Denise+Weinberger

=Week 3- A different way to treat cancer?= = = =This week we visited Janessen, which was pretty cool! One thing they mentioned that they are always researching is cancer. This got me interested in different ways to treat cancer, especially after watching The Fault in Our Stars. TFIOS mentions a made-up drug, "//The drug was phalanxifor, this molecule designed to attach itself to cancer cells and slow their growth." -John Green. So, in the real world, what are some of the different options? Cancer is such an important topic because it seems that everyone knows at least one person suffering from cancer. Too often, therapy doesn't adequately work and so much more research needs to be done to improve the lives of many.//= media type="custom" key="26173486" What is Tumor Treating Fields?
 * //Different Cancer Treatments//**
 * 1) **//Surgery//**
 * 2) **//Radiation//**
 * 3) **//Chemotherapy//**
 * 4) **//And one you may not be familiar with--Tumor Treating Fields//**

Tumor Treating Fields were invented by Dr. Yoram Palti,a professor at the Technion in Israel. They use low-intensity electric fields to fight cancer.  Electric fields are not an electric current that is coursing through tissue. Electric fields are not ionizing radiation, like X-rays or proton beams that bombard tissue to disrupt DNA and electric fields are not magnetism. What they are, are a field of forces. These forces act on/attract bodies that have an electrical charge.

In cancer, cells rapidly divide and lead to uncontrolled tumor growth. Pretend that a cell is a mini space station. And in that space station we have the genetic material, the chromosomes, within a nucleus. And out in the cytoplasm, we have special proteins that are required for cell division that float freely in three dimensions. Importantly, those special proteins are among the most highly charged objects in our body. As cell division begins the nucleus disintegrates, the chromosomes line up in the middle of the cell and those special proteins form chains (AKA mitotic spindle). These chains then progress and attach to the genetic material and pull the genetic material from one cell into two cells. This is exactly how one cancer cell becomes two cancer cells, two cancer cells become four cancer cells, and so on.

(What TTF looks like)

Tumor Treating Fields use externally placed transducers attached to a field generator to create an artificial electric field on that space station. And when that cellular space station is within the electric field, it acts on those highly charged proteins and aligns them. It prevents them from forming mitotic spindles that are necessary to pull the genetic material into the daughter cells. What happens is that the cells will attempt to divide for several hours and they will either enter into apoptosis or they will form unhealthy daughter cells and enter into apoptosis once they have divided.

"Novocure, a company, conducted its first phase three randomized trial in patients with recurrent GBM (brain cancer). So these are patients who had received surgery, high dose radiation to the head and first-line chemotherapy, and that had failed and their tumors had grown back. We divided the patients into two groups. The first group received second-line chemotherapy, which is expected to double the life expectancy, versus no treatment at all. And then the second group received only Tumor Treating Field therapy. What we saw in that trial is that that the life expectancies of both groups -- so the chemotherapy treated group and the Tumor Treating Field group -- was the same. But importantly, the Tumor Treating Field group suffered none of the side effects typical of chemotherapy patients. They had no pain, suffered none of the infections. They had no nausea, diarrhea, constipation, fatigue that would be expected. Based on this trial, in April of this year, the FDA approved Tumor Treating Fields for the treatment of patients with recurrent GBM. Importantly, it was the first time ever that the FDA included in their approval of an oncology treatment a quality of life claim." (From the TED talk)

So, this treatment is relatively new and has effects equal to chemotherapy with less side effects. This can bring new hope to cancer patients- a hope for a more comfortable life while getting rid of the cancer.

=Week 2- Can Oceans Feed the World?!!? = = =

Sustainability is defined as "improving the quality of human life while living within the carrying capacity of supporting eco-systems" (Wikipedia). We have been talking about sustainability this past week in terms of trees and paper. I was looking on the TED website and came across this really interesting TED talk. media type="custom" key="26103566"

It states that we can save the oceans if we take initiative. By saving the oceans, we can feed 250 million more people. This is such an important topic as 1 billion people currently do not have enough to eat. We could save and improve many lives if we crack down on the fishing industry.

WHY FISH?
 * Has multiple health benefits (low-fat high quality protein)
 * Most cost effective animal protein
 * Low carbon footprint compared to other industries
 * Arable land is very limited and population only continues to rise
 * Rainfall patterns change, so drought may devastate crops certain years

Since 1988, there has been an 18% decrease in the global fish catch because of overfishing.

=How can we turn this around?=


 * ** Set limits on the amount of fish fisheries can catch **
 * ** Reduce bycatch (the unintentional catch of the wrong species of fish, which leads to waste) **
 * ** Protect habitats **
 * ** Stop illegal fishing **

If countries can actually implement laws to limit the amount fisheries can catch, the result would be tremendous. Fish populations would be able to replenish themselves and not only would numbers restore to before 1988, they would surpass them. There are currently 80 countries with coastal fisheries, yet 24 of those countries supplies 90% of the world's catch. If those countries followed the plan to increase fish populations (stated above), 700 million people could be feed from fish instead of the 450 million people currently.

Another debate about fish is bioengineered salmon. [] This link gives the gist of the situation.

Bioengineered salmon are much larger and grow twice as fast. There are huge economic advantages to this for companies. By creating a large supply of bioengineered salmon, we could feed more people with less salmon. So, what's the harm?

If released into the wild, there could be disastrous results.
 * Mate selection is chosen on size rather than fitness, so females (in a study) chose larger, genetically modified yet genetically inferior salmon
 * The genetic change reduces the offspring's ability to survive
 * As a result, the transgenic animal could bring the wild salmon population to extinction in 40 generations
 * The viability of groups of modified and conventional fish were measured at three days of age, and 30 percent fewer transgenic fish survived to that age

After reading about this topic, what do you think?

Do you think it is realistic for all those 24 countries to adopt laws regulating fishing and the fisheries to comply with the laws?

...Or do you believe the better option is to increase the number of genetically modified fish, despite the risk of endangering native populations if they are somehow released into the wild?



Week 1

== =__TEETH REGENERATION __=

This week we were watching Wall-e and one side effect of humans living in space for so long was dramatic bone loss. Although teeth are not bones, they are considered part of the skeletal system. Teeth are made up of four main parts. 1. //Enamel//-the hard covering that protects teeth from wear 2. //Dentine//- below enamel, a yellow bone-like substance that carries some nerves 3. //Pulp//-the center of the tooth; a soft tissue that contains blood vessels and nerves 4. //Cementum//- helps attach the tooth to the jaw bone

I took interest in this topic, as I was in a bike accident and lost a permanent tooth and had several dental problems as a result of the trauma. So, if bones can regenerate, why not teeth? As technology gets more advanced over time, science can use it to create better lives for humans. Although their are several options for those who have damage to their teeth, this process would be a more natural option. Additionally, relating to Wall-e, artificial teeth require synthetic materials, which results in waste and pollution.

media type="custom" key="26026836"
This video explains why we as humans can't regrow teeth. It explains that through the evolutionary process, as we acquired more specialized tissues, we don't have as many stem cells as a result. One interesting part of the video explained that scientists have located the gene that codes for regeneration in humans and compared it to the regenerative gene in alligators. The difference is that in humans the gene is switched off.

= = = = =How? =

__ http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3912331/ __ This link explains that regeneration of teeth could happen in the very near future.

//Some main points include://
 * During the last decade, advances in tissue engineering and stem cell-based tooth regeneration have provided means of replacing lost or damaged teeth.
 * The recent discovery of induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells has provided the possibility to revolutionize the field of regenerative medicine (in this case, dentistry) by offering the option of autologous transplantation (Removal of tissue or cells from one person and then returning the cells back to the same person).
 * Stem cells are undifferentiated cells that are capable of giving rise to indefinitely more cells of the same type, and from which certain other kinds of cell arise by differentiation.
 * The main concept in current tooth regeneration is to mimic the natural tooth development process either **//in vitro//** or **//in vivo//** using stem cells.
 * In general, stem cells can be divided into three main types: ESCs that are derived from embryos; adult stem cells that are derived from adult tissue; and iPS cells that are generated artificially by reprogramming adult somatic cells so that they behave like ESCs.
 * Several groups have demonstrated that it is possible to produce biological teeth similar in appearance to natural teeth on the basis of tissue–cell or cell–cell recombination using embryonic tooth germ cells.

This picture explains the proposed procedure for bioengineering a whole new tooth.

The current strategy for whole tooth regeneration using iPS cells.
The patient's somatic cells are harvested. Reprogramming factors are introduced to induce self-renewal and pluripotency, and patient-specific iPS cells are established. iPS cells are induced to form ectodermal epithelial cells and neural crest-derived mesenchymal cells ( multipotent stromal **cells** that can differentiate into a variety of cell types, including: osteoblasts (bone **cells**), chondrocytes (cartilage **cells**), and adipocytes (fat **cells**)), and they are further induced to form odontogenic cells //in vitro//. The two cell populations are combined by direct contact, mimicking the //in vivo// arrangement. Interaction of these cells leads to formation of an early-stage tooth germ. Once transplanted into the mouth, the recombinants develop and lead to functional recovery from tooth loss.

= SOME CHALLENGES =
 * Tooth development takes several years
 * Morphology and size differs depending on which tooth the patient needs
 * The morality of using stem cells