Category Archives: Issues in Science

A Small Step for Mankind, A Large leap for Cancer Research

Posted on April 6, 2018 by Conway | Leave a comment

Have you ever felt completely helpless after finding out someone you know and love is suffering from a horrible disease like cancer? If so, you most likely hoped that medical treatments would be able to cure the person. More people die from cancer compared to any other disease in Canada, but scientists have not been able to create the cure for cancer. With so many different types of cancers, the amount of treatments available is still relatively limited and these treatments are incredibly painful.

A scene of a patient receiving cancer treatment
Photo credit: Victoria Forster

What treatments are being developed? Scientists like Dr. Orvig and his group decided to focus on improving cancer detection of one specific type of cancer with the use of radiopharmaceuticals. Radiopharmaceuticals are drugs containing radiation-producing molecules that are able to attach to cancer cells indirectly. Chelators/ligands are molecules that will bind to metal ions and these metal ions then attach to the cancer cells with the help of antigens and antibodies.

Why is Dr. Orvig’s research different compared to previous research? Different ligands attach to metal ions at different rates and Dr. Orvig and his team wanted to create a ligand that could attach quicker than previous ones. Therefore, Dr. Orvig and his team synthesized a ligand that can bind to certain metals in about 5-10 minutes at room temperature. In addition, their ligand wraps around the metal like a snake, which is stronger and quicker at binding compared to previous ones.

Photo of Dr. Orvig and his colleague doing an experiment.
Photo credit: Asana Kh

We interviewed Dr. Orvig and asked him to explain his research in detail. The podcast attached below further explains why current cancer treatments are not ideal and how Dr. Orvig’s research can make a difference towards current cancer treatment.

In addition to the podcast, the following video explains the process of making the chelators, how they work and how they were tested by Dr. Orvig and his team.

Video Credit: Asana Kh

Although this new technology cant directly kills cancer cells, it allows researchers to detect cancer earlier. Consequently, this early detection can lead to an easier treatment process and increase the patients’ chances of survival. Even though there is still a long way to go before the technology can be used in hospitals, Dr. Orvig and his team remain optimistic. As Dr. Orvig mentioned, “In science, it’s always about making it better”; many small accomplishments will eventually lead to a big success, like the cure for cancer.

– Group 3: Asana Kh, Conway Chen, Moneek Gill, Tammy Tang

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Posted in Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged cancer, cancer detection, Chemistry, ligands, Science

Antioxidants, and how studying rare diseases could cure common illnesses

Posted on April 6, 2018 by koby michaels | Leave a comment

Photo by Koby Michaels

You have probably heard of antioxidants before. In health food crazes, the newest diets, and fad foods, antioxidants are synonymous with being healthy and living longer. In reality, antioxidants are just chemicals in your body that reduce the amount of free-roaming oxygen.

Though health food labels would make you believe otherwise, your body is quite capable of maintaining a healthy amount of antioxidants without much help. So no need to eat blueberries until you explode — just enjoy them to your tongue’s content.

“You can eat as many pomegranates and blueberries as you like and you’re not going to do yourself any harm, but I think you have to realize that everything should be taken in moderation,” explained Dr. Kelly Brown, a research scientist at the University of British Columbia.

But antioxidants have roles well beyond being a useful marketing tool for health food campaigns. They are central to a devastating childhood illness called chronic granulomatous disease, or CGD for short. CGD lays at the heart of new research by Dr. Brown. While most people have probably never heard of CGD before, it has a significant impact on the lives of many children and understanding the disease could, one day, have far-reaching consequences.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g64Xbv8h8EQ

Music licensed from epidemicsound.com.
Please see YouTubbe video description for complete credits.
Koby Michaels/YouTube.

CGD is a well-known disease in the scientific community, but few outside the field have ever heard about it. Dr. Brown became interested in CGD after a surprising encounter with a clinician colleague. This encounter forever changed the course of Kelly’s career. Hear the story in the podcast below.

Sound effects are public domain (iMovie sound effects). Music
licensed through epidemicsound.com

Though CGD is far from the minds of most people, it is devastating to the children — and their families — who suffer and die from it. Better understanding the underpinnings of this mysterious disease may one day help scientists and doctors find cures for diseases as widely varying as diabetes and Alzheimer’s.

Group 4: Andy Li, Tammy Lian, Xinwei(Wendy) Kuang, and Koby Michaels

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged alzheimer's, biological research, biology, cgd, chronic granulomatous disease, diabetes, medicine, rare disease

Cocaine addiction: Not so cut and dry

Posted on April 5, 2018 by Ryan Berg | Leave a comment

Drug addiction in our society has long been associated with a lack of willpower. I am here to tell you that there is more to the story. There is an abundance of research detailing the plausibility of genetic predisposition to addiction in humans.

Photo credit: Mycroyance on Flickr creative commons. Available: http://bit.ly/15umG2O

Under the supervision of Dr. Bamji, Dr. Andrea Globa and her colleagues conducted a research experiment to determine the effects of how a sticky glue-like protein called cadherin was able to reduce the effects of addiction – in mice. In this experiment, cocaine was administered to the mice when they entered a specific chamber during the experiment to evoke a potential addiction to the drug. Cocaine was chosen as there has been extensive work done in similar fields with the same drug. Cadherin is this sticky glue-like protein that is present at connections between cells in the brain called synapses. These synapses act as the gap between nerve cells that allow electrical impulses from the brain to pass through to the body. Dr. Globa was conducting her experiment to see how these proteins would affect the mice exposed to cocaine versus those that were not. The results of Dr. Globa’s experiment were unexpected. The results showed that mice with higher levels of this protein in their brain would not allow for the connections to strengthen. This meant that the “drug memory” could not be formed and was, therefore, preventing the addiction from developing.

Photo credit: UBC – The effects of cadherin on developing cocaine addictions in mice.

We conducted our own interview with Dr. Globa and discussed her research. We developed a podcast and video to accompany this blog post in hopes that it will help better explain the importance of this research. The podcast elicits the importance of Dr. Globa’s research and how humans may benefit from further research in this field.

The following video depicts how mice with increased protein levels are impartial to which chamber they visit because the protein has not allowed their brain to create an addiction to the administered cocaine.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X1fi6Iwf4TU&feature=youtu.be

Although the results of the experiment are exciting and seemingly optimistic, Dr. Globa made sure to explain that it is still too early to determine what implications this will have on humans. Dr. Globa’s research was another step forward on the long road to developing an understanding genetic predisposition to addiction.

Author: Ryan Berg, Ellen Chen, Nic Wu, Celia Dossot

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged addiction, biology, brain, cocaine, drug addiction, drugs, health, laboratory experiment, memory, mice, neuroscience, protein, Technology, UBC

Usage of mathematics for an understanding of how the brain functions

Posted on April 5, 2018 by ji yoon park | Leave a comment

When a tree falls in the middle of a forest and nobody heard it falling, can it be considered as a sound? Well, to answer this question, mathematics can guide us to understand how our vision and hearing works.

Priscilla Greenwood, a mathematicians and Lawrence Ward, a neuroscientist at the University of British Columbia worked together on a research that explains how we perceive the things that occur around us as a part of our brain receives signals. Based on the enough patterns of the signals that occur when we use our senses, it is possible for a computer to imitate a real brain.

A part of our brain that lights up when we perceive things around us
Photo Credit: Flickr

To understand the pattern of the signals that our brains receive, we first need to encounter the shape of a Mexican hat, which is a shape of a tiny area of nerves that changes when we see an image. The pointy part of the diagram below shows the area of focus where the nerves respond the most and the dented area represents the area that we mostly ignore when encountering an image. In other words, as we pay more attention to a specific area, we automatically pay less attention to other areas.

A diagram of the Mexican Hat.
Image from https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Spontaneous_symmetry_breaking#/media/File:Mexican_hat_potential_polar.svg

We had the opportunity to interview Dr. Ward about the research for the better understanding of the concepts. Dr. Ward elaborated more on the activity of the tiny neurons in our brains in patterns, which matches with a shape of sombrero (similar to the Mexican hat shape). Listen to the explanation of their research in the following podcast.

Podcast credit: Kang Zhihao

Why did they choose the Mexican hat equation particularly to explain how we perceive the randomness of things? It is because it is a most suitable way to describe the aspects of brain activity and the pairing of the neurons and to calculate how we perceive sights around us. In the video below, Dr. Ward describes how a form of wave of neural activity exist in our brain that varies according to the level of activity based on the activity of our senses.

Video Credit: Huanxin Zhang, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rHORreeISC4&feature=youtu.be

What can we do with the information from this research? The important findings of this study may help us to construct a model that has a similar level of intelligence that a real brain consists. Also, the mathematics can be applied to recreate brain simulations possibly in the future, but the real brain still outlasts the machines. The answer to the question that was asked in the beginning, is that in order for us to hear the tree that falls in the middle of the forest depends on how high can the Mexican hat of our brain be.

-Group 5: Aaron yen, Zhihao Kang, Huanxin Zhang, Victoria Park

Video credit:

o Pattern Dynamics of Reaction Diffusion Equation: ak0amay Published on Oct 10, 2015 o Brain model: Growing a Brain Pattern: Particle Skull, Published on Jul 9, 2014 o What Are Brain Waves?: MinuteEarth, Published on Nov 7, 2017 o The brain waves when noised involved: Relaxing White Noise, Published on Feb 10, 2015 o Brain patterns in math: École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Published on Jun 12, 2017 Thanks to Dr. Janet Ochola and Dr. Andrew Trites for guidance and advice during the project. Thanks to Dr. Priscilla Greenwood for the insight and Dr. Lawrence Ward for the explanations.

Audio credit:

The background musics are public domain and licensed from y.qq.com

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Outreach Project, Science Communication, Science Communicators, Science in News

Tagged brain function, mathmatics, perception, time

Jumbled Letters: Can You Read This?

Posted on March 26, 2018 by yuuki shibutani | Leave a comment

“Aoccdrnig to a rscheearch at Cmabrigde Uinervtisy, it deosn’t mttaer in waht oredr the ltteers in a wrod are, the olny iprmoetnt tihng is taht the frist and lsat ltteer be at the rghit pclae. The rset can be a toatl mses and you can sitll raed it wouthit porbelm. Tihs is bcuseae the huamn mnid deos not raed ervey lteter by istlef, but the wrod as a wlohe.”

pixabay: The Brain

I’m sure many of you have seen this meme at some point in the past years. A few weeks ago, I was scrolling through my Instagram feed and came across this. At a glance, I had no idea what it meant and thought it was just a bunch of random letters put together. But, this caught my eyes for sure.

Once I looked at it closely it was not hard to read at all. The sentence made me realized that our brains are talented. However, after researching this topic, I came across a blog-post, posted by MRC Cognition and Brain Science Unit under the University of Cambridge where the scientist, Dr. Matt Davis, said that the information in the meme is not true. He states that although Cambridge does have a Cognition and Brain Science Unit, not only did they not research this topic at the time but also did not release it. Although most of the statement in the meme is false, there are some true elements.

wikimedia: photo originally posted on Flickr by Taro Taylor

The ability to understand words when the first and last letters are stable, but the middle letters are scrambled is known as “typoglycemia”. Your brain is able to put them back in order or even recognized the word as a whole without arranging them. This explains how we can identify words in a bunch of letter pieces and how we are able to skim when reading.

So, why are we able to read this without any trouble for this meme?

There are a few reasons:

Words are short
Function words that provide grammatical structure (i.e. be, a, the, etc.) are not messed up
Letters beside each other are switched making it not much more difficult for readers to read
When scrambling the order of the letters, the sound is still preserved
The word choices are predictable

Another interesting feature about this is, is that this sentence can be recreated in many other languages, such as Spanish, Russian, German, Danish, etc. However other languages such as Chinese and Japanese will not work this way. This is because the language uses symbols/characters in their writing system. Thai would also be another example where translating and scrabbling will not work. This is because their writing system does not place any spaces between the words.

This video here give a deeper explanation how the bread is able to read scrambled letters.

Credit: YouTube Channel: BrainStuff – HowStuffWorks

From this meme, I understood that social media can make something fiction a fact. I believe that this is very unfortunate, do to the fact that many people around the world are informed through social media. Once they believe in something, it is very hard to fix their beliefs and eliminated what has already said.

-Yuuki Shibutani

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

Tagged brain, muscle, neuroscience, psychology, Science

Why is there an Opioid Crisis?

Posted on March 25, 2018 by Tammy Tang | Leave a comment

I’m sure many of you have heard about the opioid crisis from your friends or on the news, but some of you, like me, may not know exactly how it started and why it became an epidemic.

In 2016, there were about 42,249 opioid overdoses in the United States and about 2,800 opioid-related deaths in Canada. British Columbia is the epicenter of the crisis in Canada with more than 1,400 deaths from drug overdoses last year, and about 81% involved fentanyl.

Source: Government of Canada

Opioids are natural and synthetic chemicals that act on opioid receptors in your brain and body, and it is often prescribed to treat moderate to severe pain. Opioid receptors are located in reward centers of the brain and in areas that control pain. When opioids bind to these receptors, it inhibits pain and it can create intense feelings of euphoria. This is what makes them so addictive. Furthermore, our body builds tolerance to it pretty quickly, so it takes more of the drug to deal with the same amount of pain. This can be physically and psychologically demanding and can lead to feelings of withdrawal.

In the 1990s, doctors started prescribing more painkillers to try to treat pain. With the opioid epidemic, it was thought that many people who took the drug that was prescribe, started to take more of it. When pills became expensive and hard to get, they looked for other alternatives such as heroin which is more readily available. The addiction can become deadly because opioid receptors are not only located in areas that control pain and emotion, but in areas that control breathing as well. When they block signalling there, it can slow down and even stop breathing.

naloxone opioid overdose treatment naloxone graphic

Source: Anaheim Lighthouse- Graphics Maya Doe-Simkins

However, we do have some ways to counteract opioids such as the use of naloxone. Naloxone can bind to opioid receptors without causing any unusual effects. It works quite well because it binds to opioid receptors more strongly than the overdosed drug, so it can flood your system and prevent it from binding. However, it has to be given immediately because it doesn’t take long after an overdose to cause you to stop breathing. It’s especially true if you take fentanyl, a stronger synthetic opioid.

Amount of fentanyl it takes to kill a person

Source: CBC News

Fentanyl is 50 to 100 times stronger than morphine and it can be added into heroin and other opioids. Furthermore, fentanyl can be absorbed through the skin and breathing it can kill you.

Source: CBC News

Although I don’t use opioids, I do take tylenol when I am sick, which is a non-opioid pain medication that produce moderate feelings of euphoria. And trust me, it is a very good feeling when you are feeling ill. Therefore, I can see why opioids can be very addicting to those who are in substantial pain.

However, currently, doctors are trying to prescribe fewer opioids, and researchers are trying to find and develop opioids that can kill pain without all the negative effects associated to it.

Source: MSNBC

– Tammy Tang

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science in News

Tagged addiction, drugs, fentanyl, naloxone, opioid, opioid crisis, opioid epidemic, overdose, painkillers

Caffeine and the Brain

Posted on March 22, 2018 by nic wu | 1 comment

Caffeine, for a lot of people is the start of their day. Have you ever heard that it can boost your mood though? It has been proven that caffeine affects the central nervous system and has other advantages to brain functions.

Source: Flickr by Paul Scott

When we wake up, our brain starts the production of the chemical adenosine which promotes sleep and suppresses arousal. In a nutshell, when caffeine is present in the brain, it inhibits the functionality of adenosine, therefore making you feel less drowsy. However, adenosine eventually realizes this and new receptors get produced which is why people who have long nights drink 4-5 cups of coffee to continue to block the brain’s signal telling you to sleep. During this same process, caffeine allows other promoting compounds such as dopamine and glutamine freely circulate the body. Dopamine, the “feel-good” drug and glutamine assists in the functionality of the nervous system thus results in an elevated mood.

Source: Flickr by Carolina Ponce

Personally, I do not find the effects of caffeine as strong as it is perceived to be, but I feel it differs depending on how each individual’s body deals with caffeine intake. Some drink coffee and tea to start their day or push through a stressful week or maybe simply because it tastes good.

Source: ASAPScience

It was found that in Canada and the US, people drink about 1 cup of coffee per day, the largest coffee drinking nation was found to be the Netherlands averaging about 2.5 cups per day. Too much caffeine leads to a variety of factors such as anxiety and addiction. Light caffeine intake will allow the most health benefits that come from one of the world’s most popular beverages.

-Nicholas Wu

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Posted in Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science in News

Tagged brain, caffeine, coffee, Science

How Bad is Baby Powder?

Posted on March 19, 2018 by Ellen Chen | 2 comments

Have you ever heard that baby powder is actually bad for babies and you shouldn’t use it for a long period of time? Talc is used in the powder and talc is a mineral composed of hydrated magnesium silicate. The issue is that talc is a small particle that is small and light enough to travel in the air which can weaken babies’ lungs. When it is inhale, talc can dry a baby’s mucous membranes can cause serious lung damage. Study have shown that talc can cause shortness of breath and blockage of the airway in babies. Some babies have developed pneumonia, and some have died as a result of respiratory failure.

Some people might think they can replace corn starch with talc, but corn starch is not ideal either. However, the particles are large enough and won’t be able to travel in the air compare to other particles such as talc. What are the other alternative? We can use over the counter ointments or petroleum jelly which can be found in any drug stores.

The most important question is that is there a link between talcum powder and lung cancer? An American cancer society stated that there is no increased risk of lung cancer if customer uses talcum powder, but it is suggested that customers should not use talcum powder too often. However, if customer decided to use baby powder, it is suggested not to sprinkle it directly on babies’ body and keep it as far away as possible. It would be ideal to apply some powder on hands away from babies before applying on babies.

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science in News

Tagged cancer, health, lung damage, News, public concern, Science

The effects of human-generated sound on marine mammals

Posted on March 18, 2018 by Xinwei Kuang | Leave a comment

Can you imagine how panic a dolphin is when she finds her “whistles” cannot be received completely by her fellows. Actually, sounds are very important to marine mammals because they use sound to communicate, navigate, and detect predators. However, various human activities, including fishing, shipping, habitat destruction and scientific research, make marine animals face threats. The human-generated noise could cause marine mammals to change their behavior, prevent them from hearing underwater sound, and being in danger of stranding.

Source: WHALECOASTALREVIEW.ORG

The following sections show evidences of 3 main effects that have been discovered in scientific researches.

Behavioral Changes
Human-generated noise can alter some marine species’ behavior. A study on the effects of air-gun noise on the behavior of marine fish and squid was made in 2012. The results indicated that the fish in this research responded to increased noise by moving to the bottom of the water and swimming faster in more closely assembled groups, and it was observed in both the fish and squid that their alarm responses showed significant increases.

Marine mammals can be more vulnerable to predation if they are distracted by human-generated sounds. For example, Caribbean hermit crabs (Coenobita clypeatus) were distracted and allowed a predator to approach closer before they hid in response to boat motor noise.
Acoustic Masking

Acoustic masking occurs when noise interferes with an animal’s ability to perceive a sound. A related study was done in the Adriatic Sea in Italy, investigating the effects of ship noise on three classic vocal fish families with different hearing abilities. The results showed that the noise reduced the auditory sensitivity of these fish families since their hearing thresholds were almost completely masked.

A visual representation of human-generated noise interference with marine animals. Source: SSPA
Strandings

A Stranded animal is any live marine animal that is about to die outside of its survival places and is unable to return to its habitat. To some extent, human activities contribute to mass strandings of marine animals.

In particular, the human-generated noise relates to strandings of certain types of sea turtles and dolphins. Their strandings were recorded on beaches in Mexico when explosives occurred for removing oil platforms in offshore waters through this research. Similarly, another study found that following by military sonar exercises, the strandings of three beaked whale families often occurred.

This video may help you to understand how marine mammals live around the “smog” of sound.

From the reviews of studies, human-generated sound could become noise which may affect marine mammals’ life functions and even cause them die, linking to their survivals and reproduction. It is hoped that noise made by humans could be minimized to ensure marine species’ normal life and a stable ecology system.

– Xinwei Kuang

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science in News

Tagged ecology, human-generated noise, marine mammals, marine species, masking, noise, stranding

The Benefits of the Consumption of Dark Chocolate

Posted on March 17, 2018 by ji yoon park | 4 comments

Have you ever heard about having chocolates before exams helps you to write the exams better? It has been proven that the contents of dark chocolates provide benefits to human brains.

Source: Flickr Commons by Kitty

For most people, they become very anxious and nervous before the exams or even become more nervous during the exams. Chocolates have shown to improve anxiety symptoms and help people to enhance the feeling of calmness. From one of the components of dark chocolate called polyphenols, people can be helped by improving depression and anxiety. However, no changes in mood results in the consumption of chocolate drinks, which do not contain polyphenols.

Source: Flickr Commons by Adam Abu Bakar

In addition, the components of dark chocolate help to boost memory and problem-solving skills. Dark chocolates contain a high percentage of cocoa, which contains flavanols which is beneficial for your memory ability. Flavanols may act directly on our brains to protect neurons from injury, improve metabolism and their interactions with their molecular structures that is responsible for memory. The absorbed flavanols from the consumptions of dark chocolate are accumulated in the regions of a brain which is associated with learning and memory. They protect neurons by the increase in blood flow to the brain and improve the functions of neurons. For those who have consumed high percentage of flavanol dark chocolate, they have been shown to improve their performance on memory test.

It is important to know that only consumption of 70 percent or more can provide benefits towards your better memory functioning and the improvement in anxiety. Drinking low percentage of flavanols-containing chocolates or drinks would not have much therapeutic value; it would only have placebo effects.

For more information on the benefits of dark chocolate:

-Victoria (Ji Yoon) Park

4 Comments

Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Public Engagement, Science Communication, Science Communicators, Science in News

Tagged anxiety, benefits, calmness, dark chocolate, memory, nervous

Category Archives: Issues in Science

A Small Step for Mankind, A Large leap for Cancer Research

Antioxidants, and how studying rare diseases could cure common illnesses

Cocaine addiction: Not so cut and dry

Usage of mathematics for an understanding of how the brain functions

Jumbled Letters: Can You Read This?

Why is there an Opioid Crisis?

Caffeine and the Brain

How Bad is Baby Powder?

The effects of human-generated sound on marine mammals

The Benefits of the Consumption of Dark Chocolate

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