Blogs

Jaguar population continues to decline and suffer as a direct result of human impact. As seen in several instances, the removal of just one species can cause the entire ecosystem to change rapidly or deplete within years. Jaguars are the top predators in their environment, so they play an important role in controlling the populations of other species. This helps keep a balance in the food chain, and a healthy environment. Since their forest homes have continued to be destroyed, jaguar populations now occupy only a small fraction of their original territory, and are so exclusive that we cannot even determine how many are left in the wild. As the cause for this issue, it is our job that we protect and conserve designated habitat patches and corridors so that jaguars may be allowed space and ability to survive and grow. Providing protection for the connectivity between different landscapes will allow the jaguars to be able to expand their population gene pool, which will then in turn create a healthier, more stable population. The corridors would also allow for jaguars to move unnoticed amongst human development while maintaining the ability to migrate and create their own territory.

23andMe is a genetic testing company that collects DNA samples from consumers and in return sends them ancestral information. The founding of the company would not have arisen if it were not for the Human Genome Project. The techniques used to sequence the human genome are utilized by 23andMe to obtain genetic data in a cost-effective and efficient manner. 23andMe collects spit samples from consumers and sequences the DNA using the same principles as Sanger Sequencing but in a more modern and digitized way. Similar to Sanger Sequencing, chunks of overlapping DNA are analyzed. The sequence is then compared to a reference data set of DNA to find ancestry information. While it may seem like cool to use genetic testing to learn your ancestry, 23andMe raises several ethical concerns. Giving the company your genetic data has been regarded as a violation of privacy because it’s possible for the data to be shared among other corporations such as pharmaceuticals and biotech corporations. Shared genetic data can lead to discrimination from health insurance companies. While there may be laws in place to prevent this, these laws are always susceptible to change. Just like when information leaks on the internet, if genetic data were to be shared, the privacy cannot be taken back. In addition, while 23andMe might have regulations to protect the privacy of consumers to a limited extent, there is no way of knowing what will happen to the genetic data in the future when the owners of the company are not around anymore. 

    At the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, there lies an interspecific interaction that in principle is dangerous, yet seems to be a regular occurrence for the majority of dormitories. At the university, access to the dormitories require a specific ID in order to unlock the doors. These ID’s are only acquired if a person is given permission to own one and is approved by the university. This includes paying expensive housing fees, attending the university itself, and paying tuition. In essence, there is a very high requirement in order to gain access into any of these buildings. Yet on the contrary, if you happen to catch a resident leaving the building at the same time someone else is trying to enter it, it is likely that the resident will exit the building, and then hold the door open for the other person so they can go inside. This occurs so frequently, that it’s very likely that if someone were to wait outside one of these dormitories, eventually someone will notice and invite them in. The buildings are so easy to get into, that it begs the questions as to why we have ID card authorization as a security measure. I hypothesize that its functionality serves as a formality, rather than as security like it was originally intended.

Cardiovascular disease is caused by a combination of all three factors, but lipid control is thought to be the most influential. Often, cardiovascular problems can arise from the development of atherosclerosis which is an increased risk in diabetics. Poor glucose control or resistance to insulin causes a lack of nitric oxide production which is important in maintaining vascular flow. The lack of sufficient nitric oxide leads to an increase in plaque formation within the blood vessels. Lastly, neuropathy is caused by a metabolic cascade resulting from a lack of glycemic control, a long duration of diabetes, and potentially vascular abnormalities as well. Hyperglycemia causes the polyol pathway to produce more sorbitol from glucose, but at the same time this process consumes NADPH which results in less cofactor available for glutathione reductase. This inhibits the cells’ ability to respond to oxidative stress. Oxidative stress is defined as an imbalance between antioxidants and free radicals in one’s body. Too many free radicals cause chemical chain reactions due to their high reactivity. Conversely, anti-oxidants have been proposed to prevent generation of free radicals (or reduce the impact of free radicals). Oxidative stress can alter nerve blood supply, nerve structure, and endoneural metabolism. High glucose levels also are found to be directly correlated with the production of advanced glycation end-products (AGE). AGE’s are produced by a chemical transformation of sugars binding amino acids or fats. High blood glucose levels and increased fat/lipid levels can lead to the production of AGE’s. When AGE interacts with receptors (RAGE) it can lead to oxidative stress. In rats RAGE is expressed in endothelial and Schwann cells. Incubation of these neuronal and Schwann cells with AGE’s leads to cell death. Vascular complications can also lead to neuropathy. A lack of glycemic control can cause microvascular blood vessels to narrow or harden due to plaque build-up known as atherosclerosis resulting in a restricted blood flow to the nerves. This lack of blood flow causes damage to the peripheral nervous system thus leading to complications such as neuropathy and foot ulcers.

The researchers, Laurent Debarbieux et al reveal the effectivness of treating P. aeruginosa lung infections by using bacteriophages. The researches used mice as their test subjects, different primary colonization and chronic strains of the bacteria P. aeruginosa to infect the mice, as well as the bacteriophage they called PAK-P1. Their hypothesis was that if bacteriophages are effective in attacking only the bacteria, the bacteriophages will significantly reduce the bacteria in the victims and thus save them. The dependent variable was therefore the survival of the test subjects, the mice; and the independent variable is the amount of bacteriophages. The controls were infected mice not treated with any bacteriophages. Experimental evidence reveals that timing and dosage of bacteriophages mattered in saving the lives of the mice. Even though the research revealed bacteriophages' effectiveness in treatment in vitro, the researchers were questioning its effectiveness in vivo. The research performed is therefore significant in the medical field, possibly leading to medication that will use the virus to save humans infected by the lung bacteria, P. aeruginosa.

In the research done by Laurent Debarbieux et al on treating P. aeruginosa lung infections through bacteriophages, the authors used mice as their test subjects, as well as different primary colonization and chronic strains of the bacteria P. aeruginosa, and the virus they called PAK-P1. Even though the research revealed bacteriophages' effectiveness in treatment in vitro, the researchers were questioning its effectiveness in vivo. Through this article, they revealed their research on the effectiveness of treatment of bacterial infections with the bacteriophages. Their hypothesis: if bacteriophages are effective in attacking only the bacteria, the bacteriophages will significantly reduce the bacteria in the victims and thus saving them. The dependent variable was thus the survival of the test subjects, the mice, and the independent variable is the amount of bacteriophages. The controls were infected mice not treated with any bacteriophages. Experimental evidence reveals that timing and dosage of bacteriophages mattered in saving the lives of the mice. This is therefore important in possible treatment with humans.

My biochemistry lecture covered the properties of amino acids. The general structure of all amino acids is the same. They have a carboxyl group, amino group, central carbon, and R group. Each amino acid falls into one of the four groups: nonpolar, polar, acidic, or basic. The group the amino acid falls into is based off of the structure of the R group. The R groups of the acids and bases, depending on the pH, can be protonated or deprotonated. The carboxyl and amino groups, which are present in all amino acids, also have that properity. The carboxyl group becomes deprotonated at far lower pH levels than the amino group. This is because the structure of the carboxyl group is more electronegative and willing to donate a proton. The acidic and basic amino acids al vary at which pH their R group is deprotonated. The acidic R groups will deprotonate at a lower pH than the basic amino acids. In a protein, the charge can be calculated based off of the pH. 

In my biochem class today we were discussing the folding of proteins and how whatever structure they are in affects the function that they perform. One protein can change it’s structural conformation based off so many different factors. They can change because of their environment, because of signals they receive, and because of other proteins that they interact with. It is incredible to think how little we actually know about the world around us. We might be able to identify all of the proteins in one species but we are not able to identify the function of a vast majority of them. These proteins that we are trying to understand are also always change shape and function so that further complicates making a catalog of all proteins. On top of that we aren’t even able to identify all living species on Earth, we just have an estimate and may never know how many organisms actually inhabit our planet. With all of these unidentified species lay many unidentified proteins. I don’t think it will be anytime soon that someone devises a way to identify every protein within an organism is a relatively quick fashion. Additionally finding the function of the identified proteins will take exponentially longer. So much of science is just guess and check and concrete answers can take forever to find if they are able to be found at all.

There are many ways to approach diagnosing abnormalities in a human. The behavioral learning theory makes basic assumptions and alludes to the fact that abnormal behaviors are learned. Some examples of learned behaviors are classical conditioning, operant conditioning, and modeling/observation. Classical conditioning explains seemingly irrational responses to a host of neutral stimuli and targets associations made between emotions and stimuli. Operant conditioning shapes new behaviors by rewarding desired behaviors and punishing undesired behavior. With operant conditioning comes the idea of extinction in which someone can learn to eliminate a learned behavior by creating negative associations with something. Modeling/observation shows that new behaviors are learned by imitating the behaviors modeled by important people and a person who observes rewards behave accordingly to also receive rewards. Other approaches include cognitive, psychodynamic and humanistic, family systems, and emotion-focused approaches.

In lab today we looked at several different bones of different animals and focused on trying to label the bones. There was a lot of different information present but there were specific facts that stuck out in my head. We focused on what organisms were called when there were holes near the temple of the skull. Animals such as turtles would be considered an an anapsid. Meaning that they don't have holes near the temple of their skull which means that it's harder for them to move their jaws since the muscles don't attatch through the hole of the temples if their is no hole. A diapsid is a crocodile or a lizard, an animal that has two holes in their skull. This means that they are able to move thier jaw up and down and they are able to chew, something that turtles are not able to do. The other type is a synapsid which are mammals, there is a larger opening in the skull. This allows for mammals to chew and move their jaw up and down as well as side to side.