Cord blood stem cells help meet minority marrow needs

“Cord blood stem cells help meet minority marrow needs”

Stem Cells in the News:

http://www.cnn.com/2010/HEALTH/03/01/cord.blood.marrow.minorities/index.html?iref=allsearch

- Cord blood is full of stem cells and it is easier to match to a patient than adult bone marrow is.

- More and more people are using cord blood to get stem cells to replace bone marrow than having to wait for an adult bone marrow transplant.

- Patients can get the cord blood treatment in three weeks instead of the eight weeks it takes to get the adult bone marrow transplant. In those 8 weeks, the patient could relapse, so time is of the essence.

- Although it is easier to get cord blood for a transplant, cord blood transplants have the same risk as adult bone marrow transplants.

- The national bone marrow registry has over 12 million donors but it is only able to help about 60 percent of Caucasians and only 5 to 15 percent of minorities.

Reflection:

I chose this article because I am very interested in bone marrow transplants. I watch the show House M.D. all the time and there are always cases where bone marrow transplants are needed. I was really intrigued by the thought that they could now get stem cells to replace the bone marrow because I know that bone marrow transplants are very painful for both the patient and the donor. Many people are wary of becoming donors because it is so extremely painful. With the ability to get cord blood transplants, many more people would be able to get treated. In conclusion, this article was very informative and opened my eyes to the possibilities of other options for people who need bone marrow transplants.

“Cytoskeleton plays a critical role to bring chromosome pairs together: Study”

Meiosis in the News:

http://www.news-medical.net/news/20091116/Cytoskeleton-plays-a-critical-role-to-bring-chromosome-pairs-together-Study.aspx

- Scientists finally discovered what made the chromosomes pair together the way they did.

- “[…] the cell's cytoskeleton, which moves things around in the cell, plays a critical role, essentially reaching into the nucleus to bring chromosome pairs together in preparation for recombination and segregation.”

- The cytoplasm helps the chromosomes to pair together and make sure they are matched correctly.

- “To stabilize the chromosome pairs, protein links form along the length of the homologs, like a zipper. Called the synaptonemal complex, this zipper seems necessary to allow the homologues to break and recombine, thereby exchanging a set of genes between Mom and Dad before sending the chromosomes into the world aboard egg or sperm.”

- This discovery could help scientists to find a prevention to diseases like down syndrome.

Reflection:

I chose this article because I did not really understand how chromosomes were brought together and I thought this article could clear it up for me. I thought it was interesting that they were just know discovering how chromosomes were paired together and what part of the cell did that. I always assume they know everything about meiosis and mitosis when really, they still have a lot to discover.

Why Is It So Difficult to Eradicate Salmonella?

Bacteria in the News:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/02/100202103928.htm

- Salmonella is a bacterium that occurs mainly in the intestine and it is a serotype that causes food poisoning.

- Feed that is contaminated by salmonella bacteria is familiar to the animal feed industry all over the world.

- It seems it is impossible to eradicate salmonella because it forms biofilm that helps it to survive longer in factories than bacteria that didn’t form biofilm.

- Biofilm protects the bacteria because it is a slime, or a matrix, that the bacteria produces itself.

- If the salmonella forms a biofilm it is virtually resistant to disinfectants that are normally used to clean in factories.

Reflection:

I chose this article because I know that Salmonella is a big problem in the food industry. When food has been affected with salmonella, it always gets recalled because it is a big health risk. Also, I used to have a turtle and I remember when we bought it, the person at the pet store told us that turtles can spread salmonella very easily. I found it interesting that, even though salmonella is such a common bacteria and we are so technologically advanced, there still is not a disinfectant that can kill it. In conclusion, I found this article very interesting.

New Genetically Modified Crops: Q&A

GMOs in the News:
This video shows one farmer's opinion on genetically modified foods:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoI_g6U9Vt4

http://www.sciencentral.com/articles/view.php3?article_id=218392934

1. Donald Weeks, a researcher at the Center for Biological Chemistry at the University of Nebraska, gave crop plants a gene from a naturally occurring soil bacterium that breaks down the herbicide Dicamba.

2. Dicamba kills broadleaved plants, but does not kill grassy plants. Therefore the gene has only been used in grassy plants, like corn.

3. This tool will help farmers control weeds in their crops which will help to increase maximum productivity.

4. The gene will work with Roundup Ready to help and reduce the number of resistant weeds in a field.

5. Farmers would not have to plow the soil form the previous crop, which would preserve the structure of the soil and increase productivity.

Reflection:

I chose this article because I thought that it would help me be able to understand genetically modified organisms better. I found this article interesting because it was very similar to the movie we watched in class, as well as the article. It made me realize how genetically modified organisms are a much bigger deal than I originally thought. I’ve never really considered how GMOs are in so many of our food items or are used to produce our food items. In conclusion, this article helped me realize the importance of GMOs in our daily lives.

How Plant Stem Cells Guard Against Genetic Damage

Genetics in the News:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091116165633.htm

- New discoveries have shown that plants can protect themselves from genetic damage that is caused by environmental pressures.

- A mechanism in the growing tips of plants can send a message to the cells to “self-destruct” if it senses genetic damage.

- It does this so that it does not pass down its defective DNA.

- Since the plants are able to do this, defects are not passed down through the generations as easily.

- With this knowledge, scientist are trying to investigate more so that they can help plants in the upcoming years as the climate continues to change, since climate change is a big cause of genetic damage.

Reflection:

I chose this article because I really do not know anything about stem cells, yet I hear about them all the time in the news. I found it really interesting that plants were able to stop the defect from being passed down through the generations. This would obviously be a beneficial thing for them to be able to do, because if a defect is passed down, it can stay in the population for decades. In conclusion, it was interesting to learn a little about stem cells and I would enjoy learning more about them in the future.

"LAST CHANCE TO SAVE RARE ASIAN ANIMAL FROM EXTINCTION?"

Extinction in the News:

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/09/090903064444.htm

- The Saola is in danger of becoming extinct.

- The Saola lives in the Annamite and in Vietnam.

- It is closely related to wild cattle; however, it looks like some species of desert antelopes.

- The major threats to the Saola’s survival are poachers and hunting dogs.

- There are no Saolas being kept in captivity, so if they die out, there is no possibility for them to be reintroduced into the wild.

Reflection:

I chose this story because of the title. When I saw “Last chance to save rare Asian animal” I immediately became interested. Living in such a nice, isolated area, it is hard to imagine that there are animals out there that are dying out, when I see such an abundance of animals (dogs, cats, deer) everywhere I go. It also amazed me that there are no Saolas being kept in captivity, which puts them in even graver danger of extinction. It also amazed me because it made me even more aware how many more animals I haven’t even seen, much less knew existed. Before this article, I had no idea there was a species named Saolas. In conclusion, this article made me aware of how little of the earth’s animals I have really even seen.

“Evolutionary Arms Race Between Bacteria and Their Viruses in Soil”

Evolutionary Arms Race in the News:

http://www.sciencecentric.com/news/article.php?q=09102113-evolutionary-arms-race-between-bacteria-their-viruses-soil

- Viruses in soil bacteria, known as Phages, are quickly evolving to more affectively infect their bacterial hosts.

- This shows that evolution happens, even on such a small scale.

- The Phages are able to infect the soil samples around them better than soil samples from just a few centimeters away.

- Phages could not infect other soil samples as well as they could infect their own.

- This is known as ‘local adaptation’, the Phages evolved in order to infect their soil but were not as easily able to infect other soil.

Reflection:

I chose this article because the title involved the words ‘evolutionary arms race’. An evolutionary arms race is when two organisms are constantly (over several generations) evolving so that they can out do the other with means to survival. The bacteria and their viruses were in an evolutionary arms race because the virus would evolve to infect the bacteria, and then the bacteria would evolve to resist the viruses. This article was interesting because it had to do exactly with what we were learning in class. It helped to explain the concept by giving a valid example in a way I could understand.

Mammals Beat Reptiles in Battle of Evolution

Evolution in the News:

http://www.livescience.com/animals/090731-evolution-winners.html

- The more successful species are the ones that have evolved and diversified in many different environments, such as most modern birds, and several types of fish.

- However, these species don’t necessarily have a lesser threat of becoming extinct.

- The less successful species are the ones that only have a few types of species such as the crocodile or the alligator.

- "The timing of the rate increases does not correspond to the appearance of key characteristics that have been invoked to explain the evolutionary success of these groups, such as hair on mammals or mammals’ well-coordinated chewing ability or feathers on birds," said study leader Michael Alfaro of UCLA.

- The rate of how the different animals diversify does not relate agree with the characteristics that have been referred to explain the success of certain groups, as it relates to evolution. (Paraphrased)

- Scientists still are unsure why there are so many birds, fish, and mammals.

Reflection:

I chose this particular story because the title “Mammals Beat Reptiles in the Battle of Evolution” intrigued me. I found it interesting because normally I would have thought reptiles would be the “winners” since they have been around for so much longer. However, according to this article a animal is considered successful if it has “evolved and diversified into many types of environments”. I would have thought an animal would have been successful if it had lasted for a long period of time and still thrived today. Nevertheless, now that I have read this article, “successful” makes a lot of sense to me. Of course a animal is more successful when it has thrived and had enough offspring to create different species. I am not necessarily interested in science, generally, but I am interested in the whole concept of evolution, because I have never really studied it in depth before.