Category Archives: Issues in Science

A new horizon for cancer research

Posted on December 2, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Unfortunately, even at the time of publishing this article, many people around the world are battling cancer in a fight for their lives. For these people and their loved ones, receiving efficacious cancer treatment is of the utmost priority. It is currently estimated that close to 1 in 2 Canadians will end up developing cancer, and about 1 in 4 Canadians are expected to die as a result of cancer.

Evolution of cancer therapy

Cancer therapy has come a long way, but getting to where we are today would not be possible without the research that started 40 to 50 years ago. In the podcast below Dr. Chris Orvig, a researcher and professor at the University of British Columbia, describes how cancer therapy has evolved over the years and how it has become what it is today.

Concerns of current cancer therapy

Currently, most cancer treatments revolve around chemotherapy, which aims to destroy cancer cells. However, chemotherapy also results in the damage of non-cancerous cells within the body, which causes a host of side effects. The result of this subpar cellular targeting is that patients often experience debilitating side effects such as hair loss, organ damage, and reduction in memory and cognitive ability, just to name a few.

Common side effects of cancer on the body. (Medical News Today)

Targeted Alpha Therapy: A better alternative

In the hopes of finding a more effective cancer treatment with minimal toxic effects, Dr. Orvig and his team of researchers set out to find a viable alternative. In their study published in March 2020, they aimed to determine the effectiveness of targeted alpha therapy, a relatively new form of cancer therapy, using a radioactive metal isotope (actinium-225) and a binding agent for the metal (H4py4pa).

To gain a better understanding of how this mechanism works, the video below has Dr. Chris Orvig going through some of the chemistry behind targeted alpha therapy.

Dr. Chris Orvig and his team found that actinium-225 and H4py4pa are very compatible—in fact, even more compatible than they had hypothesized. Therefore, by coupling actinium-225 and H4py4pa, they were able to have great localization when targeting the cancer cells. However, more research is necessary to confirm the effectiveness of this treatment even though recent trials offer promising results.

Looking forward

Around the world, researchers like Dr. Orvig are constantly working on advancing our understanding of cancer and cancer therapy through novel and innovative solutions. Targeted alpha therapy has become an emerging therapeutic option for cancer patients, and leaves future scientists with many possibilities to develop and expand upon the topic. Currently, there is a lack of effective cancer treatments that result in minimal side effects. As scientists continue to investigate and understand the complex nature of cancer, hope is the sustaining force in this inquiry.

Written by Alessandra Liu, Harman Sandhu, Mehdi Mesbahnejad, Tae Hyung Kim

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

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Fighting Climate Change by Capturing Excess CO2.

Posted on November 23, 2020 by | Leave a comment

Climate change is becoming a serious issue as temperatures continue to rise due to increasing global greenhouse emissions. Greenhouse gases such as CO2 trap reflecting sunlight and radiation that would normally escape the atmosphere of Earth and this trapped heat then leads to warmer temperatures. Over the past 150 years, Carbon dioxide(CO2) emissions around the world have increased mainly due to human involvement through the burning of fossil fuels and industrial processes. The figure below outlines the percentages of various greenhouse gas emissions and their sources.

Credit: IPCC(2014)

Due to these rising emissions, there are many researchers and technology companies around the world that are looking at ways to reduce the amount of atmospheric CO2 and mitigate climate change before it is too late. In the past few years, many new technologies and techniques to capture excess carbon have emerged. Some of these main ones include Bioenergy with Carbon Capture and Storage(BECCS or bio-CCS) and Direct Air Capture(DAC). Although the ultimate goal of both methods is to reduce carbon emissions, BECCS focuses on capturing CO2 released through combustion in industrial facilities while DAC aims to directly capture excess CO2 from the atmosphere. From these two methods, companies such as Carbon Engineering who are employing DAC have gained more traction as they have landed large investors such as Bill Gates and Chevron.

A study posted in 2018 outlined the process and cost of Direct Air Capture(DAC). Through this research, a Canadian company called Carbon Engineering based in Squamish, BC has tested the Direct Air Capture technology and hopes to make various large scale carbon storage plants over the next few years. Another company called Climeworks based in Switzerland is using similar methods to capture carbon from the atmosphere. Carbon Engineering has a plan to use the carbon from the atmosphere in 2 different ways which are reusing the stored carbon as a source of fuel and the second being storing solid carbon underground. According to the company, one large scale plant can store as much carbon as 40 million trees. They believe it is an efficient way to reducing carbon emissions and as they continue to get more funding they become closer and closer to their goal.

This video below explains the Direct Air Capture(DAC) method of removing CO2 and also outlines the various ongoing and future projects to mitigate climate change.

-Sandeep Singh

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Posted in Issues in Science, Science Communication, Science in the News

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Can music therapy treat dementia ?

Posted on November 23, 2020 by | 1 comment

Have you ever heard a Drake or Rihanna song? Many people would likely say that they have. Music is an art that people across the world listen to daily and while some listen to it for enjoyment, it also provides many health benefits such as reducing stress, anxiety, and improving your mood. But, these are things that you probably already knew about music. Research nowadays has been focusing on how music can be implemented in treating patients. A recent study published by Dr. Hei Long Lam in 2020 found that music therapy can be an effective method in improving the lives of patients that have dementia.

Dementia is a commonly increasing syndrome, which currently does not have a cure. It is also a general term used for the loss of memory, language, and other thinking abilities. Dementia is caused by damage to brain cells and this damage goes on to interfere with the ability of brain cells to communicate with each other which ultimately leads to an array of problems. Alzheimer’s is the most common type of dementia which is the damage and degradation of the hippocampus (a part of the brain which is essential for memory formation). People who have dementia usually have a difficult time communicating, recalling information and worse of all this condition is progressive, so it will get worse over time.

Image: University of Queensland/google. This image shows how a normal brain compares to a brain with severe Alzheimer’s. As seen in the image the hippocampus has almost completely disappeared.

Dr. Lam found that music therapy can help dementia patients better recall memories, enhance verbal fluency, and dramatically reduces the patients’ depression and anxiety.

In this video, it is seen that elderly people with dementia are able to successfully recall memories and string together many sentences after listening to music 

The reasons for how music is able to such things have been researched extensively by many people. These researchers found that there are two main qualities of music that allow for these results in the patients. Firstly, the music evokes emotions and this can bring back memories. If music is paired with everyday activities there is a chance that dementia patients will recall the memory of how to do the activity. Secondly, as stated in the video above, music is processed and stored in many parts of the brain so musical appreciation is one of the last remaining abilities in a dementia patient. So even for a late-stage dementia patient, playing music is an excellent way of reaching beyond the disease and connecting with the patient.

Music therapy is a great non-pharmaceutical method that can improve many aspects of a dementia patient’s life. Despite these great findings published in the research article, they state that they have only scratched the surface of the relationship between music and dementia. Ultimately they stated that more clinical trials must be done to fully understand the therapeutic value of music therapy.

-Harman Sandhu

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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science Communication

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The Future of Antarctica

Posted on November 15, 2020 by | Leave a comment

In September 2019, the Amery Ice Shelf in Antarctica produced its biggest iceberg, which beat the record 50 years ago. The massive iceberg named D-28  covers an area of 1,636 sq km, which is slightly more than half of the Metro Vancouver area. It is about 210 m thick and contains 315 billion-tonne of ice.

Iceberg D-28 breaks away from the Amery Ice Shelf. Credit: ESA

 The cause of iceberg D-28 calving?

As a matter of fact, global warming, caused by greenhouse-gasses emission, has contributed to ice melting around the world. It is interesting to note that the calving of D-28 was a part of the normal cycle of ice shelves.

Firstly, glacier gradually moves toward the ocean by its own weight. As the glacier flow, the friction with the bedrock and surface melting thinning the ice sheets and form ice shelves, which are the arm of the ice sheet. Moreover, the warm circumpolar deep water flows in and melts the ice under the ice shelf that weakening its strength. Thus, the plane of ice starts splitting and shedding into icebergs.

Formation of icebergs. Credit: Calvin Pan

Climatic impacts of the iceberg

Melting icebergs influence both global sea levels and ocean salinity. If iceberg D-28 completely melted, researchers projected that sea volume would increase by 2.6 % compared to the volume of saltwater that was displaced. Annually, the global sea level is rising by about 3 mm, whereas the melting of D-28 only accounts for 0.049 mm of increase per year. As such, an individual iceberg would not dramatically raise the sea level. In considering the ocean salinity, indeed, the melted ice would dilute the salt concentration in the ocean and decline its salinity. This process usually occurs at lower latitudes when the iceberg melts. Nevertheless, at higher latitudes (eg, near where the iceberg breaks off), seawater is frozen by nearby icebergs, and its freezing process increases the salinity. The stabilizing influence on ocean salinity promotes the convection and circulation of oceanic currents.

Will climate change alter the Antarctic landscape?

Yes, climate change will accelerate the loss of Antarctic glaciers due to various reasons. For example, warmer sea, higher air temperatures, and higher sea levels fasten the natural cycle of ice shelves. Watch this short video made by Vox to understand the association between glaciers loss and climate change using the example of Thwaites Glacier, as well as possible consequences.

A study has proposed that reducing greenhouse-gas emissions could possibly mitigate the rate of change in Antarctica. Losing antarctic ice will not only raise the sea level but also threaten wildlife and food security because of more frequent extreme weather. Before dealing with an irreversible change in Antarctica, we must start thinking of how we can save the Antarctic ecosystem.

-Calvin Pan

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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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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science

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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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Posted in Biological Sciences, Issues in Science, Science in the News, Uncategorized

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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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