A Key Enzyme Missing in the Most Aggressive Form of Breast Cancer

On February 28th, 2013, Dr. Peter Zhou from the University of Kentucky Markey Cancer Center found that the triple-negative breast cancer cells are missing a key enzyme. This enzyme is found in all other types of breast cancer, other than the most aggressive form. With this new information, there can be new therapy to treat this form of breast cancer. Dr. Zhou's laboratory is special in it's own way because it is the only laboratory in the country to study the metabolic processes of the triple-negative breast cancer cells. The triple-negative breast cancer is the most aggressive form of breast cancer because the transcription factor complex Snail-G9a-Dnmt1 is overly expressed which causes the enzyme 1,6-biphosphate to be inhibited. When the 1,6-biphosphate is inhibited the glucose anabolic pathway shuts down and the glucose catabolic pathway is promoted, which leads to larger amounts of glucose entering the cancerous cells and giving them more energy to thrive. This type of cancer is mainly found in younger women and doesn't have good outcomes of treatment success since it is so resistant to chemotherapy due to the early metastasis in the cancerous cells.
I find this article extremely interesting and exciting news. I think this because if scientists are able to figure out why some cancers are so aggressive then they can figure out ways to control the cancerous cells from reproducing so quickly or not at all. I also find this article amazing because I personally know friends and family of mine who have been battling breast cancer for years, some who have lost the battle and others that are still putting up a great fight. If scientists are able to figure out the exact site of where the cancer cells reproduce and are able to inhibit their growth and reproduction, then many causes of breast cancer could be cured or put into remission. Many people suffering from this disease and their families and friends would be so happy to hear this news, and even happier to hear the news when the scientists can begin to inhibit the cancerous cell growth.

References:

1.University of Kentucky (2013, February 28). Key enzyme missing from aggressive form of breast cancer, groundbreaking study shows.ScienceDaily. Retrieved April 29, 2013, from http://www.sciencedaily.com­/releases/2013/02/130228155519.htm

Storing Memory Loss using Stem Cell Transplants

On July 25, 2012, a study of human embryonic stem cells to correct learning and memory deficiencies was tested on rats. The stem cells came from human embryos and were implanted into specialized rats that don't reject transplants from other animals. These rats also had the part of their brains that dealt with  learning and memory deliberately damaged to begin the study, this part of the brain is called the medial septum. These human stem cells were cultured in the lab and grown there so they could be monitored. The rats had specific tests performed on them before the stem cells were transplanted and after the cells were in their brains. Once the rats had the stem cells transplanted into their brain, the stem cells started to form the two common vital types of neuronal cells that communicate with the chemicals GABA and acetylcholine. The stem cells were transplanted in the hippocampus, which is the vital memory center at the other end of the memory circuits. By transplanting the stem cells in the hippocampus, the cells were responding appropriately from the chemical directions they were receiving. In essence, the stem cells were developing into the correct memory cells by being in the hippocampus tissue of the brain. The rats that were being studied, performed higher scores on the common tests that were done after the transplants of the cells. They also were repairing the two cell types of neurons that are critical in the brain for it to function properly. These neuron types, Cholinergic which are involved in Alzheimer's and Down syndrome, and GABA neurons which are involved in many different disabilities like addiction, epilepsy, depression and many more, were being repaired because of the transplant.

I think that this study is very interesting and amazing because if there are studies being done on rats that are improving their brain function, then in the near future there could be studies that are done on humans to improve our brain function as well. This study could help so many different people and families who are suffering from disabilities as common as addiction and depression to Alzheimer's and Down syndrome. This study is a break through in science because if it is possible to repair our brain cells, which is the most complex part of our bodies, then repair to almost any organ or system could be possible, which in turn could help people survive and function better. This study could also help very sick people who are losing their brain function at tremendous rates with Alzheimer's disease, with this new technology hopefully they could slow down that rate.

References:
1. Yan Liu, Jason P Weick, Huisheng Liu, Robert Krencik, Xiaoqing Zhang, Lixiang Ma, Guo-min Zhou, Melvin Ayala, Su-Chun Zhang. Medial ganglionic eminence–like cells derived from human embryonic stem cells correct learning and memory deficits. Nature Biotechnology, 2013; DOI: 10.1038/nbt.2565
2. "Stem Cell Transplant Restores Memory, Learning in Mice." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 21 Apr. 2013. Web. 21 Apr. 2013.

Scientists Create A "Laboratory Grown" Kidney

An article published on the BBC News website yesterday, April 14th 2013, has shown that researchers at Massachusetts General Hospital have been able to create a laboratory grown kidney. These kidneys have been reported to not be as effective as a normal human kidney, but there have been steps towards engineering the kidneys so they become more effective. The researchers have engineered these kidneys and transplanted them in rats to see if and how effective they are. Outside of the rats the kidneys had an effective rate of production of urine at about 23%. After the kidneys were transplanted into the rats the effectiveness fell to about 5%. Even though there was a low effectiveness rates in rats there is still more research that can be done to engineer the kidneys so that the effectiveness rates increase to where the kidneys can be eventually transplanted in humans.
I think that this article is fascinating because the kidney is one of the most complex organs humans have. There have been waiting lists for kidneys through out America and the world. There are about 100,000 people on these waiting lists and only 18,000 kidney transplants done each year. If these researchers can engineer kidneys in a laboratory and figure out how to make them more effective in the human body, then many lives can be saved each year. Also with these engineered kidneys, people wouldn't have to take as many medications that they would usually take if they had a transplant donor. This study and forward advancement in medical science could truly help so many people and change many peoples lives.

The rat kidney

References:

1. Gallagher, James. "Scientists Make 'laboratory-grown' Kidney." BBC News. BBC, 14 Apr. 2013. Web. 15 Apr. 2013.

Scientists Report the First Cure of HIV in a Child

On March 3, 2013, Scientists revealed at a scientific conference in Atlanta that a two and a half year old has been the first child cured of HIV and the second person ever to be cured from the pandemic. The child was a little girl who was born with the virus but now appears to be healthy and HIV free. The child was born as a high risk exposure to maternal HIV, and did not receive any prenatal care which means she didn't get any antiviral drugs during the pregnancy. The scientist, Hannah Gay, is a pediatric infectious disease specialist, that took immediate action in getting the child the proper drugs and care she needed. At 31 hours after birth, Gay gave the baby her first dose of antiviral drugs. The baby was given three powerful doses of therapeutic drugs instead of the normally prescribed prophylactic doses. Over the next few months, the child's blood showed no signs of the virus until her mother stopped bringing her for check ups for unknown reasons. After the mother and daughter were located it was about half a year later, and the daughter still showed no signs of the virus replicating, which is known as a functional cure.
This article is amazing news for the human race, because every year around the world there are about 300,000 cases of babies being diagnosed with maternal HIV. Mostly these cases are known to be found in sub-Saharan Africa, but occur all over the world. Now that there has been one case of a baby being cured, scientists will be able to cure or at least put cases of HIV into remission. Also now that scientists know that the doses of therapeutic drugs worked better than the prophylactic drugs there will be further research done to make the drugs more affective. From this article, if one case of HIV was cured in the near future more and more cases will be cured and hopefully soon enough the pandemic will be controlled!

                                          HIV Virus

References:
1. Knox, Richard. "Scientists Report First Cure Of HIV In A Child, Say It's A Game-Changer." NPR. NPR, 04 Mar. 2013. Web. 08 Apr. 2013.
2. http://www.kurzweilai.net/images/hiv_virus.jpg

Gene Therapy Used to Rid Acute Leukemia

On March 20, 2013, an article was published in Science Translational Medicine about how gene therapy was used for curing Acute Leukemia. Gene therapy was used in T-cells that were engineered to attack B-cells in humans. This engineering of the T-cells has caused cases of Acute Leukemia to go into remission in five patients. The patients remission lasted from a range of five months to two years, with a few deaths that haven't been determined whether the treatment was the cause or if the deaths were unrelated. 

I think this article is very interesting because it shows how close scientists are at curing a cancer that causes about 257,000 deaths a year. Even if the scientists aren't able to cure leukemia, they are still getting closer each day and that will help all the people with this cancer to be able to live longer. This study of leukemia will be able to cause the cancer to go into remission for many patients and could eventually help scientists realize what causes other types of cancer and how to use gene therapy to get rid of them as well.

9108605-leukemia-versus-normal-blood-eps8.jpg

References:

1. Yandell, Kate. "The Scientist." The Scientist. N.p., 27 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.

2. Brentjens, Renier J., Marco L. Davila, Isabelle Riviere, and Michel Sadelain. "CD19-Targeted T Cells Rapidly Induce Molecular Remissions in Adults with Chemotherapy-Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia." CD19-Targeted T Cells Rapidly Induce Molecular Remissions in Adults with Chemotherapy-Refractory Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. American Association for the Advancement of Science, 20 Mar. 2013. Web. 31 Mar. 2013.

My favorite class that I have taken at SUNY Plattsburgh was Genetics. I found that being able to see why people are the way they are from the genetic code in DNA so interesting. That is why I chose to write about Francis Collins, because he is the man that cracked the code on genetics. He was able to create a way of looking at DNA by using the positional cloning method. With this method he was able to determine where mutations occur on DNA and with each mutation which disease it is.
The man that "Cracked the Genetics Code", is known scientist, Francis Collins. Francis Collins was raised on a small farm in Virginia's Shenandoah Valley by his Christian believing mother and father. Collins was home schooled by his mother until the sixth grade and graduated from the Robert E. Lee High School at the age of 16. After High School he attended the University of Virginia and earned his B.S. in Chemistry in 1970. Collins went forth with his education and earned his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry from Yale University. After he graduated from Yale, he enrolled into medical school at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and earned his M.D. in 1977.
After obtaining his M.D., he returned to Yale where he was named a Fellow in Human Genetics from 1981-1984. During this time Collins developed innovative methods of crossing large stretched sections of DNA to identify disease genes known as positional cloning. Using the positional cloning method, Collins has uncovered genetic risk factors for many common diseases. Some of these diseases include cystic fibrosis, Huntington's disease, neurofibromatosis, M4 type of adult acute leukemia and multiple endocrine neoplasia type 1.
Collins became the director of the National Center for Human Genome Research in 1993. Over the 15 years while he was director, Collins expanded the NHGRI to overseeing International Human Genome Sequencing Consortium in 1997. In April 2003, Collins and his team identified the genetic basis for Hutchinson-Gilford progeria syndrome. On November 5, 2007 Collins was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom. About a year later Collins stepped down from being Director to explore other professional opportunities and work on his publications.

References:
1. Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D.. "Francis S. Collins." National Human Genome Research institute . October 13th 2011.  . October 21st 2012. <http://www.genome.gov/10001018>

2. Georgina Ferry. "Francis Collins biography ."  The Human Genome wellcome trust . 3/19/04.  . October 21st 2012. <http://genome.wellcome.ac.uk/doc_WTD021048.html>.

3. "Francis Collins Biography Presidential Medal of Freedom." Academy of Achievement. Dec 16th 2010.  . October 21st 2012. <http://www.achievement.org/autodoc/page/col1bio-1>.