Category Archives: Biological Sciences

Sleep Quantity VS. Sleep Quality!

Does sleeping longer really benefit us throughout the day? Most of us have been told that lots of sleep is necessary to function at our best, but there really haven’t been any findings that show more than 7 or 8 hours of sleep causes you to function well or to function even better than normal compared to sleeping 6 or 7 hours. Not many  people realize the importance of the amount of time that is actually needed for the brain to refresh itself and the habit of sleeping at the right time along with waking up at the right time.  I argue that sleeping longer does not improve cognitive and body functions, but sleeping with a consistent schedule and good sleep quality is better for the body and brain.

Sleep quantity is important, especially in the time the brain needs to refresh itself through different stages. Sleep can be characterized into four stages and rapid eye movement (REM). The first stage is where the body is in between consciousness and unconsciousness and theta activity is between 3.5 and 7.5 Hz. The second stage is where eye movement ceases, and brain waves slow down. The third stage is when the brain starts producing delta waves. By the fourth stage, the brain pretty much just produces delta waves exclusively.

Fig.1 The different cycles of sleep. (Photo by Marshal Brain)

After the fourth stage, the body is now in REM sleep, usually referred to as deep sleep. During REM sleep, breathing becomes more rapid and the eyes jerk rapidly in different directions. It is also during this time that the quantity of sleep is very important because the brain and body is rejuvenating itself. But is it wise to think that, because brain and body need lots of time to rejuvenate itself, oversleeping is justified?

According to the American Sleep Association (ASA), the average amount of sleep for adults usually fall in the range of 7.5 to 8.2 hours of sleep; however, there are variations where others may need as little as 5 or 6 hours to function just as well.

YouTube Preview Image Neurologist talks about getting good quality sleep (from MercySacramento)

Mercy Medical Group neurologist and sleep specialist Alan Shatzel shares that efficient and quality sleep is very important, and the reason why people are sleep deprived even when they do sleep some 8 hours is because there are various factors that are interfering with their sleep.

Fig. 2 Sleep deprivation is bad for your job and health.

An article from the Journal of Psychosomatic Research looked at the sleep quality vs. the sleep quantity between college students. What the study showed was that sleep quality was better related to health, feelings of tension, anger, anger, fatigue, and confusion. This study not only shows that sleep quality is more important than sleep quantity, it also shows that sleep quality with a consistent schedule is necessary for better performance.

From my own experience, university is tough and in order to do well, there are times when I have skipped several nights of sleep just to review more material. However, whether I did well or not, I would always feel very unsatisfied afterwards; not because of the test, but because I would be getting headaches and other pains. Even after sleeping for 10 hours just to make up for lost sleep, I would still feel horrible and tired.

Therefore, I would strongly advise everyone that whether you have an exam tomorrow or a big presentation in a few weeks, the best strategy for doing well is sleeping with  consistency (~7-8 hours per day) along with good quality sleep!

-Daniel Liao

Sources:

Pilcher, J.J., D.R. Ginter, et al. “Sleep quality versus sleep quantity: Relationships between sleep and measures of health, well-being and sleepiness in college students.” JOURNAL OF PSYCHOSOMATIC RESEARCH . 42.6 (1997): 583-596. Web. 7 Oct. 2012. <http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0022399997000044>.

http://www.sleepassociation.org/index.php?p=whatissleep

 http://www.helpguide.org/life/sleeping.htm

 http://www.happynews.com/living/sleep/rem-sleep.htm

Video:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ufl1jraYtjc&feature=related

Images:

http://www.ideachampions.com/weblogs/archives/2012/09/since_1986_i_ha.shtml

http://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/life/inside-the-mind/human-brain/sleep1.htm

 

Increasing a Kids Height with Human Growth Hormone

In today’s image-conscious society, researchers have concluded that people are often treated differently based on their height. Specifically, children that are short in stature have reported that they are constantly teased, whereas taller individuals have reported that they are well respected among their peers.

To help boost their confidence, numerous vertically challenged children are undergoing growth-hormone treatment to increase their height. There is a steady increase of children being prescribed the main drug in this treatment, as the number of prescriptions of this drug has increased from 19,000 to 23,000, from the years 2007 to 2011.

The children undergoing this treatment are referred to as idiopathic short stature patients (ISS). ISS patients are deemed as being the shortest 2% of the population. Males are projected to reach an adult height of 5’3 and females a height of 4’10. These short heights have no correlation to deficiencies such as low growth hormone levels, or diseases such as turner syndrome that are related to below average height. In Canada, growth hormone treatment is only available for medical reasons and not cosmetic. Therefore, parents cannot simply ask for this treatment just because they want there child to be a few inches taller. The doctor must deem their child as being a suitable candidate.

For ISS patients to undergo the growth hormone therapy, the synthetic lab made growth hormone Humatrope, which was approved by Health Canada in 2006, must be used.

The side effects of Humatrope are very low. The most common side effects are: headaches, muscle pain, joint pain, high blood sugar, and hypothyroidism. In my view, the benefits of the drug out way the common side effects.

The video below from King5 news provides a child, parent, and a doctors view on benefits of growth hormone therapy and describes how the benefits out way the risks.

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So exactly how does Humatrope work?

When Humatrope is injected it acts like normal growth hormone in the bodyGrowth hormone is hormone secreted by the pituitary gland and then quickly converted in the liver into Growth Factor- Type 1 or simply IGF-1. IGF1 is what causes the height growth in children. The height increase in children is attributed to the fact that IGF-1 stimulates bone growth and cell reproduction.

Effects of Growth Hormone- IGF-1 increases bone size. / Source: Vanderbilt University

Overall, I believe that growth hormone therapy using Humatrope is a great way to help short children grow. Someone who I knew from high school had a wheat allergy and was very short in stature. He was often picked on for being short. He decided to undergo this treatment and within a year he had grown to the height of many of the other students without any side effects. Ultimately, I believe this treatment will help many kids that suffer negatively from their short stature as my friend did, and will help give them an extra boost in their confidence.

Mandip Parmar

 

When in doubt, throw it out!

You’re up late studying for midterms, desperately trying to avoid blinking for fear of falling asleep. As a quick pick-me-up you reach for a piece of Halloween candy. You open the wrapper and in your sleep-deprived state, your candy falls to the floor. According to an old wives tale, you have approximately 3-5 seconds to grab your tasty treat before it becomes covered in bacteria and whatever else might want a bite. Your candy is sitting on the floor, helpless. Regardless of whether it’s two seconds after you dropped it or six, you pick it up. Apart from the stray fluff from your fuzzy socks, it looks relatively unharmed. Now, the big question: do you eat it?

According to researchers, the answer is a resounding NO. Bacteria and other microorganisms immediately contaminate food that falls to the floor. There are some factors to take into account but in general, it is safer to ditch the dropped food. This is why some researchers think we should be using a ‘when in doubt, throw it out’ philosophy as opposed to the mythical ‘five second rule’.

Two factors that determine how many bacteria end up on your food are the moisture content of the food and the cleanliness of the surface upon which it falls. Moist food, such as cheese or meat, is quite easy for bacteria to stick to and ends up with higher bacteria contamination when dropped. Bacteria have a more difficult time with dry food, such as crackers or cookies, which don’t become contaminated as easily. As for the surface in question, obviously a cleaner surface will have less bacteria and a lesser chance of contaminating dropped food. Watch here as Dr. Philip Button outlines his take on these two factors:

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But what about the length of time food is left on the floor? It has been shown that the difference in amount of bacteria on food that was left for two seconds or six seconds is not significant. If bacteria are there, they are going to be on that food faster than you can react.

And what about wiping it off? Or rinsing it with water? Once food has been dropped or has touched something it shouldn’t, there is really no way to get it back to its original state. Wiping or rinsing may get rid of some bacteria, but it cannot get rid of them all.

So if you drop a piece of dry food on a clean surface, what’s the big deal? As clean as the surface may be, you don’t really know which bacteria are present. The bacteria that end up on the food may require only a small number of organisms to be present in order to cause disease, which could be costly for someone with a weak immune system.

The next time you drop a piece of food on the floor, think about the circumstances under which it is falling and who will be eating it. Remember: when in doubt, throw it out!

-Karly Stillwell

Beat the Heat

Love soaking up those rays? I think we all enjoy getting out in the sun, and taking advantage of all the activities that can go along with it. Some examples include water skiing, picnics, swimming, hiking, linking neighbouring thymine bases through direct covalent bonding… Not familiar with the last one? This is what can happen when our DNA absorbs UV light.

As nice as the glowing effects of prolonged sun exposure may be, the long term and microscopic effects certainly deserve attention too. The specific type of DNA mutation involved with UV light absorption is called induced mutation. This type of mutation is caused by either radiation or environmental chemicals. The specific mutagen of interest in this blog of course being of UV light radiation.

This is a woman who has stayed in the sun for too long, resulting in a sunburn.
Picture from: http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-s9PEOgjLLxM/T8ZEo0B8VbI/AAAAAAAABRE/bHOFTS7lKtE/s1600/Sunburn-794174.gif

DNA typically has no direct covalently bonded base pairs, but as mentioned earlier, exposure to the sun can change this. A covalent bond is when atoms share electrons with one another. When two thymine bases within our DNA covalently bond, it causes complications when the DNA strand tries to replicate. This is bad since since it prevents the body from creating its natural DNA strands. However, since it is expected that we get out into the sun as a part of everyday life, the body possesses enzymes which attempt to solve the damaged DNA replicating problem.

After two thymines have covalently bonded, there are two mechanisms which help to ensure the no DNA mutation will result proceeding the replication process. Light repair and Dark repair can be put to work as long as only one of the two DNA strands has been affected by UV damage. In both cases, the damaged DNA strand will not be used in the replication, only the undamaged strand. These two mechanisms however cannot be employed if both DNA strands have been damaged.

In the worst case scenario, where neither Light repair or Dark repair are applicable, the SOS repair is applied. This will ultimately lead to mutations being produced, but at the same time send SOS response genes to attempt to repair the mutated DNA strands. This is done through insertions and deletions of nucleotides in efforts to restore the DNA strand to its healthy pre-damaged self.

This is the sun holding sunscreen, something we should all be wearing when the sun is shining.
Picture from: http://www.motherearthnews.com/uploadedImages/Blogs/Healthy_People,_Healthy_Planet/uvsafetymonth.jpg

Although there are efforts which can be made by the body to repair itself after being scorched by the sun, what should really hit home is that this causes harm non the less. So even if it makes us feel like bronzed babes at the time, remember all the repair work we’re setting our bodies out to do. Think long term, and help yourself out by wearing sunscreen, hats, and reducing prolonged UV light exposure.

Chelsea Forbes

References:

SOS Response retrieved on September 30 2012
URL: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SOS_response

(2012). MICB 201: Introductory Environmental Microbiology. Vancouver: Department of Microbiology and Immunology University of British Columbia

Ralph H. Petrucci, William S. Harwood, F. Geoffrey Herring, and Jeffery D. Madura. (2007). General Chemistry: Principles and Modern Applications, Ninth Edition. New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, Inc.

“Trust me, I’m an Engineer”

Ever seen the “Trust Me, I’m an Engineer” meme on the Internet? As it turns out, the slime mold Physarum polycephalum can claim the title of engineer as well!

Physarum polycephalum is a single-celled organism, which when in the plasmodium phase of the life cycle, will grow continuously, expanding tendrils into unknown territory, as long as nutrients are present.  Tendrils with high volumes of nutrients will expand, while those that are used less will gradually disappear, leaving an efficient network.

Fig 1: Physarum Polycephalum colony growing on a rock
Reproduced under a Creative Commons license from Wikipedia (original author: Jerry Kirkhart)

For background information on slime molds and their life cycle, click here.

Researchers in Japan and the UK experimented with slime mold, presenting it with a model where geographical locations of cities around Tokyo were represented by oat flakes. The slime mold was allowed to grow into the arena, creating a transport network. Amazingly, the network formed was comparable in efficiency to the real Tokyo rail system, even though the slime mold has no brain, no central planning process.

Here’s a video showing slime mold growing out into the Tokyo arena: (attribution: sjtkg001)

You say, wait a second, what exactly do the researchers mean by efficiency? 3 main factors were taken into account: total length (TL), average minimum distance (AMD) and fault tolerance (FT). Average minimum distance represents how easy it is to get between the food sources, which is analogous to how easy it is to get between cities (transport efficiency). Fault tolerance measures how resilient the network would be, i.e. if it still functions if connections are broken. A high-performing system is one with a low TL representing minimal cost, low AMD representing high transport efficiency, and high FT representing high resilience.

Here’s a podcast from CBC with Dr. Mark Fricker who headed the Tokyo rail slime mold experiment; he gives details on this experiment:

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If you’re suspicious that the slime mold got lucky, researchers replicated their experiment with transport networks in Germany, the UK and even Canada! They found that again, the slime mold built a network with comparable performance.

Here’s a link to an article testing slime mold growth with a trans-Canada highway model.

Drawing inspiration from the slime mold, researchers around the world are now using biological systems to model real-world infrastructure problems in arenas such as computing, transport, and communication. They take the real-world conditions of problems in these arenas, such as spatial boundaries (i.e. rivers, cities, mountains), and apply these boundary conditions on slime mold by manipulating variables such as light intensity and antibiotic concentration. They then observe the growth networks and patterns of slime mold that arise, and can use these as a preliminary model for a solution.

Interested in reading more? Researchers are also utilizing the slime mold to model the blood vessel networks feeding tumors. With this understanding, they hope to come up with a method to starve the tumor of blood by cutting off key connections.

-Christie Chan

References:

Tero, A., Seiji, T., Saigusa, T., Ito, K., Bebber, D.P., Fricker, M.D., Yumiki, K., Kobayashi, R., Nakagaki, T. (2010, January 22). Rules for biologically inspired adaptive network design. Science, 327, 439-442.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZUQQmcR5-g

Websites used:

http://scienceblogs.com/notrocketscience/2010/01/21/slime-mould-attacks-simulates-tokyo-rail-network/

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2010/01/21/slime.design.mimics.tokyos.rail.system

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2012/08/a-slimy-insight-into-treating-ca.html

Podcast:

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Bacteria Are Mini Factories That Can Produce Fuels !

Have you ever thought about what would happen if you had to go to school or other places by walking or driving bicycle ? We become fearful even by thinking about this situation which happens when we run out of fossil fuels . Clearly, we are all dependent on fossil fuels to live comfortably.

However, it takes many years to produce enough fossil fuels by the decomposing plants.Furthermore, emissions through the combustion of fossil fuels contain harmful substances such as carbon dioxide which lead to global climate change.

Therefore,creating a new renewable energy source without unfavourable emissions is a serious issue to consider. One of the amazing solutions for this problem is achieved by using microbes to make advanced biofuels.

Microbes can produce biofuels.

(adapted from :http://web.mit.edu/press/2012/genetically-modified-organism-can-turn-carbon-dioxide-into-fuel.html)

Scientists in MIT university are trying to use a microbe called Ralstonia eutrophato to make fuel from carbon dioxide. Nitrate and phosphate are important nutrients for this bacterium , but when they are limited, it stores food by forming polymers out of the available carbon. The properties of these polymers are very similar to those of plastics made up of petroleum. By making a few changes to the bacterium’s genetic structure such as adding a new gene, removing a few genes and altering the expression of the other genes, scientists can produce fuel instead of plastic.More interestingly, they are trying to modify the microbe to use any waste product that is a source of carbon to make fuel.

Another advantage of using this microbe is that it automatically releases the isobutanol (a substitution for gasoline) which makes the process easier for the researchers.Fortunately, unlike some of the other biofuels , isobutanol can be used in car engines without any changes.

Up to this point, these scientists have been successful in making genetic changes that result in the production of isobutanol.

According to another study, animal fats and vegetable oils ,such as soybean oils, are commonly used as the raw material to produce biofuels. However, the increasing demand for biofuel production requires us to think of other biofuel sources which are suitable for human consumption. Microbial oils , such as the one discussed above, are better feedstocks for biofuel production rather than vegetable and animal oils due to different reasons : having shorter life cycle, requiring less work and increasing their amounts more easily.

Obviously, teaching microbes to make biofuels is a major breakthrough that is very beneficial and essential for all of the people around the world.

Below you can see a video that shortly explains about producing biofuels with the aid of microbes:

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video posted by “bloomberg”

Maryam Goharian

sources:

“MIT Media Relations”.

http://web.mit.edu/press/2012/genetically-modified-organism-can-turn-carbon-dioxide-into-fuel.html

“Biofuel definition “

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

“Global Climate Change” .http://www.cotf.edu/ete/modules/climate/GCclimate1.html

http://apps.webofknowledge.com.ezproxy.library.ubc.ca/full_record.do?page=1&qid=6&log_event=no&viewType=fullRecord&SID=2FnGmdEIaFKiJ3Mn25A&product=UA&doc=1&search_mode=GeneralSearch

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zBfjKYM9fLM

 

Picture from:

https://blogs.ubc.ca/communicatingscience2012w109/files/2012/09/biol200-image.jpg

Creatine: Quantity Over Quality

          Creatine has become a very popular and sports supplement today and is used by many athletes to improve their performance in high-intensity sports because its energy-inducing effects are undeniable, but the supplementation is highly dependent on a very high volume of ingestion to actually render these effects.  As a result, popular supplement companies tend to include this name in products to raise the price, while in reality, many of them only include minimal amounts into the actual product.

Creatine is a molecule that is produced in the body that aids in providing energy for the cells through the mechanism for ATP synthesis by phosphorylation. Creatines’ role is carried out by a special kinase. This function is depicted by the following link:

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-creatine involvement in ATP synthesis (by ctacac)

By supplementing diet with extra creatine, the idea is that there will be higher abundance of fuel for ATP synthesis which in turn will project a higher performance in high-energy demanding actions, Dr. Rutledge discusses these effects to a broad audience in the following interview:

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Creatine discussion on nutrition (Dr. Rutledge)

The downside to this supplementation however comes down to the practice of how it must be taken. The most basic and trusted form of the compound is called creatine monohydrate. This compound readily forms an acidic bi-product called creatinine under the acidic conditions of the stomach. Thus only a fraction of the original desired molecule is actually absorbed. In effect, the only way to actually saturate the muscles with creatine is to ingest about 20g per day for about a week to compensate the loss to formation of the bi product. The acidic state of the stomach and its effect on creatine can be seen from the following illustration:

Creatine vs pH

Creatine conversion to creatinine under pH (http://www.integratedsupplements.com/email/images/CreatineGraph.jpg) Howard et al.

 

Here we see that over time, ingested creatine monohydrate will indeed degrade, which in turn hinders its usefulness.

The dirty play by popular pre-workout brands is that they exploit the name of creatine to jack up prices, while most pre-workout products only contain 5-10g, hardly an effective dose for a single workout. One such example is given by ‘SuperPump Max’ by Gaspari Nutrition, where creatine is noted in their ‘propriety blend’:

SuperPump label

SuperPump label (~11.3 grams of creatine) (http://www.nutritionwarehouse.com.au/upload/image/supering%281%29.jpg)
Gaspari Nutrition

This product is sold at about $50 for around 600g, which is quite expensive considering such a large serving size(16g). If the word on the street is that creatine should be loaded at 20g for about a week to reach effective levels, then what use is the small portion included in SuperPump other than to boost marketing and price?

Since this effective supplement may only be effective in high doses, the quality of products sold by major brands is very questionable when high prices are compared to the actual product. Thus the low potency of creatine monohydrate makes this supplement a case of pure quantity in that the desired effects of the product can only be achieved through a high intake over time. Clearly, is impossible to achieve through many pre-workout supplements that boast creatine in their labels, but fail to include adequate amounts.

-Surbinder Bolina

 

BPA: Can we limit our exposure?

Here we are, yet again, discussing BPA and the effects of exposure to the nasty chemical. BPA (bisphenol A) is a chemical which mimics estrogen in the human body. It has been linked to cancer, cardiovascular disease, sterility, diabetes and recently: obesity (Wikipedia, 2012). Not only has the chemical been found to be harmful when ingested, it has also been discovered to have a high dermal absorption coefficient; in other words, it is easily absorbed by the skin. So why is it still being ingested by millions of people and estimated to be present in 93% of us? (Prosolia, 2012)

The Canadian government was the first to recognize BPA as a toxin in 2010 and the United States’ FDA finally followed suit this year and banned the use of the chemical in baby bottles and sippy cups (The New York Times, 2012). Unfortunately, BPA is still being used today as a lining for aluminum cans (Science Daily, 2012). Many companies have recently added the tag ‘BPA free’ to their products to keep consumers buying, but are we really aware of the amount of BPA we ingest daily and how to prevent it? Did you know that the new plastic Canadian bills have the highest BPA levels measured in comparison to 9 other countries’ currencies? Research suggests the BPA content in thermal paper rolls, such as those used to print receipts in retail stores, can be passed onto bills simply by contact (Prosolia, 2012).

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The epidemic of obesity in children and adolescents, and its potential causes, has been widely talked about but it has not yet been tied to a specific environmental chemical. A recent study has made history by being the first to use a nation-wide sample of children and adolescents to observe a correlation, if any, of BPA with obesity. The sample size was 3000 children and adolescents between the ages of 6 and 19. The participants were randomly selected to have urine analysis of BPA concentration in order to find any correlation between their BPA levels and obesity. The significant finding: white children and adolescents with high BPA concentrations in their urine were 2.6 times more likely to be obese over those with low BPA concentrations. According to researchers, these results are significant enough to show a correlation between BPA levels and obesity, but the direct process of how the chemical may affect obesity, if in fact it does, is not known.  The study was well controlled, making sure to account for everything from caloric intake to the chance of other phenols, such as soaps and sunscreens, being the cause for correlation. The researchers suggest that the best way to limit BPA exposure in children would be to eliminate it from aluminum cans (Science Daily, 2012).

http://www.calgaryherald.com/life/Study+finds+connection+between+cans+bottles+childhood+obesity/7259888/story.html (accessed September 18, 2012)

Whether BPA attributes to obesity or not, there has been enough research done to show its harmful effects. Why isn’t it banned from all products used in food production? Or banned completely due to its ability to be absorbed so easily by the skin? I am proud of Canada for being the first nation to recognize BPA as a toxin and to eliminate it from baby products, but why is it still being fed to children, adolescents and adults? So much more needs to be done.

-Kady McCappin

Sources:

Science Daily. “Higher Levels of BPA in Children and Teens Significantly Associated With Obesity.” http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120918111125.htm (accessed September 18, 2012)

The New York Times. “F.D.A. Makes It Official: BPA Can’t Be Used in Baby Bottles and Cups.” http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/18/science/fda-bans-bpa-from-baby-bottles-and-sippy-cups.html?_r=0 (accessed September 18, 2012)

Wikipedia. “Bisphenol A.” http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisphenol_A#Canada (accessed September 18, 2012)

Youtube. “Uncovering Bisphenol A – Covert Depopulation.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFPXxSmLZgE&feature=related (accessed September 18, 2012)

Prosolia. BPA In Currencies:

  1. Chunyang Liao and Kurunthachalam Kannan, High Levels of Bisphenol A in Paper Currencies from Several Countries, and Implications for Dermal Exposure , 2011, Environ. Sci. Technol. In press.
  2. Wolfgang Volkel, Nataly Bittner, and Wolfgang Dekant, Quantation of Bisphenol A and Bisphenol A Glucuronide in biological samples by High Performance Liquid Chromatography-Tandem Mass Spectrometry, Drug metabolism and Disposition, 2005, 33:1748–1757.

The language of DNA

Within each and every living organism, there are millions of books describing things from “how to move” to “how to eat”. These books are written in DNA: language of life. Ultimately, DNA is how nature writes about how to live, and the readers are how all living (and some “dead things”) survive. Even your own body is reading from your own library as you read this blog.

But within this massive collection, we, as people, cannot read most of it because we do not yet understand the language.

However, what we have figured out, thanks to genetics, cellular biology, and biochemistry, are the basic letters of these books; we have the codon table.

Codon Table

The codon table encoding the 20 essential amino acids used in all walks of life. Obtained as a screen capture from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/DNA_codon_table

What this codon table tells us is the 20 letters of the DNA alphabet, representing the 20 amino acids. When there are multiple letters together, they can spell a word, also known as a protein.

We have also figured out some parts of these books through areas called open reading frames. These areas use a process called transcription and translation, which is described in the following video found on youtube posted by redandbrownpaperbag.

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We also have clues and insights into some other parts of these books, namely the promoter and termination sequences. These parts tell us where there is an open-reading frame, essentially acting as quotation marks to direct the cell’s attention to a specific location.

Despite all these advances in understanding the language, we know very little in reality.

First of all, there are no known “rules” to writing words, because a word can be as short as 2 letters to as long as a million letters.

Secondly, we do not have a clear picture of how different areas within the genome that are neither open reading frames nor promoters/terminaters interact with the cell, or why those books are there in the first place. These sequences are currently hypothesized as useless, but may be useful as the ENCODE project suggests.

Finally, some words, even with the same spelling, can have many different meanings when they are in different compartments of a cell, so figuring out what they actually mean is quite difficult.

The secret language of DNA might one day be uncovered; someone who can speak “DNA” might be able to take a piece of DNA and then tell us exactly what that DNA is used for, which can advance science from treating and preventing disease, finding new applications for cells (i.e. sustainable fuel), or even figure out what consciousness is. Knowing how to read DNA can open up a brave new world in understanding life as we know it.

Just like how the discovery of the Rosetta Stone lead us to understand the Egyptian language, we may be able to slowly construct our own Rosetta Stone, through genetics and biochemistry, to unravel the mystery of DNA.

The hope is that one day, understanding an organism will be as simple as reading a book.

– Tony Hui

Drug-Free: Treatments for Obstructive Sleep Apnea induced Hypertension

Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is a sleeping disorder,and is a highly common problem that occurs during the different cycles of sleep, which has been largely associated with the amount of stress that is exerted on the body. The disorder stems from the recurrent episodes of partial or complete upper airway obstruction during sleep. The vast majority of the people are usually not aware if they have OSA, and these cases are often left untreated for long periods of time, most of which can lead to chronic diseases in the mid 50’s and over the age of 65. OSA has been recognized as the second most popular cause of hypertension, also known as high blood pressure. Hypertension is characterized by the elevation of blood pressure in the arteries, which requires the heart to pump harder and increase the rate of contraction to get blood around the body. The most popular method for treating OSA with hypertension is through pharmaceutical drugs, which includes fluoxetine, tryptophan, and protriptyline; however, these treatments are not as effective as experts say. I argue that drug treatments for OSA and hypertension are ineffective, instead combining multiple treatments such as spine adjustment, physical intervention of nasal airway, and pharyngeal exercises will provide better results in relieving OSA and lowering hyptertension.

YouTube Preview Image This is an overview of OSA. (Krames Patient Education)

For most people who want instant relief from the effects of OSA, over the counter drugs or prescribed drugs are the most common solutions; however, according to studies done by Laurent Stephane from the University of Paris, treatment of OSA and hypertension by antihyptertensive drugs with promising preclinical results have been more difficult and less productive than what the results show. The study composed of  relatively new novel drugs that have entered preclinical trials. However, these drugs are just actually improvements on the previous generations of drugs such as neutral endopeptidase, which acts as an inhibitor for endopeptides. From the extensive tests done on these drugs on rats, there is a low accountability of the drugs producing desired effects. The article even suggests that surgery has been the favored treatment for hypertension, along with the rehabilitation of oral exercises and developing healthier lifestyles.

Fig. 1 This is the structure of aldosterone synthase inhibitor, which is a drug used to treat hypertension. (Antes et al., 2011)

One way of treating OSA is by EPAP (expiratory positive airway pressure) devices; they are placed in each nostril, and have two small valves that remain open on inspiration, but offer resistance to expiration. This device is concocted from extensive studies done on the upper-airway cross-sectional areas by CT scans during respiration. In order to reduce hypertension symptoms, there is another method other than surgery called deep brain stimulation. This treatment is relatively new, however, has promising results. The stimulation on the brain is done by placing electrodes at regions where blood pressure is controlled, and electrical pulses are sent to the brain to inhibit pressor regions. The result is that there is a decrease in the amount of blood needed in certain areas of the body, thus decreasing the amount of contraction the muscles need. Another way of treating OSA is by spinal adjustments, which can be performed by either physiotherapists or chiropractors. Pharyngeal exercises such as singing have shown improvements in OSA patients with hypertension.

Fig. 2 This picture shows how valves on EPAP devices regulate air flow (Doshi et al., 2012)

Fig. 3 The EPAP device is placed in the opening of the nose, and covers the entirety of the nose. ((Kryger et al., 2011)

In this world where everything can be solved by the intake of drugs and antibiotics, the demand of these drugs is always increasing. However, we must ask ourselves, are drugs the only way to solve everything? Through more research and developmental treatments, OSA can be effectively treated by managing a healthier lifestyle along with corrective surgery or EPAP devices, which can reduce the risks and problems of hypertension.

Sources:

Amaro, C. S., Amodeo, C., Bortolotto, L. A., Drager, L. F., Gonzaga, C. C., Paula, K. G., Pedrosa, P. P. &  Sousa, M. G. (2011). The most common secondary cause of   hypertension associated with resistant hypertension. Hypertension, 11(59), 811- 817.

Esler, M., Laurent, S. & Schlaich, M. (2012). New drugs, procedures, and devices for hypertension. Lancet, (380): 591–600.

Video link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wk8c4rNrQ-A

Websites used:

http://bioinf.mpi-inf.mpg.de/ccb/

http://www.sleepdt.com/provent-nasal-epap-a-skeptic-turns-believer/

http://www.sleepdt.com/a-novel-non-prescription-nasal-epap-device-theravent-to-treat-snoring/