Category Archives: Science in the News

Starving cancer: testing claims of disease prevention with intermittent fasting

Posted on January 14, 2019 by | 2 comments

As the title suggests, yes I don’t eat breakfast *gasp* so I fast for the majority of the day with the first meal being after 12pm, and my second meal with hopefully no snacks in between at 6/8pm. And might I add, most days I limit my carbohydrates intake, meaning no bread, no rice, no sweet happiness.

And why do I go through this trouble and pain you might ask – after looking at my genetic data and family history of cancer combined with very popular research in nutrition emerging in the media, I decided I can take this matter into my own hands and experiment on myself what works best and maybe see results as these studies progress long-term. I started listening bits here and there of podcasts, particularly first FoundMyFitness and then slowly incorporating The Joe Rogan Experience into the repertoire; so these diet changes have taken over my life, with Dr. Dominic D’Agostino being the keynote speaker of this long conference I’m attending since this summer.

Starving cancer: Dominic D’Agostino at TEDxTampaBay by TEDx Talks

Intermittent fasting can be done in various ways, with only 2 days of the week calorically restricted, or the way that I chose – time restricted – done with 16hrs fast and 8hrs eating frame. This approach has existed for ages really, mostly practiced by some religions, but now we’re seeing not only positive effects in terms of weight loss, but also disease prevention, improved biomarkers like insulin resistance, and simply put a better way of life. Moreover, the diet comes with incredible research supporting cell autophagy and repair, and longevity claims thanks to DNA repair. When combined with a carb-limiting diet like ketogenic diet, tumour cells are under intense metabolic stress leading to apoptosis, as those depend mostly on glucose for their life cycle. Also, since you eat at specific times and limit carbohydrates, your energy levels will have fewer spikes (i.e. no sugar highs and crashes) and your body will run at its optimum levels.

I admit, this is hard to wrap your head around let alone commit to such a lifestyle change, as we cannot imagine giving up sweet glucose; but fear not, our brain is flexible and can adapt to the new energy source *ketones* that we can see in the diagram below as beta-hydroxybutyrate going through Krebs cycle generating ATP for our body’s energy:

Finally, I wanted to point out that while the media makes this seem like the cure-all option with sparkling headlines, this is definitely not the case, as we learn in pharmacology “cure-all = probably BS”. A lifestyle change in diet usually has to come hand-in-hand with an exercise regimen, and of course, this promising research has not yet shown its future face. In the meantime, I will continue to experiment with this and maybe kill my family’s cancer (?) I’ll let you know in some years. Research, investigate, get informed and maybe try yourself?

-Nicole Bostan

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Renewable Energy…How About Poop?

Posted on January 14, 2019 by | 1 comment

Yes, you read that right. In a recently published paper, researchers turned human waste into a carbon-rich material, which they found produced enough energy when burned to be considered a potential energy source in the future.

Human waste is typically thought of as unsanitary and harmful, as it has the potential to carry pathogens and transmit diseases. However, it is also composed of high levels of carbon, so after being processed, it can actually be turned into a carbon-rich coal-like material called hydrochar. This method of processing is called hydrothermal carbonization (HTC), and does not generate any hazardous by-products. It heats the wet biomass, dries it by removing most of the water content, and sterilizes the product by degrading most of the micro-pollutants.

This file is licensed under the Creative Commons

The produced hydrochar can be turned into pellets (as pictured) and used as a biomass fuel. (Photo Source: © Kapilbutani and made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license.)

Human waste is typically treated either chemically or biologically. However, many developing countries have difficulty accessing these treatments, making it difficult to handle and sanitize large amounts of human excreta.

One way of reducing it is using it as a soil fertilizer. Human excreta, specifically feces, have actually long been used as a fertilizer, as it contains key plant nutrients such as nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Humans have repurposed poop before, so why not use it as an energy source? The study found that the amount of energy released as heat from the combustion of hydrochar was high enough to potentially be used as an energy source. If this method is perfected, it would be tackling two problems at the same time – waste and energy.

A man pouring fertilizer onto a field to dry. (Photo Source: © Ahmad Masood / Reuters)

With our climate rapidly changing, it is important to develop new methods of gathering usable forms of energy that are both renewable and sustainable. In my opinion, using human excreta as a potential biomass fuel is very smart, as it is cheap, readily available, can help treat and reduce the amount of human waste in developing countries, and can possibly be used as a sustainable and renewable form of energy in the future.

– Kristy Ip

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There’s A Reason Why Everybody Wants to Toss Around the Word “STEM CELL”

Posted on January 12, 2019 by | Leave a comment

What do you think about when you read the word stem cell?

Maybe you think back to your introductory biology class. Maybe you think about that new skin care product you saw in store.

Whatever your association may be, there is no denying that you are starting to see the word stem cell used a lot more frequently.

For myself, when I hear the word stem cell I back to my co-op term doing research at STEMCELL Technologies. While biotechnology companies are leaders in product design, Trudeau has claimed that he wants Canada as a whole to be a global leader in both research and development. This is why his decision to eliminate funding for the federal government’s Networks Centres of Excellence (NCE) science program was so concerning to hear.

Stem Cell Research Source: WikipediaCommons

Despite choosing to cancel that program the federal government is still handing over money to biotech companies to try and continue Canada’s status in the STEM stream. An example of this was at STEMCELL Technologies, which over the summer was awarded $45 million in government funding to expand and develop its advanced manufacturing facility.

While commercialization is important, the research that goes into making those innovations possible should not be forgotten. The decision to cut funding discontinues world-renowned scientific networks that Canada has shaped, as well as the research, researchers and trainees they support. If Canada truly wants to be a world leader in research and development then we need to keep the money where our mouth is.

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