Author Archives: arjunTK

Gateways of Addiction

Posted on November 6, 2017 | 2 comments

Credit to Flickr

The term “Gateway Drug” is often used to warn young adults that recreational use of certain narcotics can lead to addiction to more dangerous substances. However, while the term is generally applied to cannabis, a recent study suggests that we may have been limiting our caution too strictly; It was shown that, in rats, alcohol use resulted in a biologically-founded predisposition for cocaine. Given that alcohol is generally considered a fairly innocuous supplement to social amusement, this new research could force people to be more wary of its implications.

The study was conducted by giving a sample group of rats daily exposure to alcohol for a ten day period, which consisted of ten percent ethanol for two hours a day. Then, access to cocaine is added to the environment after the initial phase of alcohol dosing. The results were compared to a control group that was not subjected to an alcohol intake regimen. The results were significant: When the cocaine was removed for a short period of time (two 15-minute intervals), the rats in the alcohol-free group only attempted to access it 18 times on average, compared to the average 58 times of the group supplied with alcohol. Aside from examining the behavioural manifestations of cocaine dependence with prior alcohol use, the research also studied the biological characteristics involved. What they discovered was that long-term alcohol use resulted in the inhibition of the enzyme histone deacetylase (HDAC) in the nucleus accumbens, a region of the basal forebrain. The inhibition of the enzyme results in an accumulation of the protein ∆FOSB, which is firmly linked to increases in cocaine self-administration, thus showing that alcohol use can create an internal environment conducive to cocaine addiction.

Overall, the relationships between biological mechanisms of drug addiction are not fully understood. Future research into the area could potentially uncover more on the possible dangers (or conversely, the benefits) of common substances, and could change our fundamental views on many of them.

 

  • Arjun Thomson-Kahlon

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The Future of Invisibility

Posted on October 16, 2017 | Leave a comment

 

Credit: Lynn B

Practical cloaking technology is a long sought-after tool that has yet to be obtained. However, researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy and UC Berkeley claim that this might not be true for much longer. In a recent paper, they explained that they had created a thin, flexible “skin” cloak that could hide an object from sight by channelling visible light around it. From the military to the civilian sector, disappearing from vision is undeniably desirable, leaving many eagerly waiting for new developments.

At the core of invisibility technology are metamaterials: Materials that are engineered to exhibit properties not found in nature. By designing nanostructures of a specific size, shape and orientation, electromagnetic waves can be controlled; To render an object invisible, visible light must be bent, curved, and scattered. Previous attempts at manifesting the phenomenon resulted in clumsy and easily detectable “blankets” that bent light sequentially at each layer of the material. Their key flaw was that they created a phase shift in the waves of reflected light, making them fairly noticeable under any degree of scrutiny. On the other hand, The efficacy of the “skin” cloak is in its relative simplicity, as the cloak is only 80 nanometers in thickness; instead of a thick blanket, the new technology consists of an impossibly-thin sheet. It is comprised of microscopic gold antennas, brick-like in shape and proportion, that are capable of reflecting light without changing its phase or frequency. In other words, light reflecting off of the sheet appears identical to light reflecting off of the background. This is because both reflections are of the same light: Incoming waves pass around the cloak, hit the background, and reflect back to the observer, all the while passing around (or seemingly “through”) the cloaked article. In a short video, the researchers demonstrated their ability to cause a microscopic object to completely disappear.

However, the deception doesn’t stop there; In addition to perfectly redirecting light, the cloak can be tuned in a way that one could create images that aren’t actually there. According to the researchers, “you could cover a tank with it, and make it look like a bicycle”. Despite these exciting accomplishments, it is important to remember that the technology is very much a work in progress. As such, certain flaws are still present in the design: For one, the covered object must be completely still, since the tuning of the cloak must be matched to the background. Also, the current sheet is only capable of reflecting light at one wavelength, 730 nanometers. In order to be applicable to the real-world, it would have to reflect light across the visible spectrum.

Despite these flaws, the results are promising; Real, practical invisibility technology could be right around the corner. At the turn of the 21st century, such a thing would have been relegated to the pages of sci-fi and fantasy novels, never to see (and bend) the light of day. Knowing how close we are to seeing invisibility leap from fiction to reality, you have to ask: What are other products of an over-active imagination could one day become an actuality?

 

Arjun Thomson-Kahlon

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Superhumans of Sport: Pressing Concern or Distant Conundrum?

Posted on September 18, 2017 | Leave a comment

Image Credit: Dave Hogg

Since their inception, organized sports have been rife with the usage of Performance Enhancing Drugs (PED’s) known as “doping”. As science advances, those on the cutting edge will shape the frontier of professional athletics, and define the parameters of competition. At the forefront of PED technology is the idea of “gene doping”: Altering the expression of certain genes in order to improve athletic improvement. For fans and prospective athletes alike, the idea of seeing genetically supernatural competitors on the field may be unsettling.

A 2008 review published in the British Journal of Pharmacology seeks to assuage such concerns, claiming that there are “major technological hurdles” in converting results from laboratory rodents into successful human trials, beyond the limited number already performed. It suggests that gene doping is an issue that will not need to be dealt with for many years to come. The proposed reason for these delays lies, perhaps unsurprisingly, in the physiological differences between humans and mice.

For gene therapy, the basis of gene doping, “a delivery system (vector) is required to transfer the genetic material into the target cell” explains DJ Wells, author of the review. Viruses, adapted for transferring genetic material into cells, make excellent vectors. Removal of the viral genes and replacement with therapeutic genes neuters the virus’ dangerous effects. These vectors mix with “packaging plasmids”, so that they can be effectively administered to the subjects.

This is where the problems lie. Most of the noteworthy changes to physiology and performance seen in rodent trials are achieved with “germline genetic modification”, known as transgenesis. The procedure involves performing the modification in early embryonic stages, “before the germ cells have differentiated from the somatic cells”. Thus, the modification is present in all cells from thereon, and because the subject develops with the modification, it is able to adapt to it. For humans however, transgenesis is not yet possible, leaving somatic gene transfer as the only alternative. The somatic method is unlikely to disperse the modification throughout all of the body cells, and is likely to produce different results, given that the subject does not develop along with the change in gene expression. Given the size difference between humans and rodents, it is extremely difficult for humans to spread genetic modification over the entire body.

Nearly a decade later, and it would seem the article’s prediction is accurate: We’ve yet to see a genetically modified athlete anywhere in the realm of professional sports, and we might not for many years. Nonetheless, there could come a day where permanent alteration of one’s own genetic being becomes an affordable possibility. Will we turn our backs on science in the name of fair play? Or will our athletes take the leap to becoming superhuman?

Image Credit: Seattle Parks

  • Arjun Thomson-Kahlon

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