Category Archives: Biological Sciences

The Secret Behind the Microorganism That Survived in Space for a Year

Posted on November 15, 2020 by | 2 comments

Have you ever thought there are extraterrestrial life? Or have you ever imagined the possibility of humans reaching planets outside of the Earth to live? Recently,  a microorganism that might be a key to the questions above have been investigated and it is Deinococcus radiodurans (D.raiodurans).

Panspermia Hypothesis

Panspermia hypothesis comes from greek word pan meaning all, and sperm meaning seed, hypothesizing that the life on Earth originated from “seeds” of lives being transported into Earth from space. However, in order to support this, there has to an evidence of organism that can tolerate extreme conditions such as radiation and temperature, of outer space.

File:Panspermie.svg - Wikimedia Commons

Panspermia hypothesis – Microorganism from outer space into the Earth by Silver Spoon Sokpop

Discovery of D.radiodurans

Discovery of D.radiodurans date back to 1956. A researcher named Arthur W.Anderson attempted sterilizing canned food with gamma radiation. However, he found out that the food was still spoiled, indicating survival of bacteria even in high radiation. This bacteria that survived was D.radiodurans. The intensity of radiation is measured unit Gray(Gy). 5 Gy of radiation kills humans, 200-800 Gy kills E.coli, but D.radiodurans was able to survive under 5000 Gy of radiation. Radiations damage cells by breaking DNA apart, but D.radiodurans has multiple features that helps recovery in this process. First is that it has multiple copies of genome, unlike many others that usually only have one. This allows D.radiodurans to use its multiple genomes has “back-up” to recover its destroyed genome. Second is that it has recovery proteins that repairs the damage in DNA much faster than repair proteins in other organisms. Lastly, D.radiodurans has manganese to protect itself from oxidative damage done by radiation and nitric oxide to facilitate cell growth after DNA repair.

File:DraNramp membrane.png - Wikimedia Commons

Protein Structure Image of D.rdiodurans by Samuel.P. Berry

D.radiodurans in Space

With ability of D.radiodurans to withstand harsh conditions known, scientists decided to test whether it can survive in space as well. Therefore, D.radiodurans  was exposed to space environment outside of International Space Station (ISS) for a year. The result was truly shocking. About 10% of the sample D.radiodurans survived without any morphological damage. Instead, survived D.radiodurans samples had multiple vessels on its surface, had their repair mechanism triggered, and increased abundance of mRNA and proteins responsible for rapair, regulation, and transportation functions in the cell. This showed that D.radiodurans was able to adapt to harsh conditions of the space for its survival.

File:ISS International Space Station.png - Wikimedia Commons

Image of ISS in Space by Blobbie244

Significance of this Finding

Going back to the discussion about the “seeds” in panspermia hypothesis, D.radiodurans became strong candidate for the organism that can serve as “seed” in the theory. Not only that it supports the hypothesis about the origin of the lives on Earth, it also suggests some future applications. That is, terraformation. Terraformation, or terraforming is known as process of changing any celestial body (such as other planets or moon) into habitable envrionment for human beings. Many scientist believe sending microorganisms that can survive in conditions of the target planet will be starting steps of terraformation. Therefore, D.radioduran, being able to survive in environment of Mars, is now one of the most promising candidate for starting agent of Mars terraformation.

File:Terraforming Mars transition horizontal.jpg

Mars Terraformation Steps Imaged by Daein Ballard

– Tae Hyung Kim

 

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Can Vitamin D protect you from COVID-19?

Posted on November 9, 2020 by | 1 comment

Vitamin D is often seen as the “cure-all” for several reasons, and has since caught the attention of several researchers in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. However, according to several recent studies, researchers claim that there is not enough evidence to recommend the use of vitamin D supplements to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Why did researchers think that Vitamin D could help?

Vitamin D is obtained from sunlight or diet, and is naturally produced in the human body. Deficiencies in vitamin D are common, affecting one third of Canadians, and can result in many negative symptoms such as fatigue, muscle pain, and even depression. Vitamin D is known to play an important role in the immune system as it helps strengthen immunity in your body, protecting you from infections.

The sun’s energy turns a chemical in your skin into vitamin D3, which is carried to your liver & kidneys to transform it to the vitamin D used in your immune system to defend you from infections. Source: Health Harvard

In a study conducted in Spain, researchers have found that 82% of hospitalized COVID-19 patients had a deficiency in vitamin D, however, many specialists questioned whether this is due to a direct correlation between vitamin D deficiency and COVID-19 severity, or if other factors come to play.

What we know now:

The study conducted by researchers in a hospital in Spain in March of 2020, found that although there was a higher prevalence of vitamin D deficiency in patients hospitalized with COVID-19, there was no relationship between vitamin D concentrations or deficiency and the severity of the disease, such as the need for ICU admission, mechanical ventilation, or even death.

Furthermore, another study claims that the factors associated with COVID‐19 deaths, such as old age, ethnicity, obesity, diabetes, and hypertension (high blood pressure), overlap with the risks associated with vitamin D deficiency.  This study discusses how healthier people are likely to spend more time outdoors (exposing themselves to sunlight, gaining more vitamin D) and eat healthier, compared to less healthy individuals, explaining this overlap. This makes it difficult for researchers to know whether the severity of the disease is directly impacted by vitamin D deficiency, or from other factors that overlap.

Should you start/stop taking Vitamin D supplements?

Taking vitamin D supplements is generally viewed as safe by health authorities. However, specialists advice to not take doses above the doses recommended to you by your doctor, as higher doses can lead to kidney stones.

Watch this short video to listen to what different specialists have to say about the use of vitamin D supplements in response to COVID-19:

Despite the lack of evidence to support that vitamin D could help treat/prevent COVID-19, vitamin D deficiencies should still be treated. Consider talking to your doctor if you have a vitamin D deficiency about whether vitamin D taking supplements might be right for you.

Looking Ahead

Until there is conclusive evidence on whether vitamin D has an effect on COVID-19, as Tim Caulfield, Canada Research Chair in Health Law, said in the video above, “we have to be open-minded… and we’ve got to try stuff”, in regards to future research regarding COVID-19.

 

– Sarah Ghoul

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Does an Obesity Gene Exist?

Posted on November 9, 2020 by | 2 comments

Genes play a big role in determining how a person looks including our eye color, hair color, and height, but can your genes also determine your waistline? As of now, 61% of Canadians are overweight or obese and that number is even higher in America, with 66% of its citizens overweight or obese.  While these numbers can be attributed to a more sedentary lifestyle and poor diet, genetics has been shown to be a factor. A study in 1986 found that adopted children’s BMI more closely matched their biological parents than adoptive parents. While environmental factors play a huge role in a person’s weight, the importance of genetics cannot be understated.

One of the first genes to be linked to obesity was the melanocortin-4-receptor gene (MC4R). In 1998 a study found that mutations in MC4R would lead to early-onset obesity in children. However, this mutation is extremely rare, affecting less than 5% of those suffering from obesity leading researchers to search for more common genetic variations. Starting in 2002 scientists began to perform genome-wide association studies (GWAS). Instead of looking at genomes of a few hundred people, scientists could now look at entire DNA sequences of hundreds of thousands of people in order to find links between certain genes and illness.  A GWAS in 2007 led to the discovery that variations in the fat mass and obesity (FTO) gene were associated with higher BMI’s. These variations were much more common with 43% of the population carrying this “risky” allele of the FTO gene.  The study found that individuals with certain variations of this gene were 1.67 times as likely to be obese. Despite this, the FTO gene itself only raised BMI .4 kg/m^2 an amount much too small to lead to the increase in BMI observed (3 kg/M^2). This is why the majority of obesity in the population is caused by many genes, not just one. Since 2006 GWAS has led to the discovery of more than 50 genes associated with obesity.

The discovery of these genes not only can tell us who is predisposed to becoming obese, but who is also more likely to suffer from metabolic diseases associated with obesity like heart disease, stroke, and type 2 diabetes. This video from the University of Michigan explains some of the surprises that came from studying genes related to obesity and how we can use this information to benefit people.

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However, just discovering these genes isn’t enough. In order to treat these variations, we have to better understand the mechanism of these genes. Recent studies have revealed that variations of the FTO can cause alterations in satiety that people feel, but the exact mechanism of these effects are still largely unknown. For now, proper exercise and nutrition can counter the effects of most of these “fat” genes. In the future, people may be able to find the best way to prevent weight gain based on their genetic makeup. Only time will tell if future discoveries can reverse this obesity epidemic.

 

By Dylan Chambers

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“Super Black” Camouflage in the Deep Sea

Posted on November 2, 2020 by | 1 comment

The ongoing battle between predator and prey has led to unique adaptations, one of these is camouflage. Camouflage is static used by organisms to disguise their appearance. This can clearly be seen in the cuttlefish who can change the color of its skin to match the color of its background or arctic foxes whose fur is white during the winter and brown throughout the summer. Recently a group of researchers have been looking at camouflage in deep sea organisms. Previously deep sea organisms were observed having translucent or reflective bodies. This can provide camouflage due to the extreme low light level at these depths. In the deep ocean a translucent organism can reflect as little as 0.4% of light making them almost indistinguishable from the dark surroundings. Alternatively reflective fish has so little light to reflect at these depths that it too appears to blend the background color. However these were not the adaptation that these researchers were interested in, instead they examined what they call “super black” organisms. A “super black” organism is one which reflects less than 0.5% of the light they interact with. This led the researchers to question why these organisms have this adaptation and how these organisms reflect so little light. 

The simple answer to why these organisms reflect so little light is that we don’t really know. The researchers studied 16 different fish species across seven different orders of fish. This means that each organism probably has a unique reason for this adaptation. One reason the researchers think this adaptation could be helpful, is due to the high use of bioluminescence in this environment. Due to the low light levels in these environments organisms use bioluminescence in multiple ways, such as finding a mate or food. However for a reflective fish, nearby bioluminescence can easily expose their location. Furthermore even a translucent organism who has very little interaction with light, can still be detected by some deep sea organisms in the presence of bioluminescence. From this the researchers think that the “super black” adaptation may help deep sea organisms remain undetected in the presence of bioluminescence. One of the fish that pointed the researchers in this direction was a bait fish, this is a fish like the anglerfish which uses bioluminescence to attract prey. The researchers hypothesize that a fish like this could use its “super black” adaptation in order for its body to not be detected by its prey while it’s using bioluminescence, however more research needs to be done to answer why these organisms have this “super black” adaptation.

Idiacanthus antrostomus a baitfish with “super black” skin by K. Osborn/Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History

These organisms achieve “super black” through a pigment on their skin called melanin. The melanin is organized in an organelle called the melanosomes which can absorb up to 99.95% of light. The fish considered “super black” had skin which contained layers of these melanosomes as shown below. This allows light which is reflected from one melanosome to be absorbed by a different melanosome. This system for achieving such a high level of light absorption is relatively simpler than those found in birds or butterflies who are also considered “super black.” Due to this the researchers are hopeful that it could be an easier way of producing a system with a high level of light absorption for use in solar power generators, radiometers, industrial baffles and telescopes.

Electron microscope image of melanosomes in deep sea fish, the melanosomes are indicated by the red arrow, while a skin membrane is indicated by the blue arrow. Image taken by K. Osborn/Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History and A.L. Davis et. al./Current Biology 2020

 

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COVID-19 and alcohol use: Why managing your alcohol consumption is crucial during the COVID-19 pandemic

Posted on November 1, 2020 by | 1 comment

COVID-19 has taken the world by storm. It has forced countries to shut down and people to self-isolate. While self-isolation and shutdowns are effective methods of preventing the spread of COVID-19, they come with collateral effects. A recent report published by the Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction (CCSA) found that 25% of Canadians (aged 35-54) are drinking more while at home during the COVID-19 pandemic due to boredom, stress, and/or a lack of regularity in their schedules.

Image: Nanos/CCSA – This shows the reasons people are drinking more during COVID-19, this is important as it gives us invaluable information on what is contributing to the rise in alcohol intake.

A similar increase was seen in Australia, where there was an increase of around 30% in alcohol bought compared to last year. Alcohol is used as a way to relax by many, but it can harbor many negative effects in a time such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The World Health Organization (WHO) has recently debunked the misconception that drinking alcohol can provide you extra immunity against the Coronavirus.

Image: WHO/Europe/Twitter  – The image above shows the message the World Health Organization sent out on Twitter to explain to the public that alcohol does not help your body fight COVID-19.

In contrast, a study concluded that alcohol might increase vulnerability to the Coronavirus. Alcohol consumption at levels such as 5 – 6 drinks at a time or having more than 14 drinks in a week has a role in disrupting one’s immune system. It can do so by disrupting physical, chemical, and cellular responses that are a part of the body’s first line of defense. Furthermore, alcohol can impair t-cell recruitment which lowers the number of white blood cells that can destroy the invaders, which weakens the immune system. This is dangerous, especially with COVID-19 looming, as a weaker immune system leaves you more susceptible to infections.

In this video, Dr. Charity Baker states “Alcohol isn’t healthy and never was”, which explains that alcohol use is not a way to fight COVID-19

Alcohol can not only damage the immune system, but there is also a growing concern that the sudden increase in alcohol usage during the pandemic may result in greater cases of alcoholism. Alcoholism can lead to many health problems ranging from mental disorders to liver/heart problems. In a family setting, this can result in domestic violence and child negligence, contributing to the development of many other long-term problems such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder and depression.

The future is dependent on what actions people decide to take now. The increase in alcohol drinking can become a problem if not addressed properly. The way to prevent an increase in alcoholism and all of the consequential problems attached to it is to lower your alcohol intake to a low-to-moderate amount (maximum of 1 -2 drinks a day).  The effects of COVID-19 are here to stay for many years to come and if alcohol consumption is not controlled during this time, it will only add to the persistence of these effects.

– Harman Sandhu

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Artificial Intelligence: What, if anything, do brains and computer vision have in common?

Posted on October 30, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Did you know that artificial neural networks (which are computing systems) can process information in a similar way compared to the human brain? According to a study this month from the journal Current Biology, “artificial neural networks can perceive 3D objects in the same first-glance way our brains do”.

A diagram depicting the basic structure of an artificial neural network. Source: Wikimedia Commons

That being said, after all humans do use organic brains to model artificial neural networks. Therefore, it should not be groundbreaking news that such networks somewhat resemble natural brains. Well, at least not until they become similar in ways which we have not designed them to be.

Let’s start with explaining more about the human brain. It processes visual information through several sections, with each part combining different perceived properties of an object to create a full image. Scientifically, this is how we view and perceive objects.

However, the aforementioned study shows how neurons in the V4 area (the first section in the brain’s object vision) also represent 3D shape fragments, and not only 2D shapes as previously thought. According to TechXplore, this is a significant finding because it is opposite to the general scientific consensus for the last 40 years.

During this same research, scientists noticed something they did not expect: the same 3D patterns the brain utilizes to see are also used in an artificial neural network. As stated by Futurism, this was noticed upon looking further into the AlexNet algorithm (an advanced computer vision network).

Ed Connor, a Johns Hopkins University neuroscientist, discovered very similar natural & artificial neuron image response patterns in AlexNet’s layer 3, and the V4 section in the brain. He was “surprised to see strong, clear signals for 3D shape” as soon as the brain’s V4 section. However, it was even more shocking that the AlexNet algorithm also had such signals for 3D shapes. That’s because the algorithm had been solely designed to convert 2D photographs to object labels.

This shows how visual information is transferred through different sections of the human brain. Source: Wikimedia Commons

According to Connor, artificial networks are currently the most promising models for learning about the human brain. On the flip side, the brain contains the most reliable source of strategies for bringing artificial intelligence closer to natural intelligence.

This latest research hints at the new standard for artificial intelligence research. Rather than taking the traditional method of utilizing information known about the brain to build computers, researchers now take a reverse approach.

This image depicts how there are growing similarities between natural and artificial intelligence. Source: Pxfuel

That is, they rely on computers to discover how our brains function. It is quite interesting, yet strange, to find out that artificial computer vision systems can resemble the human brain’s perception in unintended ways.

– Jacqueline (Wai Ting) Chan

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COVID-19: Could the common cold help protect you?

Posted on October 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

A woman blowing her nose while sick with the common cold. Image: Mojca J / Pixabay

The common cold is never any fun to deal with, however a past cold might also provide you with some protection from COVID-19, a recent study suggests by the University of Rochester Medical Center.

Research from infectious disease experts at the University of Rochester Medical Center have also suggested that people who have had COVID-19 may be immune to it for a long time, possibly even for the rest of their lives.

What’s the foundation?

Even though the virus that causes COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) is relatively new, it falls under a category of beta coronaviruses that cause about 15–20% of common colds.

Depiction of a coronavirus with crown-like spikes leading to where it got it’s name. Image: Daniel Roberts / Pixabay

When you catch a cold, your body fights against the virus through your immune system. While your body does this, the immune system “remembers” the virus for the future. This is so the next time that virus enters your system, your immune system will be able to fight back even faster.

Video:  How immunity defenders work against COVID-19

The evidence

The study is the first to focus on memory B cells — immune cells that can last for decades. Since memory B cells can survive for decades, they could protect COVID-19 survivors from future infections for a long time — but further research is needed to confirm this.

Blood samples being analyzed in the lab. Image: Ahmad Ardity / Pixabay

The researchers compared blood samples from 26 people who were recovering from mild to moderate COVID-19 symptoms and 21 healthy people who had their samples collected 6–10 years ago — long before they could be exposed to COVID-19.

The study found that B cells from the immune system that attacked previous cold-causing coronaviruses seemed to also recognize the coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) that causes COVID-19 as a result of memory B cells being activated.

“When we looked at blood samples from people who were recovering from COVID-19, it looked like many of them had a pre-existing pool of memory B cells that could recognize SARS-CoV-2 and rapidly produce antibodies that could attack it,” said study authour Mark Sangster.

The study authors believe this could mean that anyone who has ever been infected by a common coronavirus — which is almost everyone — may have some amount of immunity to COVID-19. This means that if you were to be infected with COVID-19, the severity of your symptoms would be lower compared to those without pre-existing memory B cells for a common coronavirus.

What’s for the future?

The researchers will “need to see if having this pool of pre-existing memory B cells correlates with milder symptoms and shorter disease course — or if it helps boost the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines,” said study co-authour David Topham.

What can you do now?

While a past common cold may help lessen the symptoms of COVID-19, it does not mean that you should be trying to catch a cold. Instead, health officials advise for people to get their flu shots this season to reduce serious health complications and an additional burden on the health care system.

 

– Amrit Jagpal

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The Future of Fighting Plastic Pollution : Enzymatic Plastic Breakdown

Posted on October 26, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Plastic Pollution

With plastics being one of the most used materials for making many goods, it is no wonder that Canadians produce an estimated 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste per year .Plastic pollution is an issue that has been present in the environmental community for some time now, as the effects of plastic pollution are far-reaching, even affecting tap water around the world, and harming marine wildlife through entanglement around the animal’s body. Some species like sea turtles eat the plastics, and this ends up blocking their digestive tract, resulting in starvation. This issue is not just restricted to turtles, and other animals such as whales also deal with this, as many whales have had large amounts of plastics found in them.  The video below by Kurzgesagt goes into the topic of plastic pollution more in-depth if you are interested in learning further about it.

 

Plastic Eating Bacteria & PET

Scientists had tried to combat this issue with a plastic-eating bacteria, that was initially found at a plastic recycling plant in Japan in 2016, but later on, when experimenting with the bacteria, the enzyme PETase was discovered. This enzyme works around twenty percent faster than the actual bacteria did at degrading PET, a very popular plastic used in many common items such as plastic bottles, and clothing. At the time, however, even PETase was not yet fast enough to be considered for widespread or commercial use.

Plastic Bottle Pollution in Armenia

Plastic Bottle Pollution in Armenia. Image: By UNDP in Europe and Central Asia

 

A Super Enzyme is Made

Recently, the same scientists who studied the PETase enzyme have made another improvement. In a new study, they show that by simply mixing PETase and MHETase (another enzyme) with one another, great improvements are made in the speed of PET degradation. After actually developing an enzyme from the PETase and MHETase to make a much stronger one, they developed an enzyme with PET breakdown that was three times faster than what they had previously achieved.

A diagram breakdown from the original PETase paper, with PET items being broken down by PETase and then further by MHETase. Source : https://www.pnas.org/content/115/19/E4350

Looking Forward

While the enzyme might still not be strong enough to combat global plastic pollution on a large enough scale, it does show how progress is slowly being made towards a safer and cleaner future. After finding the plastic-eating bacteria, improvements were implemented to create a faster enzyme, and then once again, making it even faster. The incremental gains in knowledge like these are what helps develop new technologies that help propel us further as species by combating issues in unique and innovative ways.

 

– Mehdi Mesbahnejad

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