Coming Back from the Dead

Coming Back from the Dead

Hey guys, it's been a while so I thought I would do something along the lines of Genetics. Also, I feel this would be sort of festive with Halloween coming up, so I thought this would be appropriate for this month's post.
Remember those times when you watched all those horror movies that had to do with monsters and zombies that came back from the dead? Well now, that may actually be a possibility. Scientists have recently found a bacteria called Deinococcus radiodurans which is able to withstand very extreme UV radiation and heat. In fact, it doesn't technically survive under these conditions because it actually destroys the bacteria's genome and breaks it apart into hundreds of fragments of DNA. Then in a few hours it reassembles all the fragments back into it's original genome, thus bringing it back to life. Unlike most bacteria, Deinococcus radiodurans doesn't divide rapidly, instead it has evolved to become more robust to its environment. It is similar the neuron cells in our body, Deinococcus radiodurans carries two copies of its genomes. So what is really behind this weird magic trick?

The Process of Resurrection
When the genome initially breaks apart, it shatters into hundreds of double-helix DNA fragments. Proteins then come to break down the ends of the fragments which created single stranded DNA which are called "tails". Those tails were then called "sticky ends" since they could combine with each other. But they sticky ends must be complimentary to each other. This basically means that the sequence of nucleic bases must be the opposite of the other, and so they attract. (Ex: Adenine is attracted to Thymine, and Guanine is attracted to Cytosine.) A protein helps organize the strands of DNA  into circular chromosomes that help make up the bacteria's characteristics. After the genome is back together again, then the bacteria cell can create proteins, lipids, and the membranes. Because of the bacteria's strong tolerance to the most extreme conditions scientists are very excited about new applications of this technique and what this could mean towards the future of health and genetics.
Habitat
It has numerous habitats that it lives in but since researchers have commonly found it in various soils it has been classified as a soil bacteria. Usually, it is cultured from elephant dung and doesn't have any significant interactions with other organisms making it practically harmless.
History
Deinococcus radiodurans was the first discovered in 1956 by Arthur W. Anderson in Oregon Agricultural Experiment Station in Corvallis,Oregon, It had been found in a can of meat which had been treated with very large amounts of radiation to sterilize it from hazardous bacteria. It's complete DNA sequence was first published in 1999 by TIGR. It's durability was put to the test and finally Scientists came found that Deinococcus can survive up to 1,000 times that amount of radiation that would kill a regular human being.
Applications
This mechanism of resurrection has paved a very bright future in the areas of health and biotechnology.  For example, scientists believe that they can use this mechanism to help the regeneration of neuron cells inside the human body. In fact, we may be able to utilize this to bring life back to various types of cells in our bodies.
This post might be a little short, don't worry I'll post one or two more in this month. Hope you guys enjoyed this fun little post!

A Shallow Attack

Did you know that a shark attack on a human usually happens in less than 6 feet 6 inches of calm water with a relatively short distance from shore. This is a common misconception with many people who believe shark attacks happen in very deep waters isolated from an sight of land.

The Fifth Leg

Did you know that a walking kangaroo's tail works just as hard as an average human's leg at strolling speed? The tail acts as a fifth leg for the kangaroo and helps make the hop of the kangaroo more effective. If you want more about kangaroos visit National Geographic!

Man's Best Friend: The First Living Thing to Orbit the Earth (and come back alive)

Did you know two dogs named Belka and Strelka were the first living organisms to orbit the Earth?

Their real names were Albina and Markiza but they were renamed because the country's leadership didn't like foreign names. In August 1960, they orbited the Earth 15 times and their voyage was a little over 24 hours. When they returned from space they were studied to see what impact space had on their bodies. After, they died natural deaths and were old in age. Today, Belka and Strelka are located at the Cosmonautics Memorial Museum in Moscow.

The Slow Eater

Did you know it takes a giant panda up to 16 hours to eat bamboo? This is because bamboo is very poor in nutrition, thus pandas must to consume 20 kg of bamboo to meet their dietary needs.

Gazelles

Did you know when Gazelles jump it actually slows the Gazelles down when it is being chased by a predator? It is used as a taunt to show the how fit the Gazelle is. This technique is called stotting.

The Decoy

Did you know when in danger, lizards have the ability to lose their tail to distract and confuse their predator? The tail that was left will then move to give time for the lizard to escape while the predator is confused. The tail will then grow back slimmer and in a different color.

The Amazing Water Bear

The Amazing Water Bear

You think Superman may be the most indestructible hero in the DC Universe. These living water bears may be the next best thing in our reality.
 
Water bears, also known as Tardigrades, can live in the most extreme conditions found on Earth. The  tardigrade is so resilient it can even survive in outer space! Outer space is as extreme as it can get for a living organism. Not only that but these water bears are able to curl up into dry dehydrated balls in survive for decades without any hydration. Then you can animate them back to a lively state in seconds with a single drop of water! Many scientists can find them in hot springs or in layers of ice on Himalayan mountaintops.
         Many scientists have tested the limits of these hardy tardigrades. They were tested where they survived being frozen at -328 degrees Fahrenheit or heated to more than 300 degrees Fahrenheit, and are even capable of coming out unscathed from pressures as powerful as 6000 times that of the Earth's atmosphere. They are capable of surviving doses radiation that are thousands of times stronger than the amount needed to be fatal to an average human being. If you want to go so extreme a group of European researchers in 2007 exposed a group of dehydrated tardigrades to the vacuum and solar radiation of outer space for ten days. When they descended to Earth and rehydrated, 68 percent of them that were shielded from the radiation lived. Even a couple of tardigrades that were exposed with no radiation protection came back to life and could produce healthy offspring.

          So how can these tardigrades survive in such harsh conditions? Well, this is because they have a unique feature that allows them to immerse into a dehydrated state that simulating death or is very similar to death. When their environment puts stress on them, a tardigrade only has to curl up into a dry and death like state called a tun, which helps reduce metabolic activity which can be as low as .01 percent of normal levels. Thus, to get to the tun state the tardigrade produces a special protective sugar called trehalose, which forms a gel-like medium. This preserves the organelles and membranes that make up the organism's cells. In this form, the water bear can survive for decades and even longer periods of time. For instance, scientists were able to take dehydrated tardigrades that were in a museum sample of dried moss that was more than 100 years old and brought them back to life. However, the longer the tardigrade is in this state it's chances of being brought back to life get lower.
           The tun is not the only form that the tardigrade has. In fact this creature has various other forms it is capable of transforming into when necessary in a certain environment it is living in. For example, if the oxygen in their water medium decreases so low that they cannot use enough oxygen for respiration they will stretch out into a long relaxed state where their metabolic rate is reduced but their muscles will be relaxed enough to let in as much water and oxygen into their cells as possible. In addition, if the temperature in a tardigrade's environment drops abruptly to below freezing, it would form a special cold-resistant tun, with molecules that help prevent the formation of large ice crystals that could potentially cell membranes.
          Tardigrades surprisingly have the most foreign DNA of any animal known to man. Tardigrades do not belong to any known Phylum. Most of you probably thought they belonged with the Arthropods. The tardigrade has it's own special phylum made just for them called Tardigrada. But, doesn't it have the anatomy of an arthropod? Well that is not the case, the anatomy of the tardigade is not like a typical Arthropod although it does have eight legs and might put it into the Arachnids. On the contrary, the tardigrade has a head region of an arthropod put a short body with four fuse segments unlike an arthropod. Extending from the body are 8 unjointed limbs with several sharp claws on the ends. They have no specialized organs of circulation or respiration, and the alimentary canal goes from one end of the body and out the other. The tardigrade has stylets near the mouth that helps pierce individual plant cells and suck out the cell contents. However, some tardigrades are carnivores.

Watch out for these fearsome creatures, they could be lurking in the infinite depths of outer space or just feasting on your grass in the backyard. I hope you enjoyed today's blog post!

Llamas

Did you know that llamas have three stomachs? Did you also know that llamas even have their own font? Use it here.
 

Dogs

Did you know dogs have a special membrane called the tapetum lucidum that allows them to see in the dark?

Super Hair!

Did you know a full head of human hair can support 12 TONS???