Biology in Action

by Edward Michalak

Leukemia is a serious form of cancer that develops inside bone marrow. The cancer causes white blood cells to divide uncontrollably which affects the production of normal white blood cells, red blood cells, and platelets. Some existing forms of therapy to treat leukemia include chemotherapy, biological therapy, radiation therapy, and stem cell therapy. One of the main factors that decides how to treat a cancer patient is their age. A recent article on BBC.com’s Health section reports that scientists have developed a new drug that kills leukemia cells. The drug is called PBOX-15, and it can destroy cancerous cells in adult patients with a poor prognosis who have shown resistance to other treatments. The drug was most effective when used in the treatment of CLL, or Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia. Since CLL is the most common type of Leukemia found in adults in the western hemisphere, the mass production of this drug would be extremely beneficial to the western world.

Several different groups of scientists are currently working on the drug and perfecting its makeup for future public use. “We are still at an early stage – now we have to move it on to see if there are any side effects,” Professor Lawler said, “But it’s very exciting – we want to give hope to cancer patients,” (Lawler, 1). Professor Lawler is one of the primary developers of the drug and began the study of this drug along with other scientists at Trinity College in Dublin. The findings of the study were published in the recent Cancer Research Journal where John McCormack, another scientist, states, “The findings that are being published today emphasize the potential for basic science discoveries to translate to clinical benefit. These now need to be brought from the laboratory to the bedside so that they will ultimately benefit patients with this common form of leukemia,” (McCormack, 1).

The article is relevant to my Biology class because it covers the treatment of cancer which we covered in the first half of the semester. We learned that cancer can be caused by a variety of factors such as genetics, family history, and environmental carcinogens which include radiation from UV rays, smoke/pollutants, and viruses like Hepatitis. We also covered the treatment of cancer. Some common treatments are surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, and bone marrow transplants. The article suggests a new way to deal with Leukemia cancer cells. If this drug were to prove successful and have low risk side effects, than CLL in adults could become obsolete.

Source:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/uk_news/northern_ireland/8338441.stm

by Nichole Orlacchio

Dr Melanie Bahlo and Dr Max Moldovan and researchers from the University of Sydney are researching a link between individuals with the hepatitis C infection and their genomes. Dr Bahlo, Dr. Moldovan and the researchers from Sydney are exploring over 800 people who contain the hepatitis C infection. Their research has so far concluded that “people receiving hepatitis C treatment revealed that genetic variants near the interferon gene IL28B were associated with people’s response to treatment” (BiologyNews.net).

The treatment includes pagylated interferon-alpha and ribavirin. Although, this treatment is unsuccessful in 50-60 percent of cases Dr.’s Moldovan and Bahlo are conducting this research to conclude why the treatment works for the other 40-50 percent. Individuals with the greatest response to the hepatitis C infection have a specific genetic profile called rs8099917. Once publishes in the Nature Genetics journal, two more researchers came out and varified the same findings. This finding will now allow a person to know whether or not their genetic profile will respond positively to the treatment.

I lost my grandmother to hepatitis C in 2002. She contracted the infection through a blood transfusion many years before she passed away. The infection became chronic and attacked her liver. However, I am glad that there is now a way to find out if a person can and will respond to treatment for the infection. Due to the disease, my grandmother got liver cirrhosis. Hopefully this discovery can be helpful in treating the disease before it affects ones liver.

Source: http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2009/09/23/discovery_could_improve_hepatitis_c_treatment.html

by Rebecca Baker

Based on a recent study, it has been found that babies begin learning language in the womb. German and French researchers conducted a study that shows babies are able to memorize sounds from outside the womb starting in the last trimester. The study included a group of thirty healthy babies from France and thirty healthy babies from Germany. The experiment took place when the babies were merely three to five days old. The ways in which the babies cried mirrored the way their native language sounds. For instance, the German babies cried with a falling melody while the French babies cried with a rising melody. It is believed that the babies try to mirror the manner in which the mother speaks in order to get her attention, therefore resulting in bonding. Because the babies are so young, this is the only way they are able to communicate. These findings are important because it was previously believed that babies did not demonstrate the impact of their native language until much later on. It has been found that babies can copy the vowels taught to them by adult speakers starting at twelve weeks. These findings prove that babies are learning in the womb and can use what the learned at a mere three days of age.

This article appealed to me for several reasons. Being that we recently covered development in class, I found this article to be relevant to our discussion. Second, I work at a daycare so I am interested in child development. After reading this article I am now going to pay attention to the ways in which the babies cry at work. Also, I have always heard of people specifically talking to their baby or playing music for him while he is in the womb, and now based on this study it is evident that doing such things possibly are effective. While most parents are under the impression that playing music by Bach for their fetus will make their child smarter later in life, there is no information that supports this claim. Although some parents claim that their children perk up when they hear music that they played for them while they were fetuses, this is not considered real evidence. Other doctors have claimed that fetuses that are at thirty-three weeks breathe in time with the music they like. Basically, playing music for your baby while he is a fetus will not hurt him, but will not necessarily make him smarter either.

Another reason I found this article to be of interest is because my cousin is pregnant right now. It is going to be interesting to see if her baby shows any acknowledgement of music that was played for him or her while he was a fetus once it gets a little older.

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091105092607.htm

by Patty Manhart

Thanks to a recent study funded by the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke of the National Institutes of Health, victims of serious spinal cord injuries may be less likely to suffer from paralysis.  The research was conducted by Biomedical Engineer professors from Georgia Tech and Emory University who published their results on November 2, 2009.  Their findings improved existing treatments for spinal cord damage that required constant application in a hospital setting.  According to the website, ScienceDaily, these pioneers have, “developed an improved version of an enzyme that degrades the dense scar tissue that forms when the central nervous system is damaged.”  Ideally, this breakthrough will help patients recover from serious central nervous system injuries.

In this treatment, the enzyme chrondroitinase ABC (chABC) is applied to the spinal cord lesion in order to corrode the scar tissue build up responsible for paralysis.  Early discoveries in this enzyme found that it did not work well when at human body temperature and therefore needed constant injections.  Leaders in this latest inquiry like professor Ravi Bellamkonda were able to eliminate the enzyme’s thermal sensitivity and created a way to deliver the medication that is more accessible for users.  In our Anatomy of Human Biology course, we learned about spinal cord injuries and scar tissue in earlier classes.  Most recently we have been reviewing the Central Nervous System in hand with parts of the brain, all of which are closely linked to the spinal cord.  This is truly a breakthrough finding that will benefit a multitude of its users.

Source:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/11/091102171217.htm

Tatiana Forster

More and more often we are seeing the use of psychology within the field of medicine.  Every day it seems like there are more diagnoses of behavior or mental illnesses.  Being a psychology student it’s a very exciting time because these are the very things we study in our everyday coursework.  This past Tuesday in the NYTimes there was an article regarding the disorder which is a mild form of Autism called Asperger’s .

Asperger syndrome has many of the same health problems that we see in the body and mind like in Autism. Every few years the Psychiatry Diagnostic Manual is revised and the newest edition is due out in 2012.  Currently Asperger syndrome is being evaluated and Psychiatrists and consultants are thinking of removing it from the Manual completely.  “Anxiety, attention disorders, gastrointestinal problems, seizures and sensory differences like extreme sensitivity to noise” are among the variables that that will be used to describe Autism in the revised Manual.  But psychiatrists are seeing Asperger syndrome, has different ranges of severity therefore making it less easy to diagnose.  There are a wide array of ways to diagnose Asperger syndrome including being “socially awkward or physically clumsy.”

Many of those people diagnosed with the disorder have proven to be ingenious in other aspects of life, for instance they may have an incredible skill of math or a profound knowledge of history or ability to retain information of which the general population of people would have no recollection.

It is estimated that Autism affects about 1 percent of American children and while unfortunately it can shape people into disturbed individuals it also allows room for creative minds.  Many of our great writers and artists have been known to suffer from mental illnesses and many of them are remembered for some of their great talents.  In A powerful  Identity, a vanishing diagnosis it recalls a writer John Elder Robison who wrote a book describing his childhood as a lonely journey and “an ability to look at circuit design and imagine how it will transform sound,” he  now works with the band KISS and their audio equipment.  So although unfortunately there are quite a few cases of Autism and Asperger as deteriorating disorders of the brain, they need to be carefully observed before we can label someone.  So although it is important to treat those in dire need of treatment we need to also beware that we all retain different levels of ability, if we begin to nit-pick every brain and categorize them we may miss out on some potentially very talented people.

Source:

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/11/03/health/03asperger.html?_r=1&ref=science