Author Archives: ctodd

Could the new Cyclosporin be in our own bodies?

Posted on April 5, 2012 | Leave a comment

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The Immune system Simplified (Nobel Media)

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Recent research at the BC children’s hospital in Vancouver, Canada has unearthed one of the mysteries of an immune cell that may play a key role in combating auto-immune diseases.

"A Regulatory T Cell" Image Source: http://www.iayork.com/Images/2008/12-8-08/BioLegendTReg.png

The cell in question is the regulatory T cell (Treg), a regulatory cell responsible for the management of immune responses. While largely unstudied, this cell has been found to prevent disease and illness brought on by the body’s own immune system. Tregs monitor our immune systems and counter-balance the constant assault against the cells within our bodies both malignant and benign. In a sense, they’re the whistle blowers of the body police.

While the job of Tregs is to control and reduce immune response, they can also be used to quell a person’s runaway immune system and subdue the illnesses our immune systems can sometimes create.

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While Treg therapy may seem futuristically out of reach or too good to be true, preliminary trials so far demonstrated promising results in human and mouse models. Anti-immune therapies using Tregs have been so effective and versatile that they not only treat the inflammation in Crohn’s Disease but tissue rejection in organ transplants. At times, this cell is  even capable of giving the body life long tolerance to the transplanted foreign organs.

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"Simplified Illustration of the Inflammatory Response" Image Source: http://www.rkm.com.au/immunology/immune-images/IMMUNE-inflammation-R-600.jpg

Despite these triumphs, Treg therapies still have a long way to go. The recent discovery found by the BC researchers shed light on interactions of Tregs with Neutrophils, immune cells involved in the generic first response of immune systems. While Tregs are meant to suppress immune responses, they seem to attract neutrophils in vast quantities which are highly inflammatory in nature. Until more is known about the relationships and functions of Tregs, researchers may run the risk of accidentally triggering an immune response when trying to reduce it. Another possible risk to consider is that Treg therapy may increase our risk of cancer by suppressing the cells responsible for keeping it in check.

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Despite these risks it is obvious that Treg therapies have an untapped potential with almost limitless application to illnesses associated with an overactive immune system. Our bodies’ tolerance of Tregs and their adaptive and responsive nature make them not only ideal in that they act like living cyclosporine, but they have been tweaked and perfected to be the ideal  immune suppressant for over millennia, before we ever got sick.

 

 

 

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Fun!, Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Uncategorized

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How Forgetting Might Become the Norm

Posted on March 12, 2012 | 4 comments

Memory is a strange thing.

The more we learn the more we seem to forget, quite literally, and in so doing we help ourselves learn even more.

A strange proposal then would be whether it possible to forget the baggage we don’t like, keep those we do, and maybe throw in some fun stuff that never happened. It all sounds crazy, but this world is a crazy place.

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To start with how, let’s look at how memories are formed. In the brain, chemicals and proteins are released that help neurons pass electric potentials between themselves, and this helps the neurons make new ion channels with each other. It’s like making phone lines of memory between brain cells. The creation of these circuits is called Consolidation and until recently was thought to be concrete.

That “recently” happened when a young graduate named Karim Nader discovered that when memories are remembered or “Reconsolidated” they can be wiped out if the chemicals aren’t there to make the connection.

It turns out that when you remember something, a few things happen. Similar memories that would compete with that memory can be mixed in or weakened/eliminated by the prefrontal cortex and the memory itself is literally rebuilt.

"Seems Like a Good Idea" Image:Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind

Because of this, every time you remember something it gets a little altered in the process, and if the chemicals are blocked, the reconsolidating memory becomes wiped.

“This is crazy and awesome, but too crazy for me, can I make bad, painful memories better without this?” Yes you can. Because memories are associated with different emotions or perceptions, they’re located in different places. Negative ones are found in the amygdala, though they can be removed and relocated elsewhere. How? Think about the memory in a happier setting when you’re immune to feeling blue, it will remain in your mind but won’t have the same emotionally negative effects. This is why ecstasy is one of the most effective PTSD treatments ever.

"Pacman, eating pills to invoke trippy colours and devour your ghosts" Image:Pacman

“How can I make this more fun?” PLAY TETRIS. Playing Tetris within 4-6 hours of trauma significantly reduces the associated trauma with a painful memory. Yes folks, drugs and videogames are the answer, Pacman had it right.

“This is cool, can I be programmed with happy thoughts?” Yes you can. It turns out we’re really good at remembering things that never happened. Dr. Elizabeth Loftus has demonstrated that 1/3 of subjects can be tricked into thinking false memories are their own, even with only one exposure to it. This is why people can be convinced they met Bugs bunny at Disneyland.

“Nice, can I have this memory wipe as a pill please?” Not yet, but a scientist named Dr.Sacktor has found the primary and defining chemical involved in (re)consolidation. It’s called PKMzeta, a form of protein Kinase C. It’s needed to maintain memories, and inhibiting it while remembering something leads to a swift and selective wipe of that something.

“Do you think I can get a prescription?” You may in the future if you have chronic neuropathic pain. It likely will have the same effect on the spine as the brain, and it might even help people with addictions.

All in all this is fabulous news. Though it can be a lot to take in, whether it makes you fear an Orwellian mind control police or you’re just excited to become a mind-tweaking psychonaut, it likely won’t matter as you’ll probably forget you thought about it anyway.

"A Sea of Potential" Image from: http://thetechnologicalcitizen.com/?p=2471

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Fun!, New and innovative science, Science Communication, Uncategorized

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A Lovely Indecision

Posted on February 13, 2012 | 5 comments

There’s hardly anything as conflicting as tastes, especially subconscious tastes that vary on a monthly cycle and alternate with circumstance. In honour of Valentine’s Day, we shall explore the theme of indecision in female mate selection, featuring the wonders of the pill.

To begin, attraction in females shifts between when she’s ovulating and not.

While in the fertile throws of follicle phase, females generally prefer a male with manly features and high testosterone levels, as well as a dissimilar Major Histocompatibility Complex (MHC). MHCs are linked to immunity, so humans naturally seek to diversify for maximum heterozygosity and variation. A fun fact, while fertile, girls in relationships are also known to develop a taste for dominant smelling men.

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Most of the time though, women are not in fertile mode, and in these circumstances tend to fall back on men who have a similar MHC to themselves. They also favour men who are less masculine and more nurturing and supportive, especially if they live in a healthy environment.

Based on these natural cycles, we can see how there might be some conflict of interest depending on what day it is.

"I don't know what I want!" Image:ehow.com

Sometimes, one doesn’t even need cycles to complicate things. While single, girls have an increased preference for MHC similar men, but then have dissimilar MHC preference when they’re already with someone. If that’s not enough, these changing preferences of MHC make a huge impact as scent is much more emphasized in importance with women rather than men. Occasionally, scent can even be at odds in importance with visuals though it varies on the population and culture.

That said, a person’s heterozygosity of their MHC can be sensed through the inspection of facial features. While females favour as much heterozygosity as possible, they seem to be attracted to those with similar MHC as well.

So, visuals conflict with olfactory cues? Awesome.

Now what about the pill? Surely this fabulous contraption of contraception must simplify things no? Well, sort of.

”The Pill adds some consistency, whereby everyday is non-fertile day. It’s more or less a fake pregnancy that replaces the possibility of a real one, and this causes women to go into “find a nurturing, similar man phase.” It’s without any surprise then that women on the pill have a marked preference for MHC similar men that totally overrides any ambition for seeking a dissimilar partner.

Consistency? Fabulous! What’s the catch?

Women who find their man on the pill tend to have less sexual attraction to their partners as well as decreasing sexual satisfaction over time. They become very jealous at a rate proportional to estradiol intake, and also have an increased desire to cheat, meanwhile having much more severe “affective responses” to partner infidelity, and having an increased frequency of “mate retention behaviour.” And you put on a few :3

But don’t worry, there are some positives. Those that meet their partner on the pill have more satisfaction with their partner in non-sexual ways, have happier relationships with more emotional satisfaction, and have relationships that last 2 years longer on average.

So really no matter what, it’s a mess of matter of preference. Just have a preference for the mess that you prefer.

"Use Both Instead!" Image:ehow.com

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Fun!, Science Communication, Uncategorized

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Natural vectors of supernatural bugs, seem to be from humans, naturally.

Posted on January 23, 2012 | Leave a comment

There seems to be a rising fear of sickness around the world. With ever increasing populations in regions of poor hygiene, international access to transportation, and an abundance of antibiotic resistant outbreaks, its no wonder movies like Contagion can find an audience.

CC by SilentFrenzy

While people realize that restricting access to medical treatment or travel would be inconvenient, most promote awareness of proper antibiotic use and limiting the use of antibacterial soaps. Despite these interventions, the rise of the superbug still remains a problem on our horizon. It would seem pathogens are still developing immunity to our arsenal and that the vast majority are appearing out of nature. Or are they?

While Antibiotic Resistant Genes (ARG) have been evolving in an arms race with toxins and biocides for millenia, there is evidence that human activity may be partially responsible for selective pressures even when these ARGs seem to appear out of nature. Here are two human induced sources that have been until recently overlooked:

CC, by Karen V Bryan

Domestic rearing of animals has long had implications of giving rise to ARGs in bacteria, however the relationship between these pathogens and their aquatic vector to us remains largely unstudied. While practices like composting manure can help eliminate ARG carrying pathogens, bacteria can still survive through animal production wastewater and seep into surface and ground water. Such wastewater derived ARGs have been found making their way through sewage and treatment plants and to our local tap. If this is not enough to worry about, bacteriophages can transmit ARGs to bacteria without selective pressures, and they are even more robust than their hosts in aqueous environments.

NRCS photo gallery (Sarah Minor)

A way to diminish this vector may lie with riparian buffer zones and grassed waterways which reduce the turbidity of water, significantly reducing the viability of bacteria in treatment plants.

 

CC by Maria S

 

Another potential vector is metal. People have long known of the biocidic effects of various metals due to jewellery. The reaction, colloquially called metal allergy, can influence a person’s choice of earrings as much the look itself.

While many have taken advantage of this, think hospitals and plumbing, recent experiments suggest that metal concentration may have an impact on ARGs. Areas of past mining or industrial application have been cited as having higher ARG levels correlated with various metal concentrations. While some researchers maintain that metal resistance does not correlate with antibiotic resistance, proponents of metal derived resistance maintain that it is not the metal itself that creates the resistance but that it increases the frequency of gene transfer which may increase the incidence of ARGs over time. To add credence to their argument, a strong correlation of copper with ampicilin resistance was found in the wild, and further examination is currently underway.

Altogether, we are finding more vectors of ARGs everyday, and that they often have simple causes and occasionally practical solutions. And while we may still fear what we don’t know, it is science that enlightens us with what we do. There is no doubt that with time and the application of science, the rising fears of sickness will dissipate, and some thriller films will be a little less infectious.

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