Cells – Page 2 – BioQuakes

Coral reefs are vital sources of life for many sea creatures. The diversity of the underwater ecosystems surrounding coral reefs are, unfortunately, being put in danger because of coral bleaching. According to the National Ocean Service, coral bleaching is due in part by a process that is the result of damaged chloroplasts in coral cells which produce “toxic, highly reactive oxygen molecules during photosynthesis.” The main cause of this issue, is temperature; the coral respond to the drastic changes in temperature, whether they be hot or cold, by releasing the symbiotic algae that dwell in their tissues, which result in the coral taking on a white, “bleached” color.

Found on Flickr, Licensed under Creative Commons Licensing

Coral bleaching has both negative internal and external effects. Internally, the coral’s ecosystems are placed at risk because they “rely on live coral for food, shelter, or recruitment habitat.” This is a major issue, as we have the potential to lose certain, diverse, species that live off of and around coral reefs, which, in turn, could negatively influence the food chain. The external effect is that there will not be tourism revenue brought in from people who scuba dive to the coral reefs affected by bleaching. This is due to the fact that they will no longer be aesthetically appealing. Thus, leading to a negative economic state in tourism hot spots.

Unfortunately, the temperature of the Earth is out of human control, so there is little we can do to prevent coral bleaching, but we can use the rapidity of the bleaching as a marker to gauge the temperature of the world.

HeLa Cells Sequenced!

By hirschybar13

On April 28, 2013

In Student Post

Photo By: University of Arkansas
Wellcome Trust

The immortal cell, also known as HeLa cells, have been used by scientists for years for various medical research. But, until today the genome of HeLa cells was never known. Jonathan Landry and Paul Pyl, from the European Molecular Biology Laboratory in Heidelberg, performed the study to sequence Henrietta Lacks‘ genome, and what they found was quite remarkable. They found striking differences between her cells and the cells of a normal human being. The genome had abnormalities in both chromosome number and structure. They also found that countless regions of the chromosomes in each cell were arranged in the wrong order and had extra or fewer copies of genes, all telltale signs of chromosome shattering. Chromosome shattering has recently been found to be linked to 2-3% of cancers. Seeing as how Henrietta Lacks’ cells were taken from a cervical tumor, this is not a surprising find. However, because her genome had never been sequenced this was all new to Landry and Pyl. They said, “The results provide the first detailed sequence of a HeLa genome. It demonstrates how genetically complex HeLa is compared to normal human tissue. Yet, possibly because of this complexity, no one had systematically sequenced the genome, until now.” Another scientist, Lars Steinmetz, who led the project, added, “Our study underscores the importance of accounting for the abnormal characteristics of HeLa cells in experimental design and analysis, and has the potential to refine the use of HeLa cells as a model of human biology.” Although this study is nowhere near groundbreaking, it still helps to highlight the importance of the extensive differences that cell lines can have from their human references.

For more information on this study and HeLa cells in general, you can go to:http://www.science20.com/news_articles/genome_hela_cell_line_sequenced-106181

Magnets: Fun Toy or Deadly Tool?

By henroids

On October 8, 2012

In Student Post

Taken by: USCPSC

Cancer is one of the most well known diseases, yet it is one of the hardest to treat. The research of different treatments for cancer is ongoing and innovative. According to a recent study in South Korea magnets may be the next step in cancer treatment. A way for magnets to assist the body in targeting and killing off cancer cells has been discovered and is being researched and developed.

A problem with current cancer treatments like chemotherapy or radiation therapy is that they can only be targeted to a certain extent. With this experimental form of cancer treatment, using magnets, the body’s natural functions are used to kill the cells in a tumor. The human body naturally goes through a process called apoptosis, or the process of programed cell death. Apoptosis is used by the body when it is first developing allowing fingers and toes to grow individually, and it is used daily to kill off skin cells that have been damaged by weather. The researchers in South Korea are using this process to target and kill off the cancer cells.

The researchers applied zinc-doped iron oxide nanoparticles to colon cancer cells. This allows for the cells to naturally bind with antibodies, which then bind to the death receptors on the cancer cells. The researchers then applied a magnetic field, which caused the death receptors to send out a signal telling the system to attack the cell. When this occurs chemicals are sent out and the cells of the tumor that had zinc-doped iron oxide nanoparticles on them were killed.

Sadly this innovative new cancer fighting technique has its downsides. In their experiments only half the exposed cells were killed although none of the cells they weren’t targeting were harmed. And when this method was tested on zebra fish some grew abnormal tails, which means that this method may be innovative but it still has plenty of testing to go through before it will be used on humans.

BioQuakes

AP Biology class blog for discussing current research in Biology

Tag: Cells (Page 2 of 2)

Coral Reef Bleaching Puts Fish’s Ability to “Just Keep Swimming” in Danger

HeLa Cells Sequenced!

Magnets: Fun Toy or Deadly Tool?

Archives