"New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals"

Caroline Brashear

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

January 31, 2017

The article, “New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals,” by Nicholas Wade, introduces the idea of growing human stem cells in pig embryos to be later used for human transplant, which has recently been successful for the first time. In order to do this, stem cells must be collected from a patient’s skin for the new organ to grow in a large animal like a pig, which will later be harvested and transplanted into the patient. A beneficial aspect to this approach is that since the organ will be made of the patient’s cells, there would be little risk of immune rejection. These human-organ-growing pigs are examples of chimeras, which are animals composed of both their own cells and that of a human, created by implanting human stem cells into an early pig embryo. The author also highlights some negative outcomes that could result from this process, which include the possibility of the human cells being incorporated into a pig’s brain or reproductive system, humanizing the animal in an undesirable way. All in all, to achieve the goal of growing human organs for transplant in a way that addresses ethical concerns about chimera research will require several years of development and testing, but it is achievable in the future, considering new techniques that allow human cells to be channeled into organs of interest and excluded for tissues such as that of the reproductive and brain.

I chose this article because it discusses a scientific breakthrough that could help many people in the future who are in need of organs. Currently, approximately 76,000 people in the United States are waiting for transplants, so new methods to help people in need are necessary.

This article was well-written, as it was easy to follow and each concept introduced was thoroughly explained. The author also did a good job of providing background information regarding prior trials of this method being tested, including previous successes and failures in the experimentation of this process. Additionally, the author provided quotes from biologists and their teams to provide the reader with an inside perspective. Although, one way the article could be improved would be to condense the information into less lengthy paragraphs and get the point across faster without including unnecessary repetitive explanations. Ultimately, it provided me with new in-depth knowledge on an interesting subject that will hopefully bring new success to the medical field.

Citation:

Wade, Nicholas. "New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals."The New York Times. N.p., 26 Jan. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.   

<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/science/chimera-stemcells-organs.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront>.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/science/chimera-stemcells-organs.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront

Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections

Bailey Barton

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

January 31, 2017

Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections 

            The article “Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections” shares the ongoing research assembled by a team studying at The Rockefeller University. Dengue fever is a known disease that is relatively mild, however studies have shown once received said virus, one is more susceptible to dangerous secondary infections. The teams studying this topic, aimed to reveal an explanation for the deadly come back of dengue fever. When looking only at patients who experienced a secondary disease, scientists found high levels of a specific type of antibody, which triggers an immune response. This finding made clear to scientists how the dengue virus causes antibodies to form in masses as a result of the primary infection of dengue, and these antibodies are used to inflict more damage when it returns. Severe forms of the disease, which occurs among those who have been infected before, can result in the patient developing hemorrhagic fever. This fever causes fluid leakage from their blood vessels and bleeding abnormally (from nose, gums, and under the skin). Extreme cases have resulted in the patient losing a large amount of blood causing them to go into shock. Recently, scientists have gone more into depth studying the regions of antibodies in blood, which originated from patients with mild and severe dengue infections. Researchers ultimately found that patients suffering a more severe case had reacted previously by producing elevated levels of antibodies, which made them more vulnerable for infection a second time.

            The multiple studies made as a goal to fight off this secondary infection, overall help in the development of treatment to prevent worsening conditions of Dengue fever.

Scientists are confident that with this new knowledge, they will be able to identify patients with possible severe conditions and treat them early on, as well as creating vaccines available to those trying to prevent/recover from a secondary disease. Overall the research is beneficial to anyone at risk for developing the virus, and definitely those who are experiencing a second occurrence.

            Reading the article, I was able to become more aware of what the dengue virus is and how it affects the population worldwide due to its form of transmission, which is through mosquitoes. Although the article was very informative, I found I didn’t have a great understanding when reading about antibodies and immune cells at first read. This is due to my lack of knowledge and vocabulary concerning biology at this point in my education. My disadvantage did create difficulty for me, however, the article can serve more purpose to a scientists working in this field. Personally I understand more when shown visual models, for example when trying to grasp the idea of how the disease reacts with production of antibodies, so I would respectively suggest that from a less educated perspective.

Citation:

Rockefeller University. "Why only some people develop life-threatening dengue infections." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 31 January 2017. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131124205.htm>. 

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170131124205.htm 

Scientists Have Discovered A New Organ In The Digestive System

Peter Brennan

Charles Ippolito

Core Biology 1

January 31 2017

Scientists Have Discovered A New Organ In The Digestive System 

For hundreds of years scientists have been debating whether the tissue connecting your organs to the intestinal wall was an organ in its own right. Leonardo Da Vinci included this tissue called the Mesentery in his own collection of works talking about the human body but scientists did not think it was an organ of its own right because they did not know if it was one continuous organ of just a group of connective tissue that seem similar. However in the past months an Irish medical scientist by the name of Dr. J. Calvin Coffey had discovered and published evidence saying that the mesentery was an individual organ and should be catalogued as such. In the article he wrote it said that mesentery science should be its own section of study and treatment. A quote in the article lays out a good statement “ The anatomic description that has been laid down for over 100 years of anatomy was incorrect” - Dr. J. Calvin Coffey, this quote just shows the kind of impact this is going to have on true medical community.

This finding will have a profound effect on how we as people study the human body. The famous Gray’s Anatomy textbook will have to be changed in order to include the new organ and all information retaining to it. This finding will help us better fight certain diseases by allowing us to more accurately identify where the problem is in the abdominal area. I can also help us to understand and work on certain types of abdominal cancer and others types of cancer in the lower half of true organ system.

Some of the strengths of this article are that it easily tell the reader what kind of effect this is going to have in the medical community and in our understanding of how our bodies work. One flaw with this article is that it does not dig down deep enough and really tell you about what the mesentery really does and how it affects our bodies. If I were to improve this article I would make the language less harsh on the eyes and include more information on what the mesentery is.

Gregoire, Carolyn. "Scientists Have Discovered A New Organ In The Digestive System." Scientists Have Discovered A New Organ In The Digestive System. Huffington Post, 4 Jan. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017. <http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/scientists-discover-new-organ-mesentery_us_586cfb55e4b0eb58648b3f76>.

"LEDs offer new way to kill germs in water"

The article “LEDs offer new way to kill germs in water” by, Sid Perkins explains how LED lights can be used to disinfect germs. Tiny wires grown on thin flexible metal sheets can now give of UV (ultraviolet light). The light would be able to disinfect the water, because the UV wavelengths range from about 10 to 380 nanometers (the part of the spectrum that can kill bacteria). And the higher the energy of the light the better job it would be at killing germs.

In this article Perkins informs the reader about how helpful these tools would be for new developing nations. It would help them because they would be able to have clean water. Many scientists like Robert Myers express their opinions, Meyers said, “ If we could make UV LEDs that are safe and portable and cheap, we could make safe drinking water wherever we need it”. Many other scientists agree with him, thinking that this new inventions could save lives by providing people with safe drinking water.

I thought this article was well written and Perkins did a good job explaining the possible how LEDs could offer new ways to kill germs. But to make this article better I think that Perkins could have listed more of the studies that found the information he talked about instead of just stating a few examples . Also I think that Perkins could have told the reader more specifics on the new invention. But besides those issues I think that  this article was easy to follow and I learned a lot about this nationwide problem. Hopefully articles like these will be able to raise awareness about the dangers of dirty drinking water.

Citations:

Perkins, Sid. "LEDs Offer New Way to Kill Germs in Water." Science News for Students. N.p., n.d. Web. 12 Jan. 2017

https://www.sciencenewsforstudents.org/article/leds-offer-new-way-kill-germs-water

Laser Helps Unlock Antimatter Secrets

Samantha Huss

Mr. Ippolito

D Block Odd

5 January 2017

Current Event 12

The article, “Laser Helps Unlock Antimatter Secrets” by Paul Rincon was very interesting and informative. It talks about the potential which a special laser has to unlock the secrets of antimatter which have remained unknown for so long. Antimatter and matter were produced in equal amounts during the big bang. However, it is extremely difficult to find and capture antimatter as it is destroyed on contact with matter. Recently, scientists developed a strategy of using a special magnetic trap to collect the antimatter version of hydrogen, antihydrogen, without destroying it. Once scientists were able to collect antimatter, they had a new goal of discovering its properties and developing more of an understanding of it as a whole. It is explained as, "The context is to see whether matter and antimatter obey the same laws of physics, which is required by the Standard Model," as stated by Prof Jeffrey Hangst. The Standard Model which he describes is the theory of the “fundamental building blocks of the universe.” The idea of how the two’s properties differ was tested by the use of a laser. It was questioned whether antihydrogen would react to a laser light at a specific frequency. The results were that the antihydrogen and hydrogen reacted in the same way to the laser light, supporting the Standard Model theory.

This article was very interesting to read and held significance to the world and our society. It is important to understand the creation of our world and the life which thrives on it, including us. Understanding the creation and existence of antimatter is key to gaining the knowledge of how it all began. To do this, smaller steps such as this experiment with the laser need to take place in order to gain a full comprehension.

Although this article was very interesting because of its contents, the author did not do a great job of using literary techniques to keep the reader enthralled. It was mostly just the giving of facts to the reader instead of the explanation and telling of what occurred. However, there was a lot of factual information which added to the credibility of the article and helped the reader to better understand the topic. One way to improve the article would be to add a little more explanation to the facts which were presented. Overall, this article was very interesting and I learned a lot about the existence and importance of antimatter in the universe.

Lyric Abbott

December 10, 2016

Core Biology

Current Event #10

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2016/12/09/science/mapping-three-decades-of-global-water-change.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=1&pgtype=sectionfront

Watkins, Derek, and Henry Fountain. "Mapping Three Decades of Global Water Change." The New York Times. N.p., 09 Dec. 2016. Web.

Mapping Three Decades of Global Water Change

In the article Mapping Three Decades of Global Water Change published in The New York Times by Derek Watkins and Henry Fountain, it is stated that researchers have found that rivers, lakes and other bodies of water around the United States have changed dramatically over three decades, in a negative way. Scientists with the European Commission’s Joint Research Center in Italy, working with Google engineers, have used millions of satellite images to illustrate their finding on how these bodies of water have changed. This project allows researchers to improve climate models and find evidence of the effects of climate change around the world. Although, regardless of this technology, “even the untrained eye can see the results of drought in the Western United States, for example, or of warming temperatures in the high country north of the Himalayas.” In the Western United States, drought and growing populations have led to a drawdown in the region’s biggest reservoir, Lake Mead, Nevada. This drought in bodies of water could potentially start affecting many more parts of the world and could become a huge global issue for the future to come as humans become more reckless with things like pollution.

The discovery of drought across the United States leaves a huge affect on the world for many reasons. As humans, we are the ones who have caused this drought due to how we pollute bodies of water with things like trash or oil. Aside from the United States, in other parts of the world lakes are actually growing in places like China, India, and Brazil which is a rather positive aspect from the article. “Warming temperatures are melting East Asia’s glaciers, and large lakes have formed from the runoff” which is a good thing for other countries. The fear is that the drought in lakes, oceans, reservoirs, etc will start occurring in other parts of the world like it currently is in the United States. “The project shows, in more detail than ever before, how nature and people, including human-induced climate change, alter the pathways of water covering about a million square miles of Earth's land surface. Even a simple activity, like digging river sand, can alter the landscape.” Overall the hope is that the drought in these bodies of water in the United States does not start occurring in other places around the world and that the pollution which is probably what is causing everything, decreases as well.

Overall I think this article was very well written and Watkins and Fountain provided me as the reader with a lot of facts about the negative change in rivers, lakes and other bodies of water in the United States. One strength of this article was how the authors included the satellite images of bodies of water in the US, Brazil, China, and India which helped me have a clearer idea of how important this occurrence is around the world. I thought one weakness to the article was that Watkins and Fountain did not really explain why bodies of water are decreasing in the United States and not other countries and I kind of had to assume it was due to pollution and reckless care of the environment by Americans. I think that this could have been improved and also I felt that he focused more on the project of the satellite images rather than the actual research so I think it would have been better to write more about the research since that was what the overall topic was about and what I was reading felt rather vague. In general though, I learned a lot more about the dramatic change in bodies of water across America over the past decade and how this could potentially be really bad for not only America but for the world.  

New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals

Caroline Brashear

Mr. Ippolito

Core Biology

January 31, 2017

The article, “New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals,” by Nicholas Wade, introduces the idea of growing human stem cells in pig embryos to be later used for human transplant, which has recently been successful for the first time. In order to do this, stem cells must be collected from a patient’s skin for the new organ to grow in a large animal like a pig, which will later be harvested and transplanted into the patient. A beneficial aspect to this approach is that since the organ will be made of the patient’s cells, there would be little risk of immune rejection. These human-organ-growing pigs are examples of chimeras, which are animals composed of both their own cells and that of a human, created by implanting human stem cells into an early pig embryo. The author also highlights some negative outcomes that could result from this process, which include the possibility of the human cells being incorporated into a pig’s brain or reproductive system, humanizing the animal in an undesirable way. All in all, to achieve the goal of growing human organs for transplant in a way that addresses ethical concerns about chimera research will require several years of development and testing, but it is achievable in the future, considering new techniques that allow human cells to be channeled into organs of interest and excluded for tissues such as that of the reproductive and brain.

I chose this article because it discusses a scientific breakthrough that could help many people in the future who are in need of organs. Currently, approximately 76,000 people in the United States are waiting for transplants, so new methods to help people in need are necessary.

This article was well-written, as it was easy to follow and each concept introduced was thoroughly explained. The author also did a good job of providing background information regarding prior trials of this method being tested, including previous successes and failures in the experimentation of this process. Additionally, the author provided quotes from biologists and their teams to provide the reader with an inside perspective. Although, one way the article could be improved would be to condense the information into less lengthy paragraphs and get the point across faster without including unnecessary repetitive explanations. Ultimately, it provided me with new in-depth knowledge on an interesting subject that will hopefully bring new success to the medical field.

Citation:

Wade, Nicholas. "New Prospects for Growing Human Replacement Organs in Animals."The New York Times. N.p., 26 Jan. 2017. Web. 31 Jan. 2017.   

<https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/science/chimera-stemcells-organs.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science®ion=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront>.

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/26/science/chimera-stemcells-organs.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience&action=click&contentCollection=science&region=rank&module=package&version=highlights&contentPlacement=9&pgtype=sectionfront