"Are We Suicidal?"

Disclaimer: I am well aware that everything in my poster is backwards on the picture, I wanted to say it was by accident, but I'll say I did it for comic relief instead.

Key to immune system could lie in the cheek!

A team led by Professor Phil Stephens in the School of Dentistry have performed an experiment and found out a group of new cells that "suppress the immune systems" function. The cardiff scientists have believed that the new cells that are created will help with the disorders of the immune system. They initially took cheek cells of the patients and cloned them. Then looking at the lab results they figured even a small amount could inhibit the lymphocytes in the immune system. The overall breakthrough of the experiment shows that cheeks cells have the potential for future immune system therapies.


I was intrigued by the results of this particular experiment because its quite amazing how cheeks cells can have such a potential to function in other parts of our body. I mean now cheeks cells are helping fight off diseases? How amazing is that? Maybe this might spark a new light in finding the cure for cancer as well. 

Controlling Mice

Scientist from the Scripps Research Institute have performed an experiment on mice where they have inputted harnessed neurons in the mice brains. They were initially  looking to find "How does the activity of the the brain represent the world" but neurologist Mark Mayford led a brand new study to use this experiment to "understand what goes wrong in situations where you have inappropriate perceptions. They started off by inserting two genes that manipulate memories in the mice which they tied to a natural gene that turns on and off in specific memories. 


I found this particular article interesting because just the brain itself is a very interesting topic to research. In addition, the way it works and everything just blows my mind. Its quite astonishing how the brain controls every aspect of your body and all the tiny components. Another reason I found this article interesting was because how it talked about memory and the active and inactive genes. 

New Research Explores Bacteria's Role In Leafcutter Ants' Gardens

Leafcutter Ants are known for cutting leaves and carrying them as they march across tropical forests. However, this process is much more complex than it sounds. The story was this: Ants would eat the fungi and bacteria would be involved but the bacteria's role was never clear in this process... until now. New research has proven that the bacteria decomposes leaves, playing a major role in turning the leaves into nutrients which is important for buth fungi and ants. The ants brought leaves to their underground nests and from the leaves grew fungus Leucoagaricus gongylophorous which was thought to be the ants source of nutrition. Incorporating bacteria into this relationship was hard. Researchers sequenced large genetic samples which allowed them to better examine the entire community of bacteria. From the bacteria, they examined proteins. Most of the garden bacteria were involved in breaking down simple sugars, indicating that perhaps fungi initially breaks down cellulose and the bacteria, in return partially digesting sugars that result in a variety of nutrients. "It's apparent that neither fungi nor bacteria work in isolation when it comes to leafcutter ant gardens, ... it's possible that the same goes for biomass conversion; perhaps both fungi and bacteria are needed to efficiently turn plants into biofuel." said Burnum, one of the co-authors of Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center.

Global Warming Effect On Transpiration

New research shows the global warming potential of carbon dioxide (CO2), which is the main greenhouse gas is underestimated as a climate change affect with plants. It was researched that plants "sweat" less when surrounded by more CO2. This means that plants lose less water when exposed to higher levels of CO2, which makes the surrounding air warmer. A team from The Indian Institute of Science showed that Higher CO2 levels make stomata, tiny pores on plant leaves open less widely and lose less water through transpiration that cools the surrounding air. Less transpiration means less cooling and this impacts global climate change. This also shows how plants have a big part in global warming because it reduces plant transpiration. I find the piece interesting how too much CO2 can cause a drastic effect on the environment in many different ways.

Bacterially Enhanced Babies!

Scientists in the University of Illinois have found a new prebiotic formula for infants that help boost immunity. Adding the prebiotic ingredients are put into infant formula and fed to them. "The beneficial bacteria that live in a baby's intestine are all-important to an infant's health, growth, and ability to fight off infections," said Kelly Tappenden, a gastrointestinal professor at the University of Illinois. Collecting and testing fecal matter from both infants exposed to the prebiotics and those without show significantly. Probiotics are live bacteria that help when living in our intestines. They are carbohydrates that resist digestion which simulate growth and beneficial activity in the gastrointestinal tracts.




This is interesting because usually bacteria are pinned with a negative connotation. Bacteria are germs and must be killed. Sanitizing is a main priority to many, especially after the Swine flu epidemic of 2009. But this article and research shows that some strains of bacteria are actually very helpful to humans. The infants fed with the prebiotic ingredients showed remarkably better immune systems compared to the ones not given the formula. Maybe the cure to several fatal diseases such as cancer has a bacteria that can eliminate it. Only further research will prove this.