Category Archives: New and innovative science

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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How Forgetting Might Become the Norm

Posted on March 12, 2012 by | 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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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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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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Fighting Global Warming with Global Cooling

Posted on January 30, 2012 by | 1 comment

A recent news article explains a potential reason as to why our past “little” ice age occurred. The National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) suggests that “an unusual 50-year-long episode of four massive tropical volcanic eruptions triggered the Little Ice Age between 1275 and 1300 A.D.” (1) These eruptions released sulfates and other aerosols that increased the reflectivity of the atmosphere, reducing incoming solar radiation thus cooling the earth. However, this sparked interest in terms of current possible solutions toward the opposite effect: that is, global warming; a highly debated topic in today’s society.

There is much concern over the increase of the earth’s average surface temperature due to greenhouse gases; to the point where geoengineering is becoming a very important field. In fact, some fairly recent farfetched ideas to cool the earth have been discussed, some of which include increasing the number of trees to remove carbon dioxide, or releasing aerosols such as sulfates into the atmosphere using blimps, mimicking what a volcanic eruption would do but on an evenly distributed and global scale. Some even believe that releasing millions of mirrors into our orbit to reflect sunlight may be a solution to cool the earth!

To illustrate a brief idea behind geoengineering, consider this YouTube video:

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What really needs to be considered though is if we were to proceed with some of these proposed ideas within the geoengineering field, will we cause more harm than good? Can we use previous data from events such as the volcanic eruptions mentioned earlier to predict how a large input of aerosols can affect industries? Of course, these questions and many more are all under investigation using very powerful computer climate models, as climate is a very difficult phenomenon to predict and understand.

 

Reference:

1. Was the Little Ice Age Triggered by Massive Volcanic Eruptions?” Science Daily: News & Articles in Science, Health, Environment & Technology. Web. 30 Jan. 2012. http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/01/120130131509.htm>.

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Human’s natural defence!

Posted on January 23, 2012 by | Leave a comment

It have been unknown to many why our eyes, the most fragile system of our body are so resistant to bacterial infection. Tears are shed daily in our everyday life but beside lubricating our eyes, it has a eve more important function.

Bacteriologist Alexander Fleming discovered in human tears a germ-fighting enzyme which he named lysozome in 1922. He collected his own tears, then demonstrated its extraordinary power to exterminate bacteria infront of contemporaries at Britain’s Royal Society.

tears contain an enzyme that gobbles up bateria

How is this possible? According to Philip Collins, a physics professor at University of California, Irvine, each molecule is essentially a set of rapacious jaws that latches onto microbial invaders, starts chomping and does not let go.

This motion allows enzyme to open huge holes in the bacteria, which cause the bacteria to explode.

Each tear you shed contains an armada of these enzymes, ready to gobble up germs before they infect the sensitive tissue around your eye. However to study these enzymes, the researchers must keep one of the molecules still. To do this they  relied on a tiny technology: carbon nanotubes.

A lysozyme molecule was tethered by an amino acid to a nanotube. Then passed an electric current along the tube, turning the molecules into little transistor. When lysozyme sprang into action each bite of its jaws produce an electrical activity.

This signal was like “a microphone that allows us to listen in on the enzyme’s activity,” according to Collins.

This newly found technique was also used to study many other molecules. For further understanding on the processes used :

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Resources:

 

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Great Bowerbirds and Great Illusions

Posted on January 21, 2012 by | 1 comment

Are you having a difficult time finding the right girl for you? Have you ever been excessively concerned that she will not approve of how you organize all of your belongings? Well, maybe it is time you took a page out of the courting-book of a pro!

Greater Bowerbird. Image by Laura Kelley.

Bowerbirds belong to the genus Ptilonorhynchidae, which consists of 8 genera and 20 species found in different parts of Indonesia, Papua New Guinea and Australia. What sets these birds apart are the elaborate courtship displays of the male. Just check out this video of the Vogelkop Bowerbird from the BBC nature documentary series, Life.

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If you thought that was remarkable, just wait until you hear about the Greater Bowerbird of northern Australia! The male creates two parallel walls of sticks which form a bower with an avenue between the walls. The avenue opens up to a collection of grey stones, shells and bones called the court or gesso. This extravagant structure has no use but to attract potential mates. Using elaborate vocal mimicry, a male entices females to inspect his bower. Upon the arrival of a female in the centre of the bower avenue, the male stands in the court just out of the female’s field of view. The male then displays to her a variety of colourful objects and the colourful patch of feathers on the crest of his head. If the female is sufficiently impressed, mating occurs shortly thereafter.

Bower with avenue opening into the court. Image by Laura Kelley.

The Greater Bowerbird stands apart from its bowerbird relatives because of how it arranges objects in its court. In 2010, researchers at Deakin University looked at the geometry of the Greater Bowerbird court. They discovered that males are very particular with the selection and location of objects in the court. Males create a size gradient of objects in the court by placing smaller objects close to the female’s location in the avenue and increasing the size of the objects placed further away. From the female’s position in the avenue an illusion called forced perspective is created where the pattern in the court appears to be more even than it otherwise would appear.

Measuring the characteristics of the court. Note the progression in size of the objects, small to large from right to left. Image by Laura Kelley.

On January 20th another study was published which found that this illusion impacts mating success! Males who create a court with a higher quality gradient gain more mates than males who make a poorer quality gradient. When observed from the female’s perspective, males with the most evenly patterned courts have the greatest number of mates.

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The authors suggest several reasons to explain this phenomenon, but what I find most interesting are the implications. Many animals, especially birds, are very perceptive. There are countless species which perform elaborate courtship rituals. It is very possible that similar forced perspective illusions are used by other species. We may have barely scratched the surface on this one!

Sources:

Anderson, B. L. Bird-Brained Illusionists. Science 335, 292-293 (2012).

Davies, E. Male bowerbirds ‘benefit from optical illusions’. BBC Nature online. Accessed January 20, 2012.

Endler, J. A., Endler, L. C. & Doerr, N. R. Great bowerbirds create theaters with forced perspective when seen by their audience. Current biology 20, 1679-1684 (2010).

Kelley, L. A. & Endler, J. A. Illusions Promote Mating Success in Great Bowerbirds. Science 335, 335-338 (2012).

Visual illusion the key to Bowerbirds mating success. Youtube video. Accessed January 20, 2012.

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