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!

Neurons

     Neurons
Neurons, an essential part of the body, without neurons we wouldn't be able to feel or react to anything around us. Besides going through the boring 7th grade science class material, let's really get deep into the science behind neurons.
      The Art of the Neurotransmitter
 Neurotransmitters are like the messengers in our body. They allow messages from the brain to be relayed to the rest of the body. These messages are sent as electrical impulses through a network of neurons. How do you think you know how to behave or how to flinch when something is coming flying at your face? Yes, the brain automatically responds, but what if the message was never received? That would be a problem. These neurotransmitters also carry different chemicals throughout your body to change your behavior. These are some of the chemicals that are sent throughout your body.
Serotonin- Serotonin is a chemical that is sent from the brain to control mood, appetite, and sleep. Depression can be cause by low serotonin levels. Medication prescribed to patients with low serotonin levels act by blocking the serotonin from the sending neuron and thus, more serotonin stays in the synapse of the receiving neuron.
Dopamine- Dopamine helps control movement and adding the flow information to the front of the brain and is linked to thought processes and emotion. Too much or too little dopamine in the brain might be associated with ADHD or schizophrenia.
Glutamate- Glutamate is one of the most common neurotransmitters. Glutamate plays an important role in early brain development and helps with learning and memory.
    What may cause a dysfunction in the neurotransmitter pathways?
Many factors are in place when it comes to relaying messages from the brain to the rest of the body. The speed has to be just right, the tiny gap between the neurons have to be just right, and the neuron has to be in perfect functioning condition. if any of these things are a tiny bit off then something could go terribly wrong. You might be asking yourself at this point, then why aren't I twitching like a defective toy on my floor? That is because neurons continue to grow and make more connections with other neurons. These connections are the reason the the neurons in our body haven't died yet. As we grow older, many of our neurons start to die off, and the age of 75 you will have approximately, one tenth the number of neurons you had as a kid. Don't freak, but when you are born you have more neurons that you can possibly need. plus, the neurons you already have grow and form new connections. These connections make up for the neurons you lost. An additional bonus is the glial cell. This is a type of brain cell that divides to form new cells in order to increase the efficiency of your living neurons and provide a framework to help support them. Feel better now? Although your body is doing a lot to help make sure these neurons are kept safe, there are diseases that specifically target the neurons.
Have you ever heard of Motor Neuron Disease or ALS? If you haven't heard of that you must have heard about the Ice Bucket Challenge. If you haven't heard about either one of these things then you are about to! Motor Neuron Disease or ALS is a disease that specifically targets the nervous system. Guess what it does. If you know that motor neurons are what control your movements then you would know that ALS effects your movement and weakens your muscles. This is actually a really rare disease, less than 20,000 U.S. cases per year.  It is a progressive neurodegenerative disease, this means that it cause your motor neurons to die off. You have to remember that a neuron can't grow back like a regular cell, once it is gone, it is gone forever. However, there are some neurons that have the ability to grow back, but if you have ALS that is not the case. ALS causes you to struggle with many voluntary daily actions. Like reaching for the phone or shaking somebody's hand. ALS was discovered in 1869 by a French neurologist Jean-Martin Charcot. However, it officially brought national and international attention about the disease by Lou Gehrig in 1939. Many possible causes of ALS could accumulate from Genetic mutation, a chemical imbalance in glutamate, or a disorganized immune system. The immune system can begin to start attacking the body's neurons or the chemical imbalance of glutamate can kill off neurons. If you have a loved one that has ALS, I am really feeling for you! ALS is serious and I hope all of you readers out there learn and spread the word about ALS.

Stem Cells

Sorry Guys, that this post came very late. But I have been very busy! I think I might be posting once a week from now on. So now for our next topic of interest!

   Stem Cells
Stem Cells, the most fascinating cell, in my opinion, in the human body. It may also be the future cure for many diseases such as Alzheimer's. But before we get any further down that road, let's first ask ourselves, what is a stem cell?
    Think of a stem cell as a backup or an interchangeable part. A stem cell, is literally just a cell that has no specific function or purpose. However, the special thing about stem cells is that they can literally become any type of cell. Stem cells are kind of like the repair system of the body. A stem cell can become a nerve cell, a brain cell, or a red blood cell. These cells are also capable of renewing themselves through cell division. As long as the organism is alive, the stem cells can help stock up when there is a shortage in a specific type of cell. Since, these cells do not have any specialized purpose that is why they are so important to the future of health. However, stem cells must be derived in the earliest stages before they are assigned a specific job. That way, scientist can "program" it to become something they want it to be. However, not all stem ells can turn into anything. There are specific categories of stem cells based on the different things these stem cells can become.
There is the:
     Totipotent Stem Cell- This type of stem cell can turn into any type of cell type. An example of one of these stem cells is the zygote formed at egg fertilization, also the first few cells from division of the zygote.
     Pluripotent Stem Cell- This type of stem cell is able to become almost all cell types.
      Multipotent Stem Cell- This type of stem cell can only differentiate into closely related family of cells.
      Oligopotent Cell- the ability to differentiate into a few cells.
      Unipotent- the ability to only produce cells of their own, however, they still have they characteristic of renewing itself so it is classified as a stem cell.
     Now that you have a little background on stem cells. How do these cells actually help contribute to science and technology? The most obvious answer would probably be tissue regeneration. Stem cells are able to turn into any type of cell, thus they should be able to replenish tissue cells. But most researchers working with stem cells are trying to use them to help cure disease. Alzheimer's is one of the biggies they are working on currently. Alzheimer's disease is the most common for of dementia. It is not the classic grandma scenario where she forgets her keys on the kitchen table. It is a lot more than that. Alzheimer's Disease attacks the part of the brain that controls memory.The survival range for Alzheimer's Disease is 4 to 20 years. Stem cells can possibly cure Alzheimer's Disease, If scientists can program stem cells to turn into brain cells then it would cure Alzheimer's Disease in a way. New brain cells will be reproduced and they can renew themselves. The old brain cells would die off by the disease. Although, the only flaw is that the brain is made up of a complex system of neurons. These stem cells that would be transplanted into the brain must overcome a series of difficult obstacles. They would have to travel to the parts of the brain that were effected by the disease. Also, they would have to produce a lot of the different types of neurons to actually replace the lost cells. Most importantly, they would have to effectively replace the broken connections of the complex network of neurons. Scientists are currently testing stem cell transplants on mice, (who would've thought, right?) and signs have shown benefits. The current research with stem cells can help scientists find new drugs to help counter the disease. Maybe in the next few years we will see stem cell research used on humans. I hope this has been fun. Bye guys!