Outbreak of Meningitis

Quentin Mack

BIO 101 A

Professor Gazdik

October 30, 2012

Meningitis Outbreak

CBS News recently released an article on the outbreak of Meningitis originating from Massachusetts. According to the state officials, the meningitis emerged from steroid injections produced by the New England Compounding Center, which sent out drugs that were not completely sterile. Meningitis is often caused by allergies to drugs or fungi and it affects the brain and spinal cord; in the case of the outbreak, the cause of it was a strain of fungus called Exserohilum rostratum, which is a common type of fungus but has never been the cause of meningitis before. CBS News medical correspondent, Dr. John LaPook, determined that the fungus was a result of poor sanitary conditions and lack of maintenance for laboratory equipment. The investigation revealed that dirty floor mats and a leaky boiler were the cause of Exserohilum rostratum in steroid injections, which led to an outbreak of meningitis that had killed twenty-three people and left more than three hundred sick. The state of Massachusetts has since revoked the license of New England Compounding Center along with three pharmacists responsible for the meningitis outbreak.

            I chose this article because it shows the neglect of the New England Compounding Center to see that the proper sanitation of their products could prevent side effects, but this outbreak was more than a simple side effect. Fungi are known to grow in damp conditions and the lab was an exceptional area for Exserohilum rostratum to grow in. My grandmother was a nurse so she has been exposed to situations that required the proper sterilization of products through the use of alcohol. It was required of her and others working with medicine to use alcohol to sterilize needles before injections as well vials used to contain drugs such as steroids. It just shows a lack of concern among pharmaceutical companies in the distribution of medicine if they cannot maintain the simple standard of sanitation which could have prevented the outbreak. The welfare of people's health is at risk if pharmaceutical companies cannot understand how easily diseases can be carried around and how people can get sick because of poor sterilization.

 

 Work Cited:

"Mass. moves to revoke license of firm tied to meningitis outbreak."CBS News. CBS News, 23 Oct. 2012. Web. 30 Oct. 2012.

Fruit Fly genome offers New insights

Amanda Dollman

Professor Gazdik

Bio-101-A

October 29, 2012

     “Fruit Fly Genome Offers New Insights into the Forces That Shape Genetic Variation”

Medical News Today recently published an article.  Fruit Fly Genome Offers New Insights Into The Forces That Shape Genetic Variation.   The goal of the research is to better understand the forces that shape genetic variation.  Drosophila melanogaster also known as fruit flies like humans, originated in Africa, and that’s where they show the most genetic diversity.  Flies that left with us tens of thousands of years ago when they want back to Africa they made new populations with flies that never left. Most of the theory and statistical methods in human genetics were originally motivated by studies of flies, because they’re easier and faster to work with.  The work reveals strong evidence of pervasion natural selection throughout the D. melanogaster genome. Compared to where human genomes show little adaptation over a hundred thousand years.  The study of fly genetics will help to better understand Human genetics.  Helping figure out how flies shape genetic variation will help relate this to us and more variety is good for the species of the human race, it makes us stronger.

I chose to write about this article because we have been talking about two methods of cellular reproduction.  We have been learning about asexual reproduction and sexual reproduction in my Bio- 101 class.  So when I heard the last two words Genetic Variation, this made me think of sexual reproduction because in comparison to asexual, sexual reproduction allows more variation on your genes.  What color your hair would be or perhaps the color of your eyes.  Therefore it made me very interested in reading this article.  I was very surprised to learn the close comparisons of human genetics to fly genetics.  How research on fly genome can help human genetics.  I also didn’t know we both originated in Africa and that’s also where we show the most diversity.  It’s amazing if you really think about it how many strains are out there.

Work cited:

n.p. "Fruit Fly Genome Offers New Insights Into The Forces That Shape Genetic Variation." Medical News Today. MediLexicon, Intl., 16 Oct. 2012. Web.

27 Oct. 2012. http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/251477.php

Bryant 

Biology blog

10/19/12

Alzheimer’s Disease

            The article I chose talks about how Alzheimer’s may be a result of an anti cancerous mechanism.  The main risk for Alzheimer’s disease is aging.   Scientist simulated the act of aging by using hydrogen peroxide, which acted as a metabolic stress that is similar to the one that causes aging.  Scientist found that cells stop dividing and began secreting large amounts of inflammatory protein.                                      The article had a lot of information on the whole process of obtaining the Alzheimer’s disease.  Statistics were shown and also broke down the different age categories comparing the chances of obtaining the disease.  The effect on apoptosis (cell suicide) and senescence’s both led to inflammation and were leading problems on older people in the chances oh having Alzheimer’s. 

            I enjoyed this essay, as it was very informational and talked on a disease that man people are effected by or know someone affected by it.  One of the scientist Torres stated, “If we can clear senescent cells, then we can probably clear Alzheimer’s.”  Scientist has tested different ways of cures for the disease and is coming close to their cure.  

      Compounds that could Thwart Post-Taumatic Stress Disorder.

 

 

          A recently posted article in ScienceDaily, on Oct. 15, 2012, has given insight to a new set of  compounds that may possibly reduce the long term effects of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder on traumatized civilians and active military personnel. Professor Anantha Shekhar and colleagues at Indiana University have been conducting experiments on rats by way of what is called a "conditioned fear test". This is used to trigger the rat's brain to activate a chemical called NMDA, which in turn causes a protein reaction producing Nitrous Oxide. These two chemicals are scientifically proven to be vital in the successful formation of fearful memories. Based on their research Professor Shekhar and her colleagues have specified testing two small molecules known as IC87201 and ZL006 to disrupt such NMDA regulated Nitrous Oxide production, and by doing so potentially offer a way to prevent long term damage due to PTSD. If these compounds are further proven to stop long term damage from Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder we could possibly see them being produced into a medicinal form and administered, within a couple hours prior to an event, to traumatized citizens and also military personnel immediatly following a combat incident.

         I chose to read and review this article because I am currently a 68W Combat Medic in the United States Army and have trained in feild hospitals and also military hospitals here in our country. PTSD is always a great factor in screening soldiers who are returning home from deployment but often goes unnoticed and undocumented, left then to terrorize soldiers later in life and cause many other problems. I believe that if these compounds can be created and regulated they would provide a great deal of relief for soldiers who have undergone traumatic events and also their families. Many people who are effected by Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder may not know that they have it for a matter of time after the incident occurs, it could take days, months, or possibly years to effect that person. If these molecules can prevent this from happening without further damaging any parts of our body or creating worsened side effects it will be a great discovery for science both in the civilian and military sectors.

 

 

 

-Adrian Garrett

Analyzing The Sheep Genome For Parasite Resistance.

  Science Daily published a recent article about analyzing the sheep genome for parasite resistance. Researchers from the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and the Agriculture Research Service (ARS) were looking for genetic resistance for a parasitic nematode that infects numerous herd of Ovine. The nematode is a gastrointestinal parasite that enters the sheep through the mouth while grazing on pasture. The parasites are common in tropical regions and Africa. The ovine will suffer from diarrea, anaemia, weight loss and sometimes even death. These side effects cause great issues for many economies in third world cultures. The USDA and ARS are working with researchers in Kenya in hopes of identifying genes that become tolerant to the parasites. If the genes become parasite resistant then herders can increase production, which in turn makes them more profit. In one study, scientist mapped out regions of the genome that are resistant to the parasite. They bred Red Maasai sheep, which is tolerant to the parasite and bred it with a Dorper, which is more likely to get the parasite. The offspring were then backcross bred with Massai ewes to ensure there tolerance of the parasite. This study showed that 20 percent of the offspring were carrying parasite resistance traits. They offspring were grazed on the same pastures where the nematodes were found and blood was collected from the sheep's gastrointestinal system to detect the amount of parasites. The crossbred offspring were found to have less parasites than their parents. The future studies will use the OvineSNP50 which will be able to examine more than 50,000 locations in the genome.

  I chose this article because my parents are sheep farmers. My family is always consulting with veterinarians to try to vaccinate our heard in order to increase production. Sheep are prone to parasites because they burrow in the ground and sheep graze on the breeding grounds of them.
Overall, I enjoyed this article because it shows relevance to my personal life as well as my academic life, as an agriculture major. It shows relevance to society as a whole because sheep farmers will always have to worry about way to prevent parasites from destroying a heard. Scientist will always need to develop new medications in order to increase production which in turn increases profit.

-Katelynn Shelby McCarthy