Skip to main content

Stem Cells Failure To Launch

Riley Rowberry
Stem Cells Failure To Launch
As I was scanning through the articles on Biology News Net, I saw the word microcephaly, and had no choice but to click the link and start reading. The reason that my interest was sparked was due to my friend’s brother, Logan, who has this condition. His brother, although he is two years older than myself, has the mental capacity of an eight-year-old. His appearance is significantly different than most people because his head is much smaller and he also has speech issues. I have never quite understood how microcephaly was caused on a genetic level but it has always intrigued me because of the effects it has had on Logan and his family.
            The study, published in Nature Communications, was investigating the connection of the Zika virus and the development of the brain, specifically microcephaly. Microcephaly is a rare disease caused by mutation in many genes. However, in this article the main focus is on the NDE1 gene. The researchers found that when they interfered with the NDE1 gene expression it decreased and even stopped the reproduction of radial glial progenitors, which are stem cells. These stem cells normally undergo many divisions for weeks or months while the brain is developing. The Zika virus has studies that show it can target the radial glial progenitors causing a similar issue to NDE1 mutations. While the research isn’t definitive, there are plans to do more testing by a few experts in the Columbia Department of Biology on the similarities between the effects of the Zika virus and NDE1 mutations on the radial glial progenitors. The Zika virus is creating an epidemic of microcephaly, which is causing many undergo the same problems in development that Logan has had throughout his life.
I found this article extremely interesting because it shows how a virus can directly attack the development of the brain similar to a natural genetic mutation. The reason scientific research is so important to me is because it can help people who struggle with issues like this and it can also lead to cures for epidemics. Hopefully future research on this topic can not only help find out how the Zika virus is correlated with the NDE1 mutation, but also help find a cure.
Source:
Biology news Net. Nature Communications. Aug 24 2016.

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2016/08/24/in_some_genetic_cases_of_microcephaly_stem_cells_fail_to_launch.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+biologynews%2Fheadlines+%28Biology+News+Net%29

Comments

  1. UnknownMarch 23, 2018 at 12:57 PM

    This comment has been removed by the author.

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMarch 23, 2018 at 12:58 PM

    Last semester I took a communications course, and one of the major assignments required was a fifteen minute speech on a debatable topic. I chose the topic of stem cells versus embryonic stem cells. In this speech I debated the morality of using embryonic stem cell research. During my research, I realized that all embryonic stem cell research is for the good of human kind and is only allowed if the embryonic stem cells are donated willingly. My question from reading this article is if using embryonic stem cells to replace the dying stem cells would work, and cure this terrible disease?

    SL

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. UnknownApril 10, 2018 at 7:30 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    2. UnknownApril 10, 2018 at 7:44 PM

      This comment has been removed by the author.

      Delete
    3. UnknownApril 10, 2018 at 7:45 PM

      Although I did not find evidence of this exact case we are discussing here I did find some research on the topic of utilizing stem cells to help us as a human race to improve the quality of our lives. In the article I read they were specifically studying the idea of utilizing stem cells in the heart. The idea was that if they could do stem cell transplants instead of a complete heart transplant then that would obviously be a large improvement for the receiver of the treatment for many reasons. Most of their studies in this article were conducted on mice and rats after they had caused a heart attack to take place within their body. From what I could understand they do not have the complete answer that stem cell transplants will or will not work, but from their research they are optimistic that they are making progress towards eventually being able to use this method to improve the quality of life for those humans who could use this type of treatment. The quality information that I did find was slightly old, and I am sure we are discovering more each year in a field such as this.

      Hayden G.

      https://stemcells.nih.gov/info/2001report/chapter9.htm

      Delete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Kill The Pain But Not The Patient

               Opioid’s are a serious problem that according to Edward Bilsky, an opioid pharmacologist and provost at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences, can potentially be eliminated. Opioid addiction is a problem that needs to be faced as soon as possible. Utah has many different ads that are sure to be seen driving on the freeway, but we are not the only state that has an issue. Many people have died and many more will continue to die “In 2015, 2 million Americans suffered from prescription opioid addiction, and more than 33,000 died of an opioid overdose” (pg. 44) There is a solution to the problem at hand.               In Jonathon Keats’ article, building a better Painkiller, Christopher Stein stumbled upon something that would change the way that opioids are researched. He noticed that among rats an inflamed leg would be numb to the effects of touch, but anot...
22 comments
Read more

Sharks Cause Alzheimer's

                The article that I read and researched was about a study preformed on shark fins and shark meat. This study focuses on an effect that shark meat and fins have on humans that consume it. Scientists from the University of Miami found high concentrations of toxins linked to neurodegenerative diseases in the fins and muscles of 10 species of sharks (Biology News 2016). The scientist took samples from shark tissues in these 10 species from both the Atlantic and Pacific Ocean. After performing test on these samples they reported results of high concentration of “mercury and β-N-methylamino-L-alanine (BMAA). Recent studies have linked BMAA to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis. While both mercury and BMAA by themselves pose a health risk, together they may also have synergistic toxic impacts.” (Biology News 2016).      ...
13 comments
Read more

Calories and Ageing

Alison Abbott in her article “Reduced-calorie diet shows signs of slowing ageing in people” (Abbott, A.) describes a part of a trial called the Comprehensive Assessment of Long term Effects of Reducing Intake of Energy (CALERIE). The 53 participants in the study were not obese, and they were split into a group that ate 15% less calories than normal, and a control group that ate a normal number of calories. The study lasted for two years. They measured the oxygen intake, carbon dioxide exhaled, and the nitrogen content of urine to come to their conclusions. The calorie restricting group could better use calories then the control group when they were asleep. Abbott talks about how mitochondria is important in the life span of things like worms and flies. We learned in our biology class that the mitochondria is an organelle in a cell that is responsible for the production of atp that provides the energy necessary to power the cell, and my guess is that lowering calorie intake will someho...
12 comments
Read more