Category Archives: Biological Sciences

One time solution- Universal Flu Shot

Posted on February 7, 2016 by | 4 comments

Are you tired of getting vaccinated every flu season? Do you want to be protected but refuse to be poked? Fear no more, the universal flu shot is here (well not yet, but almost).

shots-shots-shotsCredit: WeKnowMemes

Every flu season millions flock to receive that seasons flu shot. Have you ever wondered why you can be vaccinated just once and be protected for life for diseases such as mumps and measles but not the flu?

This can be answered by the characteristics of the flu. There are 3 known types of flu viruses but only 2 types of flu viruses which cause the annual flu. The types that cause the flu are A and B. However, these have many subtypes which change every season because of the genetic changes undergone by the head region. So every season the World Health Organization is given predictions of the strain of flu that scientists believe is circulating that year. Using this information that seasons vaccine is chosen. However, the educated predictions made to create the flu shot fail to be completely effective as they can only protect up to 3-4 strains of that flu. Therefore, it is difficult to create a vaccine every year that is completely successful in protecting us against the annual flu. This is one of the main reasons why developing an all-in-one flu shot is of much interest.

There have been many attempts to try and create the all-in-one flu shot. The difficulty is creating one that can account for the different strains. A recent study, in Nature Science,  has came up with an innovative solution to creating a universal flu shot which may solve the issue that the flu changes every year.

In their approach they focus on the proteins on the outside of the antibody. These proteins are comprised of a head and a stem. The head, in flu vaccines being hemagglutinin (HA), can mutate and it is the reason for the various faces of the flu. However, the stem doesn’t mutate as easily as the HA. The new vaccine uses this information and focuses on the stem instead of the head. If our bodies can recognize the stem and create antibodies according to the stem, it would be able to create antibodies to protect one against all strains of the flu; this would account for all the changes in the HA.

The following video gives a brief overview of how the vaccines work and how this universal flu vaccine would work.

Credit: Discovery News

This study has been proven successful in rats and chimps, however it must be researched and perfected before it can be used in humans. The difficulties of creating an all-in-one shot is the ability of the flu to change itself. Focusing on the stem instead of the head may be the way to success. Thankfully, this innovation is on a uphill and our future for the all-in-one flu shot is looking bright!

-Vanessa

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Promising Lead to a Universal Flu Vaccine

Posted on February 7, 2016 by | 1 comment

It’s flu season. Every year people get vaccinated against the flu, also known as influenza. Now, researchers are looking at a long-lasting flu vaccine that does not need to be given annually.

Tylenol

– Image Source: Dennis S. Hurd, Flickr

A recent study shows that scientists may have found a new potential target to generate new vaccines against certain types of the flu. They focused on a protein called hemagglutinin found on the surface of viral influenza particles. This protein contains a head region, which undergoes constant genetic changes, as well as a stem region that does not change. Although current influenza vaccines are composed of the viral particles from the head region, researchers discovered a way to stabilize the stem region in order to create a vaccine. Their results showed that vaccinated mice and ferrets either had reduced symptoms or complete immunity against certain related influenza viruses.

A vaccine is produced from taking a virus and weakening it so that it is unable to replicate and cause harm within an individual. When the vaccine is injected, the body is tricked into thinking that the virus particles are dangerous, thus initiating an immune response and producing antibodies that destroy that specific virus particle. As a result, these antibodies reside in the body for long periods of time. Therefore, if in the future the real virus enters the body, you will have specific antibodies to protect you from the virus.

– Credit: TED-Ed

Although a new flu vaccine is produced every year, the effectiveness of the vaccine may vary. Each flu season, because the virus is constantly changing, researchers try to determine the specific types of influenza that are currently circulating and those that will be present in the coming year. Based on this information, a vaccine is produced consisting of multiple types of the virus, however, it is impossible for the vaccine to be 100% accurate. With the discovery of this new target area on hemagglutinin, it could lead to the production of one vaccine for a group of related influenza viruses.

– Credit: Discovery News

According to the Government of Canada, approximately 10-20% of the population becomes infected with influenza annually. Flu symptoms typically include fever, cough, and aches. Furthermore, there are 12,200 hospitalizations and 3,500 deaths each year. Individuals at greater risk for complications or hospitalization caused by the flu include people with other diseases and weakened immune systems, residents in chronic care facilities, people aged 65 or older, and pregnant women. Immunize BC emphasizes the importance of everyone getting vaccinated in order to prevent the spread of disease to others. Researchers are hoping that a longer-lasting flu vaccine will encourage more people to get vaccinated, and also reduce the cost associated with producing and administering seasonal flu vaccines.

However, we may still have to get our yearly flu shots for quite some time. Researchers, although very optimistic about the future of creating a new long-lasting vaccine, say that more research needs to be done to determine the efficacy in human models.

– Brian Infanti

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Type 1 Diabetes: A Potential Cure?

Posted on February 1, 2016 by | 5 comments

Type 1 Diabetes, also known as diabetes mellitus type 1, is a condition characterized by the impaired ability of one’s pancreas to produce insulin. In an individual with type 1 diabetes, the immune system malfunctions and attacks the beta cells of the pancreas, which are responsible for producing insulin. This classifies type 1 diabetes as an autoimmune disease, which is where the immune system attacks the body, thus it is currently incurable. The current treatment for this condition involves daily injections of insulin to allow the individual to regulate their blood sugar levels. Unfortunately, insulin therapy has side effects, such as hypoglycemia (low blood glucose levels) or hyperglycemia (high blood glucose levels) from incorrect dosages, and some individuals may be allergic to the preservatives added to insulin medication. Furthermore, insulin therapy involves precise control of blood sugar levels, and this is very difficult to achieve, often causing patients to face long-term medical problems as a result.

Diagram of the pancreas and beta cells. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Diagram of the pancreas and beta cells. Via Wikimedia Commons.

So what is this new potential cure? It began in 2014, when a team of Harvard University researchers used human stem cells, unspecialized cells that can become cells with a specific function, to create new beta cells in large quantities, as published in Cell. This new technique of creating insulin producing cells from human embryonic stem cells was a big step in diabetes research. In further experiments, these beta cells were transplanted into diabetic mice, as an attempt to replace the destroyed beta cells. Unfortunately, the immune system in the mice destroyed these new beta cells as well.

The experiments were first done on lab mice. Via Wikimedia Commons.

The experiments were first done on lab mice. Via Wikimedia Commons.

A team of researchers from MIT and several other institutions have devised an “invisibility cloak” for the beta cells, so they can hide from the faulty immune system. The cloak is composed of modified alginate, which is a material isolated from brown algae. After testing 800 various derivatives of this alginate capsule, they chose the best capsule from the tests, known as triazole-thiomorpholine dioxide (TMTD). This research was shown in a recently posted article in the Nature Biotechnology journal.

Brown algae that form the alginate used in "invisibility cloak". Via Wikimedia Commons.

Brown algae that form the alginate used in “invisibility cloak”. Via Wikimedia Commons.

The results were incredible! As a study in Nature Medicine showed, the injected mice were able to produce insulin until the implants were removed 174 days later. This has massive implications for diabetes therapy, as not being dependent on insulin injections is the end goal. If these implants were able to function in humans, then the diabetic individuals would not require insulin injections anymore. The next step of research is to move from trials on mice to trials on primates. If the tests on primates show positive results, the step after would be human trials. Researchers are making large strides towards a cure for type 1 diabetes.

– Kush Khanna

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Eating Turkey Makes You Sleepy: True or False?

Posted on January 31, 2016 by | 4 comments

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aa1_CeUAQIc#action=share

Many of us have probably heard or even experienced the famous phenomenon known as food coma. If you have no idea what food coma is, you most probably have experienced it before unknowingly. Food coma is a state of lethargy or sleepiness experienced after consuming a large portion of food. Despite its informal name, it is a medically recognized condition called post-prandial comnolence.

Food coma generally hits harder at the most festive times of the year- the holiday seasons. The thanksgiving turkey is no exception. You stack your plates with turkey, sweet potatoes, dressing, cranberries and all the other old-fashioned foods, then fill your stomach up to the brim. Then, of course, you go for a second, then third round. It’s the holiday seasons after all. Not long after, you start to feel lethargic, energy-less and sleepy. Unknowingly, you have fallen into the food-coma trap.

For many years, urban myths have blamed the turkey for the main cause of the sleepiness. But is the turkey really to be blamed?

Where did the myth come from?  Many of you might have heard about the amino acid called tryptophan. Tryptophan is one of the components of the hormone serotonin. Serotonin is converted to the sleep-inducing hormone melatonin. Without melatonin, we will all be always wide awake. This chemical is essential in our body to give us enough rest at night for proper bodily functions. Hence, yes, tryptophan is an essential chemical in our body. However, our body does not produce tryptophan. Tryptophan is obtained by our body from the food we eat.

The tryptophan we ingest competes with other amino acids in our body to enter our brain through the blood-brain barrier. The blood-brain barrier is an interface that separates the brain from the rest of the body. It protects the brain from harmful chemicals that enters the body by filtering them. The blood-brain barrier will only allow certain chemicals to enter the brain. Only a portion of the tryptophan we ingest successfully enters our brain. Most of them are broken down in our liver. The myth that turkeys make us sleepy began when tryptophan were found in turkey meat.

So, do turkeys make us sleepy? The answer to this question is- yes and no. Turkey meat contains tryptophan-yes. However, according to Standford neuroimmunologist Lawrence Steinman, MD, the levels of tryptophan  in turkey “is not higher than in most other muscle tissue from other animals, more commonly known as meats”. It is not the turkey that makes us sleepy but it is the enormous amounts of carbohydrates and often alcohol consumed on the holiday seasons.

Carbohydrates such as the dressing or mashed potatoes induces the release of insulin into the bloodstream compared to other amino acids present. As a result, higher levels of tryptophan are concentrated at the brain-blood barrier.

In conclusion, it is not the turkey that makes you sleepy after Thanksgiving. So, take a quick nap on Thanksgiving, but be sure to wake up in time for the dishes!

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Posted in Biological Sciences

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Can First Nation’s clay be used in hospitals to kill antibiotic resistant bacteria?

Posted on January 30, 2016 by | 3 comments

As more empowerment and resources comes to First Nations group, new discoveries and technology may soon become available for use in a variety of settings.

In this article, a clay from Kisameet Bay, British Columbia, used by First Nations for centuries for its healing properties have been used in lab tests to kill antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

Antibiotic-resistance bacteria has proven resilient and a danger to the population, particularly in hospital settings where there is a growing problem due to overuse of antiobiotics. This video highlights the microbiology of antibiotic resistance in bacteria.

The research was published in the American Society for Microbiology’s mBio journal. Rare mineral clay is recommended to be studied as a treatment for serious infections caused by the so-called ESKAPE pathogens, which cause the majority of hospital infections and the effects of antibacterial drugs.

The acronym ESKAPE comes from the scientific names of the bacteria themselves:

  • Enterococcus faecium.
  • Staphylococcus aureus (also known as as the methacillin-resistant superbug MRSA).
  • Klebsiella pneumoniae.
  • Acinetobacter baumannii.
  • Pseudomonas aeruginosa.
  • Enterobacter species.

However, further studies and testing will be required before this clay can be made for hospital use.

I think this is an interesting breakthrough, not only for science/technology/healthcare, but for Canadian-First Nations relations. Reconciliation can take on many different forms, but with combined effort on both sides, something wonderful can be achieved.

 

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Posted in Biological Sciences

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Sewage Sludge, A Potential New Fertilizer?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by | Leave a comment

THE PROBLEM

The world’s population increases annually. With urban communities adapting to a more meat-based diet and competing for food supplies, agricultural demands are increasing exponentially. Rising agricultural demand results in the necessity for increased amount of high-quality fertilizers. Unfortunately, the main component of agricultural fertilizer is phosphorus: a dwindling non-renewable resource.

Red Phosphorus

Phosphorus, Source:Wikimedia Commons

If phosphorus was to deplete on a global basis (predicted to occur within the next 100 years), nations may succumb to pressure and resort to violence or isolationism to protect their own supply.

WHAT TO DO?

Before global conflict occurs, the world needs to find a new source of phosphorus that is both sustainable and renewable. Luckily, researchers believe they may have found a new source of phosphorus in sewage sludge.

WHAT IS SEWAGE SLUDGE?

SEWAGE_SLUDGE_SETTLES_ON_BOTTOM_OF_BEAKER._SEWAGE_TREATMENT_PLANT_-_NARA_-_543811[1]

Sewage Sludge, Source:Wikimedia Commons

Sewage sludge is the by-product of urban sewage waste produced after an incineration or combustion process. When dissolved in water, sewage sludge is a murky viscous material with floating small particles. Interestingly, sewage sludge has a diverse variety of micro-components where oxidized metals and semi-metals make up majority of the composition. The key fact to note is the high amount of oxidized Phosphorous contained within this substance.

HOW CAN SEWAGE SLUDGE HELP US

In the past, sewage sludge has been dumped into the ocean, leaked into agricultural lands before proper processing or used in construction process such as the formation of concrete. However, a new study conducted by researcher Hannes Herzel on January 15, 2016 has shown a potential recovery of over 19, 000 tons of phosphorus annually within sewage sludge that is commercially and agriculturally reusable. But, it appears that researchers do not yet have an efficient way of extracting phosphorus from sewage sludge due to limited bio-availability. Furthermore, it is not cost efficient in a lab setting to completely remove all other heavy metals and contaminants inside of sewage sludge in order to isolate phosphorus. Coincidentally, a Russian waste purification company seems to have found the solution.

The following is a YouTube demonstration of contemporary Sewage Sludge treatment in Rusecotech kindly provided by: Daniil Andreev

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KdrAO6plWOQ

After this treatment, the sewage sludge will be essentially free of dangerous heavy metals such Arsenic (As), Copper (Cu) and Zinc (Zn) and will also be detoxified. The resulting mixture will be safe to use as a fertilizer after further processing. In the words of Hannes Herzel, the treated product, “thus fulfill(s) the quality parameter for a P-fertilizer“.

Although the concept of reusing sewage sludge is still under development, the future of this technology is definitely promising in securing a reusable phosphorous source.

Posted By Ming Lun (Allan) Zhu

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There is Hope: Body Fat Transplant May Be Effective in Treating Rare Metabolic Diseases?

Posted on January 25, 2016 by | 4 comments

People who have rare metabolic diseases, such as Maple syrup urine disease depend highly on donor transplantation. But is there an alternative treatment if donors are low? Not to mention the high expenses of a transplant?

But… you might be wondering… what exactly is maple syrup urine disease and where does it get its name?

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) is a rare disease because it follows an autosomal recessive mode of inheritance, one of the ways a disease can be passed down through families. This means patients inherit MSUD if both their parents have an abnormal gene.  MSUD  causes a defect in the way our body breaks down the three essential amino acids: leucine, isoleucine, and valine.

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) follows a autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Source: Wikipedia Commons

Maple syrup urine disease (MSUD) follows a autosomal recessive mode of inheritance. Source: Wikipedia Commons

It is characterized by the distinctive maple-syrup scent found early on in urine samples of infants. They are important because essential amino acids cannot be made from the body, so they must come directly from our diet. The defect causes these three amino acids and their by-products to build up in the body. As a result, MSUD patients need precisely monitored diets (measured to the very milligram!) to avoid consumption of these amino acids, while still obtaining the other essential amino acids the body needs.

If MSUD conditions are left untreated, they can lead to coma, seizures and even death before reaching three months in age.

Liver transplantation is shown to be effective in treating MSUD because the liver is composed of an abundance of enzymes which appear to normalize amino acid levels, sometimes even allowing patients to fully adopt their normal diets again.

So organ transplantation is usually the solution to metabolic diseases but because of the high demand, is there a more accessible alternative?

Noting the high activity of fat tissue relative to muscle tissue in the body, researchers from Penn State College of Medicine tested the effect of body fat transplantation with genetically engineered mice with MSUD. They transplanted two grams of fat into the mices’ back or abdomen and found that when they implanted fat into the mices’ back, the amino acid levels dropped greatly in the transplanted MSUD mice compared to non-transplanted MSUD mice.

Transplanting fat into the abdomen of the mice did more harm than good and caused inflammation in the process. The results of this study were recently published in the journal Molecular Genetics and Metabolism.

Their study concluded that the amount of fat injected had no effect on the results. So this must mean that there will be further experimentation with fat transplantation. Fat transplant can be an alternative to liver transplant because it may be a more efficient approach as it is relatively inexpensive and it may be easier to find donors.

Wayne and Chad’s personal account on their child living with MSUD: YouTube Preview Image
Posted on January 25, 2016 By Jenny U

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

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Can adding native pollinators increase small-farm yields in under-developed countries?

Posted on January 24, 2016 by | Leave a comment

Small-farms in developing countries from Africa, Asian and Latin America that are struggling with their amount of crop production need a little boost to help get them back to their normal yield. Could the addition of native pollinators be what small-farms need to increase their yield gap?

Before I get into this, let’s refresh our knowledge about pollination.

Pollinators such as honey bees, beetles, and wasps help plants reproduce, which means they play a crucial role in agriculture.

How do they do this?

The main function of pollen is to produce male sperm cells. Pollination basically occurs when pollen is transferred to female reproductive organs of plants which allows fertilization and reproduction to occur. Native pollinators such as the few listed above are able to enhance pollination which helps out farmers with their crops.

"Meliponin bee, covered with pollen, visiting a flower of the Vegetable Sponge Gourd" By Leonardo Ré-Jorge.

“Honey bee, covered with pollen, visiting a flower of the Vegetable Sponge Gourd” By Leonardo Ré-Jorge.

Here is a video by Laura Klahre on TEDx Talks that discusses the different types of bees that are effective pollinators.

If pollinators are able to do this, then could these native pollinators effectively help struggling farmers with their yield?

A recent study discusses the effectiveness of implementing new pollinators to help small-farms that are struggling with crop production. It was done on “344 fields from 33 pollinator-dependant crop systems in small and large farms from Africa, Asia, and Latin America”. This study greatly affects under-developed countries that are reliant on their small-farms for food.

The study found that incorporating the new pollinators could potentially close the yield gap of farms by about a quarter; the yield gap being closed by a quarter was found on small fields that were less than 2 hectares.

The study suggests that ecological intensification or a “biodiversity of pollinators” will improve yield outcomes for the farms of these under-developed countries. Biodiversity of pollinators are just means to incorporate a diversity of different pollinators into the farms.

Introducing pollinators has shown to have a positive effect on these farms. It could be the method that struggling small-farms use to help get their farms a higher yield, so why not give it a chance?

Post by Karanvir Gill.

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To drink, or not to drink…

Posted on January 24, 2016 by | 7 comments
Paracelsus

Paracelsus Source: Wikimedia Commons

Society has always incurred the issue of dosage. To quote the famous philosopher, Paracelsus, “All substances are poisons; there is none that is not a poison. The right dose differentiates a poison and a remedy.”

Parcelsus’ words do not falter, especially with regards to alcohol consumption. Particularly in red wine, there is a “substance” called resveratrol, a naturally occurring chemical compound found in the skin of certain grapes and berries considered to be an antioxidant. A blog from cancer research UK indicates that a low dose of resveratrol is considered to be 5 milligrams which is equivalent to a 250 mL glass of wine, or roughly 9 ounces. This minimal dose would be enough resveratrol to have an observable effect on the human body.

But how does resveratrol affect the body? You may have heard about the relation between red wine and the heart. In fact, the video below by Buzz60 introduces a study conducted in Israel by the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev which has shown that red wine has an increased positive effect on cholesterol levels. The study had 1/3 of the subjects drinking a glass of water with their meal, 1/3 drinking white wine and 1/3 drinking red wine. Excuse the cheese of this video, but it does go quite well with these wine facts.

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3aobr3

As mentioned, resveratrol is an antioxidant; it donates an electron to the free radicals in the body, thereby abolishing the harmful abundance of radicals. By inhibiting free radicals, resveratrol promotes the production of nitric oxide. Consequently, the presence of this biological messenger – nitric oxide – stimulates arteries to relax, open up and allow blood to consistently flow throughout the body. This constant flow aids in the avoidance of a coronary artery spasm; a condition defined as the temporary yet sudden narrowing of the artery walls.

Essentially, red wine contains resveratrol, resveratrol promotes the production of nitric oxide and nitric oxide allows blood vessels to dilate allowing blood to flow steadily throughout the body. The video below echoes this process.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eVoH67d0IDk

So, to sum it all up, go ahead and get that 9 oz of red with your dinner! Your circulatory system prefers it.

Paria Assadipour

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