in the field
of biology, this article is also saturated with mathematical
equations
and scientific jargon. However, I found it extremely informative and
ends up very interestingly.
"Topical drug rescue strategy and skin protection based on the role of
MC1R in
UV-induced tanning."
John A. D'Orazio, Tetsuji Nobuhisa, Rutao Cui, Michelle Arya, Malinda
Spry,
Kazumaja Wakamatsu, Vivien Igras, Takahiro Kunisuda, Scott R. Granter,
Emi K.
Nishimura, Shosuke Ito and David E. Fisher
Nature
Vol. 443
Pages 340-344
Sept. 21 2006
For decades, tanning has been all the rage among people of all ages and
genders. More recently, people have turned to sunless tanning to avoid
serious
results such as skin cancer. However, science has found a possible
alternative
route to both previously mentioned forms of tanning. This new type of
bronzing
is actually a real tan without UV rays from the sun. Scientists have
found that
a chemical called forskolin, extracted from a plant, protected mice
from these
harmful UV rays. I think this would interest a lot of people because we
all
love a nice healthy tan right?
Tanning is primarily controlled by a melanocyte-simulating hormone that
attaches
to the melanocortin 1 receptor on the outside of melanocytes. By
stimulating
these pigment-producing cells, your skin begins to naturally tan. Many
people
that have fair skin and/or red hair find that they are very sensitive to
tanning and prone to skin cancer. The reason for this is that they have
a
defect in the MC1 receptor and thus, a reduced ability to produce
melanin (a
skin pigment).
In this experiment, scientists used mice that also had defective MC1Rs
to show
the effects of forskolin. Because forskolin stimulated the each mouse's
pigment-producing cells (melanocytes)they where subsequently able to
tan.
Although this has not yet been tested on people, there is no reason, so
far, to
say that it wouldn't have the same effect. This would give fair-skinned
people a
chance at a natural tan that wouldn't wash off and also give extra
protection
from the sun.
Life’s Greatest Invention: Sex, Clare Wilson, New Scientist, Vol. 186
Issue
2494, p32, 4/9/2005
The article discussed two ways of reproduction, either asexual
reproduction or
sexual reproduction. For example, Birds, Coral, Parasites, and animals
are all
mentioned in the article discussing why and how they differ in sexual
reproduction and with what advantages and disadvantages. Sexual
Reproduction
is very important; it brings to earth new generations of species
everyday. The
main questions in the article are between biologist who wonder how it
evolved
and why it hasn't un-evolved? “Sex may even be responsible for keeping
life
itself going: species that give it up almost always go extinct within a
few
hundred generations.” The interesting part about it is that most of the
life
on Earth either reproduces sexually or asexually. Even if some people
think
this is an inappropriate subject to talk about I don’t, I believe that
as a
class we should better understand and appreciate what has brought us
into this
wonderful world.
For the vast majority of species sexual reproduction is the only
option, but
it’s not something to frown upon. Sexual reproduction brings to earth
many
different and interesting creators. “In the article it says that
evolution
should favor asexual reproduction”. One reason they say this is because
in
sexual reproduction as I learned in class, only fifty percent of each
parent’s
genes go to the offspring equaling 100 percent. Asexuals on the other
hand
pass on 100 percent of there genes to there “clone”. Insects, plants,
and
lizards do fine without sex, unfortunately becoming outnumbered. What
usually
destroys asexual species is mutation. In the article they give an
example of
asexual reproduction’s downfall, the author says, “it’s like buying one
hundred
tickets in a raffle with the same number, compared to fifty tickets
each with a
different number.” Both sexual and asexual reproduction plays an
important
role in the future of Earths many different species.
Inbreeding by Environmental Interactions Affect Gene Expression in
Drosphilia melangogester
Author(s): Torsten Nigaard Kristensen, Peter Sorensen, Kamilla
Sofie Pedersen, Mogens Kruhoffers, and Volker Loeschcke
Book: Genetics 8/11/2006
Manuscript received December 8, 2005
Accepted for publication April 7, 2006
pgs. 1329-1335
Genomewide gene expression patterns were put to test in inbred and
noninbred Drosphilia melangogester in
experiments with high stress (high temperature) environment conditions.
Heat-shock protein and metabolism genes are strongly affected by such
an environment. Inbred and environmental stress both independentally
and synergistically affect gene expression patterns. It was observed in
phenotypic levels and it also showed that genes are also involved at
individual gene levels as well. This experiment supports the theory
that superiority of heterozygous individuals partly derives from
increased metabolic efficiency.
WHOSE BLOOD IS IT ANYWAY?, Kline, Ronald M., Scientific American, Vol.
284, p
42, April 2001
Although initially thrown away as a birth byproduct, in recent years,
people
have come to realize the benefits of using umbilical cord blood. It can
be used
to rebuild blood and immune systems of those with cancers and leukemia,
amongst
other fatal disorders/diseases. The article asks and discusses the
risks/limitations (cord blood sample may contain genetic mistakes that
can
cause a disease in the recipient, small number of stem cells contained
within a
single sample, older/larger patients may not benefit as much as
younger/smaller
patients, etc.) and benefits of using umbilical cord blood. There is
also an
underlying question of whether or not the usage of umbilical cord blood
is
ethical, which would make for an interesting class discussion.
“Stem Cells put a
stop to Macular Degeneration” Helen Phillips Cloning and Stem Cells
volume 8, pg. 189 Sep. 20, 2006.
This
article offers great insight to the idea that the use of stem cells can
once again aid humans in correcting and/or maintaining vision. The
question proposed is how human embryonic stem cells can be used to
derive cultures that resemble retinal pigment epithelial cells. These
are the cells that the photoreceptors in the eyes of animals cannot
survive without. The experiment has shown very promising results after
it was tested on lab rats with a form of retina deterioration very
similar to that of humans who show deterioration after age 60.
Unfortunately this study was not intended for restoring human vision,
but rather to retain vision as deterioration begins to occur. This
scientific breakthrough would be of great interest to anyone who takes
interest in stem cell research, optometry, or anyone who may meet the
criteria for eye deterioration in later years. The class should be very
interested in steam cell research because the conflict with steam cell
research is moving from “Does it work?” to “Is it morally correct to
alter our own genes and to experiment on a dead fetus?”
Report for Congress through the CRS Web
Author: Judith A. Johnson
Journal Title: Stem Cell Research
Pages: 24 Date of Publication: March 10, 2003
Description:
The article explains the ability and significance of stem cell research
by
treating those with medical disorders such as diabetes and parkinson
disease
through cloning of embryos. The article goes on explaining why many
organizations and some branches of the government does not support the
research. I think this article would be an interesting discussion for
the class
because although this subject is very controversial, it brings out the
possibility to those who needs medical attention along with the
hopefulness of
those who had none and we, the students, can input our thoughts into
this
matter.
"Fundamental Questions of Biology" by Simon A Levin, PLoS Biol
4(9): e300
In this article, the author writes about how, due to the rapid
advancement in all fields of biology, scientists are becoming more and
more specialized in thier jobs, and concentrating more on things such
as the development of better tools which have brought people into the
expiramentation process who care little about the outcome, i.e.
computer technichians. This rapid specialization, the author says, is
acting to seperate the scientists from each other and lose sight of the
bigger questions of biology in leu of thier other studies. There are
some questions though, he feels, that remain constant across all
specializations and may come to bring them together. They are presented
en masse at the end of the article.
"New Compound Causes Cancer Cell Suicide", David Biello, Scientific
American, News Aug. 28, 2006
Usually, our body's cells are responsible enough to
terminate themselves when they reach the end of their life. This is a
natural internal process within the cell, similar to suicide. When a
cell has reached the end of its life, an internal, chemical trigger
causes the cell to die, called apoptosis. This process is natural and
automatic. However, cancer cells lack this chemical trigger that causes
cells to die. For example, the growth of tumors; Cancer cells continue
to live and spread. At the end of apoptosis, a certain chemical within
the cell, procaspase-3 is activated and then transforms into another
chemical, caspase-3, which kills the cell. Chemist Paul Hergenrother
realized that a compound that activated procaspase-3 might be effective
in killing cancer cells. After many tests, a new procaspase activating
compund was identified, procaspase activating compound, or PAC-1. This
new compound is said to induce cancer cell suicide. "By bypassing the
broken pathway, we can use the cells' own machinery to destroy them",
claims Hergenrother.PAC-1 was tested on colon cancer cells, which
resulted in higher levels of procaspase-3,( which activates the cell
suicide), and proved that the cells were very sensitive to the
compound. Other studies involving human kidney and grafted lung cancer
determined that PAC-1's strength coorelated with procaspase-3 levels in
cells. Hergenrother hopes"...patients could be selected for treatment
based on the amount of procaspase-3 found in their tumor cells."
This study is very interesting to me, because cancer is
such a tremendous disease and is still without a cure. Further studies
involving this chemical PAC-1 could lead to a potential cure for
certain cancers. If a chemical can induce cancer cell suicide, then
society will have to consider the fact that we have a potential cure
which will save millions of lives.
"Heat shock protein- 27 protects human bronchial epithelial cells
against oxidative stress- mediated apoptosis: possible implication in
asthma." Cell Stress & Chaperones. article pp. 269-280
vol. 7 issue 3 (July 2002).
I'll be completely honest- I do not understand the majority of
this article, but in my search to find a scientific article, this was
the one article that I could see myself grasping the underlining
concept eventually. What initially attracted me to this article
was that it looked at asthma in humans at the molecular level (like the
very proteins that we have been talking about in class). I
figured that because the majority of the class knows about asthma,
or has at least heard about it, this article might be the one to help
tie together the relation between proteins and what they can do in the
body. Some of the main findings dealed with a particular protein
and how it handles oxidative stress in the body. I am not quite
to sure what they are talking about after that, but I assume that they
are comparing how certain proteins react and rebuild under oxidative
stress.
Qianjun Xiao, Xiao-Lin Wu, Jennifer J. Michal, Jerry J. Reeves, Jan R.
Busboom, Gary H. Thorgaard, and Zhihua Jiang
Int J Biol Sci. 2006; 2(4): 171–178.
Published online 2006 May 18.
This
is an interesting subject due to its relevance in modern society.
The
prevalent health trend in America is moving towards significant
percentages of overweight and obese individuals. But is severe
obesity
really inescapable for some people due to genetics? Several
scientists
have found what appears to be a "
molecular marker significantly associated with intramuscular fat
deposition."
These researchers' findings bring us a step toward a definite answer
about "large" genes necessitating large jeans*, and increase the
possibility of a "fat cure" - a bright prospect for many.
The Promise of Comparative Genomics in Mammals, Stephen J.
O'Brien, 1 Marilyn Menotti-Raymond, 1 William J. Murphy, 1 William
G. Nash, 1 Johannes Wienberg, 1 Roscoe Stanyon, 1 Neal
G. Copeland, 2 Nancy A. Jenkins, 2 James E. Womack, 3 Jennifer
A. Marshall Graves, Science AAAS, Vol. 286. no. 5439, pp. 458 - 481,
October 15, 1999,DOI: 10.1126/science.286.5439.458
The
article starts out talking about gene mapping in mammals. “Gene maps
have been constructed in human, mouse, and about 30 other mammal
species for two general reasons: first, as a resource for locating the
genetic determinants of heritable characteristics, behaviors, and
phenotypes; and second, as a template for resolving and interpreting
patterns of evolving genome organization in their ancestry” (Article).
It goes on to talk about markers. “Type I markers are coding genes that
through DNA sequence comparison and comparative mapping are essential
for identification of gene orthologs in distantly related species (that
is, genes in different species that are descended from a single gene of
a common ancestor)” (Article). These however offer little information
on pedigree and population density. “Type II markers [hypervariable
microsatellites, also called short tandem repeats (STRs) are highly
informative in pedigree, forensic, and population assessment, because
there are over 100,000 near-randomly dispersed STRs throughout
mammal
genomes, and because each carries multiple alleles” (Article). The
lifetime of these markers is very short making them harder to use.
“Type III markers are common bi-allelic single-nucleotide polymorphisms
(SNPs) within coding regions or more often in noncoding intron or
intergenic regions” (Article). These SNPs occur over 3 million times in
humans and other similar mammals. The mapping of the genes in mammals
has made it more and more possible to learn new things about ourselves
and how diseases arise. By mapping the genes of rodent’s researchers
have discovered a gene (attractin) in humans that causes obesity in
diet induced obesity. They have discovered many other genes as well.
They have also discovered many things about agricultural animals
including the type II markers to bovine chromosome 2 that causes
muscular hypertrophy or double muscling. Gene mapping has been limited
to more relevant species because of cost, but the have still mapped
some for cats and dogs. The article continues on to talk about
mammalian genome radiation.
Taste Perception: Cracking the Code, Jane Bradbury, Public Library of
Science
Biology, Volume 2, e64, March 16, 2004
The article begins with a short overview of taste receptors and the five
categories that tastes are put into. Then, the question is posed as to
how
tastes are actually coded. The author goes into moderate depth about
each
taste and how it is coded. After that, the author brings up an important
inquiry. What is the significance of studying taste? From there, she
explains
the potentially monumental affects that this study could have in the
future in a
positive manner. The reason that I believe that this would make for a
very
interesting study in class is because we did a study of coding of DNA
for
proteins, which has parallels to this article through the coding of
tastes.
Additionally, it is my assumption that this article will hold the
attention of
my peers quite well, as it did me. I have always been curious about why
things
taste the way they do. However, after reading and analyzing this
article to the
best of my ability, I now have an undoubtedly better understanding of
taste than
I had prior to reading it. Unfortunately there were portions of this
article
that I did not totally grasp, so if for no other reason I hope that this
article is chosen so that I can gain understanding on the things I was
unsure
of.
"Stroke Prevention Trial in Sickle Cell Anemia (STOP): extended
follow-up and
final results," Authors: Margaret T. Lee, Sergio Piomelli, Suzanne
Granger,
Scott T. Miller, Shannon Harkness, Donald J. Brambilla, Robert J. Adams,
Journal Title: Blood (Journal of the American Society of Hematology),
Vol. 108, No. 3, pp. 847-852, 1 August 2006.
It is a trial to evaluate whether chronic transfusion could prevent
initial
stroke in children with sickle-cell anemia at high risk as determined by
transcranial Doppler. The main question posed in this article is
"whether
transfusion therapy could be safely withdrawn after at least 30 months
of
transfusions in patients who have converted to normal TCD velocities."
This
article is interesting because it discusses Sickle Cell Anemia, which is
something that we have briefly discussed in class. Also, it is
interesting to
know whether chronic transfusions could help prevent stroke in children
with
sickle cell anemia.
Microarray Analysis of Gene Expression During the Cell Cycle, Stephen
Cooper and Kerbey Shedden, Cell Chromosome, Volume II, Pages 1-12,
Published September 19, 2003
Questions posed in the article:
1. What new information can be learned from analyzing gene expression
using a microarray (a device used for the purpose of gene profiling to
monitor expression) from the creation of a cell throughout its
development?
2. How does the new data obtained from the experiment differ from what
was previously thought to be true about division in the cell cycle?
This article would make for an interesting in-class topic for several
reasons. The article introduces new theories and possibilities
for the
scientific frontier in genetics. Genetic research is a relatively
new
scientific topic that holds infinite possiblities for discovery. It
interests me that what we are taught in school might not be the way
things really work. I would enjoy the opportunity to learn about
a
more technical aspect of this area in science.
"Correction of sickle cell disease by homologous recombination in
embryonic stem
cells," Li-Chen Wu, Chiao-Wang Sun, Thomas M. Ryan, Kevin M. Pawlik,
Jinxiang
Ren, and Tim M. Townes, Blood:Journal of the American Society of
Hematology),
Vol. 108, No. 4, pp. 1183-1188,
15 August 2006.
The article is basically questioning previous studies that showed that
sickle
cell disease can be corrected by transduction of hematopoietic stem
cells with
lentiviral vectors containing antisickling globin genens followed by
trasplantation of these cells into syngeneic recipients. They have some
concerns whether it os really safe and about insertional mutagenesis. A
question that is in this article is whether replacement of the sickle
globin
gene (S) with a normal copy of the gene (A)would be a safer correction.
Their
goal is the show that sickle cell disease can be corrected without the
risk of
insertional mutagenesis. This is an interesting article for our class
because
it relates to what we are disussing now in class and it also is like
strong
inference because it leaves room for disproof.
The Genetics and Biology of Disc1-An Emerging Role in Psychosis
and Cognition, David J. Porteous, Pippa Thomson, Nicholas J.
Brandon and J. Kirsty Millar, Biological Psychiatry, Volume 60,
Issue 2, Pages 123-131, 15 July 2006.
This article attempts to explain psychological disorders through
biological means by focusing on Disc1 which has shown some evidence of
being related to diseases such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder,
and recurring major depression. Disc1 is
a gene that is disrupted due to
a "balanced translocation on chromosome 1q42." Disc1
has been found to react with various proteins within the brain.
It has risen as a key player in the study of mental illnesses
and of normal brain processes. I believe that this
article would be extremely useful for use in class due to the fact that
it demonstrates the extent to which an understanding of the
structure of the human genome has aided scientists in being able to
formulate various hypothesis and theories as to the origins of various
diseases and disorders that previously were unable to be
explained such as schizophrenia. This would help the class
understand the true importance that knowledge of DNA, and the
human genome holds for society at large and the great benefits
that can arise from this knowledge.
Stigma, race, and disease in 20Th century America
Wailoo, Keit. Lancet; 2/11/2006, Vol. 367 Issue 9509, p531-533, 3p
Social
men and women of all races interact with each other in today's medical
field studies to ensure the safety of our health and future for
American citizens to live longer lives. This article that i have
selected talks about a short walk through in history of the sickle cell
disease with helpful examples and quotes on the side to better
understand it. When we hear that term (Sickle-cell) spoken in public we
stop to think of its full meaning and what falls behind it. We know it
is a hemoglobin disease that carries iron and other gases within the
red blood cell and also that's it oddly shaped from all the other
blood cells that greatly shortens our life span. Do we know any more
than that? Have you ever wonder where and how it started, which race
did it come from, what are some of the main effects of it, if you have
it? Basically this article helps by looking back in history from a
different point of view. I feel that this article will help open the
eyes of those out there who do not know what has happened in history
and to shine the light on understanding the Sickle-cell disease. This
is a great topic to discuss with students of different ethnic
backgrounds.
This Article talks about ethnic traits, understanding the problem, and
sickle cell.
"Aging of Mesanchymal stem cell in vitro," Bonab et al., BMC Cell
Biology, 7, March 2006.
The
main questions posed in the article, “Aging of Mesanchymal stem cell in
vitro” are: what are the effects on Mesanchymal stem cells being
cultured for a long period of time? And how does it affect their
entrance into a senescence state? The article explains that the
Mesanchymal stem cells obtained from the bone marrow are usually low
proportion and culturing them is a necessity to obtain bigger amounts
of the cells. The researchers looked into the cells’ proliferation,
telomere length, phenotype, morphology, and differentiation to find out
the effects of culturing and how useful they would be afterwards. This
would be a good opportunity to learn more about one of the hottest,
latest topics in scientific research, since these cells have been
attributed different healing properties: among them gene therapy, stem
cell transplants and helping to repair damaged organs.
THE GREAT ESCAPE: When Cancer Cells Hijack the Genes for Chemotaxis and
Motility.......By John Condeelis, Robert H. Singer, and
Jeffrey E.
Segall
Annual Review of Cell and Developmental Biology......Vol. 21: 695-718
(Volume publication date November 2005)
I believe that we should study this article because of its relevance to
the average person. Cancer is a disease which impacts many individuals
and this article details some of the top of the line research in
understanding how cancer spreads and how to treat it. Most people are
not killed by the initial cancerous growth but when the cancer spreads
to other parts of their body. This article attempts to answer the
questions: “What motility behaviors contribute to invasion and
intravasation? Is there an expression signature that correlates with
these behaviors, that is, an invasion signature? How do the genes of
the invasion signature contribute to invasion?” In the end this article
generates some fascinating results.
New discovery in preventing diabetic complications
Smith, Robert. “New
gene in preventing diabetes complications.”
New science discoveries.2006. 20 sept. 2006.
<>Summary
This article discusses the implications of controlling a protein called
cytokine on the effects of diabetes 2. Dr.
Dana Graves showed that through the manipulation of this protein,
inflammation decreased dramatically which is important because
inflammation is one of the most common results of diabetes
2. She also noted that this could possibly have an even
greater effect in other areas of the body in the future.
Reason for selection
<>This
subject is very close to my heart, because my grandmother has type 2
diabetes; the fact that scientists found a more efficient way to
suppress and relive some of the symptoms of diabetes like inflammation
is amazing. Aside
from my grandma’s disadvantage, I think it is a cool topic to study
because I enjoy examining the makeup of specific proteins and how they
interact with the body to create a physical or mental
characteristic. And, in the situation with diabetes 2, the
protein cytokine illuminates both aspects very well. It
is also interesting to analyze the process by which the objective is
found, in this case the protein that decreases the severity of diabetes.
Human embryonic stem cells for vascular development and repair,
Cohen IG Beck G Ziskind A Itskovitz-Eldor J, Israel Medical
Association Journal, 8, Aug 2006
This
article goes indepth to discribe the background of stem cell reasearch
and where it all started from. It then goes into how human stem
cell
reasearch is done and what it's benifits are to society. Also the
reasearch has detailed study of early developmental events practically
unreachable in early human embryos. So with this information we
can
tell when exactly a human is really a human and when it should still be
considered growing cells. With stem cell research so debated in
today
government it would be nice to go in depth to figure out what are the
advantages and the disadvantages of this seemingly miracle
treatment.
This article discuses the process of stem cell experiments which they
started working on mice at the beginning but then dive into human stem
cells. This would be very interesting to talk about in class and
would
help us, future voters, to truly understand the risks and rewards of
stem cell research, and determine what level we want it our country.
Article
Title: Ashkenazi Jewish genetic disorders. Charrow, J.
Familial Cancer Volume 3, Numbers 3-4 / September, 2004 pg 201-206
This article covers a topic we touched on in class, the heritability of
genes and the likely hood that parents who are carriers of a
specific
gene will pass that gene on to their children. What is
interesting is
that among Jews worldwide, the Ashkenazi Jews are the
most likely to
have certain diseases among the Jewish population and this article
theorizes as to why this happens. The article also talks
about what
happens when an individual inherits only part of a gene
responsible
for a certain disease. This is similar to how
African-Americans can
get Sickle-Cell Anemia if they inherit both genes responsible for
the
disease in contrast to just inheriting one which helps
to build an
immunity to malaria. The nature/nurture issue is also brought up
when
the article describes how some genes might actually be passed on but
only "turned on" by certain environmental situations. Some people
might have a gene that is never activated because their environment
does not ignite the gene, while others will never know they are
predisposed to a certain disease until their adulthood when their
environment throws the switch and activates the gene which
then triggers the disease.
Other related
articles actually theorize that only having one or part of a
gene makes
Ashkenazi Jews especially intelligent which explains why such
a small
population of people in our world constitute 27%
of America's Nobel
Prize winners and 50% of the world's chess champions; so having a gene
is not always a negative thing.
The article displays
several interesting graphs that break down the most common inheritable
diseases among Jews, their characteristics, how they are passed on and
their incidence rate.
Finally, the article explains why the
Ashnekazi Jews have a higher percentage of the diseases listed.
Two
theories, the founder effect and genetic drift are believed to be the
reason these diseases are confined among the Ashkenazi. The
founder
effect refers to a groups earliest founders who most
likely possessed
these genes and passed them on. Over time, with the Ashkenazi
being
more likely to marry other Ashkenazis, the likely hood of passing these
genes onto their children grew as carriers came together to share and
pass on their genes. This reduces the likelyhood of these
genes being
passed on to other non-Ashkenazi Jews. This article is very
interesting because while it only discusses one group of people,
in
context it helps to explain why certain groups of people are
predisposed or more susceptible to certain genetic diseases.
“Trends in Fetal and Infant Survival Following Preeclampsia”
Authors name(s): Olga Basso, PhD; Svein Rasmussen, MD, PhD; Clarice R.
Weinberg, PhD; Allen J. Wilcox, MD, PhD; Lorentz M. Irgens, MD, PhD;
Rolv Skjaerven, PhD
Journal title: Jama
Vol. 296 No. 11
Pages 1-7
September 20, 2006
Preeclampsia, a well-known cause of perinatal mortality has taken the
attention of many scientists. Despite huge improvements in
clinical management, preeclampsia often develops in the delivery of a
very preterm infant following medical intervention. Even mild-preterm
delivery greatly increases the risk of neonatal death. Therefore, when
preeclampsia occurs early in pregnancy, even a few additional days in
utero may be key to a newborn's survival. A review of clinical trials
of delayed vs immediate delivery in fact suggested better outcomes with
delayed delivery in well-selected patients. On the other hand,
preeclampsia can progress rapidly, putting both mother and child at
severe risk if no action is taken. The question posed in this
article is the exact effect on fetal and infant survival of
increased rates of early delivery of preeclamptic pregnancies.
According to the article treatments for this disease has increased
withing the last 35 years in Norway as proven by the number of Fetal
survival in preeclamptic pregnancies that has vastly
improved. Among preeclamptic pregnancies, inductions before 37
weeks increased from 8% in 1967-1978 to nearly 20% in 1991-2003. During
this period, the adjusted for stillbirth decreased from 4.2 to 1.3 for
preeclamptic compared with nonpreeclamptic pregnancies. During the same
period, the OR for neonatal death after preeclamptic pregnancy remained
relatively stable (1.7 in 1967-1978 vs 2.0 in 1991-2003). Later infant
and childhood mortality also showed little change.
An analysis was done to show the change in surviviors with different
scenarios involving location, type of maternal birth, and back ground
of mother. Age, economic standing, race, education, marital
status, and other factos were looked upon also. The analysis sample
included 770 613 pregnancies without preeclampsia and 33 835
pregnancies with preeclampsia. stillbirth and infant death were
both more frequent in preeclamptic pregnancies, especially in the early
years. Stillbirth was much more strongly associated with preeclampsia,
and improved more over time, than infant death.
There were also tests done to view the differences in the association
between preeclampsia and death among the 3 periods for different
categories of mortality.
Preeclampsia was an important cause of fetal death in Norway during the
late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, but its impact has waned. It
was also a factor in other parts of the world as well.
While risk of stillbirth was 4.2 times higher with preeclampsia, it is
now only 1.3 times higher. Modern medical management of preeclampsia
appears to have been effective in preventing fetal death without
causing an increase in infant or maternal death.
This article would make of an interesting class because of its research
on a disease that not many know about. Females in particular
would be very interested. The article covers a top that not many
know about and it would be interesting to know mroe about a disease
that invloved child birth and also the effects of this disease on
children in Norway and other parts of the world. it's something
that not many would be able to learn anywhere else unless by
accident. I would honestly like to here other peoples personal
opinion on the topic.
Targeted Therapy of Cancer: New Prospects for Antibodies and
Immunoconjugates,
Robert M. Sharkey, PhD and David M. Goldenberg, ScD, MD
A Cancer Journal for Clinicians
Vol.56 No.4 pp.189-243
July/August 2006
This article discusses a new therapy against cancer
using
antibodies and immunoconjugates. This new therapy will have less side
effects compared to other standard treatments. For example chemotherapy
or NHL therapy. Additionally, this new therapy can be combined with the
traditional treatments.
I think this article would make for an
interesting class because it deals with a disease that has probable
affected everyones' lives' somehow. It would be informative and
intriguing for the class because it is something that we can relate to
and understand.
Blood to the Brain to the Rescue, Richard L. Proia and Yun-Ping Wu, The
Journal
of Clinical Investigation, v.113(8); Apr 15, 2004
This article discusses some of the recent attempts at how to stop, or
at least
slow down neurodegeneration. In a study on a field mouse, specific
cells called
‘hematopoietic stem cells’ were genetically modified to over express
the missing
lysosomal enzyme. In taking advantage of some of the cell’s primary
functions,
they have successfully executed enzyme replacement therapies that
reverse the
onset of some disorders. This process is the only known treatment to
date that
has prevented or slowed down neurodegeneration in storage disease
patients. This
procedure is also being examined, as it may be a potential resource for
nervous
system therapy. This new find is particularly interesting because it
reduces
macrophage/microglia activation (activation can cause an increase in
the onset
of neurodeneration in lysosomal storage diseases) and neuronal cell
death, but
doesn’t reduce substrate storage (lysosomal storage).
I really think it would be interesting to see what the class could come
up with
as far as a means of further testing this treatment, and exploring any
possible
repercussions it may have on the cells, as well as on the patient. It
would also
be a great way to look at some of the things a cell goes through when a
disease
sets in (permanent, temporary, what can we reverse, what we can’t).
New Findings Offer More Complete View of Breast Cancer Gene Mutations
in U.S.
Population, Bethesda MD, National Institute of Health, August 15, 2006.
The question asked in the research was how to detect which women will
most
likely develop breast cancer after studying two specific mutated genes.
They
studied the differences in white and black women in metropolitan areas.
I feel
that this is important because cancer is inherited. I would like to
learn more
about the new developments and ways to prevent cancer and early
detection. This
study revealed that white and black women commonly have one of the two
mutated
genes and they develop cancer earlier than women without the gene. I
think it
would be interesting to see the link between the mutated gene and the
cancer
itself.
The Need to Be Green, Scientific American, Page 84-90, March 2006
Many
rivers in the U.S.
have become polluted and almost uninhabitable for humans and many other
animals alike. Around 53 billion gallons of waste water is produced by
the U.S.
textile industries and other contributors such as, plastics, and
paints. Even our drinking water is being spoiled by pesticides,
cosmetics and many other harmful substances. Though scientists have
found ways to substitute the harmful plastics and paints there is still
a great amount of pollutants circulating through our waters. A group of
designer catalyst molecules called TAML ( tetra amido macrocyclic
ligand) work with hydrogen peroxide and other oxidants to break down a
wide variety of pollutants, much like enzymes. TAMLs work like little
cleaners by breaking down pollutants to their nontoxic elements, not
leaving any contamination. Though the TAMLs did their job, we didn’t
want them running through our streams eventually causing it’s own type
of pollution, so researchers made TAMLs that would decompose in a short
amount of time, from a few minutes to hours. By running a series of
tests scientist were able to find the weak spots in the covalent bonds
that held the TAMLs together after subjecting them to oxidative stress.
Replacing the weak spots with other atoms and anchoring down the TAML
with an Iron atom the TAMLs were able to hold up longer under the
cleansing process. Now with about 90 different TAMLs scientist have
been able to construct them with different tasks. It would be very
interesting to understand how molecules break apart or rebuild other
molecules. Seeing the catalyst take place would give the classroom a
better understand of how elements react with each other when bonded or
disassemble molecules.
Inheritance of Mitochondrial Diseases, Patrick F. Chinnery,
Mitochondrion, Volume 2, Pgs. 149-155, 2002
The
main question posed in this article is what gives use to or causes the
inheritance of mitochondrial disorders. This article interests me
because I like genetics and really want to understand how specific DNA
sequences affect genetic disorders. This article would make for an
interesting class because I believe knowing about these different kinds
of genetic disorders and knowing how mitochondrial diseases are
inherited is very important. Recently advances in scientists
understandings of molecular genetic basis of certain kinds of genetic
disorders gives us the power to obtain the knowledge in what really
happens for some families and people that suffer from inherited
mitochondrial disease.
EVOLUTION OF THE HIV-1 ENVELOPE GENE IS
DOMINATED BY PURIFYING SELECTION
C. T. T. Edwards, E. C. Holmes, O.G. Pybus, D. J. Wilson, R. P.
Viscidi, E. J.
Abrams, R. E. Phillips and A. J. Drummond
Published in Genetics ahead of print on September 1, 2006
This article is primarily about determining the process and reasons
behind HIV-1
mutations. It brings to light natural selection as a variable to the
evolution
of HIV-1. The experiments done are to refute the theory that neutrality
exists
and genetic drift is the only reason for mutation. It is not so much
proving
natural selection as it is saying that natural selection must be
occurring
because genetic drift is not able to account for the level of diversity
observed. This is a very interesting article, although very confusing.
I chose
this article because I am fascinated with viruses and their ability to
act as a
living creature without following the same rules and definitions that
are
universal among all other creatures. They seem as though they either
should not
exist or they did not have the same origin as the rest of life on
Earth. This
would be a great article to study in Biology because it deals directly
with
genetics and cell processes. I would like to truly understand what this
article is about, but the language and concepts discussed are a little
beyond
what I was able to comprehend.