BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Author: ellectron

Ants Play Dead?

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On May 30, 2023

In Student Post

Ants are known for their amazing survival strategies, from building complex colonies to working together to gather food. However, researchers have discovered a new survival strategy used by ants on Kangaroo Island in Australia: playing dead. In a recent study, published in the journal Ecology, researchers found that ants on Kangaroo Island would freeze and stop moving when they sensed a predator nearby, effectively playing dead to avoid being attacked. This strategy, known as thanatosis or “playing dead,” has been observed in other insects, but this is the first time it has been documented in ants. The researchers studied two species of ants on Kangaroo Island: the meat ant (Iridomyrmex purpureus) and the bull ant (Myrmecia pyriformis). They found that when the ants were exposed to potential predators, such as spiders or lizards, they would freeze and remain motionless for up to 15 minutes. This behavior appeared to be a successful defense mechanism, as the predators did not attack the ants while they were in this state. The researchers also discovered that the ants used chemical signals to communicate with one another during this process. When a predator was detected, the ants would release a chemical signal that alerted other ants to play dead as well. This allowed the entire colony to effectively avoid being attacked by predators. This discovery sheds light on the complex and sophisticated survival strategies of ants, and raises questions about how other species may have evolved similar behaviors to avoid being preyed upon.

Portrait of an ant, profile view

While the behavior of “playing dead” may be new to ants, it is not uncommon in other species. Many animals have evolved this strategy as a way to avoid predators. Here are a few examples: Opossums are well-known for their ability to play dead. When they sense danger, they will fall to the ground and remain motionless, with their tongue hanging out and their eyes closed. This behavior can last for several minutes, fooling predators into thinking they are dead and leaving them alone.  Some species of snakes, such as the hognose snake, will play dead when threatened. They will roll onto their back, open their mouth, and emit a foul-smelling odor. This behavior can deter predators from attacking them. Some species of fish, such as the threespine stickleback, will “play dead” by floating upside down when they sense danger. This can make them appear unappetizing to predators, and increase their chances of survival. Species may evolve to play dead as a survival strategy to avoid being preyed upon by predators. By appearing lifeless, an animal may fool a predator into thinking that it is not worth attacking, or that it has already been killed. This can provide the animal with an opportunity to escape, or to wait until the predator moves on before resuming its normal activities. Playing dead can be particularly effective when an animal is confronted by a predator that relies on movement or other cues to detect prey. By remaining still and appearing lifeless, the animal may be able to avoid being detected altogether. In addition, playing dead can be a low-cost defense mechanism that does not require the animal to expend a lot of energy or risk injury in a fight with a predator. The evolution of the “playing dead” strategy is likely a response to the pressure of predation and has allowed many species to survive in environments where they might otherwise be vulnerable to attack.

The discovery of ants “playing dead” on Kangaroo Island is a fascinating insight into the survival strategies of these insects. It highlights the complexity and sophistication of ant behavior and raises questions about how other species may have evolved similar strategies to avoid predators. As we continue to study the behavior of animals, we may uncover even more surprising and innovative survival strategies.

Genetic Variation the Savior

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On April 30, 2023

In Student Post

In the article “Genetic variation in the SARS-CoV-2 receptor ACE2 among different populations and its implications for COVID-19,” published in Nature Communications, the authors explore the genetic variation in the ACE2 receptor across different populations and its potential impact on COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. The ACE2 receptor is a key entry point for the SARS-CoV-2 virus into human cells. Its expression level and genetic variants may affect the virus’s ability to infect and replicate within the host. Therefore, understanding the genetic variation in ACE2 among different populations can provide insights into the different susceptibilities and severity of COVID-19 seen across the world. The authors analyzed genetic data from various global populations and found that there is significant genetic variation in ACE2 between populations. Specifically, they identified several ACE2 variants that are more prevalent in certain populations, including a “variant that is more common in East Asian populations” and may affect the receptor’s expression level.

Microorganisms-08-01259-g001

The authors also conducted in vitro experiments – medical procedures, tests, and experiments that researchers perform outside of a living organism – to investigate the impact of these ACE2 variants on SARS-CoV-2 infection. They found that some variants, such as the one more prevalent in East Asian populations, led to reduced viral entry and replication, while others did not significantly affect viral infection. These findings suggest that genetic variation in ACE2 may contribute to the different COVID-19 outcomes observed across different populations. For instance, the higher prevalence of the ACE2 variant in East Asian populations may explain why these populations had a lower incidence of severe COVID-19 despite being initially hit hard by the pandemic. Furthermore, the author highlights the importance of considering genetic variation when developing COVID-19 treatments and vaccines. For instance, vaccines that were designed based on the original strain of SARS-CoV-2 may be less effective against strains that have evolved to better utilize ACE2 variants prevalent in certain populations. Overall, the article sheds light on the genetic variation in ACE2 among different populations and its implications for COVID-19 susceptibility and severity. The authors’ findings show the importance of taking genetic diversity into account when studying diseases and developing treatments and vaccines, particularly in the context of a global pandemic. In our recent DNA unit in class genetic variation was one of the topics of discussion, genetic variation is extremely important for the survival of a population as there is an easier chance that the species will be able to adapt and survive in different situations. Without genetic variation, many species can die out and therefore including the topic of genetic variation in viruses like covid-19 is extremely detrimental to the survival of humans when fighting this illness.

How Baby Kangaroos Are Helping Climate Change

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On March 5, 2023

In Student Post

In the world, there are over 1 billion cows and calves, roughly 4.3 times as many cows as people living in the United States. Cows are the number one source of greenhouse gases worldwide, with a single cow producing 220 pounds of methane gas a year. Methane (CH4) is a colorless, odorless, and highly flammable gas, composed of carbon and hydrogen. Being a potent greenhouse gas, it impacts climate change by increasing global warming according to the US Environmental Protection Agency. Methane affects our environment but it can also impact humans “high levels of methane can reduce the amount of oxygen breathed from the air. This can result in mood changes, slurred speech, vision problems, memory loss, nausea, vomiting, facial flushing, and headache. In severe cases, there may be changes in breathing and heart rate, balance problems, numbness, and unconsciousness“. Although this is in extreme cases. Recently, scientists may have discovered a methane inhibitor that could reduce the amount of methane cows release. This source comes from an interesting source though: Baby kangaroo feces.

 

It's a cowspiracy ! - Wake up and smell the methane. (23335965671)

 

Researchers from Washington State University wanted to figure out a solution to lower methane gas production rates in cows seeing as people enjoy eating red meat and taking them entirely out of the equation is not a feasible answer. They performed a study using baby kangaroo fecal matter to develop a microbial culture that inhibited methane production in a cow’s stomach stimulator. This resulted in cows producing acetic acid – is also known as ethanoic acid, ethylic acid, vinegar acid, and methane carboxylic acid; it has the chemical formula of CH3COOH. Acetic acid is a byproduct of fermentation and gives vinegar its characteristic odor. Vinegar is about 4-6% acetic acid in water – in place of methane. Acetic acid is not just a waste product in a cow like methane but is actually beneficial for the cow as it helps muscle growth. Not only would lowering rates of methane production in cows be beneficial for the environment but also for the cow as the cow wastes around 10% of its energy in methane production. Researchers have tried chemical inhibitors but the methane-producing bacteria has become resistant each time. The actual experiment all began with the researcher’s study of fermentation and anaerobic processes, which lead to the creation of an artificial lumen designed to stimulate cow digestion. Then they began investigating how they could outcompete the methane-producing bacteria and learned that – specifically – baby kangaroos have acetic acid-producing bacteria instead of methane-producing bacteria. Researchers were “unable to separate out specific bacteria that might be producing the acetic acid, the researchers used a stable mixed culture developed from the feces of the baby kangaroo.” Eventually, the acetic acid bacteria was able to replace the methane-producing microbes for several months having similar growth rates. Researchers hope to eventually test their system outside of a stimulated rumen and on a real cow sometime in the future. This connects to our unit of enzymes and enzyme inhibitors. Enzymes allow the cell to perform tasks with less energy by binding to reactant molecules and holding them in a way that breaks the chemical bond allowing bond-forming processes to take place more easily. Enzyme inhibitors are molecules that bind to the active site – competitive inhibition – or the allosteric site – noncompetitive inhibition – making the enzyme unbindable, reducing the rate of enzyme-catalyzed reaction, or preventing it from happening altogether. This is what the researchers are trying to do in their study, inhibit the enzyme in the methane-producing bacteria and allow the acetic acid bacteria to grow instead. Overall, if this process proves to work in real cows it could be a huge advancement in the slowing down of climate change.

 

 

 

 

Improvements for Kidney Cancer Treatments

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On January 16, 2023

In Student Post

Cancer is a disease where some of the body’s cells grow uncontrollably and spread to other parts of the body. Approximately 39.5% of men and women will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime and an estimate of cancer survivors in 2030 will be around 22.2 million – this study was done in 2020. In 2021 statistics showed that roughly one in every two people will get cancer in their lifetimes the biggest reason being that people are living longer lives, with the main range of people getting cancer being those over 70 years old. Recently the HSE – which is the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) is Britain’s national regulator for workplace health and safety. It prevents work-related death, injury, and ill health – has “discovered genes that are specific to the most aggressive subtype of clear cell renal carcinoma”. Clear cell renal carcinoma or ccRCC is a type of kidney cancer. The kidneys cleanse the blood of toxins and change the waste into urine, the two kidneys together filter 200 liters of fluid every 24 hours – balancing the body’s fluids. ccRCC is a rare type of cancer where when one looks at the cells under the microscope the cells look clear. For adults, ccRCC is the most common type of kidney cancer and it is more common in adults than in children. ccRCC makes up between 2-6% of childhood and young adult kidney cancer cases. Patients who are diagnosed with ccRCC tend to have a worse prognosis than patients diagnosed with different subtypes of RCC “with 5-year disease-specific survival rates of 50-69%, compared with 67-87% for papillary RCC and 78-87% for chRCC“. This recent genetic discovery by Grigory Puzanov, a research fellow at the HSE Faculty of Computer Science International Laboratory of Bioinformatics, could change the clinical treatment course of ccRCC patients.

Histopathology of renal clear cell carcinoma

Puzanov analyzed data from 456 patients with the disease identifying cancer subtypes that have favorable or unfavorable prognoses. His study reveals the ccRCC subtypes that are more dangerous than others and what specific human genes appear responsible for the progression of the disease. The discovery of this is significant for the early detection of tumors and for designing a personal treatment for the patient – this is especially important because most patients are diagnosed after ccRCC has already advanced to later stages. The way that Puzanov analyzed the data from the 456 tumor samples was using the k-means method – where the algorithm randomly chooses a centroid for each cluster – to create subgroups with similar characteristics. Through this Puznov was able to select 2,000 genes with high “variable expression patterns in ccRCC“. Gene expression “is the appearance in a phenotype of a characteristic or effect attributed to a particular gene” which allows the gene to be read and copied producing RNA (which is then used to synthesize proteins). He ran this algorithm on each tumor 100 times based on the 2,000 subgroups he had found previously. There were multiple testing stages run during this research study, in the first stage, each subgroup’s characteristics were tested on how their genetic factors could influence the course of ccRCC. Then Puzanov identified the crucial genes in particular for high to low survival subgroups and created a system of interaction for “proteins whose synthesis is encoded by these genes”. From this, he determined which genes created the highest number of “network connections”. Some of the key genes they found were noticed to affect the anti-tumor therapies they were running on patients with ccRCC  –  like CP, FGA, and FGG genes – this can help doctors in the future choose better working treatments for patients with malignancies. In our biology class, we have gone over mRNA and what it does, and how it is vital for protein production. It carries information from the DNA in the cell’s nucleus to the cytoplasm. Since mRNA carries information scientists can use mRNA vaccines to treat diseases, it also allows researchers to create mRNA cancer vaccines that activate the immune system to attack cancer cells. The known research on mRNA and the new information found from Puzanov’s research is bringing cancer treatment further.

 

 

 

 

 

 

COVID-19 and Its History Through The Variants

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On January 5, 2023

In Student Post

Since 2019 SARS-CoV-2, a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus has impacted and changed human life. A Johns Hopkins article titled “What is Coronavirus,” states: “A coronavirus identified in 2019, SARS-CoV-2, has caused a pandemic of respiratory illness, called COVID-19.” Coronaviruses cause highly infectious disease, with variants known as SARS-CoV-2, SARS, and MERS. Although COVID-19 only recently sparked conversation – due to the pandemic –  Coronaviruses were identified in the mid-1960s, and even so, it has most likely been around for much longer than that. The first recorded case of COVID-19 spreading in the United States was on January 30th, 2020, and continues to apply to the current day: with 305,082 reported COVID-19 cases in the US this week alone (Day of writing December 1, 2022). Evidently, heavy research has gone into the post-COVID effects it has on adults aged 18 to 64 (although there has been less research done on the younger age groups). But, in current times with the Omicron and Delta variants researchers have begun testing to see if its post-COVID effects are the same or different than the original COVID-19 strand.

SARS-CoV-2 without background

In the original COVID-19 strand there were many different side effects that people encountered: difficulty thinking or concentrating – referred to as brain fog -, headaches, sleep problems, dizziness – when standing up – pins-and-needles feelings, change in smell or taste, and depression or anxiety. In Omicron, individuals had similar post covid complaints – regarding fatigue, cough, heart palpitations, shortness of breath, anxiety/depression. While individuals infected with Delta from 14 to 126 days found that even in acute (14-29 days), sub-acute (30-89 days), and chronic (90 -126 days) found that they were at a lower risk of having post-COVID complaints. The main difference between the original COVID-19 variant and the Delta variant is that the spike proteins have different structures, with the Delta variant infecting lungs more easily – making it the most contagious version of covid. As stated on the government’s site: “SARS-CoV-2 uses its viral membrane fusion protein, known as a spike protein, to bind to angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) as a ‘receptor’…causing severe pneumonia and acute respiratory distress syndrome.” In the immune system, our body’s ability to react and destroy antigens sufficiently depends on a few things. One of them is if the human body has experienced this antigen in the body before it would have made B Memory cells and would be able to fight it off more efficiently. The adaptive immune system response goes through B Cells, Helper T cells, and Cytotoxic T cells which are in charge of encountering, activating, attacking, and remembering this antigen for the potential next time the body faces this virus. Overall, not only do the viruses change but the way they affect the human body changes as well due to the humoral immune response.

 

 

 

The Future of Lung Health

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On October 25, 2022

In Student Post

In the 19th century, a tuberculosis outbreak killed every one in seven people worldwide. Scientists believed it to be a genetic disease that mainly children developed making it known as “the robber of youth”. It wasn’t until the year 1882 that Robert Koch’s discovery of tubercule bacillus revealed that tuberculosis was not a genetic disease but highly contagious. Although there was some hesitation in the medical community at first, Koch’s findings helped the U.S. launch massive public health campaigns to educate the public on tuberculosis prevention and treatment. Later in 1904, “William Osler and William Welch, together with Edward Livingston Trudeau, founded the forerunner of the American Thoracic Society, the National Association for the Study and Prevention of Tuberculosis”.  This sparked the beginning of pulmonary research – the conduction of clinically-oriented research into diseases and disorders affecting the lungs and respiratory tract (including molecular and cell-based investigations). With pulmonary research being around for more than 10o years, one would believe discovering something new at this point in history would be a long shot. But, recently researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania found RASCs.

TB Culture

RASCs, also known as respiratory airway secretory cells, “line tiny airway branches, deep in the lungs, near the alveoli structures where oxygen is exchanged for carbon dioxide.” Scientists found that RASCs have stem-cell-like properties that allow them to regenerate other cells that are essential for normal functioning alveoli. They also discovered that smoking and the common smoking-related ailment called chronic obstructive pulmonary disease can disrupt the regenerative functions of RASCs. COPD is a chronic inflammatory lung disease that causes obstructed airflow from the lungs. Emphysema and chronic bronchitis are the two most common conditions that contribute to COPD (both bronchitis and emphysema affect the alveoli, the air sacks of the lungs).  The study’s first author Maria Basil, states “COPD is a devastating and common disease, yet we really don’t understand the cellular biology of why or how some patients develop it. Identifying new cell types, in particular new progenitor cells, that are injured in COPD could really accelerate the development of new treatments,”. COPD causes around 3 million deaths worldwide and current treatments can only slow the disease down rather than stop or reverse it. Mice being the common test subjects in lab procedures lack key features of the human lungs, which leads scientists to use healthy human donors to discover RASCs. Since RASCs are secretory cells it means that they produce proteins needed for the fluid lining of the airway. An organelle that we know produces secretory proteins is the ribosome. Ribosomes are tiny organelles that contain RNA and specific proteins within the cytoplasm. Ribosomes are directly involved in the manufacture of proteins by using RNA and amino acids. The discovery of RASCs will not only help advance future COPD treatments but can also lead to discover ways to treat other lung dieases.

Lungs open

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