Scientists and Science News

This Article was taken from Sciencedailynews.com on tuesday april 29th 

I think it is safe to say that either in real life or television we all have seen the drunken confrontation. A 5 foot 5 guy has had to much to drink and decides to tell the 6 foot 4 guy that he is not scared of him. Why does it seem that he feels this lack of fear only when he is intoxicated? New research by Dr. Jodi Gilman and her team at the National Institutes on alcohol abuse and alcoholism has shown that the effects of varying amounts of alcohol  stunt the effects that normal fearful situations have on the brain and its responses.  The Brain alerts the sences when it recognises a fearful situation that may cause the body harm. Dr. Gilman’s research suggests that when intoxicated the brain cannot distinguish between threatning and non threatning situations as easily. This lack of fear leads to Many dangerous situations such as drunk driving.

Also Dr. Gilman has researched the euphoria brought on by intoxication. There is a direct connection between the activity in the straitum, a reward center in the brain, and the level of intoxication the person claims to be feeling. This knowlege could help explain the addictive properties of alcohol and even help provide cures for alcoholism.

Dr. Gilman must be motivated by strong traits to do what she does. Alcoholism is a very serious subject that hits very close to home for many people. It is possible that a loved one of hers suffers from alcohol abuse problems are even she herself may be a recovering alcoholic. She wants to help mankind by providing a cure for this disease that destroys hundreds of families on a daily basis.

This article was taken from sciencedailynews.com on tuesday april 29th

Researchers workin in Mexico have mad an interesting discovery regarding a flower. Many would wonder how finding ancient remains of a flower could spark controversy in the scientific community. Well this just isnt any flower it is the sunflower. The Sunflower is one of the worlds major natural oil producing sources and was believed to have been first domesticated in the Mississippi Valley area of the United States. In collaboration with Mexican Anthropologist, Dr. David Lentz is proving otherwise. Actually Dr. Lentz’s research is proving that this cash crop was also domesticated in Mesoamerica. Mass Spectometry of a specimine found in San Andreas dated the particular sunflower to be from 2600 B.C. Also the words used as names for the sunflower by the native people make refrences to it such as flower of the sun god or shield flower. The words themselves are also not in spanish which, along with th refrences to solar worship and weaponry have lead scintist to even more concretely believe that they are from pre spanish conquest of the Aztecs and middle America.

Due to the value of enterprise brought by the production of the sunflower knowledge of its heritage is important for modern crop breeding processes. Knowing exactly when and how it was first cultivated can substantially assist modern agriculturalist in perfecting how they are grown now. It is also indicated that since the domestication of a specific plant for extreme benefit took place in two seperate places that there may have been interaction between Northern and Certral America in early times.

The Scientist such as Dr. Lentz who study things such as the sunflower or other valuable natural resources must strongly care about the environment. Extrensic motivation of wanting to better grow crops and preserve nature are key traits of environmentally staked scientist. Also the determination of speaking with many different native tribes and hunting down in tact samples is also very evident.

As reported in the Science Daily article titled ‘Human Protein May Offer Novel Target For Blocking HIV Infection: Successful In Lab”, accessed on April 29, 2008, scientists have developed a new way to fight the HIV virus by attacking proteins associated with the T cells of the immune system.

<http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428175345.htm>

Scientists have developed a new method to fight the HIV infection. The virus targets the immune system of the host, eventually leaving the host without a functioning immune system. The fact that the virus can mutate quickly makes it very difficult for the immune system to develop antibodies or other specific defenses to fight off the infection. In a recent study, scientists have found out a way in which inhibiting a protein associated with the T cells of the immune system, could help to lower the activity of the HIV virus. The specific protein called interleukin-2-inducible T cell kinase (ITK) is important in the signaling of T cells for activation during an immune response. The HIV virus targets these T cells and using them they are able to first control and then destroy the immune systems of the hosts. However, inhibiting this protein has proved to lower the effectiveness of the HIV virus on the destruction of the T cells. Using RNA interference, scientists have been able to disrupt the production and function of ITK.

A group of scientists from the National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI), part of the National Institute of Technology, along with colleagues from several Universities have been working on this new development. Pamela Schwartzberg, M.D., Ph.D., a senior investigator at NHGRI, and Andrew J. Henderson, Ph.D., of Boston University have led the research project. Dr. Schwartzberg has stated that further tests must be done before the HIV therapy can be used on humans. However, if this new form of treatment proves to be effective, it can greatly affect those who are already infected.

This new development is truly remarkable. The HIV infection is one which has claimed the lives of many over the past decades. The new treatment would prove to help delay the effects of the virus. Although the blocking of ITK has shown significant results, I am skeptical to see how it will affect the immune system. The protein associated with T cells must have a significant purpose in the immune response of an organism. All though it has been tested in mice, it is impossible to see how it would affect a human unless human testing was done. If the blocking of ITK proves to be detrimental to the immune system of humans, we have hit another road block in the fight against HIV and AIDS.

Article found at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080428155737.htm.

This research is being done in the department of Applied Physics of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Yuri Feldman and Aharon Agranat are studying the theory that we can monitor physiological and emotional states of patients using their sweat glands as sort of antennas. It has been thought for a while that the shape of our sweat glands could possibly allow them to work as antennas, but Feldman and Agranat are taking this theory to the next level.

Human sweat ducts are an “array of minute antennas that operate in the “Sub Terahertz” frequency range.” These sweat ducts are shaped like really tiny coils. This structure has been used on a much larger scale to make antennas for wireless communication. This is the reason it has been believed that sweat ducts could be antennas as well. Another reason it works is because the skin reflects electromagnetic radiation at different ranges of frequencies based on level of activity of the perspiration system. A subject who was relaxed had a very different frequency than a subject who had just been through rigorous physical activity. A correlation between reflected frequency and blood pressure was also found.

These results were published but there is still a lot of research to be done in this field. There has not been much done before and it is still mostly uncharted waters. This discovery could help in so many different fields. It could be used in everything from medicine to anti-terrorism. It could help doctors monitor their patients while they are away from them or even at home. It could also help the airport security sense high blood pressure and warn them to take extra caution. Another use would be in diagnosis of diseases. The patient could be tracked for a certain time period and their blood pressure and other symptoms would be recorded and used by doctors to understand what is going on on a day do day basis.

Article found at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2008/04/080425151819.htm.

At the Wearable Computing Lab of ETH Zurich, Andreas Bulling, a doctoral student is developing a new type of EOG (electro-oculography). EOG is used in diagnosing some illnesses such as schizophrenia, rotary vertigo or reading and writing deficits. This development is Bulling’s doctoral thesis. Usually, a non-portable EOG is used to diagnose diseases, but Bulling is developing a portable one. This device consists of a pair of special glasses/goggles with sensors that are used to track and record the movements of the subject’s eyes. The non-portable version of this machine is used in clinics and doctor’s offices and must be put together by a doctor. The portable one being assembled is much easier to use than the earlier model.

Bulling’s EOG can be used while the wearer moves about and does daily activities. Change in lighting and movement can alter the signals the goggles record so the goggles are fitted with sensors that make up for that. There are light and acceleration sensors that correct the signals sent to the goggles. They can track these signals for up to eight hours as the subject moves and goes about their daily life.

All of these signals are transmitted to a credit card sized device that is placed in the subject’s pocket. Granted, these goggles do not look good or in any way normal, but they allow the subject to live their daily life. These goggles are still a prototype and are being tested right now. Other uses for them could be in the gaming industry. A patent was filed just last October on them.

This device could lessen a lot of stress on doctors and allow them one less thing to assemble and look after. It would also allow the patient to be more comfortable and relaxed during the test. If they are allowed to go about daily life, they are more likely to behave more normally than they would in a doctor’s office setting with the stress of the test results on their mind.

CBC News

http://www.cbc.ca/technology/story/2008/04/11/food-safety.html

Date Accessed: 24 April 2008

A simple washing of fresh fruits and vegetables may not be enough to get rid of the bacteria that live on them. Researchers have found that irradiating the food is the most successful way to kill the microbes. Microbiologist Brendan Niemira stated that “eliminating bacteria is difficult if they have made their way inside the leaves of lettuce, spinach and other vegetables and fruit, where surface treatments cannot reach them”. Annihilating bacteria, such as E. coli, can become even more difficult if the bacteria are hiding in biofilms – tightly knit communities that coat fruits and vegetables and protect the microbes from harm. Up to 100 or more different types of bacteria can live together in the biofilm. This biofilm helps to protect them from environmental harm.

Niemira’s research group discovered that they could use irradiation to eliminate the disease-causing bacteria that lives in vegetable leaves or within biofilms. The process exposes food to a source of electron beams that inactivates parasites and destroys pathogens and insects. Niemira stated that using this method on fresh-cut fruits and vegetables could reduce the cases of food-borne illnesses. The experiments have shown that ionizing irradiation can get rid of up to 99.9 percent of E. coli.

Irradiation is thought to be bad because people associate it with radiation from nuclear bombs. The reality is that irradiation has been studied and it poses on risk to human health. I think that the use of irradiation on fruits and vegetables is a good thing. Studies have shown that it is not harmful, so what is the problem with using it. It could help prevent many cases of food poisoning, which is a great thing to do.

 New research reveals that a successful attempt to quit smoking may depend on a woman’s position within her monthly cycle. More specifically, women who try before ovulation are more likely to fail than those trying at other times. Furthermore, the moods linked to various periods within a cycle correlate with even heavier smoking.

Only 200 women were assessed in this study. They were asked to give up smoking during the “follicular” stage, preceding ovulation when the ovary produces the egg, or during the “luteal” stage, the two weeks during which the cycle is completed. 86% women relapsed when their efforts began during the follicular stage; 66% relapsed when starting during the luteal stage.

Hormones may play a role in the speed at which nicotine is removed from the bloodstream by the body, the University of Minnesota researchers suggested.

However, they did concede that “more research is needed to understand these biological mechanisms.”

“Our findings support an important role for ovarian hormones in nicotine addiction and smoking cessation.”

The addition to nicotine is constantly being studied by scientists. This research seems to have great potential. Unfortunately, I think the study size was significantly small. I look forward to reading and learning more about the association between the menstrual cycle and the ability to quit smoking, among other qualities.

Additionally, I read another, less recent article regarding a link between the menstrual cycle and injury risk.

London’s Portland Hospital surveyed 1,000 osteopaths and studied 17 women with a regular menstrual cycle. The results implied that tissues are most vulnerable during the middle, and ligaments are at greater risk at the end of the menstrual cycle. These higher rates of risk correlate with a drastic drop in estrogen and a moderate rise in relaxin, respectively. Estrogen enhances muscle and ligament strength, among its other effects. Relaxin allows the cervix to open so that menstruation can occur, also softening the ligaments.

I hope that as health education improves, young adults will be taught about more than STDs and PMS. The information contained in these two articles seems very applicable and stimulating.

Access date: Monday, April 21, 2008

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7355353.stm

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6354303.stm

Immature sperm cells have been made from human bone marrow samples. Scientists hope that these sperm will develop fully within five years and be viable for fertility treatments.

Under normal conditions, these stems cells from the bone marrow would mature into different cell types in muscle tissue. The researchers induced them in a process, trans-differentiation, which could cause permanent genetic changes in the sperm. The hope, however, is that in fertile men may one day be treated by chemotherapy.

In addition to scientific barriers, the law poses several significant obstacles. The UK has already posed laws banning use of these sperm cells. Professor Harry Moore of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at the University of Sheffield said, “This finding is of interest but we really need to be very cautious about the interpretation.” He also noted that observations of trans-differentiation in adult stem cells did not produce consistently successful results when tested rigorously.
Dr. Allen Pacey, secretary of the British Fertility Society, stated that “This kind of work will be very useful in helping us understand the biology of how sperm are made.”

While I agree that this research is conducive to the science of fertility and all knowledge surrounding it, I find it strange that so much is invested in this field when the root cause of poverty is overpopulation. In fact, in my understanding, most scientists agree that malnourishment, poor environmental ethics, homelessness and the like are caused by exponential human population growth. Is it selfish or immature of me to suggest that these scientists should be channeling their resources in a more “useful” direction?

Access date: Saturday, April 14, 2008. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/6547675.stm 

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7350403.stm
Date Accessed: April 22, 2008
BBC News
April 18, 2008
Rebecca Morelle

Gero Miesenboeck, from Oxford University and Dylan Clyne from Yale University and their team of scientists have found a way to genetically modify insects so that the brain cells controlling sexual behaviors can triggered with a “pulse of light”. By triggering these brain cells, the female flies would act just like males in performing a courtship song only seen in males. This courtship song, vibration of wings to produce a weak tune, is to impress females because it is hard for males to get a female to mate with them, but if she likes the song, then she will mate with him.

Research has shown that there are two thousand brain cells involved in the courtship behavior, but both males and females posses them even though females don’t use them. The scientists did experiments to find out what the difference was between males and females since both had the same neuronal set up. The team genetically alerted the females so that their neurons would be activated by a “pulse of light” (just like they had done previously with males) and placed them in a sound studio. The researchers discovered that the pulse did make the female flies perform their courtship song. They then had to see if this courtship song was as effective as the males. So for this experiment, a male fly, that could not perform the song, and a female fly were put into the sound studio. When the female performed her song, it seemed to work on the male; however, the scientists discovered that the female’s song was neither on pitch nor on rhythm. In continuing their research, they are going to try and discover the natural switches in the flies’ brains that give them the ability to perform the courtship song.

Even though this really has no practical use, it is still fascinating to me. These scientists are really dedicated to finding out more about the natures and behaviors of flies. They want to further science by increasing the knowledge about the species. Even though this probably will never save anyone’s life, just thinking about how far we have come in science is mind-boggling.

  I read an article about the effects of a drug often used a cancer treatment.  According to the article the drug, 5-fluoruoracil, causes brain damage that lasts for many years after the treatment ends.  This article, “Brain Damage link to cancer drug,” can be found at http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7360127.stm (Access Date 4-22-08).

Recent studies on mice show that this drug kills cells vital to the proper function of our nervous system.  Symptoms that many cancer patients exhibit such as memory loss and poor concentration were previously thought to be a result of fatigue and anxiety about the disorder, but this finding may provide more insight into the actual causes.  The researchers believe this drug may damage the cells that produce myelin sheaths which help our central nervous system function.  They do stress that further tests are needed before they can conclude anything about the drug.

The researchers working on this study at the University of Rochester seem very devoted to their work.  They seem to genuinely care about their results, and therefore don’t rush to the media to tell them every finding.  The researchers want to get it right and will tell the media when they do.  Their dedication seems to be very similar to our portrait of a typical scientist.

I think these studies are great for society. We need to continue to search for ways to cure cancer or at least limit cancer treatments side effects.  I hope these researchers continue their work and find a drug that does not have the same harmful side effects as 5-fluoruoracil has.