Blogs

Chediak-Higashi Syndrome is a rare genetic disorder caused from a mutation in the chromosome. Patients affected with this disorder have barely no immune system due to the defect in the neutrophil, a type of white blood cell responsible to consume bacteria through phagocytosis. The whole immune system including lysosome, an organelle in the cell, and the neutrophil is incapable to dissolve the consumed bacteria, so as a result, patients have a higher rate of susceptibility to infections. Another distinguishable symptom is a physical characteristic of albinism. Patients lack not only a sufficient immune system, but also pigmentation. They have fair skin, close to creamy white, and silver streaked light hair. Since they do not have enough pigmentation, they must take extra care to be exposed under UV light. If patients with Chediak Higashi Syndrome are diagnosed early and receive proper treatment, they can live an ordinary life. However, if the treatment fails, the patient will face a stage called the acceleration phase where the disorder becomes lethal within 30 months.

Hormones are molecular messengers that carry out their action via hormone receptors. Hormone receptors are proteins that receive hormones secreted from various glands throughout the endocrine system. These receptors are connected to one or more effector networks that allow them to mediate the action of the hormone received. If a hormone receptor is present in a certain tissue, it outlines the target cells of a specific hormone as well as allowing for a mechanism by which the hormone can act. These receptors are known to elicit widespread effects on the human body through the use of something called “second messengers”. A second messenger relays information from the receptor to different effector systems associated with that receptor, for example, the arrival of a hormone. A very important second messenger in the endocrine system is cyclic adenosine monophosphate or cAMP. This molecule allows the endocrine system to mediate the effects of many different hormones in many different tissues. Hormone receptors are the link between the desired effect of a hormone signal and the actual effect of hormone action.

     The axon hillock of a neuron is dense with sodium voltage-gated channels, which acts as a spike-initiation zone. Once the charge is increased significantly, an action potential propagates across the neuron in an all-or-nothing action. This means that once the signal is going to go through, nothing can stop it.
    Neurons have myelin sheaths along their axons which facilitate current flow. These are found in Schwann cells in the PNS, oligodendroglia in the CNS, and help with saltatory conduction. The space in between each myelin sheath is called a Nodes of Ranvier. When a neuron is sending an action potential, the signal jumps across nodes of ranvier, to allow faster propagation of the signal. If the insulation is lost, the conduction of velocity slows. This can be seen in multiple sclerosis, which is an autoimmune degeneration of myelin sheaths.

Different factors affect the production of phagocytes in tetrahymena species.This includes stimulations from the environment that causes the organism to produce vacuoles that are used to injest microbes. Experiments can also stimulate or hinder production of vacuoles in tetrahymena. For example, serotonin and calcium can stimulate production of vacuoles. The production of vacuoles is concentration dependent of these stimulants. However production may be inhibited by other stimulants such as high temperatures as well as taxol.

The ergot theory, which is presented in the video “The Witches Curse,” suggests that ergot played a role during the Salem Witch Trials. An event that led to the prosecution and deaths of multiple people who were accused of being witches. Linnda Caporeal claims that ergot, which is a fungus that grows on grains, led to the bizarre behavior which was exhibited in those who were said to be bewitched. Ergot releases a toxin that leads to the disease, ergotism, and has multiple types of symptoms that consist of hallucinations, gangrene limbs, and strange behavior. This disease not only affects humans but can affect animals as well. Caporeal pointed out various similarities between the disease and the bewitchment victims that linked ergot to the trials. This theory provides sufficient evidence in order to make it a plausible explanation for what had happened during the year of 1692.

Prion diseases can affect humans as well as animals and can be transferred to humans by the consumption of meat infected with the disease. Prion diseases are a group of progressive neurodegenerative disorders. A commonly known one is mad cow disease. These diseases are caused by a misfolded protein called PrP.  The normal function of this protein is not fully understood. The prion form of this protein is called PrPsc, the normal form of it is called PrPc. Many different mammals can be affected by these diseases since the prion protein is very similar across multiple different mammals. The problem with this disease that can be found in meat is that the prions cannot be destroyed using the usual methods, boiling, autoclaving, and radiation will not get rid of the prions. This disease can lead to holes in the brain and eventually to death. There are various different symptoms of this including, seizures, slurred speech, and memory loss.

Pancreatic intraepithelial neoplasias (PanINs) are the precursor lesions for pancreatic adenocarcinomas, the exocrine form of pancreatic cancer. There are multiple types of PanINs, each building up to pancreatic adenocarcinomas. The lowest grade, called PanIN-1, frequently has mutations in the KRAS oncogene. In PanIN-2s, p16/CDKN2A gene mutations start to appear. PanIN-3s, the highest grade of these precursor lesions, accumulate SMAD4 and TP53 mutations. At times, these SMAD4 and TP53 mutations don't appear until the adenocarcinoma has already become invasive. The researchers plan to examine all of these mutations and come up with novel targeted therapies for each stage of PanIN in an effort to halt the progression of pancreatic adenocarcinoma. Once past the PanIN stage, surgery remains the only form of treatment that has a slightly longer survival rate.

My larvae that was given to me by choice at the end of the first class had turned into a cocoon on the 26th of January. On the 6th of February (11 days in a cocooned state) a fly emerged from the cocoon. The fly has four legs and two manible looking like structures. There are two transparent wings on the dorsal side of the fly. The eyes are orange in color and large while the body was black and round. The body of the fly is fuzzy. The fly clings to the side of the container and shifts around once in a while. The challenging part at this point is to find a way to open the container to give the fly some food. There is a risk of the fly getting out of the container and into the open world. 

The average concentration of the two trials of RNase treated samples is 336.75 ng/uL, the average 260/280 ratio is 1.60, and the average 260/230 ratio is 0.60 [Fig. 1].  The average concentration of the two trials without RNase treatment is 292.05 ng/uL, the average 260/280 ratio is 2.05, and the average 260/230 ratio is 1.57 [Fig. 2].  The average concentration of all four trials is 314.4 ng/uL.  This means in the original 50 uL of solution, there were 15,720 ng of DNA. 

Looking at Figure 3, lane 1 contains a visualized DNA ladder while lane 2 does not.  Lanes 3 and 4, the RNase treated samples, show two bright bands of slightly over 10,000 base pairs in length and no difference in intensity between the diluted and undiluted samples.  Lanes 5 and 6, the untreated samples, show these same two bands, although in the ½ dilution this band is noticeably fainter.  In lanes 5 and 6, there are large discolorations spanning the range of 0 to 500 base pairs, and in the diluted sample, it is noticeably fainter.

Science has come a long way since ancient times. Back then, people believed that bad smells caused disease and good smells kept people healthy. So doctors wore masks with good smells when treating patients with bad smells indicative of disease. I find this ironic because it was a good practice for the wrong reason. It shows that when a belief is widely held, especially if it is held by credible people, it prevails as the truth. In the 1700’s in England a woman named Lady Montagu promoted vaccinations as a means to cure smallpox and was consequently met with resistance from local physicians. After the death of her brother, she had her son “variolated” in Turkey, where they introduced a virus from the pus of someone with smallpox into his system. Although small pox was a widespread problem with no known cure, physicians were unable to consider the idea of vaccination. It may have been because Lady Montagu was a woman, and women generally had no voice in science at the time. She was also not a scientist and did not have anyone in her network that could corroborate her theory. Nowadays, we might believe that we rely on solid evidence to support our beliefs, but I think we will always have a desire to support the ideas of people around us. We will always have subconscious biases we can’t control. As long as we are aware of that, we can challenge false information and come up with new ideas, even if they sound crazy at first. Hundreds of years from now, we might look back on us now and realize that some of the scientific ideas we had were not entirely true. But that is partly what makes science an exciting field, that there is always something new for us to find.