Tag Archives: health

What does “1 in 3” mean to you?

Posted on April 3, 2013 by seanmac | Leave a comment

With over 9 million Canadians living with diabetes, “1 in 3” could mean a friend, a sibling or a parent…

Why take note?

The likelihood of developing diabetes is greater than being in a fatal motor vehicle accident (1 in 81), it’s greater than perishing in an earthquake (1 in 132,000), and, of course, it’s much greater than winning the lottery (1 in roughly 14 million).

Yet most of us have learned how to act when an earthquake hits, and many of us spend dollars a week hoping for that miracle jackpot.

Wouldn’t it be worthwhile to give some thought to a disease that has undoubtedly touched every Canadian?

Know the facts:

With the onset of the 21st century, diabetes has since become one of the most common and quickest growing diseases around the world. It’s estimated there are 285 million diabetics worldwide, many of whom can not properly afford the cost of treatments and supplies; with an additional 7 million cases every year, it’s predicted there will be 438 million diabetics by 2030.

Think local:

Today in Canada, nearly one third of the population has diabetes, or indicates prediabetes symptoms. With linked factors such as obesity on the rise, this number is expected to increase.

What’s the issue:

Our bodies obtain energy from the food we consume. This energy comes from foods like bread, pasta, dairy and fruit, in the form of sugars (specifically glucose).

“Sumptuous Eats’ Retrieved from Flickr CC; user: NutritionDoc

Inside the human body, a hormone called insulin regulates the level of this sugar, preventing it from being too concentrated in the blood.

However, with Type II Diabetes, a person’s body is resistant to insulin and cannot use this crucial hormone – sugar builds up.

So what happens if you have too much sugar in your blood? Since the blood travels all around your body, various health problems can arise: high blood sugar is linked to heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, blindness, and even nerve disease.

This short video provides more detail on the matter:

What’s it like to live with diabetes?

We interviewed a University of British Columbia student who lives with diabetes:

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Current Events:

A team of UBC researchers is actively pursuing an alternative to established diabetes treatments.

Instead of common synthetic medications, Dr. Stephen Withers has derived an alternative that stops the disease at the root; basically, this natural molecule will slow the rate of sugar entering the blood. By having this control mechanism, sugar levels should not spike.

Having a natural and readily available alternative has big implications for Type II sufferers: management of uncomfortable side-effects and potentially less spending.

Outlook:

The World Health Organization estimates that the number of deaths due to diabetes will double by 2030. Dr. Withers’ new medication offers treatment options to millions who lack the necessary funds for proper supplies and medication – this little plant has the potential to save millions of lives.

‘Crocosmia crocosmiiflora’; retrieved from Wikimedia CC

Published by Andrea, Jaejoon, Sogol & Sean

Printing–a new way to save a life.

Posted on March 18, 2013 by shaunong | 1 comment

A depiction of some of the many organs of the body from Achim Raschka via Wikimedia Commons.

The need for organs for people suffering from disease is ever-growing, and high.

This need has resulted in large scale ethical debates, some doctors opting for more radical ways to harvest organs. At the same time, patients are dying because they were not given a transplant promptly. The current situation in North America is dismal at best.

However, hope does exist! A recent innovation reported by a group of researchers at Heriot-Watt University could solve the problem. How you might wonder? By what scientists are calling “organ printing“.

Organ printing is a technology combining the concept of 3-dimensional printing and stem cells. A 3-dimensional printer is a machine that is able to make 3D objects when given some sort of electronic plan for the object to be printed. Traditionally, 3D printers have used metals or plastics as the ink for making objects. But instead of metal or plastic, an organ printer uses embryonic stem cells as ink; cells that are able to divide and change their identity into any other cells such as heart, lung, kidney or even brain cells, and carry out their function.

A printer that uses cells as ink could make organs! Pictures adapted from Seahen, Jomegat and Osnimf (left to right) via Wikimedia Commons.

You might wonder why this would be considered a huge breakthrough. The discovery of stem cells heralded a large amount of attention. We initially believed that we would be able to grow organs easily; however, over time, we learned that stem cells are more complex than we realized. Stem cell growth is difficult to control. Even though we can currently make a stem cell change its identity into a cell we want it to be, we cannot effectively mesh groups of cells into highly organized layers, like how complex organs such as the heart and kidneys are laid out. Experiments reported as late as three years ago could only make balls of different cell types from stem cells using chemicals. 3D printing using stem cells allows us to organize cells and distribute them the way we want them to be, and so, we could make complex structures with different layers in a consistent way in the near future.

Below, Dr. Anthony Atala talks about organ printing techniques he is researching in his lab.

By CNN via Youtube.

But how near is the near future? I remain skeptical. Stem cells are complex things, and we have much to learn about them. Just because we place them in the right positions in the right type does not mean that all problems will be solved. Additionally, we have yet to research where to place cells so that they function the right way in an organ. I would think that this technology would take at least 10 years to be relevant to our everyday lives. Only time will tell.

-Shaun

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged 3-d, 3-dimensional, 3D, care, cell, cells, clinic, dimensional, donor, health, healthcare, lives, organs, printing, research, save, stem, stem cell, stem cells, technique, Technology, transplant

What is Diabetes?

Posted on March 17, 2013 by martinlee | 1 comment

“Honey…. If you eat too many sweets… you might get diabetes.”

I am quite confident that all of us have heard that phrase at least once in our lives, be it from our parents or friends.

But the question is… what is diabetes?

I mean, if I were walk up to you right now and ask you that question, would you be able to answer it with many details, or with just minimum knowledge of it?

Well lucky for you, this blog will teach you all you need to know about diabetes so that you would be able to answer that question with 100% confidence!

The pancreas, an internal organ, has many functions to perform so that the body can survive, and one of these functions is to produce a hormone known as “Insulin”. The purpose of insulin is to move sugars (also known as glucose) from the blood into designated cells, thus lowering the sugar levels in the blood and providing a source of energy for cells to use. However, if the sugars in the blood are not removed by insulin properly (be it from the pancreas not producing enough insulin, or the cells in the body do not react with insulin as they should), the high blood sugar level will become toxic, and cells won’t get the fuel they need to survive.

Here is a model of the human pancreas.
From Wikimedia, User Suleyman Habib

Under these elevated blood sugar levels, the symptoms of a condition known as diabetes (also known as Diabetes Mellitus) are formed.

The symptoms of diabetes are:

Fatigue
Unexplained weight loss
Excessive urination
Excessive eating
Slow wound healing
Infections
Blurry visions
Excessive itching

There are two types of diabetes. The first one is called “Type 1 Diabetes”, and in this type the pancreas does “not” produce any insulin at all, and because of this people who suffer from type 1 diabetes will have to take insulin injections (from devices such as insulin pumps) for the rest of their lives. They must also eat a special diet and take regular blood tests to insure proper sugar levels.

A picture of someone inserting insulin into their body via insulin pump.
From Wikimedia, User Mbbradford

The second type of diabetes is called “Type 2 diabetes”. This type of diabetes is caused from the pancreas not producing “enough” insulin for proper function. However, unlike type 1 diabetes, this one can be treated just by simply losing weight, follow a healthy diet, and doing plenty of exercise (these methods won’t cure diabetes, but just simply controls and lowers the symptoms of it).

So I hope from reading this you have learned a lot about diabetes, but just in case if you did not understand, here is a short cartoon to help refine your understanding.

The video above shows the basics of diabetes. (User: HealthNutsMedia)

-Martin Lee

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Public Engagement, Uncategorized

Tagged Diabetes, Glucose, health, Insulin, Pancreas, Sugar

A Gene for Skinny Jeans!

Posted on March 11, 2013 by sydneyschnell | 3 comments

The person sitting beside you in your morning lecture is slurping down an extra-large iced cap, with whipping cream AND chocolate drizzle. Those french fries in the cafeteria at lunchtime are looking deliciously tempting, and when you get home from your long day your roommate has a fresh batch of chocolate chip cookies sitting on the counter.

Chocolate Chip Cookies! Christie @ Love From the Oven via Flickr Creative Commons.

Oh the temptations, but with “beach season” soon approaching, it makes for a hard choice between those deliciously fattening foods and a trim waistline. What if I told you that soon, you may be able to indulge in all of your favorite foods, never hit the gym, and still turn heads in your swimsuit this summer?!

Miguel Angel via Flickr Creative Commons.

Genetics researchers at the University of Colorado’s School of Medicine, led by Professor James McManaman, have recently discovered a gene that appears to be directly related to obesity. This gene, called Perilipin 2 (Plin2), produces a protein that plays a key role in regulating fat storage and metabolism. When mice lacking this gene were fed an obesity-inducing diet, they were observed to be resistant to becoming obese!

In fact, not only did these mice stay lean, they appeared to be much healthier than the mice with a functional Plin2 gene. Compared to normal mice, their fat cells were 20% smaller, they showed an absence of fatty-liver disease, they had lower triglyceride levels, and they were more insulin-sensitive. When both normal mice and mice lacking the Plin2 gene were placed on an obesity-inducing diet, the Plin2-lacking mice showed surprising restraint when eating their food (normal mice will eat until all food is gone!), and were also more active.

Obese mouse and normal mouse. Bigplankton via Wikimedia Commons.

What does this mean for us?

Obesity is quickly becoming a dominant health concern throughout North America (see famous chef Jamie Oliver discussing the obesity trend here), indirectly causing a long list of medical complications such as type 2 diabetes, hypertension, coronary heart disease, and stroke.

Obesity, an increasing trend in North America. Malingering via Flickr Creative Commons.

The interesting thing is, humans also have a Plin2 gene. If researchers can find a way to target the Plin2 gene, these findings may result in an effective treatment for obesity. This would lead to a slimmer, healthier nation, and reduce the financial strain that obesity-related complications place on our health care systems!

However, don’t book your reservation at the neighbourhood all-you-can-eat buffet just yet. Before any human applications can be made, we must better understand what other roles the Plin2 gene may play, and how removal of this gene will influence health and behavior on a long-term scale.

– Sydney Schnell

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News, Uncategorized

Tagged active, diet, fat, food, gene, genetics, health, health care, James McManaman, metabolism, mice, mutation, North America, obese, obesity, Plin2, weight

Food for Thought: Can Eating Breakfast Make You Smarter?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by narissam | 3 comments

Now, we’ve all been told this time and time again, that breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but how many of us actually find time amidst our busy mornings to eat a healthy and nutritious breakfast?

Extra sleep instead of breakfast. Image taken from Photobucket, uploaded by ratetherandom3

I know that many of us are guilty of skipping this crucial first meal of the day and have many excuses for doing so, including myself, but there are numerous benefits that come from eating this often neglected meal, aside from the fact that breakfast foods usually taste pretty good. Along with the fact that eating breakfast can improve your mood and your choice of foods for the rest of the day, another benefit is that eating breakfast can make you smarter and there are studies that prove it.

Breakfast should come before almost everything. Image taken from Photobucket, uploaded by 1lucillelane

A study conducted by the University of Kentucky surveyed a total of 251 undergraduate students to see if there was a correlation between eating breakfast and higher academic achievement. This study validated that breakfast is the most important meal of the day as it was shown that students who ate breakfast, on average, had a higher GPA (3.30±0.46) than those who did not (3.06±0.58). Being a student, it may be difficult to make the traditional breakfast of eggs and toast, but simple meals such as grabbing a granola bar to go or making a quick bowl of cereal can be just as effective!

A healthy breakfast. Image taken from Photobucket, uploaded by cstvrt

Skipping breakfast is much like driving a car without fuel – at a certain point it will stop working when you need to use it. As a student, this makes you less focused, decreases your concentration and makes it even more difficult to remember what your professor talked about just 2 minutes ago. After an entire night of fasting, it only makes sense that eating breakfast serves the purpose of re-fuelling your brain and will help improve your short term memory and academic performance.

If you didn’t eat breakfast today, perhaps try it tomorrow. The benefits will speak for themselves. Eat up!

-Narissa Mawji

3 Comments

Posted in Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged #breakfast, #nutrition, #smarter, health

To amnio or not to amnio, is that still a question?

Posted on February 25, 2013 by shaunong | 3 comments

A pregnant woman from David Roseborough via Wikipedia Creative Commons

Since the mid-70’s, expectant mothers believed to be at high risk for giving birth to a child with a defect have been faced with a critical choice: to take a risky diagnostic procedure called an “amniocentesis” (amnio), or to forgo it and not know what to expect out of their pregnancy.

Imagine that you are an expectant mother who has been told that your future child has a high risk of having a genetic disorder, and would have to make the decision to have an amniocentesis or not. It is likely a tough call to make, because research shows that up to 1 in 100 of these procedures directly result in the loss of the baby, in addition to other risks to the mother and baby.

Luckily, expectant mothers of the future may not be faced with this dilemma. A new technology called “non-invasive prenatal diagnosis” has been recently innovated, which allows doctors to determine if a baby has some sort of genetic disorder without performing a risky procedure! All that is needed is some blood from the pregnant mother.

Fetus_and_placenta_-_journal.pbio.0060312.g001

A fetus in the womb from Wei Hsu and Shang-Yi Chiu via Wikipedia Creative Commons

The idea behind non-invasive prenatal diagnosis is that when a woman is pregnant, there is some of the unborn baby’s genetic information floating around in her blood. This genetic information can be collected from a sample of the mother’s blood, and tested for genetic disorders! Furthermore, the procedure is 99.5% accurate, so with the test results accompanying other tests which are used to detect genetic disorders, physicians can almost definitely ensure that they are correct when they tell a parent their baby will be normal!

Below, Ariosa Diagnostics Inc. explains how a mother’s blood can be used to test for a baby’s genetic disorders.

From Ariosa DX via Youtube.

The possibilities for the applications of this technology stretch far into the future. With the advent of machines which can find out a person’s genetic code in its entirety within the span of a couple hours, and have the ability to do it cheaply, non-invasive prenatal diagnosis could be used to test single genes!

Unfortunately, like many new innovations in the field of genetics and health care, this one has ethical issues. If the technology is not controlled carefully, someday, it may be possible for parents to test to see what their child might be like before its born. Should parents be able to get an abortion just because their child may not be a genius? Or 6 feet tall? The technology to do this is likely going to be expensive; what happens if some families cannot pay for it? I personally believe that this technology is great because it allows parents to make an informed choice about their future child; however, the government should control the application of this technology to traits that are not considered disorders.

-Shaun

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News

Tagged amniocentesis, baby, care, clinic, diagnosis, disorder, dna, dx, embryo, eugenics, expectant, fetus, genetics, genome, health, healthcare, hospital, non-invasive, pre-natal, pregancy, pregnant, prenatal, risky, sequencing, womb

4-stranded DNA

Posted on February 3, 2013 by Shirley | 1 comment

Four-stranded DNA? Not double-stranded? DNA is generally double-stranded, but it has an exception. Due to an increase in advanced technology and the creation of an antibody that targets four-stranded DNA, it has been proven that four-stranded DNA is present in human cells by researchers. Four-stranded DNA can form in the guanine rich region of the DNA. Hence, the scientific name for the DNA structure is G-quadruplex.

DNA G-quadruplex. Photographed by Jean-Paul Rodriguez

Guanine is one of the four building blocks of DNA, and the others being: adenine, cytosine, and thymine. The oxygen molecules of Guanine are exposed when the G-quadruplex forms, and to stabilize the structure, a cation (positively charged ion) is present at the centre of the structure. In addition, the four guanine molecules are held together by hydrogen bonds in planar arrangement.

There has been an increase of attention for the research of four-stranded DNA since 1962. Before the experiment of Quantitative visualization of DNA G-quadruplex structures in human cells was done, four-stranded DNA in human cells was just a theory. Even though G-quadruplex was made in test tubes and found in single-cellular life, there was no direct proof that G-quadruplex can be formed in human cells. In the experiment mentioned above, researchers found four-stranded DNA in regulatory regions of human DNA, such as promoters, enhancers, repressors, and untranslated regions. In addition, telomeres (a region of DNA that protects the deterioration of DNA) also show motifs of G-quadruplex. From where G-quadruplex can be found, it can be inferred that G-quadruplex has potential functions of regulating DNA replication, transcription, and stabilizing chromosome.

The experiment further explored the presence of G-quadruplex throughout the development of human cells and found that it is most abundant when a human cell is rapidly dividing. Therefore, the researchers think there is a relationship between G-quadruplex and the presence of cancerous cells. New possible therapies for cancers may be formed by the disruption of G-quadruplex formation.

Much more research and detailed studies need to be done for G-quadruplex. The study of G-quadruplex could prove to have numerous beneficial possibilities, especially in the area of cancers. With the prospect of a potential key that may successfully create new treatments, researchers continue to have high hopes for the future.

uploaded by helixray

(Shirley) Yu Chen

1 Comment

Posted in Biological Sciences, Public Engagement

Tagged dna, genetics, health

Pest Control – How Far is Too Far?

Posted on January 21, 2013 by sydneyschnell | 3 comments

When asked to think of the most dangerous animals on Earth, we often imagine large creatures like sharks, bears, or lions. However, you may be surprised to discover that the most dangerous creature in the world is actually… a mosquito!

Anopheles stephensi mosquito, a known carrier of Malaria. Rsabbatini via Wikimedia Creative Commons.

Mosquitoes are summertime pests; those annoying and unwelcome guests at a family barbecue, picnic in the park, or day at the beach. While the itchy bumps they cause are irritating, bites are rarely fatal here in North America. However, in tropical and sub-tropical regions, mosquitoes act as transmitters for potentially fatal diseases, such as Malaria and Dengue fever. Causing over one million deaths each year, mosquito transmitted diseases kill more humans than any other animal-related incident.

A child being treated for Malaria. Ashley Jonathan Clements via Flickr Creative Commons.

This has prompted scientists to consider proactive options for fighting these diseases – namely, to prevent people from becoming infected in the first place. As common insect-reducing methods (such as insecticide spraying) often kill other species within the ecosystem too, controlling mosquito populations through genetic modification is becoming more popular. While similar strategies have been used before – the sterile insect technique (SIT) was developed in the 1950’s, whereby genetically-engineered sterile insects are released into the environment – a new technology developed by Oxitec laboratories is at the forefront of the mosquito combat.

(TEDtalksDirector via YouTube)

Above, Hadyn Parry (CEO of Oxitec) discusses disease transmission by mosquitoes, and how Oxitec proposes to alleviate this issue.

Oxitec is a British biotech company that, under the leadership of Luke Alphey, has produced the RIDL method, by which mosquitoes are genetically modified to carry lethal alleles.

What does this mean?

Essentially, male mosquitoes are engineered in a laboratory and then released. The concept here is simple – the mutations inflicted have no direct impact on the mosquitoes’ fitness (that is, the genetically modified males compete for female mates equally as well as wild-type males), but the mosquitoes will die if not given tetracycline during development. Therefore, when these RIDL males mate, all offspring will receive one dominant lethal allele. Over time, without the presence of tetracycline, all mosquitoes carrying this allele will die, effectively diminishing the mosquito population. Luke Alphey explains these concepts in the video below.

(WorldEconomicForum via YouTube)

While the RIDL method shows promise for controlling mosquito populations, many parties contend that there are unintended side effects. For example, the removal of mosquito populations threatens to disrupt surrounding ecosystems, as many species, such as bats and spiders, rely on mosquitoes for nourishment. Furthermore, it has been suggested that mosquitoes could develop resistance to the lethal allele, resulting in a stronger subsequent generation and thereby amplifying disease transmission.

However, Oxitec scientists seem confident that the RIDL technique will provide a safe, effective way to manage mosquito populations. If true, we may be about to witness a new era of disease prevention.

– Sydney Schnell

3 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

Tagged disease, engineering, environment, genetic, health, malaria, modification, mosquito, pest, Sydney Schnell, transgenics

Tag Archives: health

What does “1 in 3” mean to you?

Printing–a new way to save a life.

What is Diabetes?

A Gene for Skinny Jeans!

Food for Thought: Can Eating Breakfast Make You Smarter?

To amnio or not to amnio, is that still a question?

4-stranded DNA

Pest Control – How Far is Too Far?

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