Category Archives: Issues in Science

Could the new Cyclosporin be in our own bodies?

Posted on April 5, 2012 by | 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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Cutting out the middleman

Posted on March 14, 2012 by | 2 comments

Fungal infection of the bone marrow. Image by euthman.

Nowadays, clinical transplantation is known to save many lives, but not without a catch. Patients have to go through immunosuppressive therapy if the MHC molecules on the graft, or transplanted tissue, do not match their own.

Our bodies are very picky and sensitive. For instance, we are okay with accepting skin grafts from ourselves – this is a type of autograft. However, if we were to be given a skin graft from someone unrelated, this arrangement is not long-lived. We let this allograft stick around for a bit, but ultimately kick it out after 10-13 days. We’ll remember it, too. Like a woman scorned, if this same offensive graft comes again, we boot it out even faster. The T cells living in our bodies as defenders do not take kindly to foreign tissue. Immune responses are mounted as a result, causing transplant rejection. Learn more about the immune response here:

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For clinical transplantation to be successful, people have relied on immunosuppressive drugs to inhibit the defensive mechanisms our cells carry out when we encounter foreign molecules. This is problematic because now people are more susceptible to cancer and infections. The issue with transplant rejection is that donor and recipient cells don’t like each other. What do we do when two people don’t get along? We force them to.

Scientists have recently tested a method for transplant recipients to accept mismatched donor organs. In this ongoing trial, patients are exposed to chemotherapy and radiation and injected with enriched donor stem cells, hoping to achieve what is called “chimeric tolerance”. The idea is to make two immune systems work in one body by destroying the host’s first.

This new approach is pretty questionable. Small sample size aside, it is not known whether the enriched cells really made an impact as the study is missing a control group (where patients would presumably undergo treatment without these cells). Furthermore, these cells were not described very clearly. Suppressing the immune system with chemotherapy and radiation is also unnecessarily harmful and risky. Will it be worth it in the end?

The lengths we will go to in order to cure disease (Image from xkcd.com - click to enlarge).

References:

1. Murphy, Kenneth P. Janeway’s Immunology (8th ed), p652-664.
2. Steenhuysen, Julie. Immune system tricked to accept donor organs: study. NewsDaily. Accessed March 14, 2012.
3. Garland Science. The Immune Response. Youtube video, accessed March 14, 2012.

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, New and innovative science, Science Communication, Science in the News

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Platinum

Posted on February 26, 2012 by | 1 comment

Platinum is one of the rarest, strongest, and most expensive elements in Earth’s crust [ref2]. At the moment, 80% of the platinum comes from South Africa [ref7]. It naturally occurs in alluvial sands, unconsolidated terrestrial sediment composed of sorted or unsorted sand, gravel, and clay that has been deposited by water [ref4]. Since it occurs naturally in the alluvial sands of various rivers, South American natives used it to produce artifacts.  Platinum also occurs in form of sulfides (PtS), tellurides (PtBiTe), and arsenides (PtAs2), and as alloys with nickel or copper. Platinum arsenide, (PtAs2), is a major source of platinum associated with nickel ores in the Sudbury Basin deposit in Ontario, Canada [ref7].

”]Platinum’s resistance to wear and tarnish makes it an appropriate metal for creating fine jewelry. Also, it has an exceptional resistance to corrosion and high temperature and has stable electrical properties. All of these characteristics have been used for industrial applications [ref7]. In 2006, approximately 240 tons of platinum was sold.  More than 50% of platinum was used in catalytic converters in exhaust systems of most cars. Catalytic converters combine carbon monoxide (CO) and unburned fuel with oxygen from the air, forming (CO2) and water vapor (H2O). Furthermore, 20.5% was used for making jewelry and 5.5% was used in electronics and 4.68% was used in the chemical industry as a catalyst due to its non-reactive nature. The remaining went to various other minor applications, such as electrodes and anticancer drugs [ref3].

 

Platinum in the form of a compound is also found to be significant to the human society. For instance, cisplatin, a platinum-containing compound, is used to treat various types of cancers because of its ability to kill cells. Cisplatin can be obtained by electrolysis of platinum electrodes [ref6]. In its pure state, platinum is quite soft. Alloying it with other platinum group metals like palladium, ruthenium and iridium can increase its hardness. For example, a combination of 950 platinum with 50 parts per thousand of ruthenium leads to the formation of a hard alloy. This alloy is preferred by the Platinum Guild and is used in wedding bands. Similarly, a combination of 900 platinum with 100 parts per thousand of iridium is an American favorite for hand fabrication of jewelry due to its added hardness [ref1].

”]Although platinum has so many applications, one shouldn’t ignore the problems caused by the continued use of the element. Platinum’s excessive use in the exhaust systems of most cars causes the release of platinum compounds, which become a part of the road dust. Platinum content of road dusts can be soluble. Therefore, it enters the waters, sediments, soil and finally, the food chain [ref5]. Short-term exposure to these platinum compounds may cause irritation of the eyes, nose, and throat, and long-term exposure may cause both respiratory and skin allergies [ref7].

 

References:

  1. 1Weddingband.com. http://www.1weddingband.com/platinfo.html  (accessed 12/09/02)
  2. Cohen, D.W. New Scientist.   http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg19426051.200-earths-natural-wealth-an-audit.html (accessed 12/09/02)
  3. George M.W.; Platinum-Group Metals, USGS 2007, 57, 1
  4. Geotech.org. http://www.geotech.org/survey/geotech/dictiona.html#sectA (accessed 12/09/02)
  5. Ravindra, K.; Bencs, L.; Van Grieken, R. Platinum group elements in the environment and their health risk. Sci. Total Environ. 2004, 318, 1-43.
  6. Rosenberg, B.; Van Camp, L.; Krigas, T.; Inhibition of Cell Division in Escherichia coli by Electrolysis Products from a Platinum Electrode, Nature 1965, 205, 698-699.
  7. Wikipedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Platinum (accessed 12/09/02)

 

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Posted in Fun!, Issues in Science, New and innovative science, Science in the News

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IS ASPARTAME SAFE TO CONSUME?

Posted on February 13, 2012 by | 5 comments

How many of you have heard about aspartame? Aspartame is a type of food additive, a low-calorie sweetener, which gives off 4 calories per gram when it is metabolized. It is extremely sweet and produces the equivalent caloric amount as sucrose. Therefore, Aspartame is put in low-calorie foods, such as soft drinks, desserts, cereals, and chewing gums, in small quantity to enhance the sweetness, being a direct additive. Since 1981, Canada has approved the use of Aspartame in foods and since then, caused controversies regarding the risks it possesses.

Composition of aspartame. Image from NutraSweet company.

Aspartame is created through binding aspartic acid and phenylalanine, forming dipeptide, which is then esterified with methanol. Because our body takes in Aspartame’s constituent components, which are aspartic acid, phenylalanine, and methanol, some question the risk the three components pose to our body. However, Health Canada evaluated that Aspartame poses a very little to no threat to people’s health while it accommodates diverse functions and benefits.

First, people pose that intake of methanol would be dangerous, causing health problems such as lupus, blindness, and sclerosis. However, people have digested methanol through fruits and vegetables even if it is not from Aspartame. For instance, a cup of tomato juice includes methanol six times more than that is contained in a cup of soft drink with Aspartame. Methanol does not build up on our body system but is metabolized to formaldehyde, and then to formic acid, which breaks down to water and carbon dioxide in the end.

Tomato juice. Picture by Elise.

Furthermore, although some identify Aspartame as a toxic substance that can possibly damage those with diabetes, and a causation of cancer, brain tumors, seizures, and allergies, further research done states that they are untrue. Health Canada has done research on safety regarding the possible risk Aspartame present, but the result indicates that it is false.

Nevertheless, intake of excessive amount of phenyalanine can be damaging to people with phenylketonuria, which is an inherited metabolic disorder. People diagnosed with phenylketonuria cannot digest or metabolize phenylalanine. Therefore, all products containing Aspartame should always exhibit the existence of phenylalanine. Those with phenylketonuria can be aware of the fact and be careful in what they consume to prevent sickness.

Nutrition facts of Tab. Image by Steve.

Other than this, Aspartame is safe to consume in its acceptable daily intake (ADI), which is 40mg per kilogram of body weight. For me, I weigh 50kg, which translates into that I can take 2000mg (40mg x 50) of Aspartame per day. Since drink in Canada usually contains 49mg Aspartame per 100ml soft drink, my acceptable daily intake of soft drink with Aspartame is 4.1L (2000mg / 490mg Aspartame per L). I even do not drink that much of water in a day, therefore, the acceptable daily intake of Aspartame is set very broadly and most of people would not intake Aspartame over their daily limit.

References

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Entire Universe Is Just An Illusion

Posted on January 30, 2012 by | 1 comment

Recently, I’ve developed a keen interest in fields like epigenetics and quantum physics, exploring alternative perspectives on existence.

Among the intriguing arguments I’ve encountered in various readings is the notion that the universe emerges from movement. This argument, though simple, carries a profound and perhaps even controversial implication.

This is how the author of meta-therapy, Mohammad Ali Taheri, explained his theory in one of his books:

“Imagine I am holding a piece of long and narrow wood. If I ask you to describe what you see in my hand you would say it is a long narrow piece of wood. however if  I make a circular motion with it fast enough, depending  upon the angle of your vision or how fast I am moving the piece of wood or where is the center of my motion you will see a circle or perhaps a cylinder. So here is another question, is this cylinder real?

Of course, it is real you might respond, you can see it, and also you might even feel the air that is moving because of its motion . Therefore it is real.

However, does the cylinder exist?

Perhaps it does not. The reason is that in the instant I stop moving the piece of wood the cylinder changes back into being a long and narrow piece of wood.

Well, you might ask how this is related to life and living things.

We all know that everything in this world is made of atoms and atoms are made of electrons which evolve around their nucleus. Additionally, electrons and nuclei themselves are made of subatomic particles which move around each other and furthermore most of an atom is just an empty space (which is greatly discussed in scientific articles specifically regarding quantum physics).  How atoms can with most of them being empty space give rise to solid objects. If we look at an atom from a distance, we will see spheres that are the consequence of electron clouds being formed by moving around their nucleus in specific orbits. Eventually, we perceive an atom as a solid matter.

Now let’s expand our atomic discussion by considering the human body. Knowing our body is made of millions of cells and every single cell in our body is made of electrons and protons. If we could stop electrons’ movement, the nuclei that will be left from a human can be gathered on a needle’s tip. Let’s get even closer and look at a collection of the nuclei. Each nuclei is made from protons and neutrons that move in certain directions. If we stop protons and neutrons movement, what will be left will be much less than 1 nanometer which consists of quarks and positrons, etc. .”

from http://e04.courseblock.com/?p=68

here is a musical twist of what I just said with more information YouTube Preview Image

let us expand our discussion even more to outer space. Most of the outer space is also empty space, just like an atom. Planets and stars revolve around each other.  It is worth noting that we see planets and stars around us the way they are because we are positioned on planet Earth which happens to have a certain speed and position around the sun. This question comes to mind would we see galaxy and outer space the way we see it now if we were living on for example planet Neptune or planet Venus. If we were moving faster or slower than what we are moving now, the “reality” of outer space would be much different than what we have definitions for in books and scientific articles at the current time.

Conclusions:

  1. the whole universe is made of atoms and therefore from movement.
  2. we see things and based on our 6 senses we understand our surroundings. In fact, the entire universe is a consequence of the movements of electrons and we are seeing just an illusion.

Bizarre yet fascinating.

complementary to my conclusion>>>The illusion of reality YouTube Preview Image

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