Biology in Action

by Tara D
Scientists in the department of plant biology and pathology at Rutgers University received an award for their work in plant breeding.  New technology has been developed for the purposes of  breeding all types of crops and grasses. Stacy Bonos, professor at rutgers, uses plant genetic resources to develop new plant types.  Some of her varieties are more tolerant and therefore need less pesticides and fertilizers.  This new research will improve the quality of the environment.  Bonos has developed at least 14 new plant varieties for agriculture.

Source
http://www.mycentraljersey.com/article/20091112/LIFE02/911120304/Rutgers-professor-receives-plant-breeding-award

by Matt K

After reading the article, I agree with what it says. I think that if you have a pet in your life than you will not have as high of a blood pressure. Pets are great companions because they will love you no matter who you are and what you do. I have a pet dog and I love her. She makes me happy and I love playing fetch with her. She is a chocolate Labrador named Toby. Dogs can keep you in shape because they always love to walk and play. When I had a bad day my dog always makes me feel better.

by Brittany Schwartz

Corey Haas is a seven-year-old boy that was born with a retinal disease. Most of his vision is already gone, and in order to get around he clings to his parents and walks with a cane. In school he could not see the blackboard at all and had to sit with an aid in the back of the room with a large type computer screen and materials in brail. Up until 13 months ago Corey was legally blind and expected to eventually lose all of his sight. After his eighth birthday he underwent an experimental gene procedure where he injections in his left eye. His vision in his left eye began to improve rapidly. Corey is now nine years old and drives-go carts, plays on a little league baseball team, navigates wooded trails near his home in Hadley, N.Y., and he can finally read the blackboard in class. This gene therapy research is considered promising, however experts in vision problems say it is unclear how many people with impaired vision it will actually help. Gene therapy has also had many set backs. In the journal Lancet, a study was reported involving seven adults, and five children from Belgium, Italy, and the United States. All of the people involved have a rare but serious disease called Leber’s congenital amaurosis, a congenital retinal disease. Read More…

by Melissa Freitas

Diabetes has become an increasing problem in recent years within the United States. Much of society has become more and more sedentary in their lifestyles. In addition to the low levels of physical activity and movement, the food choices that many make only add to the diabetes epidemic. Foods that are high in sugar as well as fat are being consumed in greater quantities and often play a major role in the development of diabetes. Also, genetic factors may contribute as another factor.

Genetic factors are being studied by researchers at the University of Maryland. The researchers are examining the genes of the fruit fly in order to determine what leads to insulin resistance and both Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes. Dr. Leslie Pick, one of the researchers involved, has changed certain genes in these flies in order to represent the loss of insulin production. As of November 2009, the research has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Dr. Pick says that the altered flies have elevated blood sugar levels, are lethargic, and seem to be breaking down their fat tissue in order to get energy when eating while normally they should be storing fat.

Read More…

By: Michael Sztuk

As flu season rapidly approaches, parents around the country are starting to face school closures. But the big question is how bad should an influenza outbreak be for a school to close. In a recent study led by epidemiologists John Brownstein, PhD and Anne Gatewood Hoen, PhD of the Children’s Hospital Boston Informatics Program, in collaboration Asami Sasaki of the University of Niigata Prefecture, tapped a detailed set of Japanese data to help guide decision making by schools and government agencies. The analysis was published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in the November issue of Emerging Infectious Diseases (biologynews.net).

The issue is that many schools especially in the U.S. don’t have a specific or consistent algorithm to decide whether to shut down or not. Experts feel schools are not using quantitative data, and are focusing on political or fear-based decisions rather then data-based. The researches above have analyzed flu absenteeism data from a Japanese school district with 54 elementary schools, tracking flu seasons from 2004-2008. A school outbreak was defined as a daily flu absentee rate of more than 10 percent of students. But, you want to get a school closed before an epidemic peaks, to prevent transmission of the virus, but you also don’t want a school to close unnecessarily, explained the researchers. The researchers wanted to set standards for districts in the U.S. that would not be too complex, that could be easily implemented by schools. After their research they suggested three optimal scenarios for school shut down due to flu. The scenarios include: a single-day influenza-related absentee rate of 5 percent, absenteeism of 4 percent or more in two consecutive days, and absenteeism of 3 percent or more on three consecutive days.

These methods would give schools and government agencies a basis for timely closure decisions, by allowing them to predict the escalation of an outbreak using the absenteeism data, says researchers. The researcher used data from Japan because they closely monitor school absenteeism due to flu, and requires testing for the flu virus in students who become ill. As of now the CDC states “ the decision to selectively dismiss a school should be made locally, in conjunction with local and state health officials, and should balance the risks of keeping the students in schools with the social disruption that school dismissal can cause” (CDC).

I picked this article because flu and especially H1N1 is becoming a major concern for school districts. Hopefully this research will help schools determine the appropriate time if necessary to close schools because of the flu virus. This is a sensitive subject because we can’t just go around closing schools if students become ill with the flu, because it would greatly impact the learning of the students. But it is also important to take into consideration the health and safety of the student.  This relates to our class because we learned how viruses enter into our body and trick the healthy cells to become infected. The virus genetic material enters the cells nucleus, and can make it clone hundreds of thousands of new viruses. Then, the viruses’ protein enables the release of new viruses that attack and take over more cells, (National Geographic). While it is hard to determine when our schools should shut down because of the flu, we should focus on preventing the spread of influenza by practicing common hygiene like, covering our mouth and washing our hands.  It is also important to educate the population on how to prevent the spread of influenza and encourage people to get the flu vaccine.

Source: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/11/04/when_should_flu_trigger_a_school_shutdown.html