Tag Archives: Virus

Organisms Inside Us

Posted on February 29, 2016 by | 2 comments

Have you ever wondered how many micro organisms are living inside us? Micro organisms are living organisms that cannot be seen with our naked eyes. They may be multicellular (made out of more than one cell) or unicellular (made out of one cell). Our human body is packed with trillions of microbes (or micro organisms). In fact, our own body cells are out numbered with a ratio of 1:10. So, we are technically 90% germs and 10% human. Microbes are found in all parts of our body in different proportions. Our lung has approximately 1000x less microbes than our mouth and has approximately 1 billion times less microbes than our intestines. Although most microbes are harmless to us, some may cause bacterial infections in humans.

The Human Body = 90% Germs + 10% Human

Top three functions microbes in our body:

  1. Defense mechanism: Microbes in our lungs, intestines and our skin provide the first line of defense against harmful bacteria that enters our body. Good microbes found in these areas play an essential role in preventing the spread of harmful microbes by occupying space so less space are available for harmful microbes to settle down inside us. Thus, preventing us from bacterial infections that may cause fever, diarrhea or other problems. Other than that, researchers have found evidence that microbes that live inside us help promote our immune system cells to grow and replicate.
  2. Keeping us in shape: The trillions of microbe colonies in our intestines help digest fats and carbohydrates, facilitating the absorption of nutrients in cells. Our intestinal microbes also ferment food that we consume. The fermentation process produces chemicals that speeds up our metabolic processes. As a result, the microbes in our gut helps us keep in shape by increasing our metabolism.
  3. Detoxifies us: Microbes living in us are also capable of digesting toxins that we accidently ingest into less harmful substances. Therefore, preventing us from being poisoned. For example, the microbe Lacrobacillus probiotics found in food help the human body detoxify heavy toxic metals such as aluminum.

Good microbes that keep us healthy

Where do we get microbes that live in our body? Most of our microbes that inhabit our intestines comes from the food we ingest. Our skin and lung microbes come from the air we are exposed to. Recently, researchers discovered that newborn infants get their microbes from their mother’s breast milk and vagina. Researchers found that the method of delivery may have an effect on the diversity of intestinal microbes in newborns. They discovered that infants born vaginally and infants born by caesarean section have different intestinal microbe composition. This indicates that we start to develop our microbe colonies from the day we were born.

Microbes inside our body

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Uncategorized

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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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Posted in Biological Sciences, Science in the News

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