Acne Drug Prevents HIV Breakout

http://www.redorbit.com/news/health/1839199/acne_drug_prevents_hiv_breakout/index.html?source=r_health


This is a picture of an unfortunate HIV patient. Published by http://www.cehjournal.org/

Clements, Janice, Gregory Szeto, Angela Brice, Shelia Barber, and Robert Siliciano. "Acne Drug Prevents HIV Breakout." Red Orbit. Red Orbit, 20 Mar 2010. Web. 25 Mar 2010. .

• Minocycline, a drug found in an acne prevention product, is able to prevent dormant HIV from reactivating or replicating by working with HAART.


• Inexpensive and safe antibiotic discovered to work on HIV by Janice Clements and Gregory Szeto.


• Can lock the virus in a dormant state by altering T-cells and reducing their ability to activate and proliferate, which is a key state in the development of HIV.


• More effective than other treatments, because it targets cellular passages, not the individual proteins.


• Drug doesn't obliterate the cells or diminish their ability to communicate; all it does is keep the virus cells from reactivating.

Reflection

This seemed like an interesting topic to cover because I fins it ironic that a solution to preventing one of the most notoriously dangerous viruses in the world was found in an acne drug. Acne drugs are very unpredictable because I have heard of certain acne drugs causing things from major migraines to depression. Now there is a prevention to HIV that is coming from an acne drug. I wonder if the scientists will be able to produce an actual cure to the virus from what they have so far in the future. I would like to know what possessed the scientists to look in something as random as acne prevention products for the prevention to HIV. Perhaps there is a connection between the two different items, but maybe Minocycline is found in other things, besides acne drugs. I hope that the scientists will be able to put this discovery into action soon and I hope that it will work on regular patients. This has reinforced my thoughts about how something can become famous or useful for an item it wasn't intented to help.

Using own Skin Cells to Repair Hearts on Horizon

http://www.physorg.com/news186758255.html


This a picture of the skin cell stucture. Picture found at: http://www.health-pictures.com/skin/skin-cell.htm



Watts, Chris. "Using own skin cells to repair hearts on horizon." Physorg. Physorg, 02 Mar 2010. Web. 10 Mar 2010. .

• Advancement in stem cell research: Skin cells engineered to function as early stage heart cells by Doctor Robert Schwartz.
  
• Skin cells similar to embryonic stem cells, so it is possible to change the skin cells.


• This advancement may lead to treatment of Alzheimer's, diabetes, and many other diseases.
• Even though Schwartz is not the first to turn adult cells into stem cells, his discovery is the most groundbreaking.


• This method requires less steps and the result has more stem cells.

Reflection

I chose this story because it seemed very interesting that specialized cells can be turned back into stem cells. We learned that specialized cells cannot be changed into stem cells, but I guess skin cells aren't really specialized. Also, advancements are being made everyday and new theories are replacing and proving old theories wrong. This also shows that everything in the body, no matter how small, has potential to become important. This is comparable to having a normal worker become an executive director in a small period of time. I hope that this research is successful one day, because it is very possible that this will save many lives one day. This topic interests me greatly, because it seems like a "gravity-defying" moment in stem cell research. This would definitely be a topic I would like to research further on another day. It has revealed to me that old theories are being proven wrong and that new advances change the basis of modern biology today.

Beef Import Decision "risks Aussie jobs"

http://www.watoday.com.au/breaking-news-national/beef-import-decision-risks-aussie-jobs-20100205-nhiw.html

This cow here is infected with BSE and cannot stand.

Picture found at http://www.dvorak.org/blog/2009/03/14/finallygovenment-bans-downer-cows-from-food-supply




Jenkins, Simon. " Beef import decision 'risks Aussie jobs' ." WA Today. Fairfax Digital, 05 Feb 2010. Web. 10 Mar 2010. .

• The Australian government's decision to allow beef from BSE infected countries may cost 300,000 workers their jobs in a single week.
  
• Australia had so far not been infected by BSE, Scrapie, Blue Tongue, or FMD, which are the major diseases that animals contract.


• They could lose their disease-free selling advantage by allowing infected beef to enter the country.


• Professor John Matthews believes there will be no further risk in letting beef from disease countries come into the countries.


• The only argument is how many new cases will show up with this development, but it should not change too much.

Reflection

The reason I chose to analyze this story is because it was hard to process the fact that letting beef from extra sources come in for the first time, could cost 300,000 people their jobs. Also, this job loss happening in a single week is just as astonishing as the previous statistic. I'm a little impressed that Australia has not been affected by any of the main diseases that are often seen in livestock. I can see why they have held out so long, mainly because they are an island nation, isolated geographically from the other continents. I believe the government has a reason to start accepting the beef from other nations. They cannot grow reliable on their own meat or only some countries. On the other hand, I believe the public should have a good say in this argument, with sound evidence provided, so that political fallout does not occur due to the government's important decision that was made without public consent. This has helped me learn the gruesome truth about diseases that are in our world today.

Mystery Virus Claims More Lives in Kanpur

http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

This picture shows the region of Dehat in the country of India.

Found at: http://thisbluemarble.com/showthread.php?p=2405

(Can be found near middle of page)

• A mysterious virus has been killing people in the Kanpur Dehat villages.
  

• The death toll has been raised to 210 deaths over a series of 350 villages


• The virus is spreading to other neighboring villages and districts.


• The doctors and medical staff do not know how to stop the virus.


• The worst affected villages are Dhar and Malasa.
  
  

Reflection

This story caught my eye right away when I saw it. "Mystery Virus" had me thinking about what we were discussing in class, a few weeks ago. The movie, "Outbreak" has a similar story line. The thought of a big epidemic and no idea where it came from or how to cure it reflects the first part of the movie. However, while the movie is made up, this virus is real and is killing actual people in an actual environment. This story also reminded me of the swine flu when scientists did not know what it really was. Maybe this mystery virus is actually a different strain of the H1N1 virus. The effects of the virus are also predictable; chaos and fear of infection are clearly the biggest concerns. I believe that the leader of the area should appeal to the government for help and they should consider it a state of emergency, because it is an unknown virus that is threatening to spread to other places on the globe. It is sad that some people have no money and cannot afford better treatment for themselves or their family. I think the first step to stopping the virus is clearly identifying it and finding out what can stop it. This has shown me that new things are still being discovered everyday and that science isn't always perfect.

GMO Wheat Acceptance Hinges on Public Benefit

http://www.reuters.com/article/idUSTRE5560KI20090607

This is a picture of a stalk of wheat.

Picture found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/kenny_barker/3750628251/

Nickel, Rod. "GMO wheat acceptance hinges on public benefit." Reuters. Reuters, 07 Jun 2009. Web. 10 Mar 2010. .

• It is hard or scientists to find a direct benefit in GMO's for the public, because some consumers are wary.

• Europeans are at least a decade away from accepting bio tech food.


• The goal was to create wheat that people with ceiac disease could eat.


• Countries such as Canada are waiting for other countries to approve of GMO foods, until they decide whether or not to allow it.


• GMO's would be a last resort in India since the consumers are very wary of what they eat there.
  
  

Reflection

From this reflection, I have come to think that Europeans are stubborn when it comes to many things, including GMO's. Most likely GMO's have already made it into many of their food products so I wonder why they don't just allow the GMO's with extensive checks on all foods. I was surprised to learn that soe people cannot eat grains, because of a disease in their bodies. I decided to choose this story to review because I find it odd that people won't accept modified wheat that helps defeat diseases and I wanted to research the story a bit more. I'm sure that I'm eating GMO's right now in the food I eat everyday, as are millions to billions of other normal people. I wonder if other opponents of GMO's realize that. I do realize that some GMO's are not good for humans and can be dangerous if abused. I hope that one day, all foods are same and consumable. This has definitely taught me that GMO's, something engineered genetically, has to be very specific to work well. Otherwise, it just makes everything worse for people who are unaware of the problem.

Bread Mold May Hold Secret to Eliminating Disease-Causing Genes

http://www.bio-medicine.org/medicine-news-1/Bread-mold-may-hold-secret-to-eliminating-disease-causing-genes-18838-1/

Picture of a very moldy piece of bread.

Found at: http://www.flickr.com/photos/wurr/487545405/

Jones, Bryan. "Bread mold may hold secret to eliminating disease-causing genes." Bio-Medicine. Bio-Medicine, 08 May 2008. Web. 09 Mar 2010. .

• Mold on bread May be key for targeting viruses like the HIV virus by silencing certain genes in meiosis.


• A small mechanism that is activated during meiosis can detect anomalies, and if a gene is silenced, it is possible to shutdown invading viruses.


• During meiosis, and by silencing a gene, mold can shutdown all copies when it detects an intruder in the process of meiosis, which in this case would be the virus.


• Basically, when a virus, deadly or not, invades mold, there is a chance that the mold may be able to shutdown the section of virus itself by silencing and detecting the anomaly during meiosis.


• This advancement could possibly improve disesase prevention, if it is possible to link this process to human genes.
  

Reflection

This story of bread mold is truly puzzling, but very intriguing. i chose this article, because it sounded extraordinarily odd, yet interesting in the same manner. Mold stopping viruses as big as the HIV virus is very impressive. If the process of silencing genes during the process of meiosis in order to shutdown viruses can be applied to humans with the same effect, then this would be a major weapon against fighting disease. I only wonder why only mold has the mechanism that can trigger the virus on and off. Maybe it was an adaptation from the process of decay. It could have a Darwinian explanation, or simply it was because of the environment that mold thrives in. I don't have any real interest in pursuing the field of researching meiosis but I hope this advancement is expanded on. I wish that one day someone can discover a way to manipulate something in a gene to prevent diseases and viruses. I've learned that perhaps looking for help in biology, doesn't always come from the most ideal places. Any new gene or item can be found anywhere in the structure of an organism.

Squirrels Winning At "Outwitting Trees" Survival Strategy

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/12/064222093028.htm

Picture of a squirrel with a cone.

Found at: http://www.flickir.com/photos/cjfinley/328325129/

Michigan State University. "Squirrels Winning At Outwitting Trees' Survival Strategy." ScienceDaily 24 December 2006. 09 Mar 2010 /releases/2006/12/061222093058.htm>.

• There is an evolutionary arms race between squirrels and trees that is taking place.


• The squirrels need food for themselves and their offspring and the trees are protecting themselves and their crops.


• Recent developments include squirrels being able to harvest the cones of trees before they are able to grow and the trees develop a process called masting, which is to produce an overabundance of cones one year, and very few in another year.


• Squirrels must be able to predict when the seed boom occurs, otherwise if they reproduce during the famine period, their pups may not be able to survive and there would be strong competition for food.


• If squirrels reproduce right before the abundance of cones, then more squirrels are able to survive and reproduce.

Reflection

This article about the evolutionary arms race between suqirrels and trees is a very odd, but common story. I'm slightly surprised that the squirrels and trees are actually smart enough to predict and counter each others' moves. I decided to choose this story because it seemed like such a common topic in many other sections of life, such as war, industry, and technology. I think that the trees' masting process is having limited success, however. If the squirrels are able to reporduce right before the overproduction of seeds, this only increases the chancese of more squirrels surviving, rather than some of them dying due to the lack of food. Some questions that may arise from this situation may include: Who will turn out to be the most adapted and have the upper hand over the other organism? Will one species go extinct due to the other species dependence on it? I think that the squirrels and trees will grow so complex, that they won't need to depend on each other. This has taught me that humans aren't the only organisms evolving in this world and we aren't the only ones who fight agaisnt others.

Evolution- Why Scientists Believe It

http://www.allaboutscience.org/evolution.htm

This is a picture of the general evolution of man.

Found at: http://www.inter-sections.net/category/technology/

"Evolution- Why Scientists Believe It." All About Science. All About Science, n.d. Web. 17 May 2010. .

• Some scientists believe in the theory of evolution, others don't.


• The evidence that is being shown is the same.


• Because the evidence, the scientists' conclusions are not based on the evidence itself, but their interpretation of it.


• Darwin's theory is not an organized scientific method; rather it is a widely accepted "guess"


• Scientists are not always correct in their statements. Moreover, some don't tell the truth, in order to back their opinions.

Reflection

I chose this article to cover, because it seemed contradictory that the world's smartest men can't agree on where organisms came from and how they grew complex. Of course, it is harder than is sounds, but it struck me as odd why they can't agree on a common answer. Evolution seems like it will grow even more as evidence surfaces. I think that we will continue to evolve as more complications arise. I think the article is trying to explain that evolution has not been solved, and that scientists are currently neither right, not wrong. They simply don't have enough evidence to prove their claims as completely valid. One day, evolution will become understandable to the human brain; until then, researchers continue to gather evidence on what evolution really is. This article has shown me how difficult it is to understand and agree upon biology and evolution, whether it be simple or as complicated as this topic.

Methane May Cause Drastic Climate Change

http://www.cnsnews.com/news/print/53276

This is what a methane molecule looks like.

Found at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methane

Hanley, Charles J. "Natural Occuring Methane Vents May Spell Climate Trouble." CNS News. Associated Press, 31 Aug 2009. Web. 08 Mar 2010. .

• Methane is a naturally occurring gas that has been contributing to the recent climate change.
  
• The temperature in the Arctic is rising higher and it is possible that the temperature can go up another 13 Degrees Fahrenheit in the century.
  
• Methane plumes are popping up all over the permafrost tundra.
  
• The permafrost is warming, and has reached a temperature of 28 degrees Fahrenheit, as opposed to a lower temperature.


• The permafrost is melting, and there is a chance that a massive release of methane could let out an estimated 50 billion tons of methane.

Reflection

This story tells us information that affects out lives very greatly. I chose it because the temperature increase is very dangerous to us. Our body's normal temperature is around the high 90 degrees. Any 2-3 degrees higher may result in a fever and the body will have difficulty operating at such a high temperature. If the climate goes up any more, then so will our body temperature. Too hot, and we might just boil all the liquids in our bodies. I feel that regular people like us can do something to help, by using less gas and prevent releasing so much carbon dioxide into the air. There are some factors that are not our direct fault too. Global Warming, which is indirectly our fault, is causing the permafrost to melt and the methane plumes to rise up. If we stay environmentally safe, it will slow down the temperature rise. This article has taught me that the study of the environment and biology in general is a very important topic that certainly needs paying attention to. If ignored, it could possibly be our undoing of life.