Something in the Water...

In reading the article on anti-HIV strategies for Botswana women, there is a bit of controversy on the way a mother feeds her child. Previous studies have shown that HIV infected women should not breast-feed and result to formula feeding. The Botswana women seem to have a high risk of HIV, and the government strictly advised women to practice formula feeding rather then breast feeding due to the disease. The government distributed formula to needy women, so that they could all abide by the public policy, but did not distribute clean water.

In later years, a diarrhea outbreak took place killing 532 children under 5 years old due to the water used to mix the formula. The Medical Epidemiologist Tracy Creek of the U.S. centers for disease control and prevention found that out of the 532 children that died, 65% of the mothers were infected with HIV and 22% of the mothers fed the babies with formula while only one baby was breast fed. This news brought about an alarming concern. The question continued to be asked, do the Botswana women breast feed or continue to follow strict rules and continue to use formula?

MY THOUGHTS: From reading this article, I strongly believe the government should have taken this matter at all angles. They should have weighed the pros and cons on the situation. The women took the advice from the government. But they should have also been informed to mix the formula with clean water. I feel, in Botswana, the women did what they could. Clearly clean water is not easy for them to obtain. 

Shonneau Lippett (7) 

http://sciencenow.sciencemag.org.silk.library.umass.edu:2048/cgi/content/full/20

UPDATE:

The Botswana government blames hitches in its contracting system for the formula shortages. They are saying, at first. women were supplied with canned formula. Then as formula usage began to spread more and more throughout the country, the formula given out was to be mixed with water. Which was the unhealthy factor. One interesting fact to consider is the story of Chandapiwa Mavundu. She was a 28  year old mother who had HIV. She had never breast-fed her son because the government nurses warned her not to. Her baby died at 8 months from diarrhea and vomiting. As you can see, the women trusted the government, but it is so sad to see how many children that had died. I can only imagine the devastation of the parents. 

The "pros" of eating yogurt.

Yogurt is not only delicious, filling, and one of my favorite foods but also very good for you.  It contains probiotics which are a group of live bacteria or microorganisms that benefit your health.  These "good" bacteria are important in digestion and absorption of food and nutrients.   You have similar bacteria/microorganisms already present in your gut which can be stripped by things like "bad" bacteria when you get sick or from taking antibiotics which not only kill your "bad" bacteria but unfortunately your "good" bacteria also.  By taking probiotics you can replace the "good" bacteria lost.  These supplemental bacteria are often from the groups Lactobacillus and Bifidobacterium. Probiotics can also be yeasts. 

Research on probiotics is still in its early stages however there is evidence probiotics help treat various health issues such as diarrhea caused by a rotavirus and IBS, urinary tract infections and other intestinal infections.  Here is a good website for more information on Probiotics and the research presently being done on them.

Update:

I'd like to clarify that ALL yogurt doesn't use live active cultures of probiotics. It has not yet been actually proven that these probiotics provide the same benefits as when taken alone.  There have been studies to test their activity when in yogurt but I have not been able to find information on the results of this testing.  All I can say is that eating yogurt isnt going to hurt you so might as well give it a shot.

Emily Bell Group A  Week 6

Spring Cleaning

People today rely mostly on processed and fast foods and don’t eat seasonally as they should. As the spring has arrived, our bodies are due for a spring cleaning. This is an ideal time to cleanse and experience rejuvenation as recommended by Joyce Vopni, Certified Herbalist. Historically, fasting is recommended; however, the pollutants stored in our bodies today would release a great rush of toxins to the liver. This could cause a liver overload. To cleanse and support the liver and digestive system, a modified food diet consisting mostly of rice would help. Rice including whole grain, brown, jasmine and others aid in digestion and contain an acid that heals the intestines. Do not eat wheat as it is hard to digest and many people are allergic to wheat and don’t even know it. Other foods to avoid are alcohol, meat, eggs, dairy products and soda. Grapefruit should also be avoided as it prevents the liver from filtering out the toxins from the body.

Your cleansing diet should contain fresh fruits and vegetables including beets and broccoli. Broccoli helps remove toxic chemicals from your body. Our bodies use B-vitamins to produce anti-bodies and process sugar. Thus, sugar should be avoided so more anti-bodies can be produced (Stevia, a natural sweetener is recommended as a substitute.)

To prepare for the detoxification, Vopni recommends cutting back/stopping caffeine, alcohol and smoking and to exercise. The lymph system is full of toxins and unlike the heart that pumps blood, the lymph system has no pump. Exercise will get the system moving and the more you sweat the better. Harataki is a gentle herbal laxative that will help rejuvenate your intestinal system. Dandelion root, milk thistle and licorice root will support your liver.

Rachael Carlevale

Spring Cleaning

People today rely mostly on processed and fast foods and don’t eat seasonally as they should. As the spring has arrived, our bodies are due for a spring cleaning. This is an ideal time to cleanse and experience rejuvenation as recommended by Joyce Vopni, Certified Herbalist. Historically, fasting is recommended; however, the pollutants stored in our bodies today would release a great rush of toxins to the liver. This could cause a liver overload. To cleanse and support the liver and digestive system, a modified food diet consisting mostly of rice would help. Rice including whole grain, brown, jasmine and others aid in digestion and contain an acid that heals the intestines. Do not eat wheat as it is hard to digest and many people are allergic to wheat and don’t even know it. Other foods to avoid are alcohol, meat, eggs, dairy products and soda. Grapefruit should also be avoided as it prevents the liver from filtering out the toxins from the body.
Your cleansing diet should contain fresh fruits and vegetables including beets and broccoli. Broccoli helps remove toxic chemicals from your body. Our bodies use B-vitamins to produce anti-bodies and process sugar. Thus, sugar should be avoided so more anti-bodies can be produced (Stevia, a natural sweetener is recommended as a substitute.)
To prepare for the detoxification, Vopni recommends cutting back/stopping caffeine, alcohol and smoking and to exercise. The lymph system is full of toxins and unlike the heart that pumps blood, the lymph system has no pump. Exercise will get the system moving and the more you sweat the better. Harataki is a gentle herbal laxative that will help rejuvenate your intestinal system. Dandelion root, milk thistle and licorice root will support your liver.

Poor Unfortunate Brains

As we know, environmental stress, such as child abuse, changes the genetic makeup of children, raising stress levels and leaving a child wounded for life. A new study demonstrates a strong link in lower and middle-class students between childhood poverty, physiological stress, and adult memory. These findings support neurobiological hypothesis for why impoverished children consistently fare worse than middle-class students in school, and eventually life.

Education research documents reveal disproportionately low academic performance of poor children because they tend to go to poorly equipped and ill taught schools, they also have fewer educational resources, consume more low nutrition food, and have less access to health care. Not to mention, the added stress of the parents’ anxiety.

Chronically elevated physiological stress is a plausible model for how poverty could get into the brain and eventually interfere with achievement. Scientists found that hormones produced in response to stress literally wear down the brain of animals!

Hypothesis: A possible contributor in income-achievement gap is working-memory impairment in lower-income adults caused by stress-related damage to the brain during childhood.

Test of Hypothesis: Analysis of results from previous results of a long term study of stress in 195 poor middle class Caucasian students, half male half female.

The study found a direct link between poverty and stress. Blood pressure and stress hormones were measured at 9 and 13 years old. At 17, their memory was tested. Given a sequence of items to remember, teenagers who grew up in poverty remembered an average of 8.5 items, those who were well off during childhood remembered an average of 9.44 items.

“Working memory” is a reliable indicator of reading, language, and problem solving ability, which is critical to succeed not only in school, but also in the work environment. When the birth weight, maternal education, parental marital status, and parenting styles were controlled, the effects remained the same.

Brain structures change with stress and are affected by early-life stress in animal models. The effects of stress produce changes in genes that are then passed from parent to child. Poverty’s effect could be hereditary!


Posted by Sarah Bello (7)

Update

Although the findings were persuasive, they still need to be replicated and developed. Psychobiologist Kim Noble says “They’re not really saying which casual events were stressful. They’re just measuring biological markers of stress.” Other mental consequences of poverty also need to be measured. Different cognitive outcomes have different cause: working memory might be more associated with stress, whereas language might be more associated with hours spent reading to your children. Although some details remain incomplete, evidence of connections between poverty and neurobiology are strong enough to justify real-world testing.

Are We Alone?

“Are We Alone?” Whether or not life exists beyond the Earth has been long a standing debate in the history of science. A Spanish and a French astrophysicist may hold the answer to this problem. Muñoz and his French colleague Emmanuel Dartois, from the Institute of Space Astrophysics in Paris (France), have identified a band in the infrared range that serves to track the presence of organic material rich in oxygen and nitrogen in the interstellar dust grains.

By mixing various gases at very low pressure and temperature, Muñoz and Emmanuel Dartois simulated the atmospheric conditions found in the interstellar medium. Through a process known as UV-irradiation, they generated an organic material know as “yellow stuff.” This organic residue consists of mainly carboxylic acids, glycine and amino acids. Amino acids are essential to the composition of proteins.

According to Guillermo Muñoz, “An organic material of prebiotic interest known as yellow stuff possesses a very characteristic absorption band that can be searched for in zones in space.” This makes it possible to detect this band in interstellar regions composed of amino acids and other organic molecules, which are the precursors to life. Currently, there are no accounts of such observations.

The Rosetta space probe belonging to the European Space Agency will try to detect aminoacids and other molecules of prebiotic interest in the central core of the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko, when the probe arrives there in 2014.

Posted by Saad Choudhry (7)

Update (April 3, 2009):

“I do wonder why they are testing inside of a comet, rather than another area.” The scientists, from the Institute of Space Astrophysics in Paris (France), have been testing in interstellar space and solar system bodies; however, they have yet to observe the “yellow stuff” infrared band. According to Guillermo Muñoz, “yellow stuff” maintains a high content of heavy isotopes. The Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko contains carbon associated with heavy hydrogen isotopes. Therefore, the Rosetta space probe belonging to the European Space Agency will try to detect amino acids and other molecules of prebiotic interest in the central core of the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko. On a personal note: I do not believe that other life forms exist in the universe other than those found on Earth. However, I believe that organic molecules, such as carboxylic acids, glycine and other amino acids, which are the precursors to life, do exist outside the boundaries of earth.

of Corn and History

Where did corn come from?
Scientists have been asking this question since questions were born, as they realize the now plump and often deliciously buttered sidedish has nourished peoples across the world for thousands of years. But, since the discovery of Teosinte, the ancestor of modern and tastey corn, scientists have tried to answer another qustion, 'What did they do with this ancient, hard as nails seed?' Because Teosinte is nothing like our domesticated yellow friend, it is an unappetizing gray seed head with 5 to 12'kernels' on it.
Recently, geneticists found that corn was domesticated around 9,000 years ago, (though it was disputed for some time, until an archaeological expedition turned up fragments of Teosinte on old preserved grinding stones dating to roughly the same time period as the proposed domestication). The next obstacle was to come up with theories for what they did with the plant and its grindings.
One of the main theories is that ancient peoples used the stem juice to create a refreshing adult beverage, as its high starch and sugar content made it perfect for fermentation. But this theory was trumped by the findings that the ancient peoples used only the kernels, which were ground and presumably used as a flour or as a staple grain.
The two theories are still in contention (one scientists remains confident that the ancients squeezed the juice of the stems during harvest in the field and fermented it later), but the stone-findings point to the fact that our ancestors probably enjoyed, sortof, the hard and almost unbreakable Teosinte as a ground, powdery gruel. Praise the mays.


[Nathan Beck, Week 7, Group A]

The Texas-Size Debate Over Teaching Evolution

And so the debates continue in one of the most controversial educational topics ever. In Texas last week, the state Board of Education denied the state science curriculum the right to require teachers to discuss the "strengths and weaknesses" of Darwin's evolution theory. The school board is instead allowing all sides of scientific theory to be taught, including intelligent design, with no extended focus on the topic of evolution. Some pro-Darwin teachers fear that students get exposure to religion at home, but will not get the proper information about evolution outside the school walls. In a nation that evolution is becoming part of the norm in science classes, teachers fear that their students will be uneducated on the topic when reaching higher education.

But what does this verdict actually mean? Instead of simply saying there is only a need for simply explanations of evolution, a topic these students know very little about, the Board of Education felt the need to vote evolution to be both questionable and debatable. With fears of a repeat of the Dover, PA case, in which a Republican judge ruled against the defenders of "Intelligent Design", and even went to the extent to call them frauds, the Texas Board of Education has kept the deliberations and rulings very quiet. Surprisingly, it wasn't the teachers who did the complaining. Many students spoke forward saying they want to learn the information and they don't want anything hidden from them. In my personal opinion, denying someone the education of evolution in science is like denying someone the right to learn geometry in math. There is clear evidence to its validity, and is a huge building block for any future education in the field. The manner of teaching cannot be forceful, every child should make up their own mind, but members of a Board of Education are outright saying that some of the most intelligent high-ranking scientists of the world base their work around a questionable topic, something I find outrageous.


-Alyssa Terestre (Week 7)

http://www.newsweek.com/id/191400/page/1



** Maura, I agree. It is really strange that we are supposed to be so separated, but the church has so much say in educational matters. We are not forced to teach ideas presented by some other religions of formation, and if we are, they are completely overlook due to the magnitude of the church's opinion. **

Call of Duty: Not Just Black and White

Thanks to Daphne Bavelier from the University of Rochester in New York, video gamers now have a good reason to continue gaming! Ms. Bavelier put a study together showing that there is a correlation between adults playing action video games and an improvement in eyesight.

In the study 22 students were divided into two groups, on playing popular action game "Call of Duty 2" and the other playing "The Sims 2", a game proven to require less hand-eye coordination. For the next nine weeks the gamers were required to play 50 hours of their respective games. Once the nine weeks were over those who played "Call of Duty 2" showed an improvement in detecting different gray shades. "Action gamers" showed a 43% improvement, while "Sims Players" didn't show any improvement at all.

How important is detecting gray tones? Well, apparently being able to detect subtle differences in gray shades is important for night-time driving. Once the game playing has stopped these improvements continue for months after by training the brain to process visual information more clearly and efficiently.

In normal situations it would take glasses, contacts or eye surgery to improve contrast visibility but now that this study was done maybe optometrists can prescribe a healthy dosage of "Call of Duty".

Crystal Cabral (Group A Week 7)

Update:
It's so funny to think that it's good for surgeons to play video games. I guess it makes sense because video games seem to enhance hand-eye coordination. I'm not expert but I'm lead to believe that Call of Duty would be better than The Sims in differentiating gray hues because from what I can assume there are more grays in Call of Duty than in The Sims. I can also only assume that Call of Duty is more of a fast paced game than The Sims so maybe it causes your brain to differentiate the grays faster (because you have to while you're playing). As far as Alyssa's comment I'm not sure what you mean by your question because they already have craged wii fit, but I would think someone down the road will create something else close to that considering how obesity is increasing and so is the frequency of playing video games. I think we'll start using games to our advantage. I think plaing the game for 50 hours is just excessive but for the sake of arguing this experiment it makes sense. I don't think they were suggesting people stay in and play Call of Duty so they can enhance their gray hue detection. Everything in this update is purely opinion. Feel free to correct me, especially since I've never played either game.

I've ALWAYS found the idea of life on other planets to be very interesting. Imagine creatures that have absolutely nothing in common with life on our planet; no DNA, non-Carbon based, even structurally they'd be tuned to a completely different world. So naturally when NASA presents amazing pictures and an article on possible life on our solar system, the inner nerd in me gets excited.

In recent weeks the Cassini spacecraft has been orbiting one of Saturn's moons, Titan, and periodically taking pictures/collecting data. The reason why Titan is so interesting to researchers is because it is one of the few celestial bodies in our solar system that still has volcanic activity, and not to mention has plenty of ice and assumed liquid water/ammonia under said ice. So during its' routine collection Cassini caught something unusual in its data collection, a possible active volcano spewing hydrocarbons and ice into the atmosphere. Whoo ice and hydrocarbons being shot into the air, so what? Sure it doesn't seem like much, but if you can remember the Miller-Urey experiment where basic compounds were combined to form organic ones, the materials were much the same. Although the volcano itself isn't spewing out ammonia, methane or liquid water(found under the planet's thick ice surface), the ice that is coming from below the crust is where the three compounds mentioned do exist and can mix. This plus the near by heat source implied by the volcano(i.e. geological activity/planet's core)
and you have a mini-Miller experiment underway theoretically forming organic compounds.


Whether we find big green men, or some tiny microbe on a god forsaken rock in the middle of space, I hope that we do find SOMETHING within my lifetime. It'll be nice to know we aren't some unique phenomena and that we're not alone in this universe.

-Conor Stenerson
(Sorry for the late entry, forgot it was GrpC Wk)

A New Piece in the Puzzle of Insect Flight

Three scientists by the names of Stephen Yanoviak, Mike Kaspari, and Robert Dudley, of the University of Arkansas at Little Rock, University of Oklahoma and the University of California-Berkeley respectively, have recently been studying the Arboreal bristletails (pictured above) in the Amazon Forest. These insects do not have wings but rather they have a filament on their bodies that they can manipulate and use as a rudder system. Armed with the filament, the median caudal filament, the insect can safely maneuver through the air from tree to tree in tropical forests.

This insect has long been considered an evolutionary precursor to many winged inhabitants of the Amazon Forest. “Directed aerial descent, such as gliding and maneuvering, may be an important stage in the evolution of winged flight” says Dr. Yanoviak. A study in Peru where these insects were dropped off of high branches proved the effectiveness of the median caudal filament. With the filament present approximately 90% of the dropped insects successfully landed on an opposing tree. When the filament was removed the number of bristletails landing successfully dropped significantly.

The evolution of something as complicated as flight has always been an interest to biologists. “The existence of aerial control ability in a wingless insect and its habitat in trees is consistent with the hypothesis of a terrestrial origin for winged flight in insects,” Yanoviak said. This discovery helps add another piece to the puzzle of the evolution of flight.

-Jillian O'Keefe (Group C week 6)

Detect Disease with Jello-like Substance

The Type of Jell-O You Don't Want to Jiggle

Based on Jell-O and the way it wiggles, a way of detecting various diseases was invented by researchers from the University of Michigan. They came up with a way to test if you have a disease or not by one's exhalation. This is only for certain diseases, but it is still a very efficient way to check out your health. Just hope that this new mechanism doesn't turn into gel because you might be sick!

Having a large amount of nitric oxide in your exhaled breath is a sign of disease such as tuberculosis and lung cancer. With this new material, monitoring the amount of nitric oxide could diagnose disease or measure effects of treatment for disease. It is very easy to detect if the results come out positive for nitric oxide because the material turns into a gel, and doesn't flow anymore.

The difference between Jell-O and this material is that Jell-O is based on proteins where this is molecular. They are similar because when they are both heated, the material is dissolved but turns into gel. The newly made material is made to turn into a gel on cue (the nitric oxide). Other things like this have been made, but nothing that turns into a gel.

This way is much easier than most procedures in detecting and monitoring disease. This way, all you have to do it breathe and flip a vial of the material over and see if a gel has been made. As of right now, this is not out for use in clinics, but they are aiming to have it be that way (it is not sensitive enough). With this idea comes many more; it is being looked into to design this type of material to detect hazardous materials in the environment like explosives. Keep an eye out!

-Alyson Paige (Week 6)

Update: My thoughts to answer bloggers' comments: I am not sure how good of an indicator it is of these diseases, but that depends on how much nitric oxide the is exhaled I am assuming. I can also guess that this could be done for other diseases if a certain chemical is exhaled with that certain disease. It does not say exactly how long it takes to react, but I can assure you it will be faster than any other way. To find explosives, I am sure they will do the same thing as I just mentioned to test another disease. You would find something that reacts with the vapors/chemicals from explosives and see if the fluid turns into a gel from being in the environment. I am also not sure how they will have to make it more sensitive. I am assuming it presently reacts with a large amount of nitric oxide, and they have to get it so it will react with a simple exhalation. Breathing much more on the substance might be able to fix this.

Drinkers' Red Face: Increase Cancer Risk

One third of people of East Asian ancestry (Japanese, Chinese, or Korean) have an adverse affect from drinking alcohol. With as little as half a bottle of beer many drinkers faces turn red. Along with the flushing response, there also may be symptoms of nausea and a rapid heart beat. This reaction is caused by a deficiency in an enzyme called ALDH2. As a result of the ALDH2 deficiency the person has a problem metabolizing alcohol, which then leads to an accumulation of the toxin acetaldehyde in the body. Recent reports show that this causes a large increase in the risk of esophageal cancer. Esophageal cancer is also caused by smoking and can be treated with surgery, however the survival rates are very low.

There are two types of people who suffer from the ALDH2 deficiency. There are people with two copies of the gene that causes the reaction. Those people have such a strong negative reaction to the alcohol that they are unable to consume large amounts of alcohol. This extreme negative reaction is the body’s way of protecting them from the increase of cancer risk. However, people with only one of the copies of the gene can actually build up a tolerance to the toxin and can become heavy drinkers.

The drinkers with one copy of the gene are the ones in trouble because of the tolerance they can build up. They will no longer show strong signs of redness of the face or other symptoms. Drinkers with the ALDH2 deficiency who drink moderately show a large increase in the risk, but the risk jumps up sharply for those who are considered heavy drinkers. A person with the deficiency who drinks two beers a day has a six to ten times increase risk of developing esophageal cancer.

Alex Pavidapha (Group C week 6)

UPDATE:
I recieved many questions asking if poeple other than Asian can have the red face, and thus have an increased risk of cancer if they drink. The answer is yes. Although it is far less common in other races. It is estimated that 50% of people of Chinese, Japanese, and Korean ethnicity have the deficiency. It is also interesting to note that alcoholism among Asians is far lower than that of other races.

Social Behavior in Microbes

A field of genetically identical amoebas found in Texas recently may indicate that cells have the potential to organize themselves on a much larger scale than previously believed. The mass of single-celled amoebas, found in a cow pasture in Houston and measured to be nearly 40 feet in diameter, is an interesting find because of the nature of the organisms. They are known as 'social amoebas' due to their tendency to gather in organized groups and cooperate in facilitating the reproduction of fellow amoebas through altruistic behavior (sometimes even suicidal altruism). This process is explained evolutionarily, because in general, the more similar two organisms are genetically, the more assisting each other will favor natural selection.

The fact that the size of the colony was of such magnitude indicates not only that the range of communication between amoebas and other cells might be on more than microscopic distances, but that cells in general may be able to evolve to organize themselves on larger scales such as these. It is believed that if other similar clonal colonies were to be found in different microbial species, it could help in explaining the widespread finding of social behaviors among microbes in general.

The conditions for prompting growth of a colony such as this are still unclear and despite the size of the colony, it is still quite fragile, as a rainstorm one week later left no traces of it.

Nicholas Skvir (Group C, Week 6)
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/03/24/science/24amoe.html?ref=science

Heart Attacks from Diesel Exhaust

Atherosclerosis is a condition when fat such as cholesterol builds up in the walls of arteries. With this plaque building up, bloodflow is reduced and it creates many health problems. By simply hardening the arteries it brings high blood pressure, strokes, and heart attacks. Hundreds of millions of dollars in the healthcare industry is used to deal with these ailments. An example would be cholesterol and triglyceride reduction medication. Did you know that cholesterol with diesel exhaust may lead to atherosclerosis.

There are particles in diesel exhaust at about 2.5 micrometers in diameter that cause harmful effects when with cholesterol. A link is shown between these particles and increased harm, but how it works is unknown. It is suggested that the diesel particles allow free radicals to enter into the blood vessels. Immunologist Andre Nel of the University of California, Los Angeles has exposed human vascular tissue to soot and LDL cholesterol separately then together. The result was that when combined the genes that promote atherosclerosis are set off.

To see if this would result in the living, mice with high cholesterol levels were placed in three different environments. Group one was exposed to filtered air, group two to the fine particles in diesel exhaust, and group three with both fine and intermediate size particles. When examined the results showed that group two and three that were exposed to diesel exhaust particles were damaged and had similar gene activation patterns as the tissue samples.

In the future particular antioxidants may be found to protect damage from diesel exhaust. Maybe in the future a simple DNA test could identify people with a high susceptibility to the effects of air pollutants.

Peter Lau (wk. 5)

Kick the butts!

Today, there are so many new and controversial drugs that are coming out to help with some of the addiction issues that people have. I think this is a good idea, but there are a lot of drawbacks and I don't really approve of people using medicine as a way out. I feel that people should use their own will power to get over certain things. I guess sometimes it takes something drastic to make a person motivated to quit something though. My mother didn't quit smoking until her foot went blue one day and she went cold turkey.

One of these new drugs is called Chantix. It was released in 2006 and so far more than 6 million prescriptions have been written. This pill is supposed to help people quit smoking, although in studies it has been shown that less than half of the participants using Chantix did not quit in the end. This drug has a lot of unpleasant side effects. When my friend took this she felt extremely nauseous if she didn't take it after eating a large meal and she said it taste bad. She stopped smoking for a few months and ended up relapsing, so I guess that shows that the studies were right. There is not a huge chance for success, but the odds are better than the success rate for people who quit cold turkey, which is 1 out of 10.

There is also a new drug called varenicline. This pill is used for addiction to alcohol and a small but promising new study at Yale university experimented with this drug using 20 regular drinkers for the test subjects. They had people that took varenicline, people that got the placebo, and people who took nothing. Their study showed that after given one drink the people taking varenicline only had .5 more drinks while the others had 2.5 more drinks. The studies for this drug also showed that people smoked less while taking the pill. Their are more significant drawbacks than Chantix however. This drug blocks the dopamine receptor in the brain so not only did people taking this get no pleasure in smoking and drinking, but they also had a decrease pleasure in daily activities. A lot of subjects had thoughts of suicide, hopelessness, and also experienced hallucinations. This is the only recent drug that has had negative side effects though.

In the end people shouldn't believe that there is a cure for everything. You can't replace a bad drug with a "good" drug and expect to be perfectly fine. Every drug has a side effect and you have to make the decision if it's worth it or not. Nothing is a cure-all and we shouldn't be treating medication like it's the only thing that will work. Getting over addiction can be hard with any drug, but just stay focused, surround yourself with the people that you love, and keep your body healthy. Don't just take a pill and call it a day.

-Katie Cyr (week 5)

Note: There is a lot of good information in the article that I read for this blog. I wasn't able to include all the information due to length issues, but feel free to click the above picture to read it for yourself. I found it to be very interesting and enjoyed reading it actually.

Toking for a Cure

Anyone in Mass who voted this past year should remember question 2 on the ballet. Following the example of some of our more forward thinking states like California and Maine, Massachusetts Decriminalized Marijuana and set forth a very pro medical-marijuana agenda. Other then freeing up our judicial system from criminal pot smokers, these pro marijuana laws are also allowing for credible scientific research to be done on a variety of the medicinal effects of marijuana, including but not limited to curing and aiding recovery in cancer victims.

A basic overview of Cannabis Sativa shows that it is represented by over 60 different chemical cannabinoids, most of which have had little to none research done on them. The most common of the cannabinoids are Tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the most abundant and potent chemical, and Cannabidiol which has relatively no potency. These cannabinoids produce a variety of biological processes by mimicking natural ligands that attach to Cannabinoid receptors in animal cells. So far only two receptors Cb1 and Cb2 have been identified in mammalian tissue, Cb1 can be found present in structures ranging from your cerebellum to your adrenal medulla, while Cb2 is found almost exclusively in your immune system.

Emesis and general nausea are both common side effects of most current cancer treatments. To deal with this doctors prescribe anti-emetics, one of which being marijuana. Cb1 receptors are found in areas like dorsal–vagal complex of the brain stem, which is responsible for your vomit reflex. When compared to other anti-emetic pharmaceuticals like ondansetron and aprepitant, almost all patients saw some relief with THC synthesized chemicals while only half saw any relief with the currently prescribed anti-emetics.

Controlling vomiting once food is ingested is one problem that must be solved for dealing with chemotherapy in cancer patients. However, an almost more vexing problem is the lack of appetite that those afflicted endure. Cachexia (unwanted weight loss) is a serious problem that is estimated to account for up to 20% of cancer related deaths. The appetite stimulating (munchies) effect of THC can be attributed to the presence of Cb1 receptors in the hypothalamus, which controls food intake. Aids patients that have been administered THC as appetite inducers have shown positive signs of an increased appetite. On the flip side, those who were prescribed other appetite inducers often showed marked symptoms of depression that goes along with decreased energy expenditure and increased energy intake, which was not present in those treated with THC, which also acts in energy preservation.

Amongst those listed, THC is also being studied in pain inhibition, anti-anxiety, prevention of muscle weakness, and most surprisingly the inhibition of tumor cells. Yes, pot is now being studied in ridding people of tumors. I could rant more on actual scientific data already researched but that would pale in comparison to the amount of research that has yet to be done.

http://www.nature.com.silk.library.umass.edu:2048/nrc/journal/v3/n10/full/nrc1188.html

Nicholas Cline (B-5)

If Nicotine Prefered Muscles Over Brains a Cigarette Would Kill.

Nicotine (center) nestled into brain receptor "box."

Scientists figured out why the nicotine molecule likes brain receptors over muscle receptors. This finding may shed light on the addictiveness of smoking and also some new ways for people to stop smoking. For nicotine to interact with its receptor it must bind and having opposite charges on the molecule and the receptors binding site(box) helps it to bind. The nicotine receptors in the brain and in the muscles are almost identical, nicotine has a positive charge and both the brain and muscles have a negative charge. So why does the brain like nicotine and not muscles?

Dennis Dougherty a chemist at the California Institute of Technology, after a decade of work his colleagues have found that one single amino acid makes the difference between where the nicotine binds. The brain receptor has a lysine molecule but the muscle has a glycine molecule. Nicotine binds there because the lysine changes the shape of the brains receptor box and its negative charge makes it more available to nicotine.

In the muscles the molecule acetylcholine which helps muscles contract, when the muscle receptor glycine is switched out for lysine it accepted the nicotine like it was acetlycholine. Smoking would immediately trigger abnormal contrctions that would paralize muscles, like those involved with breathing. Scientists can olly speculate why the brain and muscle receptors differ so much. The studying of the binding interactions and the nicotine receptors might lead to new ways of helping people stop smoking, but also new treatments for illness such as Alzheimer's disease, autism, Parkinson's disease, and schizophrenia.


Samantha DeBiasio (week 5)

Octopus: Hard to Swallow

Most everyone knows about the amazing physical feats octopi are famous for: changing color at lightening fast speeds, squeezing their boneless bodies through tiny openings, etc. Many of you are probably familiar with the claims that the invertebrate is highly intelligent, a master of dexterity, manipulation, curiosity, memory and even personality. According to this article, octopi in the wild are also ingenious impersonators, known to mimic sole, lion fish, and sea snakes to fake out their predators. Unlike other mimics who impersonate only one creature, researchers claim certain species of octopi have a wide range of characters they can play, mostly poisonous, which they choose based on which predator is nearby. They change their color, body shape, and swimming pattern to emulate the other species. Being able to do many impersonations is a much better way to mimic, since predators are more likely to suspect a mimic that only has one routine.

Knowing all this, my question to you is this: would you eat one…alive? On one episode of the National Geographic show “Taboo”, I watched a segment about people in Korea who enjoy eating small, whole, live octopi in one big bite. The dish is called Sannakji, and although it is popular in Korea, many claim it is an acquired taste. It is served either cut into small pieces (that are still wiggling around the plate) or whole. Since the suction cups on the octopus are still active, great care must be taken when eating it. Many cases of people choking to death while eating sannakji have been reported. Many venues will prepare the octopus for eating by stretching and tiring it out. All countries have their own foods that others may find extreme, but could you stomach eating something that fights back?

Jane de Verges (5)

Hydrogen Sulfide: Highly Toxic, Flammable, Smells Like Rotten Eggs... May Help With Erectile Disfunction.

Watch any NASCAR race or NFL game and you will be bombarded with more Viagra, Levitra and Cialis commercials than you can handle. That is of course unless you are a middle-aged man suffering from erectile disfunction. Viagra, Levitra and Cialis hit the market around the turn of the century and with them came a glimmer of hope for the dark world of erectile disfunction. 

In order for an erection to occur, the arteries and muscles in the penis must relax to allow blood to flow in causing the penis to swell. Drugs like Viagra work by blocking the production of enzymes which in turn triggers the release nitric oxide into the penile tissue. This relaxation of the penile tissue causes blood to flow in which leads to an erection. These drugs have helped millions of men obtain erections, but have also alienated thousands of men who show no results from nitric oxide based drugs. However, recent findings at the University of Naples have opened new doors for possible alternative erectile disfunction treatments. Hydrogen sulfide seems to serve as a neurotransmitter, promoting blood vessel relaxation and hormone secretion. Our bodies produce trace amounts of hydrogen sulfide naturally with the help of two enzymes (CBS & CBE). Using the penile tissue left over from a number of sex changes, scientists in Naples were able to discover the presence of CBS and CBE in the muscle tissue of the penis. The enzymes were also found in the nerves that control erections, which indicates that they must play a key part in the formation of an erection. 

The scientists at the University of Naples conducted two experiments to test the use of hydrogen sulfide as an erection inducer. First they covered the samples of human penile tissue from the sex changes with hydrogen sulfide. After a short amount of time the vessels in the tissue began to relax, which is the effect needed to lead to an erection. Secondly they injected hydrogen sulfide into the penises of rats, which led to stronger erections with larger doses. These findings are still far from being in the realm of commercial production, as too much hydrogen sulfide can be highly toxic and a large amount was used in these experiments. It will likely be another five to ten years before this process has been refined to the point where it will be available to the public. 

-Calin Darabus (5)

UPDATE:

 Once they have tested out different ways of putting trace amounts of this gas into a pill form, then this discovery would be much closer to creating a legitimate medicine. Hydrogen sulfide and nitrous oxide are both important players in the functions of the human body, although they are highly toxic. The next step in this process will be trying to create a medicine that will release the hydrogen sulfide in a focused way. It is important that the hydrogen sulfide be delivered to the right area of the body to cause an erection, as well as to prevent any problems within the body in areas that should not come in contact with hydrogen sulfide. While this discovery is good news for men with ED , it is bad news for people who already see far too many ED medicine commercials. 

Ask the Experts: Can Babies Be Made-to-Order?

With all the developments in cloning, genetic testing, and fertility treatments, it was only a matter of time before they started offering tailor-made babies too. Reports of these "made-to-order" babies have been circulating for years, but one fertility company announced that within the next 6 months they will begin offering the option of these custom baby treatments. The gender is not the only thing they state they can control, but they are offering the option to chose your babies eye color and hair color. The fertility companies say that they can offer such options by means of Pre-implantation Genetic Diagnosis, also known as PGD.

Using PGD, fertility specialists use an IVF to stimulate egg growth so that the woman produces 10-15 eggs, as opposed to the typical one. The doctors then removed these eggs and bring them to the lab to be fertilized. Once the embryos have been cleared of the typical genetic testing for diseases like downs syndrome and cystic fibrosis, the doctors select one or two of the embryos and inject them back into the woman.

So how does this allow you to choose the babies gender? When the embryos are taken out, the doctors can conduct genetic testing beginning at the 8-cell stage. The doctors look in the nucleus for the DNA fragments containing X and Y chromosomes. The doctors use lighting probes to detect the difference between the two chromosomes, and have complete confidence in identifying the embryo's gender from this.

As for eye and hair color, researchers have invested a lot of time and money into identifying the genes that control these two traits. Though they understand that multiple genes can lead to these traits, they hope to discover when the genes are defined in the embryo and thus can be identified for the future parent.

With all these extended desires for building babies, doctors are going to have to increase the amount of embryos they take to get the results they desire. The embryos not being used can be discarded or donated to science, based upon the parents choice, which brings a lot of controversy. Many people feel that discarding these embryos based upon the fact that they aren't perfect poster children is a waste of a human life. Others fear that if the made-to-order baby craze becomes popular, every child is going to merge to look the same based upon the latest society desires.


- Alyssa Terestre (3)

http://www.sciam.com/article.cfm?id=designer-babies-preimplantation-genetic-diagnosis-pgd&page=2

Computer Analysis Suggests Water/Potential Life on Mars

Rice University professors Patrick McGovern and Julia Morgan have recently begun looking at the volcano Olympus Mons located on Mars. McGivern and Morgan initially went about using a computer modeling system to determine how Olympus Mons formed, and soon after concluded that deposits of water are perhaps still located underneath.
In order to model the formation, an algorithm known as 'particle dynamics simulation' was used - this method strongly suggested that clay sediment could account for the particular shape of the volcano, which implies that water was involved at some point, and perhaps still remains.

Because of the NASA Phoenix lander, a craft that last year found ice underneath Mars' surface, we know that there is indeed water on Mars, so it is not an unreasonable to suspect that some may still remain under Olympus Mons as well.

McGovern and Morgan went on to write that the conditions under the mountain could potentially be 'warmed by geothermal gradients and magmatic heat' and are already protected from the surface's conditions, although finding a source of heat might be difficult. If there were a heat source, however, life forms similar to those found deep in Earth's oceans near geothermal vents may exist.

Nicholas Skvir (3)

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/03/090304114246.htm

Oldest Fossilized Brain Found

The oldest fossilized brain has been found in a 300 million year old fish. The iniopterygians (pictured above) are an extinct relative of today's ratfish, distantly related to sharks and rays. "Fossilized brains are unusual, and this is by far the oldest know example," says John Maisey, the curator of paleontology at the American Museum of Natural History in NY. This particular fish has a large brain case compared to its pea sized brain. The largest lobe of the brain was devoted to vision which is consistent with the iniopterygians' large eye sockets in the skull. This suggests that it depended largely on its eyes for locating and catching prey.

The fish, which was discovered in Kansas and sent to France for CAT scans, inhabited an ocean that spanned the Midwestern United States 300 million years ago. "The brain … is remarkably soft tissue—brain tissue is mostly water," Maisey said. "To preserve anything is quite remarkable." This discovery is very important because now researchers have a glimpse into the beginnings of the vertebrate brain, a very rare opportunity. "The evolution of the brain lies at the core of vertebrate history," Maisey said. By studying this early gray matter we can hope to learn more about the evolution of our own brains.

-Jillian O'Keefe (4)

Use of acupuncture on MS patients

While working with equine veterinarians I've been able to see the amazing effects acupuncture can have when treating illness and injuries in horses.  Although skeptical at first I've slowly become extremely interested in this unique medicine.  Recently I've learned about its use for treatment on multiple sclerosis patients through a family friend who has a late stage of this disease and found a interesting article on the National MS Society web page here.

Acupuncture is a form of traditional chinese medicine and consists of using needles to stimulate specific points on the body.  These points are found along "meridians" which are separate organized pathways that energy flows in throughout the body.  In chinese thought,  disruption of this energy flow causes an imbalance in the body causing disease.  In more modern western thought it is believed these points are hot spots where certain nerves are located that can be stimulated in certain ways to help fix specific body abnormalities.  

In MS patients acupuncture has been used to relieve pain, spasticity, numbness, tingling, fatigue, depression, anxiety, bowel, and bladder symptoms.  According to this article, out of the 20-25% of MS patients that have had sessions of acupuncture half say they will continue to go.  My family friend has had great experience with it and continues to go monthly.    Although it cannot replace standard medical treatment, there are no proven side effects of its use and it has gained a lot of popularity in recent years.

Update:

I'm not exactly sure how to explain how acupuncture works specifically and I feel its too hard to sum up in a short paragraph but this website has a lot of really good information.   As some of you pointed out, acupuncture is not covered by medical insurance and is definitely still considered alternative medicine here in the US.  Hopefully as it increases in popularity insurance will help cover costs for acupuncture sessions.  Although there are no cases I'm aware of where it has been shown to treat an illness, it has definitely shown to help.

Emily Bell (week 4)

Need cash? Get this pamphlet full of the information YOU NEED to grow and sell your own organs! ($19.95 +s/h)

There has been much hype about the future of 'grow your own' organs and life-saving transplants of 2030. Yes, one day we can have one, two or even three spare livers on hand in the local organ depot, just incase those shots of neat 'Livet don't process entirely as planned, or maybe a new heart should we happen to deftly avoid the tredmill for 30 years. Oh, the prospects... Yet, despite the promise of the next Great Advance of Culture that would occur when college kids don't have to give a damn about their organs anymore, and the less tantalizing savemillionsofpeoplewithneworgans thing, the growing amount of research in this field has yielded few major advances, and there are still innumerable challenges to overcome.

Two of these hurdles, though, have been cleared by researchers at the NYU Langone Medical Center, who were able to create a 'scaffold' (made from material from the groin of mice) on which the stem cells (cells which will eventually differenciate into the vital parts of the organ) could grow. This 'matrix' is especially important because it conquers two major obstacles still in the way of bioengineered organ replacement - namely, the formation of a 3-dimensional organ from a few cells on a petri dish, and transplant rejection.

Geoffrey Gurtner, M.D., is a senior researcher involved in the work. To prove that this technique was viable, he and his team had to first demonstrate that the 'expandable pieces of tissue (called free flaps), could be sustained in the laboratory.' They first took a piece of tissue that contained a little bit of each of the more vital components of the body - blood vessels, adipose tissue and skin, from mice. They kept the tissue alive by feeding it nutrients and oxygen and 'seeded' the piece of tissue with stem cells. The whole contraption was then put back into the mouse, where the stem cells grew on their own and were, more importantly, not attacked by the mouses' immune system (ie. not rejected). This finding suggests that had those cells been on their way to organdome before transplant, the organ would have 'taken hold' in the body and would have been safe from the massive immune response that plagues many donor treatments today. These techniques show that we may one day take our own living tissue, extract it and use it as a scaffolding for stem cell cultures to form new tissue and, eventually, 'architecturally sound' organs. Research continues.

Nathan Beck (4)

Drop Solitaire, Fold Proteins!

Proteins are organic compounds consisting of a long chain of amino acids joined together by peptide bonds between a carboxyl group and an amino group. The amino acids are the building blocks of proteins defined by the sequence of a gene which is encoded in the genetic code. There are 20 different kinds of amino acids, which differ from one another based on what atoms are in their sidechains. Most proteins fold into a unique 3-D structure. Every kind of protein folds up into a very specific shape, but folds into that shape every time, thus specifying the structure and function of the protein. The body's proteins carry out numerous functions and play a crucial role in the growth, repair and workings of cells. How these chains of amino acids are preprogrammed to fold into their correct protein structure is the “Holy Grail” of Biology.

To understand the mysteries of protein folding, a computer game developed at the University of Washington allows users to fold model proteins to further understand how proteins work and how to target them with drugs. Fold.it, the game, attempts to predict the structure of a protein by taking advantage of human’s puzzle solving intuitions and having people play competitively to fold the best proteins. Figuring out which of the many possible structures is the best one is regarded as one of the central problems in biology today, and current methods take a lot of money and time, even for computers!

Fold.it turns the process of determining the ideal shape of a protein into a grand puzzle game. The more chemically stable the folded proteins become, the more points the players are awarded. The game starts with trial proteins, or tutorials, in which the solution is already known, in order for the player to get used to the structure of the game. Most people playing are non-scientists, and most find the correct structure faster than a computer. Although ordinary people play, the person who finds the best folding structure can eventually become a candidate for a Nobel Prize. By this summer, the game will offer options to design your own protein in order to figure out how to block the actions of viruses. Distributed computing has since been applied to many other areas, including protein folding, cracking encryption codes and climate prediction.


Posted by Sarah Bello (4)

Big = Sexy in Humpback Whales

New insight into humpback whale society shows, that during mating, males prefer larger females. This is very different from our society where men are attracted to slimmer women. There seems to be a specific reason why male humpbacks choose there mate. During breeding season males are observed fighting over certain females.

During mating season competition can get intense, male humpback whales either blow bubbles to threaten other males, lunges through water, chases or engages in a fight with another male. Is all this trouble just to win the escort spot next to the biggest humpback whales? The longer the female the more men attempts to court her. It is recorded that the larger females produce larger calves. They also store more fat so they are able to support their calves better than smaller mothers.

The survival rate of an offspring increases as its size increases. The males have a big incentive to fight over the biggest females because it gives them bigger and stronger offspring, thus increasing their reproductive success. An individuals own fitness seems to be fueling the desire for larger females.

Understanding what attracts male humpback whales to female whales greatly increases the chances of conservation. They now know one thing that these whales need to continue mating, however they are still a long way away from figuring out this mammals entire mating system.

UPDATE:
I think its very interesting that women with larger hips were compared to larger whales. Its true tho because its all about the male passing on his genes. The male whale wants a female that he can guarantee can support and produce a healthy offspring. Since females only produce one to two calves every two years, the males all line up to mate with them. They show off that they are the best choice by lunging, blowing bubbles, and these escalate to physical fights between males. I think females basically pick the male that wins because he has proven himself to be the strongest.
I know the males sometimes get hurt when fighting for the females attention, but its very possible that the females of calves get hurt during the process as well.

Posted by Willow Alves (4)

Bottled Water: Wonderful or Wasteful?

Bottled Water: it tastes so good! You know what they say though, too much of a good thing can sometimes be bad. A recent study showed that 200 billion liters of bottled water were sold worldwide. God Bless America, drinking up 33 billion of said liters (averaging to 110 liters per person). This whopping amount is 70% higher than the statistic found six years prior, in 2001. Who knows how much we've been using since 2007- when the statistics for this article were taken. Environmentalists have been arguing that the energy it takes to make and deliver a bottle of water is more than getting the water from the tap.

Luckily, we can thank environmental scientists Peter Gleick and Heather Cooley (from the Pacific Institute in Oakland, California) for calculating how much energy is used in bottled water production and consumption. They concluded that this entire process consumes between 1100 and 2000 times more energy than getting water from the tap. These numbers included how much energy goes into the production of a plastic bottle, purifying the water, labeling the bottle, filling it, sealing it, transporting it, and cooling the water prior to sale and consumption.

Of these stages in the water-bottle consumption, the two that are most energy demanding are manufacturing the bottle and transporting the bottles. Producing the bottles alone uses 50 million barrels of oil in a year. To put that into perspective- it is the same as two and a half days worth of oil consumption in the entire United States. There hasn't been a number put to how much energy it costs to transport the bottles because some travel long distances and some are down the road. The bottles that travel further obviously require more energy, actually, about two and half to four times more energy than it would take to get it locally. (Fiji water, anyone?) In these cases it actually takes more energy just to transport it than it does to make the bottle.

Of course, it would be silly for me to stand on my soap box and not tell you that other environmental scientists have concluded that Gleick and Colley haven't done enough research on tap water. However, it has been confirmed (by these questioning environmental scientists) that the energy it takes to purify and deliver tap water would, in the most expensive of all cases, be hundreds of times less than the energy consumed in bottled-water production and consumption. So, on that note I'll include a shameless plug: Invest in a few Nalgene water bottles and a Brita filtration system. In the long run, it'll cost you- the consumer- less and you can help save our planet one gulp at a time.

Crystal Cabral (Group A; Week 4)

Update: I didn't really get many questions, but to answer one the more eco-friendly plastic that more companies are using DOES actually help. It costs less to make and also takes less time to disintegrate in the ecosystem. I'm glad that some of you took a little advice and decided to bring a nalgene around and use reusable water bottles. On that same note- something else to consider- reusable coffee mugs. They produce less waste (and keep your drinks warmer, longer!)

Antibiotics vs. Bacteria: “Evolutionary Arms Race”

Photo: iStockphoto

“Since the mass production of penicillin began 60 years ago, humans have waged an escalating chemical war against bacteria.”  Many strains of bacteria carry circular bits of DNA called plasmids, which are composed of drug resistant genes that fight off antibiotics. Plasmids are inter-exchangeable among bacteria, therefore allowing for the allocation of these defense mechanisms. Prior to the antibiotic era, there were no traces of these resistance-bearing plasmids in the bacteria, which suggest that gene resistance has evolved recently. 

The idea that bacteria has evolved drug resistance in response to modern antibiotics has been a long-standing notion among many evolutionary biologists. However, recent studies conducted by molecular evolutionist Barry Hall of the University of Rochester in New York and colleagues have challenged this notion. The team reconstructed the family history of the OXA ß-lactamase genes, a penicillin-fighting group common to nasty Salmonella and Staphylococcus bacteria, to determine the number of genetic changes accrued over time. They discovered that these genes hopped onto plasmids millions of years ago, way before humans ever discovered antibiotics.  

"First we thought we were responsible for the existence of resistance genes. Then we realized that some lived a plasmid-borne lifestyle for millions of years." Whether genes hopped onto plasmids millions of years ago or recently, antibiotics have accelerated an evolutionary arms race. The more drugs we throw at them, the more the bacteria evolves. 

Posted by Saad Choudhry (4)

Update (March 6, 2009):

One example of an evolutionary “arms race” would be the symbiosis between leaf cutter ants and fungus. Leaf cutter ants make their nests in underground chambers and come out to forage. They take toxic leafs and cultivate them for the fungus, which provides the protein necessary for the ant population survival.The fungus needs the leafs for survival. Mold can destroy the fungus, but the ants keep it under control - white cover of ants is tangled bacteria that produces half of antibiotics used by humans today. Ants use antibiotics to control pests in gardens - the mold has not evolved a counter because the bacteria itself keeps evolving (arms race between mold and bacteria on ants). Many researchers believe that medicine and bacteria are in an evolutionary arms race. This long-standing notion has been challenged by the idea that some resistant genes lived a plasmid-borne lifestyle for millions of years. However, researchers are still trying to determine why these resistant gene were present millions of years prior to the antibiotic area.

Permenant protection againts the flu?

Researchers have discovered antibodies that disable multiple varieties of the flu virus by targeting the virus's protein that covers its surface allowing it to attach to it's receptor on it's surface known as hemagglutinin. The hemagglutinin then performs contortions that enable it to merge the virus's membrane with the cell's membrane.

At the moment vaccines mainly send antibodies that target the hemagglutinin's head, but that part of the protein changes rapidly, undermining these immune defenses. But now they've discovered an unchanging part of hemagglutinin and even identified 10 antibodies that recognized different versions of this part of the hemagglutinin, also known as H5. So far these antibodies have been able to block not only H5 but also eight other types of flu virus in solution. When given to infected mice 3 days after the infection, most of the rodents survived, suggesting the antibodies are therapeutic and preventive.

Another discovery showed that instead of attaching to the hemagglutinin's head, the antibody attaches to three pockets on the stem of the virus and that the amino acid sequence found in this region is the same in other viral strains. That means that an antibody that recognizes this region alone could protect against a variety of flu strains possibly even the avian flu.

-Lysander Ning

Rotator cuff injuries have genetic link

A recent study has shown that people may be more likely to tear their rotator cuff if it runs in their family. There has only been one previous study on the subject and it focused on those with rotator cuff injuries and their immediate families. Consequently, this study would then be severely effected by environmental factors. This new study, which focused on 652 patients under the age of 40, was more in depth.

According to Dr. Robert Zaray Tashijian of the University of Utah School of Medicine "We have actually determined an increased risk out to third cousins -- well beyond third degree relatives." This is strong evidence that rotator cuff injury is indeed hereditary. Because "In order to strongly suggest a genetic predisposition, you need to show an increased relative risk out to third degree relatives," Tashijian explained. With this information people who have multiple family members suffering from rotator cuff injury would be wise to begin a preventative program.

Now that a genetic connection has been established there will be more research done. Genetic samples are being collected from both the individuals with rotator cuff injuries and their affected family members. This DNA will be used in future studies and analysis.

-Jillian O'Keefe (3)