Category Archives: Science in the News

Laughter: The Mysterious Stress Reliever?

Posted on March 7, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Laughter. As human beings, it’s something that most of us are bound to experience. Whether it’s from browsing YouTube and finding a ridiculous dog fail compilation, or when your friend cracks out a joke that you just find funny for some apparent reason, the feeling of laughter is a common occurrence in our lives.

Laughter is something that we take for granted. If we find something funny, then we’re going to laugh. However, scientists to this day are unable to figure out the reasoning behind laughter. In fact, the results from the many studies that do exist out there further confirm that laughter is much more complex than we think. A recent study conducted by Dr. Zander-Schellenberg and others were able to attribute this strange phenomenon as a way to relieve stress.

 

Check out the video below by YouTube user Life Noggin, which does a great job of going over the origins of laughter.

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laughter can help relieve stress?

In order to test the effects of laughter on stress in daily life experiences, Dr. Schellenberg and others collected data from 41 psychology students, 33 of which were female, from the University of Basel in real-life settings for 14 consecutive days. Through the usage of a smartphone application, a sound queue that triggered randomly throughout the day would remind participants to answer questions related to laughter, as well as any details regarding their current levels of stress and stressful events.

The results of the study were astonishing; it was found that increased laughter weakens the effects of stressful events, while also dampening certain symptoms that may arise from stress.

By investigating the effects of laughter on stress outside the laboratory, the study was able to be more closely related to real-life experiences. However, as the sample consisted of mainly female students, recreating the experiment with a sample that more closely represents the general population is something that could solidify their findings.

A photo of two people laughing, by Emanuele Spies from São Leopoldo, RS, Brasil, CC BY 2.0 <https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0>, via Wikimedia Commons

To take away from all this, think of laughter as a cheap and effective form of medicine. If, for whatever reason, you’re having a bad day, go and watch your favorite comedy show, or crack jokes with one of your friends for a quick laugh!

Here is a video by YouTube user keees121 that I recommend if you’re feeling down:

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-Aaron Yoon

 

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Baby Sharks Face a Gloomy Future

Posted on March 6, 2021 by | 1 comment

Sharks are considered the lions of the sea, but due to climate change they are losing their glory. With global warming causing the rise of ocean temperatures, one particularly tough and beautiful species, the epaulette shark, sometimes referred to as the walking shark, may be heading towards disaster.

An Epaulette Shark

An Epaulette Shark: Source: flickr.com/Richard Ling

The epaulette shark is typically 70 – 90 cm in length and has dark spots running up and down its slender body. This shark notably has a large black circle outlined in white on each of its sides. It lives in the Great Barrier Reef in Australia and finds its food in shallow puddles between the coral. This shallow environment is dangerous; leaving most fish stranded out of the water, left to die under the hot sun. This amazing animal is not so easily defeated and is able to conserve its breath and march back towards the sea. The impressive survival mechanisms of the epaulette shark are shown and described in the video below created by PBS in 2017.

Video Source: Nature on PBS| Youtube

The epaulette shark has proven itself to be resilient in low oxygen environments. Previous experiments even found that their eggs and newborns are tolerant to ocean acidification. Regardless of this resilience, rising temperatures still pose a serious threat, especially to its offspring.

A new study carried out by Ph.D. candidate Carolyn Wheeler on the eggs of epaulette sharks, showed that increasing ocean temperatures significantly affect the development of its young. The researchers analyzed the growth of epaulette shark embryos until they hatched, at temperatures of 27°C, 29°C, and 31°C . It was found that the embryos grew faster at the higher temperatures, as in the warmer water the sharks tended to consume their yolk-sacks quicker, which is their only source of food before they hatch. This in turn caused them to hatch sooner, and due to the reduced time in their embryos, they were born smaller and lacking in energy. The newborns which hatched at higher temperatures struggled to survive and needed to eat significantly sooner after birth compared to those at 27°C. Other studies have additionally observed, that at 32°C the likelihood of epaulette shark eggs hatching becomes very low.

Epaulette Shark Embryo: Source: flickr.com/CLF

The average temperature of the Great Barrier Reef is currently at 28°C during the period of embryo development in the wild, but with climate models predicting that average temperatures in this region will rise to 32°C by the middle or end of the century these animals are in trouble. As we explored earlier, epaulette sharks are known to be tolerant to acidic conditions and are more resilient than any other shark to low oxygen environments.

Since the increasing temperatures will likely have a detrimental impact on the epaulette shark – which is considered a tough and resilient species – we can only imagine the negative impacts it will have on other more vulnerable wildlife.

– Adam Soliman

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Itching Towards a Solution to Eczema’s Problem

Posted on March 1, 2021 by | Leave a comment

For those who are living with atopic dermatitis, commonly known as eczema, it’s not always fun.

Imagine that one minute you’re going on about your day, then suddenly your skin flares into an itchy, dry and blistering rash. The skin irritation becomes agonizing as soon as you start to feel your skin throb and burn, almost as if a million fire ants endlessly crawl all over your skin.

According to the Canadian Dermatology Association, this is what 17 percent of Canadians deal with throughout their lives. 

Source: flickr.com

The video below summarizes on eczema and provides further detail on its condition:

Source: Medical Centric (Youtube)

Recent Research

A recent study published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology examined the relationship between an enzyme (a protein that increases metabolic reaction rates) known as Granzyme B and the symptoms associated with eczema. According to Dr. David Granville, UBC’s Faculty of Medicine professor and researcher, increased Granzyme B secretion causes the enzymes to “eat away” cell-adhesion proteins that function in holding skin cells together. As a result, the skin barrier is weakened which increases skin sensitivity, thereby introducing symptoms like skin inflammation, dryness and itchiness. 

So what would happen if these enzyme levels were decreased?

Granville and his team discovered that by lowering Granzyme B secretion levels with inhibitors, skin cell layers were more likely to remain intact as fewer cell-adhesion proteins were eaten by these enzymes. Symptoms such as inflammation and lesion growth were shown to be greatly reduced compared to such increasing symptoms associated with high Granzyme B secretion levels. As these observed symptoms contribute to dryness and itchiness, these findings ultimately introduces a newer approach towards treating eczema.

A Step Closer to Newer Treatments

How can these findings be implemented into future treatments for individuals who have eczema?

Former UBC postdoctoral fellow and lead author of the study Dr. Chris Turner, suggests that with further research and clinical trials, these findings can potentially introduce topical creams or lotions that can inhibit Granzyme B levels in the future, ultimately reducing symptoms of itchiness and inflammation on affected skin. This potentially brings in treatments that avoid damaging the skin such as corticosteroid creams – a common topical steroid cream applied on the skin to reduce eczema symptoms.

“Corticosteroid creams are a common treatment for individuals with AD who experience more severe itching and rashes. However, these can thin the skin when used over a prolonged period of time, which can make skin more prone to damage and infection.”  VCH Research Institute, 2020.

Source: med.ubc.ca

As further research opens up more information about eczema and the enzyme that aggravates its symptoms, hopefully it’ll help researchers get closer towards developing potential treatments. Perhaps one day a Granzyme B-inhibiting cream will become available in the market.

After all, no one likes to have itchy, dry skin.

– Tina Huynh

Reference:
Turner, Christopher T., et al. “Granzyme B Contributes to barrier dysfunction in oxazolone-induced skin inflammation through E-Cadherin and FLG cleavage.” Journal of Investigative Dermatology 141.1 (2021): 36-47.

 

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From Recreational to Pharmaceutical – A Promising Psychedelic in Research

Posted on February 27, 2021 by | 1 comment

Current research on the use of psychedelic drugs for therapeutic applications is showing a lot of promise, building on the potential first demonstrated by studies  conducted in the 1950’s. Humphry Osmond, the psychiatrist who coined the term “psychedelics”, is considered one of the pioneers of psychedelics research. He believed hallucinogenic drugs could be used to treat mental illnesses, and his research findings supported his beliefs. His study on the use of LSD to treat alcoholism found that at the one year follow-up, almost half of study participants who suffered from alcoholism didn’t return to drinking. As such, Osmond’s seminal studies paved the path for the emerging field of psychedelics research. Fast-forward to today, research studies are demonstrating that under controlled conditions, psychedelic drugs like LSD, psilocybin (the active compound in magic mushrooms), and ketamine hold the potential for treating an array of mental illnesses – from alcoholism, to PTSD, to depression, anxiety, and OCD.  As the newest addition, MDMA is joining the rest of its peers in psychedelics research and may hold great potential.

Humphry Osmond, Source: Jeremy Leung

MDMA, otherwise known as ecstasy, E, M, or Molly, is an infamous psychoactive drug often associated with nightclub and rave scenes. Hours of partying are fueled by intense feelings of pleasure, emotional warmth, and an abundance of energy owed to this little pill with so many names. The negative stigma attached to recreational drug use has given MDMA a bad rep, but research studies from an organization called Multidisciplinary Association for Psychedelics Studies (MAPS) are challenging these stigmatized views.

A team of MAPS researchers in California are repurposing MDMA to treat the psychological distress experienced by people suffering from life-threatening illnesses (LTI). People living with, or that have lived with an LTI can experience anxiety, depression, anger, and despair associated with their traumatic experiences. In one of the first clinical trials of its kind, Dr. Philip Wolfson and his team explored how using MDMA during psychotherapy sessions impacted participant’s distress levels. The team found that the study participants who took MDMA had improved mindfulness and a more positive outlook towards their traumatic experiences. Also, depression, sleep quality, and anxiety levels  improved, but these improvements couldn’t conclusively be attributed to the MDMA. The findings of this pilot study suggest MDMA could still have the potential to reduce psychological distress associated with LTI and that it may also have positive long-term effects.

Although current studies like Dr. Wolfson’s show promising results, could the stigma surrounding “hard drugs” like MDMA deter patients from taking them once/if they become approved for clinical use? Or would the existing stigma dwindle once they get a doctor’s stamp of approval? Or maybe it’s simply why the drugs are used that give recreational use a bad name. Whatever your beliefs and convictions, scientifically, “hard drugs” may have a place in medicine in the (potentially near) future.

Source: GoodRx.com

By Maya Bird

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Protein Folding: Solved

Posted on February 26, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Just as the turmoil of 2020 was coming to a wrap, a scientific breakthrough came about. On November 30th AlphaFold, coming out of Google’s DeepMind, claimed to have solved the protein folding problem using artificial intelligence.

The Problem

From making our DNA to getting rid of waste, proteins are like small machines that perform the majority of work done in cells. In fact, within our bodies there are an estimated 80,000 to 400,000 unique proteins each playing their own role. And, just like the way a building is built determines its use, a protein’s structure decides what tasks it performs. Yet, although it is easy to distinguish an apartment from an office, according to UCONN Health, it can take scientists between a few weeks to a few months to piece together what a protein looks like.

The Game Changer

This is where AlphaFold sneaks in. Although, as seen in the video above, the task was not easy, AlphaFold chose a different approach to this problem: artificial intelligence. 

Nowadays, the word artificial intelligence pops-up everywhere from self-driving cars to artificial voices, but what is most important is how it works and how it can be applied to the protein folding problem.

General scheme for developing an artificial intelligence model.

 

For the computer it all starts with data. As seen in the diagram above, once given data the computer looks for patterns between points. These patterns can then be used to make predictions on new data. Before in their final structure, proteins begin as a simple string of amino acids, or the building blocks of proteins. Given a dataset with the original string paired with the protein in its final form, the computer looks for patterns between the two. Using these patterns it can then predict what a protein might look like from just its string.

The Importance

Just one of the many protein folding predictions generated by AlphaFold’s model.

To the left you can see one prediction Alpha Fold’s model created. In comparison to the time it takes in the lab, this model is able to make a prediction in a mere half an hour with 90% accuracy according to their statement. In fact, it has already helped a biologist named Andrei Lupis with piecing together a protein his team has been stuck on for a decade. In an interview with Nature, Lupis even said: 

This is a game changer, this will change medicine. It will change research. It will change bioengineering. It will change everything.

With this new break-through, not only will scientists save time and money by not having to experimentally determine a protein’s structure, but research will accelerate at a pace never seen before. 

Beyond AlphaFold

While AlphaFold may be a hot-topic, beyond protein folding AI has also been used for a variety of tasks including interpreting MRI images or even predicting climate change. The applications seem to be limitless so make sure to keep an eye out, the next breakthrough could be coming up just around the corner!

Jessica Petrochuk

 

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Catnip Magic was a Protection Against Mosquitoes

Posted on February 25, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Catnip is a plant that can bring about a euphoric state and cause most cats to act unusually. Scientists long thought the only driving force of their obsession was the euphoric experience, just like when humans drink alcohol. However, researchers have found that the chemical in catnip called nepetalactone is an effective mosquito repellant, and protects cats from infectious diseases.

If you own a cat, you may have used catnip products and witnessed your cat rolling, flipping, and rubbing, just like in the video below. Some cats even zone out!

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Video Credit: Wild At Heart | BBC Earth

As mentioned in the narrative, catnips are harmless to cats, and the euphoric effect does not last long. The responses to catnip are also observed in other felids such as lions and bobcats.

“For cats, catnip may be a recreational drug but it’s totally harmless. […] After about 10 minutes, the cats come back down to Earth” (Wild At Heart, BBC Earth)

Why do cats behave in this way?

Since first found by a British botanist back in 1759 (9), this behaviour remained mysterious for a long time. However, in January 2021, a team of scientists from universities in Japan and The University of Liverpool found that the responses allowed cats to protect themselves from mosquito bites.

The team found that in the catnip, the significant component that induces the characteristic behaviour is called nepetalactone, which is the oil in the plant that gives its distinctive odour. The team also found that it has mosquito repellent activity.

When cats sniff nepetalactone, it stimulates the brain system called u-opioid, which is a part of the brain that controls the rewarding effects. Researchers confirmed that the stimulation induces cats to rub their bodies and face against the chemical. These rubbing and rolling behaviours transfer the chemical onto their fur, allowing cats to gain a chemical defence against mosquitoes.

The research sheds light on developing new mosquito repellents for humans using nepetalactone.

The neurophysiological and functional significance of silver vine response in cats.
Image Credit: Chie Nakayama, adapted from Reiko Uenoyama, Iwate University. DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abd9135

You can access the research paper from here.

– Chie Nakayama

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Combating Antibiotic Resistance with “Nanoparticles”

Posted on February 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) calls antibiotic resistance “one of the biggest public health challenges of our time.” But what is antibiotic resistance? How is it affecting our lives? and How can we use nanoparticles to fight it?

Antibiotic Resistance Crisis:

Antibiotics are powerful medications that are widely used for the treatment of infections caused by bacteria by either killing them or inhibiting their reproduction. However, taking antibiotics too often or for the wrong purpose caused bacteria to evolve various antibiotic resistance mechanisms that defeat the actions of antibiotics.
Some bacteria have developed resistance to nearly all the antibiotic treatments available. Infections by these antibiotic-resistant bacteria can result in serious fatal diseases that were once easily treatable with antibiotics.

Without the invention of new strategies to counteract drug-resistant infections, they are likely to kill more than 10 million people each year by 2050. This is more than the number of  people currently dying from cancer.

Bacterial Resistance to Antibiotic Drugs, Source: phys.org

Ongoing researches are analyzing the ways nanoparticles (small particles ranging between 1 to 100 nanometres in size) can be used to defeat antibiotic-resistant bacteria. The size of nanoparticles which is about 1/100 of bacteria and their flexible antibacterial properties make them a favorable solution to this problem since they can be used to not only deliver antibiotics but also to fight bacteria themselves.

Using Nanoparticles as Antibiotic Carriers:

According to this research, some nanoparticles have the ability to penetrate into the bacterial cells while carrying the antibiotic agents. They protect the carried antibiotic physically against the bacterial resistance mechanisms, for example by saving the antibiotic from bacterial released chemicals that can otherwise destroy them.

Chitosan (a type of fiber) nanoparticle can be used to deliver antibiotics to inside the bacterial cells. This nanoparticle possesses a positive charge making it able to attach to bacterial cells that have a negative charge on their membrane (outer layer of the cell). Source: ResearchGate

Using Nanoparticles as Antibiotic Drugs: 

Nanoparticles can also defeat bacteria directly by themselves using mechanisms such as the generation of reactive oxygen species (ROS). ROS are unstable molecules that can easily react with other biomolecules (DNA, protein, etc.) in a cell, disrupt them, and cause cell death.

Recent research recorded severe cellular damage in 5 different types of bacteria when treated with silver nanoparticles. As they reported, an increase in ROS formation leads to damage to bacterial biomolecules resulting in the death of bacteria.

Effect of Nanoparticles on Bacteria

E.coli (a type of bacteria) (left) is severely damaged when treated with a special virus-like nanoparticle (right). Source: pubs.acs.org

Nanoparticles appear to be a promising solution to address the problem
of antibiotic resistance; however, the main factor that limits the use of nanoparticles in treatments is that researchers often face side-effects related to nanoparticle toxicity for living organisms. For instance, some metal nanoparticles can cause heart problems or even cancer when inhaled.

The ways through which nanoparticles can produce toxicity need to be investigated in future researches in order to develop safe and efficient antibacterial nanoparticles.

– Samin Shadravan

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Treating Depression: Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation

Posted on February 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

Source: flickr.com

How would you feel if the treatment or medication you were taking had little to no effect in suppressing your symptoms? Unfortunately, this is the case for 1 in 3 patients diagnosed with depression. These patients fall under a category known as treatment-resistant depression. Personalized deep brain stimulation, a promising alternative to conventional treatments, has the potential to solve this problem by allowing physicians to tailor treatments to an individual’s needs.

The Problem

Depression, which is characterized by low mood, is linked to an imbalance of serotonin, norepinephrine, and dopamine neurotransmitters in the brain. It is a common mental illness that affects the way someone feels, thinks, and acts. However, it is important to note that depression varies significantly among individuals and many other factors play a role. As stated by Ben Paul from USC Viterbi School of Engineering,

“Mental disorders can manifest differently in each patient’s brain.”

There is no one single treatment that is able to effectively treat the symptoms of depression among all diagnosed individuals. This makes it hard for physicians to provide the best treatment for their patients.

What is deep brain stimulation?

Deep brain stimulation (DBS) is a surgical procedure where electrodes are implanted within specific areas of the brain. By electrically stimulating these parts of the brain, physicians can reduce the symptoms associated with depression. The amount of stimulation is controlled by a pacemaker that is placed under skin on the chest.

The video below explains this procedure further and contains an interview with Edi Guyton, a patient who had this surgery: 

Source: CNN | Youtube

Promising Alternative: Personalized Deep Brain Stimulation 

Even with deep brain stimulation, each patient’s response to treatment will be different. However, one of the pros of deep brain stimulation is that it results in immediate changes. This is the key component that allows physicians to personalize treatment.

Research led by Maryam Shanechi and her team at USC Viterbi School of Engineering have figured out a way to predict and see how an individual’s brain responds to stimulation. This allows physicians to monitor brain regions in real time.

How is this done? 

           Two tools have been designed: 

  1. Electrical stimulation wave to map brain activity
  2. Machine-learning techniques that are able to learn the mapped brain activity which is collected during stimulation 

The stimulation wave designed by Maryam and her team randomly changes amplitude and frequency of the electrical impulse over time. A change in amplitude and frequency would be the equivalent to changing the milligram dose of a pill. Analysis of brain activity during these changes will allow physicians to arrive at the correct stimulation doses.  As a result, physicians will be able to personalize and tailor the deep brain stimulation for the individual. 

This treatment can be used to find an effective approach for almost all patients diagnosed with depression.  Success within this field of personalized deep brain stimulation will hopefully lead to more application for other mental disorders. 

– Samantha Nalliah

 

 

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Forgot Something? Suspect Your Dopamine

Posted on February 8, 2021 by | Leave a comment

You open up an internet browser, but you forget what you were going to search for or why you even started your computer. Have you ever come across these situations?  The recent research on the temporary memory loss have discovered the betrayer within our body: the notorious dopamine.

Dopamine has a reputation as the “happy hormone.” It’s a neurotransmitter, a substance that conveys signals between neurons, that mediates pleasure in our brain and makes you crave for the things you love. For instance, you constantly refresh your Instagram feed or click on the next recommended video on YouTube because your brain remembers and relate those activities to pleasure. Then every time you perform those activities your brain release dopamine, which makes you feel good.

Social Media and Distractions

Source: Fauno (pixabay.com)

Q: Sounds good! Everyone loves pleasure and happiness! What’s the problem?

A: Humans are not supposed to feel pleasure every time. In a nutshell, dopamine acts very similar to recreational drug because it constantly tempts you and controls you to do things that provides instant gratification and crave for stronger pleasure. The problem of dopamine addiction recently arose because of the rapid technological advancement, which allows for easy access to activities that release dopamine such as social media, video games, and pornography. People have hard time focusing on their work and managing their time because they crave that dopamine shots.

Here’s a video that talks about effect of dopamine on human and possible solution to overcome addiction:

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Source: TopThink (youtube.com)

In addition, the researchers from Scripps Research Institute revealed dopamine’s another dark secret. They discovered the mechanism in which the stimulation of dopamine circuit is responsible for transient forgetting, also known as temporary memory loss. In particular, the biochemical team specified a single pair of dopamine-releasing neuron, named PPL1- α2α’2, that causes the universal nuisance in our brain.

Source: Tumisu (pixabay.com)

In summary, the research taught Drosophila, the common fruit fly, to associate certain scent with unpleasant shock. However, when the subject was introduced to interfering stimuli such as a puff of air or blue light, the type of light emitted from the screens of your electronic devices, the dopamine released due to the stimuli interfered with the flies’ memory retrieval signal and the flies temporarily forgot the scent’s negative association.

Furthermore, the research found a positive correlation between the strength of the stimulus and the lasting period of memory loss. In other words, exposure to stronger stimulus, such as illicit drugs or concentrated alcohol, require more time to recover from the transient memory loss.

During the unprecedented period of pandemic, without social interactions, you probably consume more social media feeds or YouTube videos for your daily dose of dopamine. However, think of dopamine as sugar for now. Your body needs it to continue the happy life, but addiction could bring potential complications with regards to your success and health. Control your dopamine. Don’t let YouTube recommendations control you!

-Matthew Lim

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