Black Death DNA puzzle no longer plagues scientists

In this article scientist were able to reconstruct an entire genome taken from ancient skeletons to find information about the Black Death. DNA was taken from teeth of plague victims buried in London over 600 years ago. The DNA was then used to recreate the genome. The study showed that the medieval bacteria has remained unchanged compared to modern day strain. The German and Canadian scientists who constructed the study believe that the bacteria is Yersinia pestis, which is the ancestor to all circulating bacteria. Scientists had to sequenced the DNA first to create a genome. When they did this they found that increase of virulence of the bacteria during the Black Death that showed that not only was the there genetics factors but also environmental factors. Famine and poor living conditions help the disease to spread rapidly.

This study is expected to begin a new era of infectious disease research, according to lead scientist Dr. Hendrik Poinar of McMaster University of Canada.

New species of Giant Mollusc discovered

I found this article to be extremely interesting because of the fact that even to this day whether it is a plant or animal species, we still continue to find these new species after all these years of existence. According to Cristian Aldea (a co author of this study) she explains "this genus belongs to a group which we know very little about. This group is made up of 14 species..." Given this information I find it pretty cool now that they have discovered this Mollusc because now maybe we can get a better understanding and knowledge of this species considering the fact that we only know very little about it. It is said that we have yet to discover even half of all the species out there in the world and as amazing as it is that just this one discovery is considered important there are still a multitude of species out there waiting to be discovered. Whether you really care about science or not you just kind of have to appreciate these scientists do every day discovering all of these different kinds of species and increasing our knowledge of our own world more and more as each and every day passes.

I choose to blog about this article because I always thought the idea of discovering new species was always so cool. We are increasing the number of identified species more and more thanks to the time and effort some of these scientists put into there work and I look forward to more species of animals to be discovered as life progresses.

Three Scientists share Nobel Medicine Prize

I was listening to NPR the other day and they were talking about the three scientists who won this year's Nobel Peace prize in Medicine. On NPR's website, they have a brief article about their accomplishments. You can read about it here. Due to the shortness in length of that article, I sought after a longer, more detailed news report when I found this. Turns out, one of the scientists that shared the Nobel Prize in medicine passed away a couple days before he was awarded the prize.

According to the article in the New York Times, Dr. Ralph M. Steinman discovered a new class of cell back in 1973. His work did not receive much praise at first due to skeptic observers but Dr. Steinman prevailed in the end and received one half of this year's Nobel Prize in Medicine involving the immune system. It goes against the rules to award someone who has passed away, but because news of Dr. Steinman's death reached the committee too late, they decided to go ahead with honoring him with the award.

The other half of the award has been awarded to two science partners, Dr. Bruce Beutler and Dr. Jules A. Hoffman. Their accomplishments "concerning the activation of innate immunity" won them much praise. According to the article, all three individuals' discoveries "enabled the development of new methods for treating and preventing diseases, including improved vaccines and in attempts to help the immune system to attack tumors."

I'm not much of a "science fanatic" but it sounds like what these guys have done and discovered are going to be extremely important in years to come. Also, for those of you who are interested in learning more about all of the various Nobel Prizes, here's a link to the official website. The site talks about past and present winners, the different kinds of Nobel Prizes and even Alfred Nobel-the creator of the Nobel Prize.

Gene therapy to treat HIV shows promise

This article gives a lot of hope for HIV patients or anyone related to or a friend of one. United states researchers announced this week that the success of a new gene therapy trial brings us one step closer to a 'functional cure' for HIV. This study involved copying the effects of a naturally occurring mutation that makes a the patient resistant to infection, this therapy aims to reduce or terminate the dependency of HIV patients on "anti-retroviral drugs".

The article says, "Out of the six HIV patients treated with the new therapy, which works by stopping the virus from getting inside the white blood cells it normally infects, one patient had completely cleared the virus and a further two saw a ten-fold drop in virus levels, despite not taking any antiretroviral drugs." This study can potentially change the lives of many and save many who are nearing their end after fighting the battle with HIV.

I chose to review this article because I find advancements in medical treatments interesting. The way we have discovered so much when it comes to medication is amazing, but we continue to keep advancing and finding more and more treatments. It was once thought that treating HIV was impossible, but this recent research has made scientists think otherwise.

Why Too Much Sugar Is No Good!

According to the American Heart Association (AHA), the average United States adult consumes 22 teaspoons more of added sugar per DAY! This becomes 154 more teaspoons per WEEK, and calculates to be over 150 pounds a YEAR! As for teenagers, they consume 34 more teaspoons per day than average. They say that this is more than twice the amount of sugar in our daily diet. There are many health effect that can become problems over time with an over consumption of sugar. Some include the following: 1. Sugar can increase the risk of diabetes, 2. may cause acne, 3. too much sugar can hurt your heart, 4. increases the canches of depression, 5. high blood sugar can increase the risk of a yeast infection, 6. can increase the risk of cancer, 7. and can change your mooods and emotions.



I chose to blog about this article because sugar is not only an important factor for how we funtion our body, but it can affect our lifestyle and how we choose to live it. Too much sugaer is obviously no good for our body, but the potential of putting it in health risk can be prevented. Cut down on sugars, and you won't have to worry about these problems.


http://fitbie.msn.com/eat-right/tips/6-scary-side-effects-sugar?gt1=50002

Longevity Gene Debate Opens Trans-Atlantic Rift

This article is about the long lasting disputes about enhancing one's longevity, which is life expectancy.The dispute involves the gene that is responsible in making sirtuins, which is proteins that help control metabolism. Because of sirtuins' metabolic role, lab rats placed on a very low-calorie diet lived 40-percent longer lives. Humans will not function well on the same diet that the rats had; but if humans take drugs that activate sirtuins , they can live longer and healthier lives. Resveratrol is found in red wine and stimulates sirtuins production.

Researchers David Gems and Linda Patridge of University College of London, re-examined experiments where roundworms and fruit fly were genetically manipulated to produce more sirtuins and lived longer. They founded that the experiments were flawed because the control group were not genetically identical. When they repeated the experiments, they founded that organism with extra sirtuins do not live longer.

The genetic study of aging is a new field and has many common mistakes. In 2009,Stephen Helfand of Brown University conduct the same experiment as the two London researchers. Only Helfand founded that the flies with the extra sirtuins did live longer than the flies without the extra sirtunis.

London scientist believe that this field is filled with sloppy experiments. While the American scientist believe that there is still improvement to be made. Scientists no involved in the debate say that sirtuins remains a field of vast interests and is more complex than origanially suggested.

By:Christine Garbaravage

New Found Squid: Any Sex Will Do

New York Times - Sept. 20, 2011
 
   In this extremely interesting article, scientists have found a new creature in the dark waters of the Pacific Ocean. Octopoteuthis deletron, the newly discovered squid, carries similar characteristics to mammals such as bottlenose dolphins and bonobos. They all have no particular preference when it comes to mating.
     The mating process for this particular squid is interesting to say the least. Not much is known in great detail, but it is described as a male squid ejaculating a packet of sperm at the partner, male or female. The sperm is contained in a membrane that shoots into the flesh of the receiver. If the male happens to mate with a female, the sperm remains inside of the female until the female is fertile and able to produce eggs. The male however remains stuck with the sperm.
     This, by far, was the most intriguing article I found. I understand that there are millions of creatures that we have yet to discover, but yet I am still amazed when reading about each new finding.