BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Author: lukeosome

Neil DeGrasse Tyson: An Unlikely Astrophysicist

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On March 8, 2021

In Student Post

 

Neil DeGrasse Tyson (pictured to the left) is an American astrophysicist who is commonly referred to as a modern popularizer of science. His books, podcasts, and shows have introduced generations to the wonders of science and the cosmos.

 

 

Background:

Neil Degrasse Tyson was born on October 5th, 1958, in Manhattan, New York. Dr. Tyson discovered his affinity for space after looking at the moon through binoculars at a young age. When he was 9, he visited the Hayden Planetarium and had his first in-depth experience with the starry sky. However, as he was growing up, Dr. Tyson often said “being smart is not on the list of things that gets you respect.” It was very unusual for an African-American to be interested in anything STEM-related at the time. He recalled that “African-American boys were expected to be athletes, not scholars.”

Accomplishments:

Despite a lack of African American representation in his field, Dr. Tyson continued to chase his dreams. He graduated from the Bronx High School of Science and earned a BA in physics from Harvard. He continued on to earn a Master’s degree from the University of Texas at Austin, and he eventually earned his Ph.D. in Astrophysics from Columbia University. Dr. Tyson worked as an astrophysicist and research scientist at Princeton University and a columnist for StarDate magazine. In 1966, he became the first occupant of the Frederick P. Rose Directorship of the Hayden Planetarium and even founded the department of astrophysics at the museum. In 2001, Dr. Tyson became a member of the Commission on the Future of the United States Aerospace Industry. He served as part of President Bush’s Commission on Implementation of United States Space Exploration Policy two years later. NASA awarded Dr. Tyson with their esteemed Public Service Medal, the highest honor NASA awards to civilians, and The International Astronomical Union even officially named the asteroid “13123 Tyson” after him. Arguably as impressive, (and my personal favorite of his accomplishments), Dr. Tyson was voted “Sexiest Astrophysicist Alive” by People Magazine in 2000.

Entertainment Career:

Dr. Tyson is praised for his ability to translate confusing topics (like astrophysics) into simpler terms and ideas that the average person can comprehend. Some of his most popular books are: One Universe: At Home in the Cosmos, Just Visiting This Planet, Death by Black Hole, and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. From 2006 to 2011, he was the host of the TV series NOVA ScienceNOW and became the host of the weekly radio show StarTalk in 2009. In 2014, Dr. Tyson hosted the very popular series Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey, which was (in his own words) a “continuation” of astronomer Carl Sagan’s Cosmos series in 1980. Dr. Tyson’s Cosmos series is one of the most engaging and interesting shows I have personally watched. I strongly recommend it to anyone who is even slightly interested in space.

Challenges:

As Dr. Tyson has stated himself, “There are very, very few African-American astrophysics PhDs.” While following his personal dreams, he was “doing something people of [his] skin color were not supposed to do.” Neil DeGrasse Tyson, as an astrophysicist, is only one example of the many underrepresented groups of American-Americans in STEM; however, astrophysicists specifically are severely underrepresented. Astrophysicist J.C. Holbrook conducted a study in which she discovered that “since 1955, only forty African-Americans have earned doctorates in astronomy or physics doing an astronomy dissertation. This means they comprise at most 2.47% of PhDs in astronomy. Out of 594 faculty at top 40 astronomy programs, 6 are African-American (1%).” Despite these low numbers, Neil DeGrasse Tyson has taken a step in the STEM field that will hopefully inspire others of minority groups to follow.

Neil Degrasse Tyson has also weighed in on current civil rights issues. In Dr. Tyson’s “Reflections on the Color of My Skin,” he addresses the racial unrest in America in 2020. He tells stories of his colleagues and himself being pulled over, questioned, and followed seemingly for no reason, yet instead of simply stating what is wrong, he offers a list of solutions to the issues facing America today. The first three points argue to “extend police academies to include months of cultural awareness and sensitivity training that also includes how not to use lethal force, test [police officers] for any implicit bias they carry, with established thresholds of acceptance and rejection from the police academy, and during protests, protect property. Protect lives. If you attack nonviolent protesters you are being un-American. And we wouldn’t need draconian curfews if police arrested looters instead of protesters.” Use the hyperlink to see the rest of Dr. Tyson’s well-thought-out suggestions. Dr. Tyson continues to teach the world about science while inspiring others to follow in his footsteps.

COVID-19 May Be Behind Dangerous Blood Clots in Patients

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On January 2, 2021

In Student Post

According to an article by Erin Garcia de Jesus, a new study shows that some of COVID-19’s lethal blood clots may originate from the immune system attacking the patient’s body instead of the virus. These clots form due to excessive inflammation from an overactive immune response in severely ill patients. Researchers are now trying to figure out how this response happens. Currently, the belief is that some of the clottings may come from auto-antibodies that go after the cell membrane-forming molecules instead of the foreign invader. This attack would prompt neutrophils to release a “web of genetic material geared at trapping virus particles outside the cells.” While this process may control infections in tissue, it causes clotting in the bloodstream. Cardiologist Yogen Kanthi and her colleagues at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md., reported that “some blood clots may form when the webs trap red blood cells and platelets, creating a sticky clump that can clog blood vessels.” Blood clots in the lungs have become a significant cause of death for COVID-19 patients.

Auto-antibodies that recognize phospholipids can cause antiphospholipid syndrome (APS). APS is an autoimmune disease in which auto-antibodies can activate clot-forming cells, putting patients at a higher risk of blood clots. Extremely ill COVID-19 patients sometimes have high levels of neutrophils as well as phospholipid-binding antibodies in their blood. The belief is that antibodies may be causing the neutrophils to release traps that create clotting.

According to the study, of 172 hospitalized COVID-19 patients, more than half had auto-antibodies that recognized one of three various types of host phospholipids. When the researchers combined auto-antibodies taken from six COVID-19 patients with lab-grown neutrophils, the neutrophils cast their nets. Furthermore, when the researchers injected the same patient auto-antibodies into mice, the mice formed blood clots.

While this research is promising, Thomas Kickler, a hematologist at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, states that “it’s unlikely that phospholipid auto-antibodies are the whole story.” Other inflammatory immune responses can also trigger clots, so the antibodies may only be part of the mystery.

On a brighter note, a process called plasmapheresis (filtering the liquid part of blood), could assist severely ill COVID-19 patients by removing the problematic antibodies.

This topic relates to our AP Biology study of the immune system. COVID-19 is a threatening virus that penetrates our immune system, and it can cause various problems in our body once it makes its way past our defenses. One of our main defenses is antibodies. Antibodies are specialized, Y-shaped proteins that bind to a foreign invader inside the body. The immune system uses the antibodies to search and mark the invader. Antibodies are a humoral response in part of the adaptive immune system which learns to recognize and eliminate specific invaders. People recovering from COVID-19 may have antibodies that are effective against the virus. Another bodily defense system is inflammation. Inflammation is an internal defense that is part of innate immunity. During inflammation, cells release histamine, and macrophages secrete cytokines. The histamines dilate local blood vessels and increase capillary permeability and cause the area to swell with fluid. Cytokines attract neutrophils and dendritic cells, and natural killer cells kill damaged or infected cells. A fever (a common symptom of COVID-19),  is a systematic inflammatory response triggered by pyrogens released by macrophages.

Supermassive Black Hole Turns Star Into Spaghetti

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On October 19, 2020

In Student Post

 

According to an article by Rafi Letzter, a black hole in a nearby galaxy recently devoured a whole star, turning it into “spaghetti.” The star was orbiting in the nucleus of the galaxy 2MASX J04463790-1013349 about 214 million years ago when it was sucked into its demise. At the center of the galaxy, lies a supermassive black hole. As the star made its way too close to the black hole, the black hole stretched it out through the process of spaghettification and consumed it. The light from this event reached Earth 214 million years later. Scientists had witnessed events like this in the past but never this close to home.

What is Spaghettfication?

Matt Nicholl, an astrophysicist from the University of Birmingham, describes this process of ‘consumption’ as a “tidal disruption event.” Spaghettification occurs because of the sharp increase in gravity when an object approaches a black hole. The gravity on side of the object (in this case a star) facing the hole is much stronger than the gravity on the other side. This difference in pull stretches out the object like spaghetti, hence the name spaghettification. Black holes’ consumption of stars reminds me of the role of lysosomes in the cell. Like black holes, lysosomes consume. They engulf dead organelles and other waste in the cell. In case you were wondering about the size of the star, it had about the same mass as our sun and lost half of that mass to the black hole!

Has Spaghettification Ever Been Witnessed in Its Entirety?

No, but this event was the closest scientists have ever gotten. The physical stretching process has never been seen; however, scientists did see a flash of light coming from the solar system, which is a sign of a tidal disruption event. When a star is ripped apart, some of its innards end up swirling around the black hole and shine briefly before disappearing into the hole. At the same time, clouds of material and dust blast out into space. This blast blocks parts of the black hole from being viewed. Over six months, the scientists watched, studied, and recorded the material flow into space as the tidal disruption faded. This rare sighting also confirmed the relationship between the flash and the blast of material.

So What?

Not only was this an interesting phenomenon, but the event, named AT 2019qiz, could help researchers discover more about tidal disruption events and the role of gravity in black holes.

Black holes are some of the most captivating scientific anomalies in existence. They exist all over the universe, yet scientists know very little about them. I’d love to hear your thoughts/questions in the comments! If you would like to research black holes further, here is some more usual information. Try not to get sucked in!

 

 

 

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