Are Stem cells used to treat diseases, if yes how?

 Yes. In stem cell transplants, stem cells replace cells damaged by chemotherapy or disease or serve as a way for the donor's immune system to fight some types of cancer and blood-related diseases, such as leukemia, lymphoma, neuroblastoma, and multiple myeloma. These transplants use adult stem cells or umbilical cord blood. Researchers are testing adult stem cells to treat other conditions, including a number of degenerative diseases such as heart failure.

How are microbes used in the bioremediation of contaminated groundwater sites?

Bioremediation relies on the growth of certain microbes that use contaminants like oil, solvents, and pesticides for sources of food and energy. This process usually involves aerobic or anaerobic microorganisms that use this breakdown as an energy source. These microbes convert contaminants into small amounts of water, as well as harmless gases like carbon dioxide. 

What role might nanotechnologies play in replacing current diagnostic and treatment technologies?

As of right now, we have no real way of treating cancer without harming the patient.  These methods include surgery, radiation, and chemotherapy which all risk damaging tissue or not completely eradicating cancer. Nanotechnology would be extremely beneficial for the treatment of cancer as it would help chemotherapy directly target cancerous cells, help with the removal of tumors and it would help reduce risks to patients and increase the survival rate. A more specific example of how nanotechnology could be helpful is its potential role in serving malaria patients. Conventional chemotherapy can result in resistant parasites development which results in high dose requirements. The alternative approach using nanotechnology would be to deliver antimalarials using nanocarriers which would target infected cells. It has already been proven to be effective using animal models and should continue to be researched and studied to be a potentially promising treatment method for malaria, which continues to be a serious and fatal disease worldwide which has killed approximately 409,000 people in 2019.

Enzymes role in the Production of Dairy Products

In the dairy industry,  enzymes have various functions and use in the production process. They have a vital role in where they are used to enhance the aroma, color, and flavor of various products such as cheese and milk products. Milk is globally recognized as a nutritious food source, with that being said approximately 68% of the global population has lactose malabsorption, which causes lactose intolerance. It’s a condition where your small intestine cannot fully digest or break down lactose. To be able to absorb the lactose, the digestive cells need to produce lactase which catalyzes the breakdown of lactose. People who are lactose intolerant do not produce enough lactase which makes it hard for their bodies to digest the lactose. The lactose is then consumed by bacteria which leads to it sitting in the gut causing abdominal pain and bloating. Technology to supply lactose-free milk and other dairy products such as yogurt and cheese was developed by the Agricultural Analysis Service in 1985. This technology is used to add lactase to milk, thereby hydrolyzing the lactose naturally found in milk, leaving it slightly sweet but digestible by everyone. Another enzyme used in dairy production is catalase. It is used instead of pasteurization, (a process where certain foods are quickly heated for a short time to kill bacteria that can make you sick) when making certain cheeses such as Swiss, in order to preserve natural milk enzymes that are beneficial to the end product and flavor development of the cheese. 

Science Related Careers Report, unit 2

 Title of Job:  Research scientist in the proteomic lab

Job duties:

• Sample preparation 

• Follow strict safety procedures when handling dangerous or toxic chemicals 

• Study animal and human health and physiological processes

• Write and publish articles in scientific journals 

Skill Sets:

• Knowledge of business and management principles

• Knowledge of computer hardware and software

• Strong in various mathematical fields 

Personality/Aptitude Requirements

• Reading comprehension

• Active listening 

• Complex problem solving

• Social perceptiveness

• Good teamwork and communication skills

Potential employers

• Labs such as CellCarta

• Various colleges and universities

• Several federal, provincial, and municipal departments

Education requirements

• Minimum qualifications tend to include a Ph. D. in chemistry, biology, biochemistry, or another subject in the related field of study.

Salary Range:

The average pay varies based on the roles in the lab, but a starting role in the lab could start at earning $50,000 a year. If you were to be a program head you could be making upwards of $140,000 a year.

Contribution of a Scientist, unit 2, Maud Menten

 

Name of Scientist: Maud Menten (1879-1960)

Area(s) of Specialty: Enzyme kinetics and histochemistry

Examples of research she has done and the contribution to the field of study

She was one of the first scientists to discover information on the role of enzymes. She developed a mathematical equation to measure the rates of enzyme reactions and explained the basics of enzyme kinetics.

She investigated the mobility of proteins in the presence of electric fields. This investigation provided important information on the difference in size and mobility of hemoglobin molecules.

She created a technique still used today by scientists to find special proteins by using special dyes.

Other information of note She spoke 6 languages  She’s apart of the Canadian medicine hall of fame  First Canadian woman to earn a medical doctorate

What does this make you wonder further about? I wonder about how much resistance she had from other scientists trying to prove her wrong just because she is a woman and back then in this time frame it was very against social standards for a woman to be succeeding so much in the medical field.

Journal, Unit 1

 September 22nd:

New scientist weekly, “Stretching the point” July 17-23, 2021

In this article, the benefits and negatives of stretching are both looked at.  Various points are backed up by countless research done by respected universities and scientists including Harvard. The effect of stretching on your everyday life is looked at and an interesting point taken away by me was even just focusing on something with your eyes will cause certain muscles in your body to tense hence limiting flexibility. As an athlete, I have some experience with stretching for sport and even I was surprised to read the effect of static stretching before partaking in an endurance sport.  It's shown that performance can be decreased by approximately 5%, although stretching is still important before sports because injury to muscles is reduced by 54%. Just don’t go overboard on stretching because overstretching can lead to dislocations and joint pain. Overall, stretching is beneficial and it’s great for cardiovascular health.

I really enjoyed this article and I learned a lot about stretching and I’m excited to incorporate some newly learned facts into my pre-game warmup and share some ideas with teammates. 

Science Related Careers Report, unit 1

 Title of Job:  Marine Biologist

Job duties:

• Using instruments to track and measure marine organisms

• Analyzing health components within the ocean environment

• Researching organisms and their behavior 

• Collecting field and samples for analyzation

• Working and consulting with programs that try to monitor pollution

Skill Sets:

• Biostatistics

• Geographic information systems 

• Technical writing

• Risk assessment

• Project management

• Interest in aquatic life

• Good teamwork and communication skills

Personality/Aptitude Requirements

• Appreciation of marine life

•  Scientific ability

•  Observant and questioning mind and patience.

•  Need to like the outdoors 

•  Performing repetitive work for scientific experiments

• Strong communicators.

Potential employers

• MarineLand

• Aquariums 

• Various colleges and universities

• Several federal, provincial, and municipal departments

Education requirements

• Students wanting to enter post-secondary education in the field of marine biology must be fond of biology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, computer science, and English.

• The minimum education requirement is a university undergraduate degree

• A graduate degree is required for independent research

• Some programs recommended for post-secondary students wanting to enter the field include marine biology, zoology, ecology, oceanography, etc...

Salary Range:

The salary range for a marine biologist in Canada is between $62,533 and $108,385 while in Ontario the average pay is $87,697 a year or $42/h

Contribution of a Scientist, unit 1, Linus Pauling

 

Name of Scientist: Linus Pauling (1901-1994)

Area(s) of Specialty: He began his career in the fields of chemistry and physics.

Examples of research s/he has done and the contribution to the field of study

Pauling established the scale of electronegativity, he noted that when atoms have an equal electronegativity value, they share the electrons equally, creating a true covalent bond. This helps the field of study because charge distribution can be determined or predicted without complex calculations nor spectroscopic studies. Which is helpful for understanding and designing new materials.

In 1948, Pauling and others found evidence about the bonding angles and distances between the atoms in amino acids as well as insight in the structure of proteins. Thus led Pauling to describe two structures of proteins, a-helix, and the B-pleated sheet. X-ray diffraction studies have proven his claims are correct and that the a-helix and b-pleated sheet are both major components of protein structure.

Pauling formulated generalizations about atomic arrangements in crystals that are held together by ionic bonds. This is now known as “Pauling’s Rules” which is still a used guide for understanding crystal structures.

Other information of note In his lifetime, Pauling published over 1000 articles and books. He promoted megadoses of vitamins such as vitamin c as an alternative to chemotherapy for cancer patients. He stood against the government for wanting to use nuclear weapons and had his passport revoked because of it. Which stalled his research on the understanding of DNA as he wasn't able to travel.

What does this make you wonder further about? What I'm most confused about is his refusal to believe he was wrong with the statements about vitamin c being an alternative to chemotherapy because he had no concrete evidence or experimental information to back up his points while there was research proving him wrong.