Pregnant women who eat peanuts may put infants at increased risk for peanut allergy

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/02/pregnant_women_who_eat_peanuts_may_put_inafants_at_risk_for_peanut_allergy.html

Scientists have tested the theory that when pregnant women consume peanuts their child has a greater chance of having peanut allergies, and have come to the conclusion that it is a possibility but requires further research and evidence to be proven. They evaluated about five hundred infants and a little over a hundred had peanut related allergies, and the greatest contributor to the allergies was the mother's consumption of peanuts during pregnancy. This was a positive in concluding this theory, but there has been a down fall in recent years because of a lack of evidence supporting the theory. It has been concluded that it is a possible risk factor is can not, at this time, be proven one hundred percent accurate.
This article caught my attention because I have always wondered how people got allergies. I never knew if it was genetic pr a disease you get after birth. This article informed me that allergies can be hereditary and can be passed down from your ancestors, and may even be passed down from the mother as an effect of eating peanuts during pregnancy. I, personally, am not allergic to anything; the only time I sneeze is when there is a lot of dust in the room. Now that I know how people come about having allergies I can better understand them and have more sympathy for them when they are sneezing every five minutes during allergy season. I love learning new things in science and can't wait for the next attention grabbing headline!

Josh Grix

A group of Universite Laval and Danisco researchers just found the secret of bacteria's immune system, the discovery may eventually make it possible to prevent certain bacteria from developing resistance to antibiotics is presented in an issue of the scientific journal Nature. The lead researcher is Professor Sylvain Moineau of Universite Laval's Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology, and Bioinformatics showed that the item of discussion, called CRISPR/Cas, works by getting foreign DNA segments and placing them into very specific locations in a bacterium's genome, the segments then serve as a type of immune factor in fighting off future invasions by cleaving incoming DNA. The researchers demonstrated this using plasmids, DNA molecules that are regularly exchanged by bacteria. The plasmid used in the experiment, which contained a gene for antibiotic resistance, was inserted into bacteria used in making yogurt, Streptococcus thermophilus. Some of the bacteria moved the segments of DNA from the resistance gene into their genome, and attempts to reinsert the plasmid into these bacteria failed.


http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/04/researchers_unlock_the_secret_of_bacterias_immune_system.html

current event

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/04/new_3d_model_of_rna_core_domain_of_enzyme_telomerase_may_offer_clues_to_cancer_aging.html

DNA-containing telomeres, at the ends of chromosomes, become so short that the cells die. Telomerase plays a surprisingly important role in cancer and aging. In a cancer cell telomerase is highly active and adds telomere DNA, preventing telomere shortening and extending the life of the cell. Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes.

I think its good to know that they know what makes the cells age faster. wiyh this information i think that scientists can use this information and somehow prevent the aging of cells and extending the life of cells.

New Drug -that Treats Cancer ?

http://news.yahoo.com/s/hsn/20101028/hl_hsn/newdrugshowspromiseagainstcertainlungcancers

This article is about an experimental drug that treats lung cancer. This drug's name is Crizotinib it has been proven to be very effective on patients with lung cancer. Doctors tested 82 patients with lung cancer, that had tumors in their lungs. 46 of the pateints taking the drug, their tumors have shrunk more than 30 percent within 6 months of taking it. Doctors are also hoping that the drug will be effective on different caners such as: breast, colon, and sarcoma cancer.

I think this new drug is a wonderful discovery! So many people develop a type of cancer everyday, and if this drug can help knock out the cancer then people would have a hope of living. I hope that this new drug will be a new step for the fight against cancer, maybe even the cure. With this new drug, people with types of cancer may not have to go through that much pain anymore. I am in agreement with this new drug all the way!

Life on Titan?

Summary- Scientist believe that there might be a methane based life form on Titan. Water is frozen solid on Titan' surface and much too cold to support the life as we know it. One of the scientist found a desperity in the hydrogen density that lead to a flow to the surface at the rate of about 10,000 trillion trillion hydogen molecules per second. This is about the same rate at which the molecule escape the upper atmosphere. It is not likely that hydrogen is bieng stored in a cave or underground space on Titan.

Opinion- I wonder if we will be able to vist that place one day. I wonder how the life forms are able to stand the cold. If that were me I would probably freeze because its 90 Kelvin. I wonder if the life forms can have kids. I wonder if they even have a male and a female.



http://www.macroevolution.net/life-on-titan.html

Brain Aging

SUMMERY
At the Swedish medical university Karolinska scientists have found that, by measuring the lactate levels in the brain, they can monitor how quickly brain cells are aging. They used both normally aging mice and premature aging mice in their testing to study how changes in metabolism are related to damage to the mitochondria during cell division in the aging process. Mitochondrial disfunctions are often linked to age-related disorders such as Parkinson's and Alzheimer´s disease. Mitochondrial damage increases with age and alters the genes that form lactate so lactate also increases with aging and it's a good indicator. Hopefully this will allow doctors to give patients their "brain ages" with an MRI.

OPINION
It'll be helpful to be able to measure brain aging. I'm not worried about that yet for myself, but by the time I am old enough to be at risk of neurodegenerative diseases I'm sure this information will be easily at hand. I bet that when this becomes a normal procedure for the elderly, it'll become a legal issue where insurance companies get involved. All the newer advancements in science seem like they're making us rewrite our laws. It's troublesome, but it allows us to strech our imaginations for solutions.

BRITTANY BURNS
http://www.biologynews.net/archives/2010/11/03/lactate_in_the_brain_reveals_aging_process.html

Telomeres

http://www.biologynews.net/archives/molecular_cell_biology/

Telomerase is an enzyme that maintains the DNA at the ends of our chromosomes. Are telomeres get shorter everytime our cells divide. This is a natural part of our aging process. Telomeres act as protective caps for the ends of our chromosomes. Eventually they will become so short the cells will die. The cells that contain cancer will die even faster than normal cells.

This is a major problem. I think that scientists should start looking for a cure to this. People with cancer cells are more likely to die a lot faster if the cells die quicker than normal cells. This is because when the telomeres die, a persons body becomes a lot weaker and can not do as many things as it used to be able to do. This needs to be looked further into because people with cancer cells are going to die a lot faster and scientists should try and stop this or at least extend find a way to extend the life span of people with cancer cells.