Biology II- Bio1201

The article above involves the individuals that smoke and the individuals that do not smoke in their households. This article caught my attention because not to long ago I lived in a building that revolved around a lot of smokers which was very dangerous for me and the health of my family. Many laws in New York have been regulated allowing certain people to live in buildings that are for smokers and non-smokers are opposed to that. I would agree with the non-smokers not wanting to live next door to neighbors that smoke because they may have young children. These young children may be exposed to very harmful toxins. I wouldn’t want to live near individuals that smoke because no one in my family smokes and I do not want to be exposed to the smell and the harm it can do to my lungs and immune system.

I believe that smokers should be more considerate and smoke outside because their is too much pollution outside. We don’t want to bring that inside of our buildings and harm other individuals because of our careless ways.

http://discovermagazine.com/2012/mar/30-turning-lymph-nodes-into-liver-growing-factories

This article talks about a new technique under development by a stem cell researcher named Eric Lagasse in University of Pittsburgh that can turn any one of the body’s lymph nodes, the small, oval-shaped organs where immune cells gather to fight invading pathogens—into an incubator that can grow an entirely new liver.

As his test tube, he used mice with end-stage liver disease, implanting liver cells, or hepatocytes, from another mouse into their kidney capsules, under the skin, and into the spleen. Most of the mice died within eight weeks, the usual prognosis for end-stage liver failure in mice. But that changed when Lagasse injected cells into the belly: The mice gained weight, recovered energy, and within weeks appeared healthy.

After watching those mice thrive for several months, Lagasse repeated the experiment using fluorescent markers to trace the path of the liver cells. To his surprise, they had migrated to lymph nodes, where they grew to form large nodules that, in aggregate, reached a mass capable of keeping the animal alive.

Using his technique in mice, Lagasse has already succeeded in growing 20 to 40 small livers that gradually pick up the slack as the central liver fades. Together the mini-livers add up to 70 percent the size of a normal liver. Next Lagasse plans to replicate his experiments in pigs and hopes to implant human patients within the next few years.

This article is interesting and relates to our lecture discussion about the lymphatic system, lymph nodes and their functions and other lymphatic organs.

This article relates to the discussion of the immune system which we had in class, i found this to be significant in learning about the immune systems and its functions. The article discusses how a new study performed on lab mice demonstrated how females have more powerful immune systems compared to men. The lab mice displayed how male mice where more vulnerable to infection while the female mice were more resistant to infection, this signifying that this as well can be true among humans. According to the amounts of estrogen that females have it allows them to better off fight infection when there is an inflammatory response that indicates a bacterial pathogen is present .This is due to the fact that women have the Capase- 12 enzyme gene which is blocked by the estrogen which has allowed for women to build on more powerful immune systems. While men express the Capase -12 this makes more difficult to fight off infection due to this expressed gene. I think study is relevant in many ways displaying that the male immune system is more prone to infection than that of the female, meaning in a near future we can find certain factors that can help an assist to make the male immune system more stronger. The differences among the male and the female genetic composition does resemble the fact that women have to have stronger immunity. For example one pointed stated in the article was that women have a stronger immune system due to the fact that they do reproduce. The fact that females have a reproductive system like such is already biologically build to be more resistant and able to fight off pathogens that may want to cause infection. Pregnancy is a stage where the female should maintain a better immune system not only for her but for her fetus. This article also poses a question of how men would build on their own immune system to become stronger by allowing a female hormone such as estrogen to assist their immunological resistance to infection and whether this would actually be beneficial.

Medical researchers are working 
on new kinds of vaccines 
that could cure everything from 
diabetes to nicotine addiction

Two centuries ago Edward Jenner administered the first scientifically developed vaccine, injecting fluid from a dairymaid’s skin lesion into an 8-year-old boy. The English physician knew that dairymaids who contracted cowpox, a comparatively mild skin disease, became immune to the much deadlier smallpox, which at the time killed 400,000 Europeans a year. Jenner hoped the fluid from the cowpox lesion would somehow inoculate the boy against the smallpox scourge. 
His hunch proved correct. Today vaccines (vaccinia is Latin for “cowpox”) of all forms save 3 million lives per year worldwide, and at a bargain price. A measles shot, for instance, costs less than a dollar per dose.

By training the human immune system to recognize and ward off dangerous pathogens, vaccines can protect against disease for decades, or even for a lifetime. Preventive vaccines work by introducing harmless microbial chemical markers, known as antigens, which resemble the markers on living microbes. The antigens train the immune system to recognize and destroy those microbes should they ever appear in the body. By injecting cowpox antigens into his patients’ bloodstream, for instance, Jenner primed their immune systems to attack the similar smallpox virus.

Today medical scientists are taking 
Jenner’s ideas in new directions. They are exploiting a growing understanding of the immune system to develop therapeutic vaccines: ones aimed not at preventing infection but at rooting out established disease or even changing how the body functions. In the spring of last year, the FDA approved Provenge, a vaccine that beats back prostate cancer and is the first of the new generation of therapeutic vaccines to go into widespread use. That may be the trickle before the flood. A 2010 survey by the market analysis firm BCC Research identified 113 therapeutic vaccines in development, many already in human trials.

Retrieved from:http://discovermagazine.com/2011/oct/15-theres-a-shot-for-that

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/06/02/health/02alzheimers.html?pagewanted=3&ref=thevanishingmind

After reading this article, I knew I had to publish it. This is the only case of the world that has so much family members afflicted, with Alzheimer’s. This life changing disease is very common for us to see in the older folks, not people in their mid 40’s and 50’s. I feel that this family should willingly undergo much more research done to all the family members afflicted. I feel that they are a great example not only to possibly find the cause of Alzheimer’s, but the cure as well. “The Paisa Mutation” is a well deserved name due to the fact that this family has been the one to present it the most. I am of Cali, Colombia and no one in my family especially my older family members are not afflicted with this because in this region it’s really not common. It was a big surprise for me coming upon this article and reading of such a break through story, of this family.

“Elephantiasis gene secrets mapped”

This article talks about treatment being given to people that are infected with Elephantiasis. This article gives information about the disease, but also provides opinions from professionals. One professional says that data has been found and that they are hoping that it can lead to better treatment and a vaccine to protect people from the infection. I disagree with the professor that says that it is pointless. Though, cheap drugs are not being given to those that are affected, it shouldn’t mean that they shouldn’t consider others drugs even if they are expensive. There is conflict of certain countries being able to afford certain drugs.

We had the opportunity to discuss in class about the origin of humans and the characteristics that make us a unique specie.

In our previus exam you had to answer if you would suspect if there was any other organism belonging to the genus Homo. The correct answer was yes, since the genus will include different species, but the fact is that all other Homos are now extinct.   Lots of research is trying to identify the roots of our origin based on fossil records, but the use of the field of genetics is playing a vital role in the development and evolution of humans. 

One of the main characteristics of human evolution is the straightening of the spine, the larger brain and a very distinct change in dentition.  Currently, research efforts focus the identification of events that lead humans to rule this world. 

The article below from the discover magazine presents which are the main characteristics that have made us so successful.

http://discovermagazine.com/2011/evolution/23-how-we-won-the-hominid-wars

Please, acces the following article and share your comments (from a scientific perspective) with all of us.

Since we are currently discussing flowering plants in class, I thought it might be appropriate to familiarize with your own neighborhood.  The link to the article below explains how a plant can cause severe effects to humans, even 3rd degree burns and blindness.  Guess what!!!  You can find  this plant in different parks, including Central Park.  Thought that it might be appropriate to share the article with the student body at City Tech.  Can you explain what is so dangerous about this plant?  How it can harm humans?  How would you classify it?

Share your thoughts!!!

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/green_monster_eC1GtRTKnNEAPTvUOVOo0H

If you are interested in scientific classification or if you are still confused with the topic, you can access the article below to explain you how it takes place.  Check how much fun a young scientist can have while doing his job!

Beyonce gets ‘bootylicious’ horse fly named after her

The following New York Times article present an example of symbiosis.  Can you identify the type of symbiotic relationship between these two species?

A Bacterial Platoon With Fungi Engineers

http://www.nytimes.com/2011/11/29/science/a-bacterial-platoon-with-fungi-engineers.html

Share your thoughts on what you understand from this article!!!!