Category Archives: Biological Sciences

The Greater Impacts of Fisheries and Environmental Change than Seal Predation in the Baltic Sea

Posted on April 4, 2019 by | Leave a comment

With the declining fish population, many commercial fisheries and artisanal fishers are worried. They see the recovering seal population as competitors for the dwindling fish stocks and this economic toll has led some fishers to take out their anger and frustration for on the seals, which truthfully is wrong! Researchers are working hard to scientifically prove that seals are not responsible for the decline in fish biomass in the Baltic Sea but rather the anthropogenic and environmental factors that are prevalent in the region.

“Freshly Caught Cod Fish” by Emad Basiri at Granville Island Vancouver BC, 2019

Dr. David Costalago by Emad Basiri at the Aquatic Ecosystems Research Laboratory, 2019

Dr. David Costalago, a postdoctoral fellow from University of British Columbia’s Institute for the Oceans and Fisheries is helping shed some light on this controversial topic. Research done by Dr. Costalago and his team has helped to serve as a guide for a more comprehensive approach to management and conservation of seals. His research concludes that the recovering seal population is not to blame for the plummeting number of fish, instead, environmental changes, and overfishing cause more significant decreases in the fish population.

 

Source: SCIE 300 SO Project 213-6 Song “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal

By modelling future environmental scenarios, the researchers investigated how grey seal predation affected the fish stocks in the Baltic Sea. The data modeling software, Ecosim with Ecopath,  allowed researchers to study and model the feeding interactions between different marine mammals from 1974 – 2012. In addition, the models allowed the researchers to look into the consumption rates of fish by grey seals and compare that to the amount of fish caught by Baltic fishermen. 

Source: SCIE 300 SO Project 213-6 Song “Kiss from a Rose” by Seal

Dr. Costalago’s research brings awareness to the seal population in the Baltic Sea, but further research is needed to accurately determine the economic impact the seals are having in the Baltic. For instance, more data over a longer time period needs to be collected, especially along coastal regions because it’s where most Artisanal fishers are. 

“I know for a fact that some of the fishers are struggling nowadays and I know that seals might be playing a role in their struggles so that needs to be addressed,” said Dr. Costalgo. After talking to a local BC fisherman, he mentioned that the damages the seals would cause would lead to several hours of untangling lines and additional money spent to replace damaged equipment.

“Grey seal on Märket” by Niklas Sjöblom is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0

“We know that the seal population are not affecting the fish biomass but the economic problems that some fishers have to face also need to be addressed by the government” – Dr. David Costalago

 

Dr. Costalago’s study is helping other ecologists and government officials to find ways to manage the seals and fix their own relationships with the fishermen with regards to fishing policy. This has brought attention to the unjust treatment of seals and the significant impact that the environment and fisheries have on the fish biomass.

By Group 213-6: Emad Basiri, Tenanye Haglund, Katherine Lam, Arrthy Thayaparan

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Outreach Project, Science Communication

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Predicting Marine Populations with Phytoplankton

Posted on April 3, 2019 by | Leave a comment

View of Earth from space. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

Did you know that the ocean is predicted to warm over 4°C  the next 100 years? There’s certainly more than meets the eye when it comes to understanding the effects of global warming, and knowing how ecosystems change in response to changes in temperature can help make our efforts more focused and accurate.

As a recent PhD graduate from the University of British Columbia, Dr. Joey Bernhardt is already making waves in the science community. Her most recent paper describes the use of phytoplankton to analyze growth rates among species under different temperature conditions. Most of the study’s work actually occurred just last September, and we were lucky enough to be able to meet Dr. Bernhardt to explore the bigger picture issues she’s addressing.

What’s so special about phytoplankton?

Green swirls of phytoplankton in the Baltic Sea. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

To debunk a common misconception: not all of the oxygen we breathe comes from trees. In reality, nearly 50% of the world’s oxygen supply is produced by phytoplankton. What’s more, phytoplankton serve as the basis of marine food webs, so it’s no surprise that they were the main subjects used in Dr. Bernhardt’s study. These remarkable organisms can actually help us make predictions about species populations in the context of global warming.

What issues are being addressed?

2070-2100 global warming predictions map. Photo from Wikimedia Commons.

One of the most pressing issues in our global warming narrative surrounds how temperature changes affect species population. While it’s easy to measure population growth rates in the controlled conditions of a lab, Dr. Bernhardt explores whether we can apply these results to the unpredictable, fluctuating temperatures of the outdoor environment.

If we were to disregard the fact that in nature temperatures fluctuate, we will ultimately make inaccurate population predictions. To generate a more realistic sample, Dr. Bernhardt collected phytoplankton off the coast of Vancouver Island and placed them in lab incubators that mimic a natural environment using a variety of temperature settings.

To gain a better understanding of the methodology behind Dr. Bernhardt’s study, check out our video:

https://youtu.be/F5rC4PLMsds

Why should I care?

When a species find themselves in an environment outside of their normal temperature range, they will either die off or relocate to more habitable areas. This now presents an entirely new problem since it’s not always easy for the communities that rely on these populations to pack up and move as well. From an economic standpoint, there are whole industries built upon the reliance that these populations will return, year after year.

The Future of Global Economic and Climate Change Issues

These experiments allow us to see the range of temperatures at which a species can persist. We can then pair this with the knowledge of how temperatures around the globe will shift over time in order to build more sustainable communities.

We take a deeper look into the applications of this technology in our podcast:

Group 213-5: Danny Israel, Christy Lau, Christina Rayos

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication

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Do humans have superpowers? -Magnetoreception

Posted on March 18, 2019 by | Leave a comment

What if you had a superpower? What would you want it to be? The ability to fly? Superhuman strength? Well, what if the ability was to tell which direction the sun would rise from without actually seeing the rise, or just finding your way back to camp when you get lost in the woods? Researchers from Caltech and the University of Tokyo have found evidence that humans can subconsciously detect changes in the Earth’s magnetic fields.

Although this study only suggests that the effects of changes in magnetic fields are detectable by our subconscious brain, they feel that this could open up the window for new research. Prof. Shinsuke Shimo, in a YouTube video with science communicator Derek Muller says, “This is just the first step to make sure that it’s not theoretically impossible that our ancestors might have utilized this ability for their navigation.”

 

Derek Muller from Veritasium takes the test of magnetoreception

The ability of an organism to detect magnetic fields to identify directions, altitude or location is known as Magnetoreception. Have you ever wondered how pigeons are always able to find their way home? Or how birds know which direction is south when they migrate? Evidence of magnetoreception has even been found in dogs that will usually sit in North-South direction while they poop.

Prof. Shimo also believes that this ability may potentially reside in modern humans. Not so long ago, Prof. Joseph Kirschvink of Caltech claimed that he had discovered magnetoreception in humans. A few years later, Kirschvink, along with Shimo and co have found evidence suggesting humans may potentially posses a superpower.

It is important to remember that as of this moment, humans are only capable to detecting changes in magnetic fields subconsciously in a state with no distractions from the surroundings. However, if we were able to study and bring this ability to the consciousness, we would not only be gaining a superpower but also making inroads into bringing other parts of subconsciousness into consciousness.

If you wish to learn more about magnetoreception, you can watch this short video by Science Magazine.

 

 

 

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Can Video Games Help You Learn?

Posted on March 11, 2019 by | 2 comments

Canada currently has the third largest video game industry in the world. As a leader in the industry, it comes to no surprise that over 19 million Canadians identify as gamers. In doing so, as the societal interest in video games increases, so does the interest to research the effects of gaming, especially on students.

Child playing Fortnite. Image from Alex Haney, Unsplash

What does past research show?

Past research has shown that gaming by young people can lead them to develop a variety of detrimental behaviours. Children who played violent games had a higher likelihood of being more antisocial, more aggressive, and less empathetic than their non-gaming peers. Other studies have shown that excessive gaming can have a similar effect on a child’s brain as drugs and alcohol. This effect would lead to poor school performance and a higher likelihood of developing other addictions later in life. These results highlight the issues behind unhealthy gaming behaviour that goes beyond the limits of a hobby. While these results are very important to consider, there may be some benefits to gaming.

Is there any current research on gaming?

A recent study done by Ruhr-Universität Bochum compared the learning of gamers and non-gamers. Of the 34 participants, 17 volunteers did not play games regularly, and the other 17 played for 15+ hours a week. Both groups completed a weather prediction task while being recorded by an MRI.

In the task, participants were shown a combination of cue cards with varying symbols. Based on the cards shown, they had to guess whether that particular combination predicted sun or rain. With each guess, participants were given feedback on whether they were correct or not. This feedback would lead to learning of the combinations by all participants, but at varying rates.

Diagram of the brain showing the hippocampus, amygdala and cerebellum. Image from picturesboss.com

What are the effects of gaming on learning?

The results showed that gamers were significantly better at learning the card combinations with a faster learning curve and more correct answers. While the non-gamers did show learning, they were much slower in comparison. Also, the MRI scans showed that gamers had a stronger activation response in the hippocampus and surrounding regions of the brain. All of which are associated with learning and memory.

Based on these results, researchers were able to conclude that gaming helped individuals in probability-based tasks, which are activities that requires individuals to learn rules as they go. Gamers displayed a heightened ability to analyze and adapt to a new situation. This adaptation showed that players had a much better categorization performance, where they are able to generate and classify new information quickly. Thus illustrating that video games helped enhance learning performance rather than deter it.

While excessive gaming can have detrimental effects, there also are some beneficial factors. Video games, when done in moderation, allows individuals to learn more rapidly by training their hippocampus to be quick and effective. Video games create a challenging environment that pushes players to problem-solve and think creatively to achieve their goals. Looking ahead, researchers believe that further studies can be done to see whether games can help older people reduce the effects of memory loss.

– Arrthy Thayaparan

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How Does Sugar Affect Your Brain?

Posted on March 11, 2019 by | Leave a comment

When people are stressed, they often find themselves craving sugar, sweets or chocolate. Despite the fact that they can temporarily give some pleasure, they’re highly addictive and the overconsumption of sugar has many brain-related health consequences.

Sweets. Image from Pexels

Sugar Is Addictive

When sugar is consumed, it activates the tongue’s taste receptors. Then, signals are sent to the prefrontal cortex of the brain which stimulates the reward pathways and causes the release of dopamine, a natural chemical that makes us feel good.

The nucleus accumbeans is a part of the brain that receives dopamine and gives you a sense of pleasure.  Activating the brain’s reward system is associated with it and activating it with an appropriate amount of sugar is harmless. However, when it’s activated too frequently, the signal from sugar consumption becomes weaker and it grows the tolerance to sugar. Then, people need to consume more in order to feel the same pleasure, causing addiction.

The rewarding system that sugar gives is very similar to what keeps alcoholics and drug addicts to stay addicted. According to a study, there is a high degree of overlap between brain regions involved in processing natural rewards, such as sugar, and drugs. This is why it’s hard for people to control the consumption of sugar after constant exposure, and creates a dangerous cycle of excessive cravings.

Prefrontal cortex and Nucleus accumbens. Image from Public Domain Files

Brain-Related Health Problems

Besides addiction, sugar has many other negative effects on the brain. For example, sugar affects the overeating sensor, lowering our ability to feel a sense of fullness. When sugar is consumed constantly, the brain’s anorexigenic oxytocin system that senses and prevents overeating becomes less sensitive and does not release hormones that signal the body that we are full. Thus, people are likely to continue eating even after they’ve had enough which then could contribute to obesity and diabetes. 

Furthermore, sugar affects memory and learning skills by lowering the amount of the Brain-Derived Neurotrophic Factor (BDNF) factor. BDNF is what helps the brain with learning and forming new memories. Therefore, when BDNF is low, the ability to learn new things and our memory reduce. According to a study, researchers found out that a diet in high amount of sugar hinders learning and memory by literally slowing down the brain. The rats who over-consumed fructose (a form of sugar) ended up with impaired communication among brain cells.

Not All Sugars Is Bad

Although sugar has many negative effects on the brain, it is true that not all sugars is bad. Glucose, a form of sugar from carbohydrates like bread, fuels the cells throughout the body and is the primary source of energy for the brain. Thus, in order to manage your sugar intake, it’s important to avoid the consumption of fructose from processed foods and know that you only need a small amount of sugar per day as the World Health Organization recommends only 5% of daily caloric intake from sugar.

-Janet Lee

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Help! I can’t stop eating!

Posted on March 5, 2019 by | Leave a comment

A child eating pizza. Image from Wikimedia Commons

One slice of pizza turns into five boxes of pizza and twenty hours later… you’re still eating! Imagine an insatiable hunger and a love for food turned deadly. When eating becomes your worst enemy, Prader-Willi Syndrome may be the culprit.

What is Prader-Willi Syndrome?

Prader-Willi Syndrome (PWS) is a rare genetic disorder in which an individual feels hungry all the time. So much to the point where they are found constantly eating, and can continue eating even after they’re full. These individuals can literally eat to the point of death.

PWS was first described in 1956 by Swiss doctors Andrea Prader, Alexis Labhart, and Heinrich Willi. Anyone can develop PWS, and it was found that this disorder affects nearly 1 in every 15,000 births. As a result, PWS is one of the leading causes of childhood obesity.

Symptoms of a Deadly Appetite

The most common symptom of PWS is chronic hunger. Other symptoms can include: poor muscle tone during infancy, early-onset obesity, limited growth, delayed motor and verbal skills, behaviour and mental disorders, and curvature of the spine.

A 15-year-old child with typical PWS facial features. Note the presence of mild truncal obesity. Image from Wikimedia Commons

How does this happen?

PWS is a genetic disorder, which means that children inherit this disorder from their parents. Specifically, from an abnormality in a chromosome that comes from the father. This abnormality arises when a part of the gene is missing or malfunctioning. When this occurs, the hypothalamus (the part of the brain that controls hunger and thirst and releases hormones that promote growth) stops working which results in an inability to regulate food intake.

Is there a cure?

Unfortunately, there is no known cure for PWS. In fact, most of the research to date has only been targeted towards developing treatments for the disorder. For example, doctors may prescribe a growth hormone to treat PWS that not only increases height, but also decreases body fat, increases muscle mass, improves weight distribution, increases stamina, and increases bone mineral density.

Ultimately, the inability to regulate food intake remains one of the biggest obstacles that prevent individuals with PWS from living independently. There is still no effective medication that aids in regulating appetite. Nevertheless, those with PWS can still live a long and fulfilling life with the right guidance and support, as seen with Katie in the video below. Her documentary on living life with PWS gives us a better insight into the disorder, and presents a new meaning to the saying “you are what you eat”:

Documentary of Katie, a child living with PWS. Video from Youtube.

-Christina Rayos

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Coffee Joints the Fight Against Cancer

Posted on March 4, 2019 by | 1 comment

You wake up early for school or work and find yourself yawning the whole commute, so naturally you go grab Starbucks or Tim Hortons to wake yourself up. Coffee is always associated with increased energy levels, however, have you ever wondered what other benefits it may impose towards your health? According to the Coffee Association of Canada, 72 % of Canadians reported drinking coffee yesterday. With coffee being the most consumed beverage by Canadians (even more than tap water), it is important to assess any potential health risks floating around.

Credit: Pexels

In the last couple years, many new researches have had a change of heart towards the effects of coffee on cancer. In 2016, the cancer agency of the World Health Organization removed coffee from its “possible carcinogen” list. On top of that, according to the World Cancer Research Fund, there is strong evidence that moderate consumption of coffee reduces liver cancer, and weak evidence in lowering other types of cancer. The reason behind this is that coffee contains a variety of phytochemicals, many of which have antioxidant properties.

Cancer cells Credit: Pixabay

Caffeine has become the most widely used phytochemical that is present in coffee. When consumed, it is absorbed into your blood stream where it then travels to your brain. This blocks the neurotransmitter adenosine due to the fact that that these two molecules have a very similar structure, allowing caffeine to bind to the adenosine receptors in the brain. This not only causes you to feel more awake but lowers your risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) which is the most common type of liver cancer. HCC is associated with the adenosine3A2A receptor, which can be blocked with increased coffee consumption. G Wiltberger from the University Hospital of RWTH found that HCC was observed less frequently in patients with a coffee intake of three or more cups a day as opposed to patients who had less than two cups a day.

Credit: Wikipedia

When coffee is roasted, the chemical acrylamide is produced due to exposure of the coffee bean to such high temperatures for an elongated period of time. California’s  Proposition 65 suggests limits on daily consumption of certain chemicals, and they claim that consumption of 0.2 μg per day or higher of acrylamide may be correlated with causing cancer . The average cup of coffee contains 0.45 μg of acrylamide, therefore, research is being conducted to determine whether there is a positive correlation between acrylamide consumption and cancer. Nixon BJ conducted a study in 2012 and found that prolonged exposure to high levels of acrylamide can disrupt the DNA replication process by binding to DNA. This results in mutations and eventually cancer. However, his study was conducted on mice, and they metabolize acrylamide differently to humans. Therefore, the effects of acrylamide on causing cancer is still inconclusive.

Credit: Pixabay

For a food to go from the possible carcinogen list to now boast powerful anti-carcinogenic properties, is extraordinary. But, as the millions of people drinking coffee every day will tell you, when it comes to coffee, there’s nothing like it.

-Jonathan Raj

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