Category: Issues in Science

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Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science Public Engagement Science Communication Science in the News

The Bottle-Neck Effect


 

Photo of Killer Whale courtesy of http://www.maniacworld.com/killer-whale.htm

 

Over 500 species of plants and animals are considered at risk in Canada. The 2003 Species At Risk Act (SARA) was implemented to protect these species. However, out of those 500 species that are currently listed, only 150 have recovery strategies and only four have implemented recovery action plans.  It is clear that this act must be improved if Canadian species are going to be protected. This was the motivation behind the November 2010 paper, “Science, Policy and Species at Risk in Canada” by Dr.Jeannette Whitton et al. This paper took an in-depth look into how SARA works and how to improve it.   (See video for an overview of the paper.)

 

 

Video: The Bottleneck Effect

 Issues with SARA:

Listing stage

 

  • Lack of expertise
When the Committee On the Status of Endangered Wildlife In Canada (COSEWIC, www.cosewic.gc.ca) prioritizes the species that are more likely to go extinct, the species for which there is less expertise ends up being classified as “data deficient,” and most likely do not get listed. The government has no obligation to conduct further research or assessment on them, so “data deficient” species remain unaccounted for. This may become a bigger problem in the future as the focus switches to listing invertebrates, where there is even less knowledge.
  • Timing is Everything

Status assessment by COSEWIC and legal listing by the federal government are currently two separate steps in SARA. Unfortunately, this structure gives the government “an opportunity to avoid or delay the costs and consequences of protecting imperiled wildlife species.” This may explain why the federal government chose not to list 23% of the species recommended by COSEWIC between 2003 and 2007. On the other hand, this separation “allows a time window for stakeholders and civil society to become more involved in the legal listing process” and “allows for a transparent separation of science and policy.” Researchers believe these benefits far outweigh the negative effect of separation.

  • Economics vs. Science

Governments have to take into account the financial impacts of their decisions, and Canada’s government is no exception. The government relies on economic impact analysis to decide which COSEWIC-recommended species should be labelled “at risk” but researchers see their analysis as “incomplete.” Economic concerns make up “50% of the cases in which listing has been denied outright [by the government].” For this reason, researchers question the effectiveness of the current structure, stating that the “economic analysis is not supplied as independent science advice but rather is embedded in a nonscientific policy-based framework.” They suggest that the analysis comes too early in SARA’s evaluation process and thus economic concerns end up outweighing scientific considerations and dominating the listing process.

 

 

Recovery strategies: Ineffective meshing of science and policy.

 

  • Lack of Clarity
Creating recovery strategies has been “slow and problematic.” Scientific assessments and socioeconomic considerations quite often end up contradicting each other and therefore it should be made clear which is considered the most important in each case.
  • Lack of Definitions
To help at risk species survive and recover, we need to explicitly define these terms. The Canadian government has suggested survival “would mean maintaining the current population in the ‘short term’.”  But it is open to interpretation what represents ‘short term’ in Canadian policy? Also if this was the case, for a species at risk of extinction, merely maintaining its population in the short term “would provide little assurance of continued survival.” Recovery has been defined as “long-term persistence” or when decline is “arrested or reversed.” The ‘or’ in this definition allows the government to choose the easier option of arresting decline rather than reversing it.  Do you think stopping decline is enough to be classified as recovery?
  • Defining Habitat Issues

Classifying the critical habitat of species has been highly controversial. The law to identify critical habitat “to the extent possible using the best available information” is not reflected in how many habitats have actually been identified; habitat has only been defined for 23 of the 104 species with finalized recovery strategies. However, researchers think this may improve in the future as a result of two court cases in 2009 that successfully challenged recovery strategies that omitted known critical habitat from the final strategy.

  • Conflicting Interests Overshadow Scientific Content
The biggest issue in preparing recovery strategies is that the government ministries that currently oversee the process “may have conflicting interests.”  To prevent this influence from distorting scientific assessments, researchers propose the science should be presented separately from governmental assessment in a new two-step listing process.  The proposed differences can be seen in figure 1 below.
Current and suggested structures of SARA "Science, Policy and Species at Risk in Canada"

 

 

Suggestions for Improving SARA
In conclusion, the current Species at Risk Act is leading to a bottleneck effect; only 4 species have recovery action plans even though over 500 species are listed as ‘at risk’.  SARA considers both scientific and economic concerns, but it is not always clear which of these two factors is viewed as the most important. To improve the number of action plans being finalised, the researchers make a number of suggestions.

 

The paper’s suggestions:

  1. creating a mandated framework with a two-step listing process to separate independent science and government policy decisions.
  2. incorporating timely independent, non-governmental peer review of decisions.
  3. defining important terms more clearly to avoid misinterpretation and taking shortcuts.
  4. making the whole process more transparent.

 

One of the researchers, Dr. Jeannette Whitton thinks the transparency of science is especially important during the creation of recovery strategies. It needs to be clear what the ideal situation for the recovery of a species is, what the most realistic scenario will be, and why these two assessments differ.  The taxpayers are funding this process and therefore they have a right to see what is happening.  The government is currently conducting a long overdue review of SARA and the researchers hope that their suggestions will be taken into account.

 

See the SARA website http://www.sararegistry.gc.ca/default_e.cfm for up to date information on the Species At Risk Act, new listings and recovery strategies.

 

Banff Spring Snail Photo © Mark and Leslie Degner
Podcast – Detailed information of specific species
[kaltura-widget uiconfid=”535″ entryid=”0_xcn217mz” width=”100″ height=”86″ addpermission=”” editpermission=”” /]
 A discussion with Dr. Whitton about specific species at risk
References
  • Movie by: Grace Jauristo
  • Script by: Grace, Maki, Matt and Junaid
  • Blog by: Maki Sumitani and Matt Wagstaff
  • Podcast by: Junaid Sargana
  • “Science, Policy, and Species at Risk in Canada” by Arne O. Mooers, Dan F. Doak C, Scott Findlay, David M. Green, Chris Grouios, Lisa L. Manne, Azadeh Rashvand, Murray A. Rudd, and Jeannette Whitton.  Published in BioScience, Vol.60 No.10, November 2010
Thank you!
  • We would like to thank Dr.Jeannette Whitton and Geoff Hoare for their contributions
  • Thank you to the Beaty Biodiversity Museum at UBC and the Vancouver Aquarium for allowing us to film and take photos
  • Thanks to the science 300 professors, Eric Jandciu and Jackie Stewart for all their help and advice.
  • Take a look at this link for some more information: endangered species in Canada
Categories
Biological Sciences Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science New and innovative science

Unraveling the Web of Alzheimer’s Disease

In January 2010, Dr. Cheryl Wellington and her team of researchers at the University of British Columbia made great strides by determining a potential treatment to relieve the loss of brain function caused by Alzheimer’s disease.

Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It is an incurable disease that progressively deteriorates mental function and causes memory loss as well as an inability to effectively communicate, reason and use one’s problem solving skills. Currently, over 26.6 million people suffer from it worldwide.

From a scientific point of view, Alzheimer’s is caused by an accumulation of misfolded proteins in the brain. When these misfolded proteins group together, they produce plaques. As a result, these plaques can cause swelling and damage to the brain, which leads to the symptoms seen in Alzheimer’s patients. In the most severe cases, not only does AD inhibit mental function, but it also interferes with how the body regulates its basic functions (e.g. respiration and heart rate), and this can cause death.

 

AD-2 by Flickr user Zerd: The image above illustrates plaques (red) and tangles (green) in a brain affected by Alzheimer’s disease.

 

In the podcast below, Dr. Cheryl Wellington gives more insight into Alzheimer’s and how it progressively disables mental function in a patient. She also outlines the steps that people can take in their mid-life to help prevent the onset of the disease.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 

As mentioned in the podcast, there are currently no drugs on the market that can stop the disease in its entirety. However, this is where Dr. Wellington’s research fills a knowledge gap and sets the foundation to find a potential drug that can be marketed to all AD patients.

 Wide Brain by Flickr user Enrique T: An image illustrating the plaque deposits present in an AD mouse.

 

In this video, we introduce Cheryl’s research, explain the drug that she works on and illustrate how she uses mice models to determine the drug’s effect on Alzheimer’s disease.

[youtube=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v= q2IZW1fvz2M&w=640&h=385]

 

One of the major difficulties that Alzheimer’s presents is its target population: a majority of people diagnosed with AD are over 65 years old. For this reason, the sufferers heavily rely on caregivers and close relatives for assistance. Consequently, the disease can create extreme stress and hardships within a family and financial burdens on our healthcare system. To this end, even though Cheryl’s research is promising, it is important to remember that Alzheimer’s isn’t part of normal aging: steps can be taken to prevent this disease altogether. By maintain a healthy lifestyle and exercising on a regular basis (especially in your 40’s and 50’s), you can diminish the likelihood of Alzheimer’s taking root in the brain and starting the plaque-building process. But don’t wait until your 40’s to start exercising!  Develop these habits at an early age – you’ll thank yourself later!

 

Further reading:

http://www.cfri.ca/our_research/researchers/search_researchers/researcher_detail.asp?ID=146

Dr. Wellington’s original research paper:

http://www.jbc.org/content/285/44/34144.short

 

Categories
Biological Sciences Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science

DNA, Prepare To Be Eaten!

DNA Uptake
Can you imagine working on something that is neither a plant nor an animal? Dr. Rosemary Redfield makes it her mission to study bacteria. Too small to see with the naked eyes, bacteria are unicellular microorganisms that do not have organelles or a nucleus. Some bacteria can be harmful to humans, whereas others can be beneficial. For example, some bacteria cause infections such as a strep throat whilst others aid in our digestion.

 

Many scientists commonly believe that it must be beneficial for bacteria to incorporate  DNA sequences into its own genome. They believe that this process of acquiring the DNA from the environment exists to make new random combinations of genes. These new combinations would replace the genes currently residing within the cell. However, Dr. Redfield did not simply accept this theory to be true; she began to question exactly what the purpose behind this process is. To her, the idea that the bacteria would take up genes lying around in the environment is not probable. One possible explanation is that the foreign DNA is left behind by dead cells; thus, they are unlikely to be useful. Dr. Redfield proposes that regardless of whether the DNA uptake will be beneficial to the bacteria or not, the accumulation of the DNA sequences in the cell would still occur.

The Redfield Lab

Dr. Redfield hypothesized that the bacteria were either making new combinations of the genes by accident or it could have been a side effect from another important process. Nevertheless, Dr. Redfield believes that the bacteria uptake DNA for food, which is a radical idea for many scientists.

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 

Haemophilus influenzae bacteria By SCIENCE PHOTO

 

 

To test her theory, Dr. Redfield needed to choose a type of bacteria that were “picky eaters.” Most bacteria do not have a preference for the DNA sequences that they uptake. However, she found two unusual types of bacteria that turned out to be picky eaters: Haemophilus influenzae and Neisseria gonorrheae. They both have a preference for the specific sequences of the DNA that they will accumulate; and these chosen sequences are similar to their own.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LoQ16P0K4b0&feature=g-upl

How is Dr. Redfield’s research relevant to you?
Her research probably will not impact you drastically in your daily lives, but that does not mean that it will never affect you in the future. Scientists are now interested in how and when bacteria are able or unable to reproduce. Once they discover the types of DNA the bacteria eat and how they acquire their food, scientists will be able to control their growth.

Further research on this field will prove to be very essential for medical purposes.The knowledge of how bacteria work is crucial to humanity. Bacteria are all around us and they deserve our time for they can be beneficial, and yet harmful to our society.

Photo with Dr. Rosemary Redfield Taken By: Hanna Oh at The Life Science Building

 

Credits for Podcast:
Script written by: Hanna Oh, Cha Tumtaweetikul, Jacyln Wiebe, Steven Xian
Interviewee: Dr. Rosemary Redfield
Narrated by: Hanna Oh, Cha Tumtaweetikul, Jacyln Wiebe, Steven Xian
Soundtrack credits to: suonho, Puniho, FreqMan, mansardian, BristolStories, digifishmusic, milton. and Setuniman.
Editted by: Steven Xian
Equipment and advices: Bruce Dunham, Eric Jandciu, Jackie Stewart, Andrew Trites from SCIE300.

 

Resources:
We would like to thank Dr. Rosemary Redfield for her interview and her Uptake Video animation and also the SCIE300 professors and teaching assistants: Bruce Dunham, Eric Jandciu, Jackie Stewart, and Andrew Trites for their advice.

 

For References and More Information, Check out Dr. Redfield’s Lab:
http://www.zoology.ubc.ca/~redfield/index.html
Categories
Environment Final Project Interview Project Issues in Science Science Communication

The Lower Fraser Valley Warms Up to Ozone – The Warning of the Global Warming

In Dr. Down Steyn’s research paper, “Impact of Climate Change on Ozone Pollution in the Lower Fraser Valley, Canada,” he analyzed climate patterns to determine which types led to elevated levels of ozone. His analysis allowed him to predict if there would be an increase in episodes of elevated ozone levels in the future (2046-2065). Dr. Steyn used different statistical techniques to capture the climate pattern, and applied these to forecast the future of air quality in the Lower Fraser Valley. According to Dr. Steyn, episodes of elevated ozone levels will increase to a dangerous amount due to global warming, and as such actions must be taken to address this problem. 

 

Environmental Canada: The image of Lower Fraser Valley

 

Air quality and Health affects

Ozone is a molecule consisting of three oxygen atoms. Despite its benefits in the upper atmosphere as a shield to harmful UV radiation, it is a pollutant in lower atmosphere. Addressing such a study is important because ozone is damaging to plants and poses certain health risks to humans. Such risks include lung inflammation, lung diseases, premature death, heart attack, and stunting the plant growth.

 

What affects the air quality?

There are three components to look at: temperature, wind, and pressure.

William M. Connolley: the image of atmosphere pressure pattern

1) Temperature has a significant relationship with the production of ozone. Ozone is generated by a chemical reaction and the rate of this reaction is temperature dependant. Thus, higher temperatures equate to abundance in ozone.

 2) The wind is what mixes the atmosphere. Mixing causes dilution and as a result, lowers the amount of pollution.

 3) In summer, a high pressure system develops in the Lower Fraser Valley. High pressure makes the atmosphere heavy, resulting in the sinking of the whole atmosphere. This sinking then causes the increase in temperature with its height and the vertical mixing is reduced.

 High Temperature + Light Wind + High Pressure System

= Pollution level ↑

 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A7Y0juwbHcU

How was the study conducted?

In order to analyze the climate pattern, Dr. Steyn used different statistical techniques and the following podcast will explain the specific tools used to analyze the pressure patterns such as:

–       Canadian Climate Model

–       Program for atmospheric pressure pattern

–       Empirical orthogonal function (EOF) decomposition

–       Clustering (grouping of pressure patterns in six dimensions)

Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.

 

Dr. Steyn concluded that in the future, the weather types are going to be the same while the temperature will be warmer due to global warming. In other words, global warming is the main factor in increasing ozone level.

 We thank Dr. Steyn for giving us an interview and explaining his research. We also would like to thank our SCIE 300 instructors for designing the science outreach project.

 

Categories
Environment Issues in Science

Will the Polar Bear be our new national animal?

We are all familiar with the increasing global temperatures that encourage the melting of arctic ice but we don’t really think too much about how this will effect species other then ourselves. “Canada is home to two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population and we have a unique conservation responsibility to effectively care for them,” said Environment Minister Peter Kent. Best estimates suggest the polar bear population is approximately 15,000 in Canada. Polar bears have an important effect on the animal populations in the arctic. They provide food for animals lower on the food chain by leaving behind animals they have killed and not fully finished eating in addition to their bodies being food for animals once they have died.

 

 

CBC News Report

 

 

Polar bear waiting for a seal at the edge of a hole in the ice

 

Polar bears are the worlds largest carnivores and are also tied for the largest bears on Earth. Being carnivores in the arctic, their main diet consists of bearded and ringed seals.The polar bears hunt the seas in a very specific way. They find holes in the ice sheet where the seals would come up to breath. When a seal surfaces the polar bear can easily attack from above and haul the seal onto the sheet. Climate change is therefore causing the ice  area to shrink therefore causing a decrease in hunting ground for polar bears. The population is therefore decreasing as many polar bears cannot find enough food to survive or reproduce.

Polar bear perched on shrinking ice sheet

On Thursday November 10,2011, Environment Canada formally declared that polar bears were to be considered a “species of concern”. This decision was made through consultation with provincial and territorial governments, regional wildlife management boards, aboriginals and other stakeholders. The classification of “species of concern” is one level below a  threatened classification and two levels below an endangered classification under Canada’s Species at Risk Act. Peter Kent continued to say, “Our government is demonstrating leadership in protecting this iconic species. Listing the polar bear under the Species at Risk Act represents an important contribution to protecting our environment and the animals that live in it.”

 

There is some controversy around this issue as not all were in favour of labelling the polar bears a “species of concern”. One argument is that there has not been enough surveying done to make these claims as the surveys conducted were both too infrequent and too limited.  Others feel that climate change is impacting many animal species but polar bears are very good at adapting so it may not be as large an impact as they’re predicting. Some claim the polar bear population is actually increasing but is simply changing location.

 

Aboriginal hunting polar bear

The government will be taking action by setting strict quotas on polar bear hunting. To exercise traditional rights aboriginals will be allowed to continue hunting the bears. Currently about 534 polar bears are killed annually in Canada, 325 of them by Inuit in Nunavut. To increase awareness of this issue a Conservative senator recently proposed that we replace the beaver with a polar bear as Canada’s national animal. I think that would be a simple way to get the issue out there and also polar bears make a much cooler national animal!

 

 

 

References:

 

CBC National News:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/11/10/environment-polar-bear-listing.html

 

Wikipedia:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polar_bear

 

Photos:

http://dailyanimalfwd.blogspot.com/2011/09/maybe-i-should-have-brought-some-bait.html

http://donate.cwf-fcf.org/site/MessageViewer?dlv_id=6101&em_id=3401.0

http://www.second-opinions.co.uk/should-all-animals-eat-a-high-fat-low-carb-diet-2.html

http://www.humanevents.com/article.php?id=45447

Categories
Environment Issues in Science Public Engagement Science Communication Science in the News

So is it too late?! Just ask David Suzuki…

On November 3rd, I witnessed one of the greatest examples of communicating science that I have ever seen. That evening, the University of British Columbia (UBC) was the lucky host to one of the most influential Canadians of our time: David Suzuki. He presented a lecture entitled “The Global Eco-crisis: Is it too late?”

 

David Suzuki, with a grayling from the Hart River, 2011. Photo by peelwatershed.

Who is David Suzuki?

If you have been living under a rock for the past few decades, you wouldn’t know that David Suzuki is one of the most well-known activists for reversing climate change, writing many books and hosting several TV shows on the subject. Most notably, he hosted the Canadian TV series, “The Nature of Things.” In 1990, David Suzuki co-founded the “David Suzuki Foundation,” a non-profit organization, which focuses on sustainability and climate change.

 

As David Suzuki braced the speaking podium, I prepared myself to be changed.

 

Humans are unique

David Suzuki began to trace the origin of humans from our common ancestors in Africa to today. What made   humans unique, he claimed, was their foresight. That is, our innate ability to predict or plan the future. He   explained that humans moved from Africa to eventually cover the world. Using our foresight, we exploited the resources of every location, only to move on when those resources were depleted.

 

Laws that we CAN change

Dr. Suzuki went on to describe the so-called “laws” that we have imposed on society today, specifically, a “law” called capitalism. But, he said, “laws” like capitalism aren’t really laws at all but they are “nuts!” because we can change them. With capitalism, economists rule the world and they just don’t give a “shit” about our environment and what we do to it. It is time that we change these laws and take control back from the economists. To do so, we have to take back our government and make it more representative. Vote.

 

Stop the excuses!

Moving on to current efforts being made, David Suzuki claimed that our government is full of excuses. As an example, he discussed the carbon tax. In Canada, we claimed that our businesses couldn’t survive a $15/ton carbon tax. But in Sweden, their business are doing just fine with a $120/ton carbon tax. It is time that we stop making excuses and get to work.

 

Never too late

Drop in the bucket. Photo by theilr.

 

Inspiring us, David Suzuki concluded that it isn’t too late. We can save our environment but first, we have to take back our government and the only way to do that is to vote. You may just feel like a drop in a bucket but he reminded us, with enough drops, we can fill the bucket.

From this lecture, I didn’t just learn that we need to change our environment but I also learned how to connect with your audience. David Suzuki kept the science basic and used language that was not only fun (there were more than a few swear words…) but easy to understand.

David Suzuki left me stirred.

Categories
Biological Sciences General Issues in Science Science in the News

After the Fukushima Nuclear Disaster- The Effect of Radiation on Human Health

 

  There was Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 15th 2011 which released radioactive materials due to equipment failures and nuclear meltdown. Concern remains over the potential effect on human health from radiation leaks at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.

 

What is radiation? 

Thinkstock: radiation sign

  Radiation is a process in which energetic particles or waves travel through a medium or space. The energy comes from a source and travels through space and may penetrate various materials. Iodine and cesium are examples of radioactive elements. There are two types: ionizing, and non-ionizing. Both types can be harmful to organisms while ionizing radiation is more harmful as it can cause DNA damage.

   We are all naturally exposed to background radiation from radon (Rn), colourless, odorless chemical gas found in soil, water and air.  We are also exposed to unnatural sources such as X-rays which deliver about 10days’ worth of naturally occurring radiation.

 

  Symptoms

 Symptoms of radiation sickness occur when the body is damaged by a very large dose of radiation over a short period of time. The more radiation a person absorbs, the sicker one will get. The best way to prevent harm is to prevent exposure. The strength of the radiation itself and distance from it are key factors in the severity of radiation sickness. 

 Nausea and vomiting often begin within hours of exposure, followed by diarrhea, headaches and fever. Since radiation destroys infection-fighting white blood cells, the greatest short-term risk after exposure is infection and the spread of infectious diseases.

 

 Human impacts 

abcnews: radiation and the body

 Ionizing radiation damages the body’s internal chemistry. Our bodies are able to repair effects of radiation on tissues, but too much radiation can cause DNA damage that the body can’t repair, leading to cancer. 

Vulnerable areas include:

  • -Thyroid gland
  • -Bone marrow
  • -Cells lining the intestine and stomach

  Babies and young children are more sensitive to radiation exposure because their cells typically divide faster than adults; increasing their risk of developing a radiation-related cancer later in life.

 

 

 Treatment

  Drugs can stimulate the growth of white blood cells and help people fight off infections. Exposed individuals can also be given capsules containing a dye that binds to thallium and cesium and helps the body get rid of these radioactive elements.

 Potassium iodide tablets are often given out to people at risk of contamination. The compound prevents or reduces absorption of radioactive iodine, through the thyroid gland, which uses iodine to produce thyroid hormones. But potassium iodide cannot prevent radioactive iodine from entering elsewhere in the body and does not affect the absorption of other radioactive elements, such as cesium, which stays in organs, tissue and the environment much longer than iodine.

  We must watch out our nuclear plant cells since one disaster may cause series of problems. There are many nuclear plants that can potentially become  problems and we should find ways to minimize or avoid further disasters.

Categories
Biological Sciences Issues in Science Science Communication Science in the News

Are YOU a snake-lover or an ophidiophobia (snake-phobia)?

A picture of Burmese Python. Source: CBC News

Are snakes one of your favourite animals or are they your least? Although some may adore them, I am among the people who are terribly afraid of them, or what people call an ophidiophobia. Who would have known that, “pythons’ big heart [could] hold clues for human health[?]” (The Associated Press). Scientists now learned that when the pythons undergo digestion, their hearts expand to the size similar to that of an Olympic athlete. How is this relevant to human? Scientists now look for clues from the pythons’ powerful heart muscles that could potentially benefit human’s hearts. A molecular biologist at the University of Colorado in Boulder, Leslie Leinwand, found that the pythons’ hearts expand because they are building up more muscles.

There have also been studies done on the pythons’ digestion pattern. For instance, reptile biologists observed that Burmese pythons could survive for almost a year without food. Furthermore, once they resume the meals, their metabolism would increase up to more than 40-fold. After digestion, their organs, except the brain, would grow larger in size. Leinward notices this distinct observation and tries to make a connection to human heart diseases. For people with chronic high blood pressure, their hearts are not able to circulate the blood as well as normal hearts. However, vigorous exercise might be able to enhance the recovery and strengthen heart muscles just like those of the pythons.

Dr. Leinwand working with the Python. Credit: Thomas Cooper

How is the research being conducted? Dr. Leinwand and her team worked with baby pythons to study their internal organs in details. Dr. Leinwand came to a conclusion that for these pythons, the fatty acids increase up to as much as 50 times during digestion. Theirs cells grow bigger, thus resulting in a larger heart size. Python’s blood is also full of fat, mainly three specific fatty acids in a particular combination, that enables this capability. Do these fatty acids have negative impacts on their hearts’ conditions? No, instead, they act as the heart protection. The pythons can rapidly burn the fat, turning it into fuel for energy. In contrast, humans’ metabolisms are not that efficient so the cells would accumulate fat and the accumulation might contribute to various heart diseases. As for the pythons, they already have enzymes to protect their hearts from damages during digestion.

A video on Dr. Leinwand’s interview in her laboratory.

One of the main researchers, Cecilia Riquelme, studied the applications of this knowledge. First, she bathed a rat’s heart cells with the plasma, blood cell, from the snake. The result turned out that the content of the python’s blood made the heart cells grew bigger and stronger. Researchers now continue to study that if putting fatty acid from the pythons’ blood into the rats would lead to any beneficial growths.

This is relevant to us because if these rats could benefit from the fatty acids and have their heart muscles strengthen, it implies that the pythons could be the key in helping human with heart diseases. Pythons may after all become our heroes!

Further Resources:

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21099-a-shot-of-snake-blood-makes-the-heart-grow.html

References:

http://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/story/2011/10/28/python-heart.html

http://cen.acs.org/articles/89/i44/Fatty-Acids-Heart.html

http://www.voanews.com/english/news/health/132940113.html

Categories
Environment Issues in Science Public Engagement

Biodegradeability: (Bio)Plastic and its (re)use

Plastic Bags and Landfills: A Perspective from SJSU NEWS on Vimeo.

Even though plastic, which is present in many aspects of our lives, has many applications and usages, it is not biodegradeable. The reason of the continuation of manifacturing plastic is that it “only takes up 5 percent of the world’s oil supplies and, in doing so, provides us with an exhaustive supply of material”. You might think “what about replacing plastic with biodegradeable material?” Aluminum and glass are more expensive and not as versatile as plastic. Wood processed products also have their downsides, such as the chemical treatment and clear-cutting.

Today, researchers are working on the synthesis of bioplastics that are based on “renewable biomass resources”. Some of the bioplastics are made to be biodegradeable, and their main applications are: packaging, easily-discarded items (e.g. utensils, bottles), and storage (e.g. food containers). The other that are produced to be nonbiodegradeable are used in areas that need endurability.

 While bioplastics will eventually provide a clean, recyclable, nontoxic alternative, energy and environmental analyst Christopher Flavin, author of “The Future of Synthetic Materials” insists that oil-based plastics aren’t going anywhere just yet. He predicts that the next 20 years will see bioplastics absorb a mere 5 percent of the global plastic market [source: Kahn].

 Meanwhile, we can use daily plastic products in an environmental friendly manner. For example, we can re-use plastic bags.  I recommend you to read “10 Smart Uses for Old Plastic Bags” and “5 Unusual Uses for Plastic Bags” for ideas of re-using old plastic bags.

According to 2007 estimates, most plastic bags are only used an average of 12 minutes and then discarded. Consider that the world uses a staggering 1 million bags a minute and you begin to see how big the problem is [source: Batty].

Take action and conserve the world!

——————————————————————————————

Further reading:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bioplastic

http://www.realsimple.com/home-organizing/new-uses-for-old-things/10-smart-uses-old-plastic-bags-10000001097755/

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/green-science/can-we-replace-plastic.htm

Categories
Course Reflections Issues in Science Public Engagement Science Communication

“A tablet a day, and I was limitless.”

Source: Film O Filia

 

If someone approached you claiming their product would allow you to use 100% of your brain, would you buy it?

 

Source: National Institute of Mental Health

You are probably familiar with this scenario if you watched the thriller ‘Limitless’, released earlier this year, starring Bradley Cooper. The plot of ‘Limitless’ is based on one of the most commonly perpetuated ideas in society, that we use only 10% of our brains (this number varies depending on who you ask). But is this science fact or science fiction? Before you aspire to become an all-encompassing genius like Bradley Cooper in the film, let’s let science speak for itself.

 

The human brain is the most complex organ of the body and controls every aspect of our lives. It weighs roughly 1.4 kg, and uses a whopping 20% of all the food energy we take in. Scientists have divided the brain into many sections based on the functions they perform. These are some of the major brain lobes and their function:

-Frontal Lobe: reasoning, planning, parts of speech, movement, emotions, and problem solving.

-Parietal Lobe: associated with movement, orientation, recognition, and perception of stimuli.

-Occipital Lobe: associated with visual processing.

-Temporal Lobe: associated with perception and recognition of auditory stimuli, memory, and speech.

This is by no means an exhaustive list, as these lobes contain several sub-divisions, which are known to perform even specific tasks.

Source: Mysid

Evidently, these divisions compose the entire brain, not a mere 10% of it. What is true then, is that we may not use all parts of our brain at the same time, but every section of the brain is necessarily used at some point to perform certain tasks. We know this to be true by studies of brain damage. When almost any part of the brain is damaged, there is always a loss of abilities. Furthermore, brain-imaging technologies have shown several areas of the brain (more than 10%) to be active at the same time under many circumstances, such as during sleep. This fact alone is enough to debunk the notion of using 10% of our brains as a myth by default.

 

Source: Human Diseases and Conditions

So, despite how much science has progressed in studying the brain, most people still dwell in ignorant bliss. Perhaps because advertisers and the media prey on them by stating this phrase as scientific fact. Shockingly, even people who profess scientific background take part in spreading this misinformation. The truth is, this is a misquote that has gone viral, and is absolutely misleading people as science.

 

Let’s focus on the opening question.

 

There do exist substances, such as certain drugs or functional foods that can improve or enhance mental functions. One such substance that you may be familiar with is the caffeine in coffee or energy drinks, which improves memory and concentration. Nonetheless, based on the claims of the person, it would be wise to refuse their offer, because truly humans already use 100% of their brains.

 

 

Further reading:

http://faculty.washington.edu/chudler/tenper.html

 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/10%25_of_brain_myth

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