Thursday, 23 September 2010
Scientific American: "How We Are Evolving"
When people hear the word evolution they often automatically think of the beginning of time or the Darwin Theory. Recent genetic studies have proved that the human race is still evolving. Thousands of years ago when some of the early nomadic people migrated to the Tibetan Plateau. The plateau is located in central Asia in the alps.They were not only faced with cold temperatures and scarce resources but a high altitude that made it hard for the new comers respiration. The altitude resulted in altitude sickness and a high infant mortality rate. The recent study on the Tibetans showed that a genetic variation that altered their red blood cell production enabling them to be able to cope with the low oxygen levels. This shows how they evolved over time just like other cultures have done for thousands of years to adapt to different climates. The proof of the peoples immunity to the high altitudes can really be seen when foreign climbers that try and face Everest are left breathless compared to the well tuned Tibetan guides. We can still see evidence of humans evolving today. For example, some people are more capable of handling cold temperatures than hot and vice versa depending on genes of past generations and where the family is from. This article can show a lot on how genetically different people are all over the world. Even more so is the fact that climate can alter such a complicated system as the biology of a human body over a period of time. Its pretty amazing what humans can go through to survive. Most of us in the U.S. have no idea of the harsh conditions that some people live in every day. These conditions to them have become just a part of everyday life whether it is having to walk miles to a source of water every day or relying on a fire to provide for life in the colder climates.
Monday, 20 September 2010
New Anti-Obesity Drug Dismissed by FDA Panel
The drug lorcaserin was disapproved Thursday by the FDA panel. Lorcaserin is an anti-obesity drug. It acts on the brain's serotin, a neurotransmitter involved in appetite, digestion, memory, mood, and other function. The FDA requires new diet drugs to help people lose at least five percent more of their body weight than a placebo. People on on lorcaserin lost about 3.3 percent more weight than those on placebo. The drug did however meet another FDA criteria that at least twice as many people taking the medication lose five percent or more of their weight. The company that makes this drug is still trying to get approval from the FDA panel. Another drug Qnexa, was disapproved and Contrave is still waiting for approval or disapproval. A lot of these anti-obesity drugs are being pulled off the shelves due to being linked to strokes and heart attacks.
I found this article to be very interesting due to the fact that obesity is a big problem in the world today. It is a good thing to know that companys are making drugs to combat obesity however there is still a lot of research to do to make these drugs effective and safe at the same time. I learned that it takes a panel in the FDA to determine whether a drug is safe enough to hit the market or not.
I found this article to be very interesting due to the fact that obesity is a big problem in the world today. It is a good thing to know that companys are making drugs to combat obesity however there is still a lot of research to do to make these drugs effective and safe at the same time. I learned that it takes a panel in the FDA to determine whether a drug is safe enough to hit the market or not.
Aaron White
Friday, 17 September 2010
Food for Pets
The article I chose to discuss comes from Science Daily and it is titled Veterinarian Says Natural Foods Not Always Best for Pets. The article is on a Kansas State veterinarian who thinks that all pet healthy pet foods that it is very important to pets to get a well balanced diet, not just a constant diet of fruit and vegetable based pet foods. The veterinarian is not trying to push a false statement in saying that the natural pet foods aren’t healthy because they are. Pets just need all parts of the food pyramid just like humans do.
The best way to make sure pets get a quality healthy amount of all nutrients is by making sure the food has an AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement on its label. That organization has made sure that the food has a well balanced nutrient requirement or made sure the company has been threw feeding trials. The veterinarian also says it is important to know the difference between words like natural, organic and holistic. These words have no true definition in pet food terms under the Association of American Feed Control Officials guidelines.
The veterinarian said that it is important to monitor your pets’ health especially if you’re changing food products. It is important to look for the AAFCO nutritional adequacy statement on the products label and not to always think that natural/organic labeled foods are enough for your pets’ diet. I thought it was interesting that the organic labels really don’t mean anything when it comes to picking a healthy product for your pets. It doesn’t seem fair or even legal really because it is almost false advertisement. It is not fair to the buyer that goes out trying to find the best product pet and gets suckered in to buying something that might not be very good for their pet.
Matt Racer
Monday, 13 September 2010
Coral bleaching in Indonesia: Chris Wolfe
I chose an article about coral bleaching in Indonesia. I chose this article because both of my parents are scientists. My dad has taken a group of students to a very small island in the Bahamas for a week long marine biology trip since before I was born. I have gone every
year of my life except the last two. I know a majority of every fish,
creature, coral, and sponge that lives around that island. Over the
years I have seen the decline in living coral, and the abundance of
their limestone skeletons sweeping the ocean, from miles of huge,
dramatic, elegant elk horn coal, into graveyards. I think because I
have witnessed this first hand I have taken an interest to it. What a
lot of people don't know is that coral is an animal. A head of coral
is a limestone skeleton filled with small polyups, corals are cnidarians, just the same as jellyfish or hydras. I chose this article because I don't think this issue is addressed or as commonly known as it should be, or say an endangered bear or bird would be. In this article it says that
a large-scale bleaching event due to high ocean temperatures
appears to be underway off the coast of Sumatra, an Indonesian island.
Bleaching occurs when the coral becomes stressed for any reason. When
it becomes stressed, for an unknown reason, it expels it polyups. I
learned from this article that along with global warming effecting the
coral, ocean acidification is also contributing to it. The article
says that it is partially due to rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the
atmosphere and that it could prove more devastating in the long-run to
coral ecosystems than elevated sea temperatures, which I found
intriguing. It also says that 60 percent of corals were bleached and follow up assessments revealed one of the most rapid and severe coral mortality events ever recorded with 80 percent of some species dying.
Chris Wolfe
year of my life except the last two. I know a majority of every fish,
creature, coral, and sponge that lives around that island. Over the
years I have seen the decline in living coral, and the abundance of
their limestone skeletons sweeping the ocean, from miles of huge,
dramatic, elegant elk horn coal, into graveyards. I think because I
have witnessed this first hand I have taken an interest to it. What a
lot of people don't know is that coral is an animal. A head of coral
is a limestone skeleton filled with small polyups, corals are cnidarians, just the same as jellyfish or hydras. I chose this article because I don't think this issue is addressed or as commonly known as it should be, or say an endangered bear or bird would be. In this article it says that
a large-scale bleaching event due to high ocean temperatures
appears to be underway off the coast of Sumatra, an Indonesian island.
Bleaching occurs when the coral becomes stressed for any reason. When
it becomes stressed, for an unknown reason, it expels it polyups. I
learned from this article that along with global warming effecting the
coral, ocean acidification is also contributing to it. The article
says that it is partially due to rising carbon dioxide concentrations in the
atmosphere and that it could prove more devastating in the long-run to
coral ecosystems than elevated sea temperatures, which I found
intriguing. It also says that 60 percent of corals were bleached and follow up assessments revealed one of the most rapid and severe coral mortality events ever recorded with 80 percent of some species dying.
Chris Wolfe
Tuesday, 7 September 2010
Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable
Article Chosen: Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable
Location: The Science Daily (September 5th, 2010)
Blog:
I chose to read and discuss “Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable” which I found in The Science Daily because it pertains to the lesson in which we have been covering in class. Within the past two classes we have covered the basic fundamentals within Biology. For example the make up of the different domains of life and the common features in which organisms have been categorized within the scientific field. This article talks about a new finding made by Professor Colin Hill a scientist who is now presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham. He has found that the bacteria Listeria although it can be harmful to the human body, it does not always present itself in that manner. The article goes on to discuss the different factors in which Listeria and other bacterial use the human body as an aid to infect the stomach and therefore cause different levels of food poisoning. For example, “One of the biggest challenges faced by food-borne bacteria is acid. Acidic conditions, particularly in the stomach and in the gut will kill most microbes found in contaminated food..” This statement talks about the areas of the body which have enough of a harsh environment which the stomach acid can kill the bacteria. Although with Hill’s new finding he has shown that some bacterial dwell so far into some foods that the effects can still be found. Therefore explaining why food poisoning can never be predicted. I believe that this article coordinates with what we have been learning in class because of the different domains of life. Listeria would be considered a prokaryote and would be found in the “bacteria” domain.
I found this article to be interesting because of a past experience, which I had over the summer. I found that after having ate “peel and ready to eat” shrimp I because severely ill within the following 24 hours. Although that time I was in fact very ill, later at another date I once again tried the same type of shrimp and it did not affect me at all. I found it very interesting to read over the article and find some meaning behind why each time may or may not infect the body.
Blake DiMeglio
Location: The Science Daily (September 5th, 2010)
Blog:
I chose to read and discuss “Talented Bacteria Make Food Poisoning Unpredictable” which I found in The Science Daily because it pertains to the lesson in which we have been covering in class. Within the past two classes we have covered the basic fundamentals within Biology. For example the make up of the different domains of life and the common features in which organisms have been categorized within the scientific field. This article talks about a new finding made by Professor Colin Hill a scientist who is now presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham. He has found that the bacteria Listeria although it can be harmful to the human body, it does not always present itself in that manner. The article goes on to discuss the different factors in which Listeria and other bacterial use the human body as an aid to infect the stomach and therefore cause different levels of food poisoning. For example, “One of the biggest challenges faced by food-borne bacteria is acid. Acidic conditions, particularly in the stomach and in the gut will kill most microbes found in contaminated food..” This statement talks about the areas of the body which have enough of a harsh environment which the stomach acid can kill the bacteria. Although with Hill’s new finding he has shown that some bacterial dwell so far into some foods that the effects can still be found. Therefore explaining why food poisoning can never be predicted. I believe that this article coordinates with what we have been learning in class because of the different domains of life. Listeria would be considered a prokaryote and would be found in the “bacteria” domain.
I found this article to be interesting because of a past experience, which I had over the summer. I found that after having ate “peel and ready to eat” shrimp I because severely ill within the following 24 hours. Although that time I was in fact very ill, later at another date I once again tried the same type of shrimp and it did not affect me at all. I found it very interesting to read over the article and find some meaning behind why each time may or may not infect the body.
Blake DiMeglio
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