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What if Extinction Wasn’t Permanent?

The gastric-brooding frog was first discovered in 1972 and was native to Queensland, Australia. This frog belongs to the genus Rheobatrachus which contains only two species. Both are now extinct. These two species were so fascinating because of their unique way of reproduction. The female would swallow the eggs after fertilization, carry them in her stomach and then orally give birth to the offspring. The average number of juveniles that was observed in the stomach of a female was 21-26.

Below is a picture of a female frog giving birth orally to one of her offspring:

www.rainforestinfo.org.au

While the offspring are in the mother’s stomach, she does not eat, and as her stomach grows larger in size, the lungs deflate to make room. In order to breathe, she must rely on gas exchange that occurs across the surface of her skin.

The gastric-brooding frog went extinct in 1983 and it has been suggested that this may have occurred due to a variety of reasons: habitat loss, pollution and/or pathogens. The other species in the genus Rheobatrachu, the Platypus frog, also went extinct in the early 80s.

According to this article, scientists in Australia are now trying to bring the gastric-brooding frog back from extinction through a cloning technique called somatic-cell nuclear transfer.

Basically, the researchers extracted cell nuclei from tissues of the gastric-brooding frog (which was collected in the 1970s and frozen) and implanted these nuclei into donor eggs. The donor eggs used in this case were from the Great Barred Frog, Mixophyes fasciolatu, which is distantly related to the gastric-brooding frog. The nuclei in the donor eggs were inactivated and replaced with the nuclei from the extinct species.  After this occurred, some of the eggs started to spontaneously divide and formed into early embryos. None of the embryos survived for more than a couple of days. Genetic tests were done to confirm that the genes in the embryos were those of the gastric-brooding frog.

Below is a simplistic diagram of how somatic-cell nuclear transfer works:

Wikipedia.org

Even though the experiment did not successful create an adult specimen of the extinct frog, the researchers are confident that it won’t be long until such a procedure will be able to be performed successfully.

The article further states that researchers from all over the world recently gathered in Washington for a conference in order to discuss the progress being made in the attempts to bring other extinct species back to life.

Possible candidates include the woolly mammoth and the dodo.

I find this so exciting!

Can you imagine having a zoo full of “extinct” animals, or even dinosaurs!?

Dragana Savic

Reference:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gastric-brooding_frog

Humans Will Breath Under Water

Have you ever tried to hold your breath for more than a minute under water? Well, if you had succeeded you were not reading this post! Holding breath under water has always been part of man’s dream. But it seems it will not be a dream for the future generations. According to a recent research  salamanders have developed the trait of producing oxygen themselves rather than taking it from atmosphere.

Baby under Water!

 

According to this study which was  conducted in Dalihousie University faculty of Zoology eggs of salamander , Ambystoma maculatum, were placed among chlamydomonad algae. The result of this experiment is that the DNA of the algae and the DNA of the salamander eggs were somehow combined. Algae is a nitrogen-dependent organism and produces oxygen gas as a form its waste. Salamanders on the other hand require oxygen to function and survive, and combining algae and the salamanders DNA would produce an organism which produces oxygen on its own and would not require oxygen  from atmosphere.

Salamander. Amphibian

Researchers have also found traces of this algae in mature salamander’s reproductive system which suggests that these algae are inherited to other generations.

What good is it to humans?

New technologies such as DNA Recombinant has enabled us to combine DNA strands of different species. In this technology, the wanted DNA is reproduced many times by molecular cloning in laboratory. These DNAs are then directed to the main DNA sequence by means of another organism and sequencing. Viruses are usually used in this step to deliver the multiplied DNA to the main DNA.

Formation of recombinant DNA requires a cloning vector, a DNA molecule that will replicate within a living cell. Vectors are generally derived from plasmids or viruses, and have the necessary sequence of DNA for replication. The inserted DNA may or may not express its codes depending on its place on the main DNA sequence. Thus, markers are used to place the DNA among functional genes.

Human DNA is packed with hundreds of viruses DNA s which have entered our DNA sequence along the course of evolution. This finding suggests that viral vectors can be used to alter human DNA sequence by means of insertion.  Recently, this technology has been used in the treatment course of of insulin-dependent diabetes. So, it’s not far beyond imagination if scientists mix algae DNA with that of human.

Soon the future of human beings will be altered with this technology and super humans will be produced! but until that day do not hold your breath for too long under water unless you are this guy:

References:

Canadian Journal of Zoology, 2008, 86(11): 1289-1298, 10.1139/Z08-115

 

Graphene: The Better Battery Solution

Could you imagine a world where your smartphone could charge to full in mere seconds? Or be able to take that same battery and charge it over thousands of times without it losing its battery life? And even better, take that same battery once it’s done and be able to throw it into your compost without worrying of needing to dispose harmful chemicals? The battery that sounds too good to be true could be already here, which may well be the next revolutionary solution to all your electrical needs.

These graphene supercapacitors combine the best of both worlds: a battery’s ability to hold high amount of energy, and capacitor’s ability to produce a high output, which in consquence means a fast charging time. Graphene supercapacitors work by using two metal plates seperated by an electric double-layer, approximately 1 molecule thick. Capacitance also increases as the surface area of the two plates increase, while the electric double layer thickness decrease. This makes graphene an optimal material to minimize this distance in the double layer.

There are two big challenges which we face with graphene supercapacitors. One is producing a high enough energy density. They often produce only 1/5th to 1/10th of the energy of an electrochemical battery, like most of today’s lead based batteries. Second, is to produce them in large quantities which are commerically ready.

A diagram of electrochemical cell. These are similar to how common batteries work. By creating an electrochemical potential between two chemicals, batteries utilize redox reactions to create electric energy to power machines.
Image taken from: http://www.mymcat.com/wiki/Electrochemical_Cells_Introduction

 

That’s when, like all great science, accidents can happen for the better.UCLA Professor Ric Kaner, and graduate student Maher El-Kady stumbled upon a way to make industrial grade graphene supercapacitors, with a common 21st century household machine: a DVD lightscribe burner.
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With this new method of producing one atom-thick graphene supercapacitors (which are nicknamed ultra-capacitors for their superior properties), this new way of manufacturing allows them to produce a similar if not superior energy density to electrochemical batteries. Kaner and El-Kady were able to produce 100 micro-supercapacitors in less than 30 minutes.

What is brilliant about this discovery is how remarkably thin the power source actually is. With a thickness of less than 100 nanometers, the applications of this battery are virtually limitless, and allow flexible technology to become a near future reality.

With less than 100 nanometers in thickness, UCLA researchers produce one of the thinnest graphene supercapacitors yet, using Lightscribe DVD burners as a way to manufacture these micro-supercapacitors.
Photo taken from: http://www.greenprophet.com/2013/03/supercapacitor-graphene-maher-el-kady-breakthrough-ucl/

So before you buy the next best smartphone, remember that these supercapacitors are only just a short wait in the future, which might mean that your next phone could be something as futuristic and as flexible as the concept phone, Nokia 888.

Left-handed people are genius? Really?

 
Left-handed people have an advantage in which their brains are structured differently from right-handed people in ways that can allow them to process language, spatial relations and emotions in more diverse and potentially creative ways. Also, a slightly greater number of left-handers than right-handers are especially gifted  in music and math. A study of musicians in professional orchestras found a significantly greater proportion of talented left-handers, even among those who played instruments that seem designed for right handers.

Let’s look at people whom we know that are left-handed. For example, Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo,Napoleon Bonaparte,Julius Caesar, Beethoven, and Isaac Newton are left-handed who people call them “genius.” Presently, the world’s richest man, Bill Gates, 42nd president of the Unites States, Bill Clinton and 44th and current president of the United States,Barack Obama are also left-handed.
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On Oprah show, Dr. Oz claims that left-handed people can deal with more incoming information that does not come in an organized way because the brain develops when a baby is in its mother’s womb and interestingly left brain normally controls the right side to equalize both side of the brain. Additionally, because left-handed people can use both sides of their brain more readily, the brain can process information well.

 

There are many studies that have proven left-handlers are smarter than right -handler. According to researcher Alan Searleman, of St. Lawrence University in New York, left-handed people showed higher IQs, were able to solve problems better and enjoy more extensive vocabularies than right-handed people. Also in the book, “Right-Hand, Left-Hand” by Chris McManus of University College London, proposed that left-handers’ brains are structured differently in a way that increases their range of abilities, and the genes that determine left-handedness also govern development of the language centres of the brain. Thus, many researches argue that left-handed people manipulate creativity and intelligence because they are able to balance the usage of  both side of brain equally.

Brian Ahn

 

Cholesterol’s role in heart disease

Causes of death pie chart (Image from http://www.sca-aware.org)

Causes of death pie chart (Image from http://www.sca-aware.org)

 

Heart disease is the leading cause of death in the world, and it has been long known that heart disease is highly associated with elevated levels of cholesterol.  Cholesterol is fatty substance which originates from dietary intake and liver production.  If you have thought of cholesterol merely as a measurement of obesity (which is not entirely wrong), you should keep in mind that an adequate level of cholesterol is vital to help your brain, skin, heart, and other organs grow and do their jobs in the body.

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Cholesterol can be divided into two groups: LDL (low density lipoprotein) and HDL (high density lipoprotein).  LDL is called “bad” cholesterol, because it is the LDL cholesterol that forms plaques and is associated with heart disease.  HDL is called the “good” cholesterol, because HDL cholesterol actually extracts LDL cholesterol from artery walls and moves them back into liver, preventing atherosclerosis.

HDL vs LDL (image from http://www.ellies-whole-grains.com/)

HDL vs LDL (image from http://www.ellies-whole-grains.com/)

 

The LDL cholesterol is unarguably one of the risk factors that often make heart diseases deadly, but it has not been clearly understood why. However, University of British Columbia researchers David Fedida and Jodene Eldstrom discovered that cholesterol disrupts the flow of the electrical currents that generate the heart beat, causing cardiac arrhythmias (irregular heartbeats).

 

We have countless ion channels present in the membranes of all cells in the body, and they are key components in a wide variety of biological processes. The type of protein channels that are involved in the mechanism by which the heart’s electrical activity occurs is voltage-gated Kv1.5 potassium channel.

250px-Potassium_channel1

The heart undergoes depolarization (positively charged) as positively charged potassium ions move into the cell through Kv1.5 potassium channel. Shortly after depolarization, the heart releases potassium ions and returns its membrane potential to a negative value (repolarization).  The ion exchanges are regulated by Kv1.5 potassium channel.   The continuous depolarization and repolarization create small electric current.

All the cells with Kv1.5 potassium channel contributes to this process like little batteries, and the generated electricity flows through the heart as an impulse and the heart beats.  One important thing about this ion channels is that they are synthesized inside the cell and transported to the cell’s surface. They stay at the surface for only a few hours, and then they internalize back into the cells to be degraded or remade again.  Dr. David Fedida found that cholesterol disrupts this whole recycling process and affects the number of cells that can act as “little batteries”, causing the heartbeat to quicken, and eventually fail.  David Fedida explains that cholesterol-lowering drugs may help normalize the heart’s electrical activity.

Arrythmia

Small amount of cholesterol is inevitable for normal function of body. However, excessive cholesterol can lead to sudden cardiac arrest: the number one cause of death in the world.  This discovery of additional danger of cholesterol on coronary heart disease sheds light on sudden death in people with high cholesterol and opens ways to potential anti-arrhythmic drugs.

Andy Byun

How Observant Are You?

In order to answer this question, watch the video below:

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When I did the experiment, I counted 14 passes and I noticed the gorilla. I found the gorilla distracting so my attention immediately went to it. Did anyone not see the gorilla?

After having watched the video, I found the study that went along with it and was actually quite intrigued by their results.

The paper started off by defining two key terms: change blindness and inattentional blindness.

Change blindness occurs when a person doesn’t notice large changes to objects or scenes, particularly if those changes are not the main focus of that scene.

Inattentional blindess occurs when a person is not paying enough attention and as a result misses seeing a whole object. The visual input is there but the person does not perceive the object and as a result that visual information does not get stored in their memory.

Inattentional blindness was the focus of the study mentioned above.

The 192 participants were each shown a video, 75 seconds in duration. In the video there were two teams composed of three players. One team wore black shirts and the other team wore white shirts. Each team was passing around a basketball. After about 45 seconds into the video, an unexpected event would occur. The video above is a copy of one of the videos participants were shown.

In total there were four different types of videos, and each participant was shown just one type.

Below is a picture of the four types of videos:

I seem to be very unlucky with technology….

The “Add Media” button refuses to work so I can’t upload a picture. For all those that are interested, you can find it in the paper. Up above, I made the word “study” a link to the paper. If you press on it, it will take you to the paper and to the picture 🙂

The picture in words:

Type 1 = transparent/gorilla

Type 2 = transparent/woman with umbrella

Type 3 = opaque/gorilla

Type 4 = opaque/woman with umbrella

  •     Transparent conditions mean that the black team, the white team,  and the unexpected event were all filmed separately and then superimposed through video editing
  •    Opaque conditions mean that everything was filmed live/simultaneously

To further complicate things, some participants were given an EASY task and told to only count the total number of passes made by the team they were observing. Others were given a HARD task and had to keep two counts in their head: one for number of bounce passes made and one for number of air passes made by the team they were observing.

RESULTS:

(1) In general, regardless of the video type or task given, 54% of all participants noticed the unexpected event and 46% did not.

(2) Lots of participants noticed the unexpected event during the easy task (64%) but much less noticed during the hard task (45%).

(3) In opaque conditions, 67% noticed the unexpected event, while in transparent conditions only 42% did.

Result (3) makes sense because in the transparent condition the video is much fainter and everything seems to overlap. This probably made it harder for the participants to distinguish between the players and any new stimuli (gorilla/woman with umbrella). Result (2) suggests that the more difficult the task, the more focused the observer, and the less likely they will be paying attention to/percieving anything in the surrounding environment. This seems logical as it often happens to me when I get very absorbed in a book that I am reading or task that I am completing. What surprised me most was that in general just about half of all observers missed seeing the unexpected event (Result (1)). To me, the gorilla was really obvious, but I also didn’t count the correct number of passes so it is possible I wasn’t focused enough.

Dragana Savic

Will we ever leave our Solar System?

“Space: The final frontier” Capt. T. James Kirk

August 05, 2012  10:36am PDT

This day is not one that jumps out in the mind of the average person,  but for those that remember, it marked an astounding moment in the history of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration, better known as NASA; on this day, at this time, the wheels of the rover Curiosity, touched down safely on the surface of Mars.

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Though only the most recent of a handful of rovers humanity has already deposited on the surface of the Red Planet, Curiosity signifies a strengthening of our space-faring prowess, allowing mankind to look to the stars and truly entertain the notion: “We can go further.”

So how far have we gone?

In terms of manned missions, the furthest we have achieved is the Moon landings, the last of which occurred in December, 1972. Our unmanned endeavors have traveled further, since there is no need for pesky hindrances such as life support.

In 1977, the space probe Voyager 1 was launched. Its mission: to explore our  outer solar system. Travelling at a breakneck speed of 61,500 km/h, it has taken the small probe 35 years to reach the outer edge of our Solar system,  cementing it as the furthest man-made object from the Earth. NASA predicts the probe will reach the outer edge of the solar system sometime between 2013 and 2015.

NASA Artist concept of Voyager 1
(Source: NAACL.blogspot.ca)

 Can we go further?

Since we have reached the edge of our solar system, is it possible to reach and explore other solar systems in our galaxy?  Our Milky Way is comprised of billions of stars, out of which millions contain orbiting planets. So it seems feasible that we posses the means to reach these neighboring galaxies and extend our interstellar presence.

Not so fast, there is no doubt that the Voyager is travelling very fast, in fact, it is currently the fastest interstellar spacecraft in existence. But despite this incredible speed, fast enough to circumnavigate the globe 5 times in an hour, it might as well be travelling at a snail’s pace relative to the enormous interstellar distances between solar systems.

Distance between interstellar bodies is measured in Light Years, and the closest solar system to ours, Proxima Centauri  is 4.22 Light Years away. At Voyager’s current speed, it would take approximately 75,000 years for the probe to reach the solar system!

What does this mean?

Even as we advance to  where we can safely land rovers on Mars, and explore the outer reaches of our solar system, we still do not posses the means to conquer the massive distances between us and our interstellar neighbors  Still, NASA shows no signs of slowing down.

And trust me, there is plenty to do in our home solar system.

The Ethics of Organic

For millenniums, humans have survived off of natural sources of food, whether it came from hunting and gathering, or grown agriculturally like wheat and corn. But with a never-ending shortage and demand for food due to population growth, new agricultural solutions from man-made fertilizers to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) have become essential to our survival. The question of whether organic-grown food is the healthiest choice nutritionally has been a tough, if not controversial battle.

But what is organic?

The defnition of an organically-certified product differs between the laws of each country. In 1999, the United Kingdom Parliament defined organic farming as products which largely excluded growth hormones and feed additives, synthetic fertilizers and pesticides for livestock and farm-grown crops respectively. By 2005, in addition to the above definition, the United States’ Electronic Code of Federal Regulations added and classified GMOs to be non-organic, since they are not produced naturally.

Is organic healthier?

A 2006 review article states that there is a lack of data to suggest that our recent new conventions in agriculture affect the nutritional value in any significant way, arguing that organic foods are preferred due to ethical reasons rather than concerns for health. It was also noted that the most worrisome factors of recent agricultural changes would have to be the use of antibiotics in livestock, which has been linked to increase the growth of antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Another study showed no nutritional difference between livestock that were fed GMOs rather than organic feed. The study also noted that conventional farming of GMOs often include the use of synthetic fertilizers and pesticides in agriculture, which have been proven to be safe as the compounds must undergo rigorous FDA-approval. If it is any consolation, we learned from the Chemistry 341 article at UBC that humans are exposed to 10,000 times more natural pesticides by weight than man-made ones.

Even with a lack of long-term studies on non-organic versus organic diets, these studies argue that there is no significant difference between the nutritrional value of two similar products. Nutrition is irrelevant to whether they were organically or non-organically produced.

Then why should I eat organic?

It was previously hinted that although organic food may not be healthier, it is often chosen over alternatives because of ethical reasons. New York Times food columnist, Mark Bittman, looks into not what, but how we are eating wrong in the following Ted talk:

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And the debate of organics still rages on today, and new evidence being found for both sides. There are many good ethical reasons behind organic food production, but conventionally grown products are important too, because if we can genetically modify plants to increase agriculture production, why wouldn’t we do so to feed those who need it? Ultimately I can see an importance to both of them, and for me, the bottom line is that non-organically grown fruits and vegetables are still safe to eat and buy against popular belief, but I will think twice now before choosing cheaper meats than those that are organically certified.

Excess Sugar link to cancer

What are sugars?
Sugars are carbohydrates that are composed of carbon, hydrogen, and oxygen. There are numerous types of sugar: glucose, fructose,galactose, sucrose, maltose and lactose. Everyone loves sweets; we cannot resist ourselves when we see candies, ice cream or any types of sweet foods. Sugars are needed to provide us with energy and contribute to our wellness. They sweet-favored substances used in our food but we have never thought of sugar as “bad nutrient” that link to the causation of cancer in our body.On science news, it proposed that high levels of sugar is found in diabetics; it damages our cells to increase our chance of getting cancer. The key point is that obesity can cause diabetes; a disease where body fails to control blood sugar levels, and it can increase the risk of cancer development. Thus, the diabetic population has doubled the chances to suffer pancreatic or colon cancer according to the epidemiological studies. With obesity in British and Spanish children reaching about 16 percents, the highest in Europe, this epidemic has major health implications. Obesity and diabetes increase cancer risk has been a major health issue.

High sugar level in the body leads to obesity which causes diabetes

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Discovery:

A picture of diabetes in body

Dr. Jimenez at the University Rey Juan Carlos linked obesity and diabetes with cancer due to high sugar levels which increase activity of  a gene widely implicated in cancer progression. He conducted a laboratory study on how cells in the intestine respond to sugars and signal to the pancreas to release insulin, the key hormone that controls blood sugar levels. Sugars in the intestine trigger cells to release a hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) in which it enhances insulin release by the pancreas. In molecular cell study, Dr. Jimenez’s team presented that the ability of the intestinal cells to secrete gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP) is manipulated by β-catenin which its activity is strictly dependent on sugar levels. Therefore,  They have explained their discovery that increased activity of β-catenin increase the development of many cancers. Thus, the high sugar levels induce nuclear accumulation of β-catenin and leads to cell proliferation. The changes induced on β-catenin, the molecules involved and the diversity of cancer cells susceptible to these changes have been found.

There is a short clip about how sugar leads to initiation of cancer.
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The World Health Organization (WHO) published that obesity are the fifth leading risk for global death and approximately 2.8 million adults die each year; addition, 44 % of the diabetes burden, 41% of cancer were attributed to obesity. The changes in our metabolism caused by dietary sugar impact on our cancer risk is a serious health issue in the world. Before the initiation of cancer in our body and suffer cancer, reducing the sugar level we intake must be limited.

Brian Ahn