BioScope May 2016
Increasing Your Longevity
New ideas for living longer in a new age and how you actually age
See pages 32 and 36
How Your Dog Can Help You
The miracle of therapy animals
See page 16
Viruses New solutions to antibiotic resistance
See page 10
The Connections Between Mathematics and Biology
See page 20
Stress
How it affects us and how we can let it go See pages 26 and 30
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Photo Courtesy of Pixabay
Uses of Bacteria
Surprising but true uses of bacteria in our every-day lives
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The Phage Age
Using viruses as a solution to anti-bacterial resistance
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Helping Hooves
Horses, as therapy animals
Our Canine Therapists
Stories of the uses of dogs as therapists
Table of Contents
It’s Knot Just Math 20
An excursion into the connections between mathematics and the inner workings of cells
Famous Mathematicians 24 A compilation of significant mathematicians and their work
The Toll of Stress 26 How stress affects your brain
Let Stress Go 30 Ways to reduce stress in your life
To A Greater Longevity 32 How to increase your longevity in the future
100 Candles 36
The how and why our bodies can reach the 100 candle mark on our birthday cakes
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Photo by Sasha Krotov
A Letter from the Editors Dear Reader, Let us be the first to welcome you to the BioScope, a magazine for those with eclectic and scientific interests. Our goal for this magazine is to inspire and educate those fascinated by topics that would bore others. In our magazine, you will find a collection of topics that may seem unrelated at a glance--the healing power of our canine companions, how stress takes its toll, the connections between math and science--but really, everything ties together quite nicely. Every story that we’ve assimilated into Bioscope shares a wealth of information about any given topic, right at your fingertips. You can learn about anything from therapy animals to how we use phages to mathematical discoveries. It was such a pleasure for us to put this magazine together for you. Thank you so much. Regards, Amy Min Anna Tutuianu
April Hernandez Alanna Moore
Jessica Ding
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Our BioScope Team Jessica loves puns, bad jokes, and trolling. In her free time, she practices cello, reads books, does stuff on the Internet, and watches rhythmic gymnastics. She chose to help with the creation of this magazine because she was inspired by Bill Nye the Science Guy. She also wanted to leave readers with this quote: “In three words I can sum up everything I’ve learned about life: it goes on.” -Robert Frost.
Jessica Ding Photo taken by Bioscope staff
Alanna is an avid dog lover who also loves art and writing. In her free time, she listens to music, tends her herb garden, and writes poetry and short stories for fun. Alanna decided to contribute to this magazine because she wanted to write about dogs, and making it science related seemed like the best route for her. Alanna also likes walks, spending time at the park, and eating chocolate while being left alone.
Alanna Moore Photo taken by Bioscope staff
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April enjoys hanging out with her friends and learning about the world. When she’s not doing anything important for school, she does stuff on the Internet, homework, painting, baking, likes to be with her family, and a ton of other things. April decided to take part in creating this magazine because she thinks the idea of studying the human body is really intriguing.
April Hernandez Photo taken by Bioscope staff
Anna is a ninth-grader who attends the Liberal Arts and Science (LASA). She enjoys reading, looking up random stuff on the Internet, walking dogs, being around friends, and more. Anna’s a member of the LASA Quiz Bowl club as well as an officer of the LASA Synthetic Biology club at school. Anna likes history, science, journalism, art, watching Daredevil on the weekends, and playing the piano.
Anna Tutuianu Photo taken by Bioscope staff
Amy is a reserved person. In her free time, she tends to sleep, read, procrastinate, and go on the Internet. She also practices the oboe and piano. Amy likes to zone out, eat fruit, and watch short clips of variety shows. She decided to contribute to this magazine because science interested her the most. Amy Min Photo taken by Bioscope staff
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Unusual Uses of
Bacteria Bacteria can be used as... By Amy Min Artwork by Amy Min
...the strongest glue.
Caulobacter crescentus is a crescent shaped bacteria scientists believe produces the strongest glue ever. This bacteria has a stalk that helps it bind to a surface as it reproduces. The stalk, upon surface contact, produces sugary material that would require a force of 5 tons per square inch to unstick the bacteria from a surface. To put this into perspective, scientist Yves Brun says the substance is three to four times stronger than superglue. Other scientists claim only a small amount would be needed to lift multiple cars at the same time. Scientists are looking into the possibility of using this substance to create new surgical glues. Caulobacter crescentus
...sunscreen.
A group of researchers have come across a bacteria at the bottom of the Trondheim Fjord (Norwegian lake) that could be used to improve sunscreen protection against ultraviolet (UV) rays. It was found that the bacteria, Micrococcus luteus, produced a pigment called sarcinaxanthin that absorbed long UV wavelengths up to 320 to 470 nanometers. This is a range that is still able to cause skin cancer in which current sunscreens are unable to block. Promar, a biotechnology company, has chosen to name the substance “UVA-blue� and predict it will make its way into marketed sunscreen within a decade. Micrococcus luteus
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...storage for data.
Imagine storing data such as text, images, music, and even videos in bacteria. Researchers have discovered a method in which a person could store the amount of data four hundred fifty 2k GB hard drives could hold into an E. Coli bacterium. This vast storage amount is due to bacterial replication, which can copy data thousands of times as each bacteria reproduces. Storing data in bacteria is more secure than in computers as bacteria can’t be hacked; data can also be stored for thousands of years.
...light.
By genetically modifying E. Coli, the bacteria could be used as a light source. Researchers have inserted DNA that includes genes for bioluminescence into E. Coli. The engineered bacteria, along with other microorganisms, will then be inserted into a bulb. The microorganisms will act as a food source for the E. Coli while the microorganisms will feed off of any light source. This system will keep both the E. Coli and its food sources alive and working for days, or even months.
E. Coli
...”pixels” for photos. Photos made of living bacteria are much sharper than that of photo printers. Bacterial photos are created beginning with inserting a light sensitive gene into E. Coli. This light sensitive gene causes the production of a a black pigment whenever the bacteria digests sugar; red light deactivates this gene. After the E. Coli, placed on top of a sugar-agar mixture in a petri dish, is covered by a transparent film with a solid-colored image, it’s placed under red light. The black pigment forms under the opaque image and thus produces a copy of the image that was on the transparent film.
An image copied into the bacteria culture on a petri dish.
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The Phage Age By Amy Min
Photo taken from WIkipedia.
W
hen asked about the most abundant organisms on earth, most people think of bacteria: tiny, microscopic organisms that live nearly everywhere on Earth. About 1030 bacteria are estimated to live on this planet. However, there are other organisms that outnumber bacteria ten to one. They’re everywhere bacteria are found. These organisms are called bacteriophages, also known as simply phages. Felix d’Herelle first discovered a microbe that killed bacteria in 1917. Because this microbe was much smaller than bacteria and could pass through filters that filtered out bacteria, he hypothesized this microbe was a virus that infected bacteria. To describe this antibacterial activity, d’Herelle coined these microbes bacteriophages from the Greek word “phagein,” which means to eat. Phages are viruses that attack specific strains of bacteria; namely, one type of phage will attack only one type of bacteria. When attacking bacteria, phages inject their genetic material into a bacterial host, use bacterial
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machinery and resources to reproduce, and ultimately burst the cell open and release their progeny into the environment. This bacterial killing activity has made phages a solution to antibiotic resistant bacteria, due to phages’ ability to evolve; this is unlike antibiotics, which don’t replicate, and therefore can not evolve. As phages replicate, mutations in their RNA or DNA are made, allowing the viruses to evolve along with bacteria. Phages only attack specific species of bacteria. Phage MS2, for example, only infects E. Coli. However, one type of bacteria can have multiple phages specific to it. Thanks to phage specificity, the chances of widespread phage resistance occurring decreases. If a host bacteria becomes resistant to one phage specific to it, that doesn’t stop other types of phages (specific to the same bacteria) from attacking it.
successfully administered to four children suffering from dysentery. After this, phage therapy became globally widespread with thousands of uses in multiple countries. “Basically, they’ve been used all over the world ... but, with the use has also come with disappointment,“ Sulakvelidze says. When testing, phage therapeutics would sometimes succeed, while other times, it would not work. This
When phages were discovered, people reacted with “a lot of enthusiasm”, according to Sulakvelidze, that they thought phage use to treat illnesses would become a miracle cure for untreatable illnesses. The first recorded application of Phage as seen under a microscope. phage therapy on humans occurred Photo taken from WIkipedia in 1919 where phages were
was because scientists did not yet realize phage specificity. Scientists also did not have as sophisticated diagnostics tools back then. When a patient was sick from an infection, if the doctors didn’t know what was causing the infection, the chances of phage therapy being ineffective were high because many infections are caused by numerous different types of bacteria. There were also the difficulties of finding the exact cause of an infection. Some phages contained dangerous gene sequences that caused certain illnesses through the lysogenic cycle. For example, a there’s a certain phage with a gene that, when it infects its specific bacterial host, causes the release of a toxin, resulting in an upper respiratory illness called diphtheria. Controversy regarding what exactly phages increased as well. Scientists weren’t sure whether they were microorganisms; some thought they might be proteins. “Then all of a sudden, antibiotics were discovered,” Sulakvelidze says. Discovered in 1926 by Alexander Fleming, antibiotics kill many different types of bacteria without needing to differentiate between beneficial and harmful bacteria. When using antibiotics, it’s not as necessary to know which bacterium is causing the infection, in contrast to phage therapy.
possible reason.
number of occurrences.
“Phage products are significantly less expensive than antibiotics or vaccines to develop and produce.” The Soviet Union, for example, used phage therapy during World War II to treat bacterial diseases like
“You may know that drug resistance is one of the top problems in modern day medicine. That is something that keeps physicians awake at night,” Sulakvelidze says.
“Drug resistance is one of the top problems in modern day medicine. That is something that keeps physicians awake at night.” - Sulakvelidze dysentery and gangrene. Due to the continued use, Soviet scientists continued research on phage therapy and were able to go through clinical trials long enough to release phage therapeutics to the former Soviet countries’ markets such as Russia and Georgia. “You can actually buy them in drug stores [now],” Smrekar says. However, in recent years, bacterial antibiotic resistance has risen in
Antibiotic resistance has made treatable illnesses become incurable and dangerous infections. They increase treatment costs to cure illnesses. Antibiotic resistance occurs when bacteria change in ways that reduce the effectiveness and performance of a drug targeted toward it. Bacteria can do this by making the drug targeted toward it harmless, pumping out the antibiotic from the cell before it can cause any harm, or alter its cell structure so that the antibiotic can’t affect the bacteria. The resistant bacterium then survive and multiply, producing more bacteria resistant to the antibiotic. As a result of increasing bacterial antibiotic resistance, scientists are turning back to phage therapy as a solution. “What our company, Intralytix, set out to do is to bring this [phage] technology back,” Sulakvelidze says.
“When we found antibiotics, the western countries really promoted antibiotics and used [them],” says Frenk Smrekar, a scientist at AmpliphiBio, another pharmacuetical company focused on phage therapy. Western medicine began to favor antibiotics over phage therapy, and phage therapy gradually disappeared from the public eye. The Soviet Union, however, continued to use phage therapy along with antibiotics. Sulakvelidze suggests financial costs as one
Boxed in: E. Coli lysing due to Phage M.
Photo courtesy of Lorna Min
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Intralytix is a pharmaceutical company (with one of the largest phages libraries in the world), which produced the first phage therapeutic approved by the FDA. The company was formed in 1998 by Sulakvelidze and a group of friends with the intent of creating phage products used in a variety of settings in the western world to improve human health. Sulakvelidze was born in Tbilisi, Georgia, a former Soviet Union country, in which one of the largest central research and production centers for phages resides in. When Sulakvelidze immigrated to the United States in 1993, he came upon a culture shock: phages weren’t used at all. “I mean, they were commonly available where I grew up; I could use phages or antibiotics. So I assumed that was the case everywhere,” Sulakvelidze says. Sulakvelidze knew many were dying due to bacterial antibiotic resistance, which could be treated
with phage therapeutics, so he and his friends gathered to form Intralytix. “The medical community and scientists needed some time to learn about phages and understand the pros and cons of their applications,” Sulakvelidze says.
“I could not believe there was a microbiologist working with phage [therapy] ... I was hooked. It just completely made sense ... I never looked back.” - Morales “So, we initially focused on food safety.” Sulakvelidze and his team of scientists have developed three approved phage products for food safety applications, one being ListShield, their first product. Several years back in Lubbock,
An electromicroscopy of Salmonella phages. Alexander Sulvelidze
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Photo courtesy of
Texas, Sulakvelidze and his team were the first to use phages in a physician initiated phage clinical trial. Phages were successfully used to treat wounds caused by venous leg ulcers, showing phages were safe to use even when used on vulnerable patients. Sulakvelidze and his team are beginning to expand the applications for which they develop phage products. Frenk Smrekar and Sandra Morales are head scientists at AmpliphiBio, another pharmaceutical company focused on developing phage therapeutics, who chose to research phages after falling in love with phage therapy. “It’s kind of like I had some reaction ... to the cure in phages,” says Smrekar. After learning of phage therapy, Smrekar wanted to contribute to the creation of phage products that could help cure illnesses, especially with rising occurrences in bacterial antibiotic resistance. Morales, on the other hand, came across phage papers by chance over 11 years ago and was captivated by the
A box of ListShield, the first FDA approved phage therapeutic. Photo courtesy of Alexander Sulvelidze Background graphic taken from Wiki Commons
mechanisms of phage therapy.
interesting process.”
“I could not believe there was a microbiologist working with phage [therapy] ... I was hooked. It just completely made sense ... I never looked back,” says Morales.
The finished phage product then must go through a series of clinical trials as well as quality control and assurance steps before it can reach the market for sale.
Smrekar and Morales currently are working on a clinical trial in Australia against Staphylococcus aureus. Methicillin-resistant S. aureus (MRSA) is infamous for becoming resistant to multiple antibiotics, allowing MRSA epidemics to appear in communities around the world. After the Australia trial finishes, they will move on to the U.S. for another trial. They have other phage products also in the clinical trial stage against bacteria known for their resistance to antibiotics.
“It can take two years, one or two years, [to develop a phage therapeutic] before the clinical
To develop phage therapeutics, scientists begin with selecting a strain of bacteria to combat. After identifying the bacteria type, they search for phages in places where bacteria are found, such as rivers, grass, soil, and even sewers. They then go through the screening process of selecting the phages that work on the chosen bacteria. To do this, they take the phages, place them into a solution, and streak the solution across bacterial food mixed with bacteria. If the phage works on the bacteria, an area where no bacteria grew, called a plaque, will appear. The phage is then characterized using full genome sequencing and other methods. Scientists use programs to formulate phage cocktails that take into consideration how the scientists want the cocktail to perform. For example, the program might be told to formulate a cocktail that kills certain bacteria types. After this is done, then manufacturing of the phage therapeutic begins. “We [Intralytix] have scaled up the phage production process to a 1500-liter fermenter,” says Sulakvelidze. “There’re a couple of other vessels of similar size that help downstream process. It’s an
Sulakvelidze and his team in their lab.
trials,” Smrekar says. It can take anywhere from five to thirteen years for a product to reach the market. “It just depends on the cooperation of the FDA, how big of an unmet need you’re going to be addressing in a population,” says Matt Dansey, business development manager of AmpliphiBio. “There’re a whole bunch of factors, so it’s really hard to put down a timeline for when [phage therapeutics] will be available for sale in the U.S.” However, phage therapy availability in the U.S. market doesn’t look far off. Phage therapy is becoming more researched and used by scientists all over the country, and several large, household companies are beginning to use phages for food safety applications.
“One reason why phage therapy is not being pursued to a great extent is the inability of companies to patent phages and therefore make a large profit,” Lorna Min, an undergraduate research student working in the Center for Phage Technology at Texas A&M University, says. “If the general public begins to demand phage therapy, though,
Photo courtesy of Alexander Sulvelidze
companies will be pressured into increasing research efforts.” So, when exactly will this happen? “I think it’s not unreasonable to anticipate that therapeutic phages, whether in the form of probiotic preparations or drugs, will appear on the market within the next seven to eight years,” Sulakvelidze says. Although idea and use of phage therapy was virtually dropped in the western world when antibiotics were found, it is finally gaining traction. The use of phages will play a crucial role in overcoming bacterial antibiotic resistance in the future, and the U.S. will soon pass the stage over to phage therapeutics as their main player against antibiotic resistance.
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Helping Hooves Miniature Horses as Therapy Animals By Alanna Moore Many miniature horses trained for therapy are also fully house-trained for convenience.
With a gentle temprament and responsive nature, mini horses are perfect for offering emotional support to those in need.
Graphic by Alanna Moore
When indoors, miniature horses wear shoes to avoid sliding around on smooth floors. photo by Michael Andersen
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photo by Olivia Koester
photo by Gentle Carousel
Therapy miniature horses are often used in literacy programs that help children learn to read.
Miniature horses are much smaller than standard horses, standing as small as two and half to three and a half feet tall. This makes them a convenient size for hospital visits. Graphic by Alanna Moore
photo by Craig Baxter
photo by arjecahn
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Photo by Jeanette Grayson
Our Canine Therapists By Alanna Moore
M
ost have fond memories of a canine companion, especially growing up. However, did you know that your furry friend could be a benefit for your mental health? Many people know the effects of pets on their physical health, doing things like lowering blood pressure and heart rate. However, fewer people know of their pets, especially those of the canine variety, assisting in their mental health as well. Dogs have been known to be emotional support to those with asperger’s and severe social anxiety, making it easier to communicate and socialize
Photo by Meredith Bannan
with others without suffering from panic attacks. “Dogs provide us with a sense of emotional well being thanks to the unconditional love they give,” says Jeanette Grayson, President of the Soft Coated Wheaten Terrier Breed Club of NSW Inc. Mrs. Grayson takes her dog to retirement homes to help raise the spirits of the elderly there. “Aubrey [brings] joy to the lives of the residents – he [makes] them laugh and they love..him.” says Mrs. Grayson, referring to her dog, Aubrey. Aubrey is a purebred soft coated wheaten terrier whom she brings to hospitals and homes
Pictured above is Aubrey, Jeanette Grayson’s soft coated wheaten terrier.
for the elderly to assist those who spend their days in those places. “Owning a dog can help people to recover from personal trauma, such as bereavement,” Mrs. Grayson says, cheerfully stating that dogs “will always be on hand for a reassuring hug when you need it!” Grayson is correct. Veterans returning from war often suffer from post traumatic stress disorder, or PTSD. PTSD is often triggered by experiencing or witnessing a traumatic event. Individuals suffering from PTSD often experience flashbacks, severe anxiety, and nightmares. However, man’s best friend
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Photo by Jeanette Grayson
can help. Veterans often report that taking on the task of training a therapy dog helps to abate their symptoms. LiveScience reports that training therapy dogs requires many things damaged by PTSD, such as attention, engagement, discipline, patience, and emotion. Since this task requires these skills, it helps repair them and alleviate the symptoms of PTSD. Angie Woods, a canine
Jeanette and Aubrey (front) at the 2014 Berry Celtic Festival.
“Dogs provide us with a sense of emotional well being thanks to the unconditional love they give.” -Jeanette Grayson behavior specialist, adds her two cents on the matter. “I have personally never suffered from depression or anxiety, but I do work with a lot of people that do suffer from that, and I would say that having dogs...helps,” Woods says. “It may be a[n] evolutionary situation...where we’ve formed a very close bond,” she speculates.
A woman enoys a visit with Lexi. Photo by: Michelle Cuteri
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There are some more commonly known effects of owning a dog. For example, people who own a dog often get more exercise than people who don’t, since dogs require a fairly rigorous exercise
routine to keep them happy and healthy. Owning a dog, especially when you’re young, decreases your risk of developing allergies. Dogs help calm you down, lower cholesterol, lower blood pressure, and help you have fewer heart attacks.
Photo by Michelle Cuteri
However, there are many less commonly known side effects to owning a dog. Michele Cuteri, a volunteer with Austin Dog Alliance, says that having a therapy dog can be a tremendous help to those with anxiety. “If you have somebody that may have some emotional problems that if they start to maybe get very upset...if they cry, if they have night terrors or anything like that, [then] the therapy dog will go to them and immediately be able to calm them down” says Ms. Cuteri, a volunteer since 2009. Michele is currently working with a black labrador named Lexi. She related a story of a boy with autism and how a therapy dog assisted him in overcoming social anxiety. “Because he is on the autism spectrum and [has] anxiety... he did most of his classes in the special needs room by himself and he said ‘I see all of the other kids... have friends that they can sit with and talk to and I have nobody...I need somebody,’” she described emphatically. “He convinced his parents to let him try having the dog and I just happened to be training...one at the time
A man in a retirement home pets Lexi, who is visiting to provide emotional support.
that was available...so Roxy [the dog] goes to school with him,” Cuteri states proudly. “He wrote...this great letter about how he feels like a regular teenager now…[Roxy] gives him the confidence to stand there and talk to [people]. He was even the freshman homecoming
prince this year.” Cuteri continued her story, eyes misting over as she describes what he told her. “I feel like I belong now’.”
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It’s Knot Just Math By Jessica Ding
H
ave you ever wondered how meteorologists predict how rain clouds will move? Have you ever wondered why blood vessels are where they are in your body? What about your DNA? Did you know that sometimes
your DNA can get knotted in your cells, but there’s usually an enzyme around that could help the DNA get unknotted before it becomes fatal to your cell? Well, mathematics is helping to explain a lot of that. Mathematics isn’t
just something that is only accessible to only a few people. Actually, things like the problem of optimal transport are involved in everything in daily life, from predicting where rain clouds will be in a few days, to figuring out how DNA gets knotted and
A scanning electron micrograph image of knotted DNA. Image courtesy of Jennifer Mann Austin
Top: A scanning electron micrograph image of supercoiled DNA. Both images courtesy of Jennifer Mann Austin
unknotted and finding ways to kill cancer cells based on that information.
in several different areas of science. Suppose you are the mayor of a city. “You can use [optimum The problem transport theory] of optimal “[Optimal transport] is just for, say, how transport is to build a city, the problem of transporting transporting city easy to state, but hard to fully some resources from one resources, [and] understand. “It is definitely it can place to another in the just the problem be used for urban of transporting planning, to see cheapest some resources the distribution possible way.” from one place of resources to another in and structures - Professor Alessio Figalli the cheapest across cities, possible way,” and the says Professor Alessio Figalli, cheapest professor and R. L. Moore possible transportation.” says Chair at the University of Texas Professor Figalli. Or if your in Austin. But this problem is interest is in the medical field, complex and has applications optimal transport theory can
also be used to explain why your blood vessels are where they are. “Nature transports particles around in the cheapest possible way,” says Professor Figalli. “You could think, ‘Oh, if I had more blood veins, then the transport would be more efficient,’ because you could transport [oxygen and blood] to all different parts of the body. But on the other hand, if you have too many, then you have to care about maintenance and other things. So blood vessels are arranged so blood, oxygen, other things can get to the cells using the least energy.” This is important for knowing how tumors grow and potentially become cancer cells. It’s also important for
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A graphic showing some differences between normal, healthy cells and cancer cells. Image Courtesy of Wiki Commons
knowing how these cancer cells then metastasize, or spread to other places in the body. “There are models in biology about tumor growth. So there are situations where if the tumor is small enough, then the tumor will shrink, shrink, shrink until it disappears. But on the other hand, if the tumor is big enough, there is a critical moment after which the tumor starts to grow, and keep growing.” says Professor Figalli. It turns out that optimum transport can be used to model the growth of the tumor by looking at how each particle evolves through time. Tumors can be benign or malignant. Malignant tumors
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are better known as cancer. an action on it. Sometimes the It’s widely known that cancer DNA gets broken or untwisted is a disease that is hard to or stripped by the enzyme. effectively cure. But there is a Anytime you break to rejoin way to target cancer you could form a knot,” says cells, or more Dr. Jennifer Mann specifically, Austin, lecturer at “Anytime you break to the University of some of their vital Texas at Austin. rejoin you could form a enzymes, using So a lot of the knot.” knowledge time the DNA in from the a cell is knotted. - Dr. Jennifer Mann mathematical Usually this field of knotted DNA is not topology. advantageous for the cell, because if any proteins “DNA is very relatively long come and try to act on it and and it is also very relatively end up pulling the knots so tight flexible. All of the proteins that that it breaks the DNA strand, it do something to DNA actually would probably kill the cell. But bind to DNA and forcibly put there is something the cell can
use to unknot the DNA once it resolvase, which is involved finds that the DNA is knotted. in DNA replication for cell “Every cell of every organism reproduction. This enzyme is that we study has this group of important when differentiating enzymes called topoisomerases cancer cells from regular, and the geometry of the DNA harmless cells, and treating that’s knotted is different from the cancer cells. Cancer cells the geometry of are special the DNA that’s not because knotted. So the “So the drug is targeting that they topoisomerases reproduce cell reproduction process. And very rapidly. can find and resolve, or they will affect the cancer cell “The cancer remove the knots cells need to more strongly than the regular in the DNA. have these And in fact the enzymes cell.” topoisomerases [responsible can break the for DNA - Professor John Luecke DNA and then replication] just manipulate working the two ends in space. They let overtime to produce the new the DNA pass through and then cancer cells at the rate at which they put it back together. So they do. So the drug is targeting they can actually take out the that cell reproduction process. knot and then put the DNA back And they will affect the cancer together,” says Dr. Mann. cell more strongly than the regular cell,” says Professor There are other enzymes that John Luecke, professor at the interact with DNA. Among University of Texas. In this way, them is an enzyme called Tn3 the drug can target the cancer
cells effectively, without harming or otherwise impacting healthy cells. As biology becomes more dependent on math, there’s much more interaction between the two fields than before. “Now you have mathematicians whose careers are devoted to mathematical biology,” says Professor Luecke. “Things get more sophisticated with time, and funding institutions like the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Health encourage and support such interactions.” Usually the biologists see what mathematics they can use, and then involve the mathematicians who can help them. Certainly, as humans accumulate more knowledge about the world around them, the different sciences and arts will all be interlinked into one giant web of existence.
An illustration of one instance in which optimum transport theory is used. Image courtesy of Alessio Figalli
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Famous Mathematicians By Jessica Ding
Isaac Newton (1642-1727)
Archimedes (c. 287 – c. 212 BC) Archimedes derived an accurate approximation of pi and used the concept of infinitesimals and the exhaustion method to prove many geometrical theorems.
René Descartes (1596-1650) Descartes is most widely known for the Cartesian coordinate system. He will be remembered for the statement, “I think, therefore I am.”
Albert Einstein (1879-1955) In his childhood Einstein excelled in mathematics. He is known for his theories of relativity and the equation E=m*c^2.
Alan Turing (1912-1954)
Srinivasa Ramanujan (1887-1920)
Newton is known for his laws of motion and the binomial theorem. He invented calculus independently of Leibniz, but today Leibniz’s notation is used.
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Turing is known as the “father of computer science.” He is known for the Turing test, which was a standard for a machine to be considered “intelligent.” David Hilbert (1862-1943) (left) Hilbert is known for his theory of Hilbert spaces and his work in set theory and transfinite numbers. Hilbert’s hotel is a common analogy used to explain transfinite numbers. Georg Cantor (1845-1918) (right) Cantor is the inventor of set theory. He helped define the importance of the “one-to-one correspondence” principle and also introduced cardinal and ordinal numbers.
Ramanujan helped expand theory in many mathematical areas. He worked mostly in seclusion. He is known for the Landau-Ramanujan constant.
Pythagoras (c. 570 – c. 495 BC) Pythagoras is most famously known for his Pythagorean Theorem in geometry. He also believed that math could be used to explain anything.
Blaise Pascal (1623-1662) Pascal is known for Pascal’s Triangle. He is recognized in two areas of mathematical study: projective geometry and probability theory.
Euclid (c. 365 – c. 275 BC) Euclid is known as the “father of geometry.” His books, the Elements, are the earliest known math textbooks and serve as definitive geometry texts.
Ada Lovelace (1815-1852) Lovelace is the world’s first computer programmer. She developed a mathematical algorithm that would later be used in computers.
John Napier (1550-1617) Napier is famous for inventing logarithms. “Napier’s bones” was an abacus that he created for multiplication problems.
Pierre de Fermat (1601-1665) Fermat is known for his work in number theory. Fermat’s Last Theorem was notoriously difficult to prove.
Sophie Germain (1776-1831) Germain worked in the areas of number theory and differential geometry. Her work laid the building blocks of the proof of Fermat’s Last Theorem. Photo Credits: All photos from Wiki Commons
John von Neumann (1903-1957) Von Neumann was a key figure in the development of game theory, the digital computer, mathematical economics, and mathematical statistics.
George Boole (1815-1864) Boole made significant contributions to algebraic logic and differential equations. He is the source of what is known as “Boolean logic” in algebra.
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The Toll of Stress By April Hernandez
It’s 89 degrees and people are swimming outside. Kids are playing and enjoying life. The whole neighborhood is relaxing. Until gunshots are heard. “Pow, pow, pow”. Everybody starts running and screaming. People shout, “Help! Help! Please! Help Me!” as they run down the street. A person watching this scene would think, “I need to help!” A bystander thinks, “ I don’t know what to do...call for help”, and adrenaline goes all through the body. The human brain is interesting to study because it’s the main control center of the body. It can sense fear and then adrenaline is triggered to run all over the body. Studies show that the body reacts differently when experiencing an emergency. An emergency is when a person is needing for medical attention, or looks for help from others. How the human brain reacts during an emergency can save lives. Rebecca Forbes X-ray and CT Technologist said that working in the emergency room is stressful. Rebecca has learned that working in the ER can be very stressful, and learned not to be hard on herself. Everyday day is a different day as new patients and more science is being discovered.
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For a CT Technologist, it’s hard to tell patients their diagnosis as it could be bad or good. As for Rebecca, she describes her daily job,“On particularly rough days when I’m sure I can’t possibly endure, I like to remind myself that my track record for getting through bad days so far is 100%...and that’s pretty good.” As a CT Technologist, a major part of the job is trying to find what is wrong with the patient. This career helps the patient feel better. An important quality for a technologist is learning patience with your patients Rebecca Forbes said. Rebecca hopes that science progresses in a way that will continue to benefit mankind. She is hopeful that we will be able to target and prevent illnesses before they cause problems. When working in the ER of a trauma center, all members of the medical team must move quickly and accurately stay focus - sometimes in less than ideal circumstances. An emergency requires that everyone stays focused and each team member does their part. While working the best idea is to remain calm and keep my co-workers calm with the patient. After finishing the job
of stabilizing the patient, Forbes feels glad it’s over and relaxes for the rest of the day. On a regular day Rebecca sees 12-40 patients per day, and after working all day she tends to get rid of stress. If the stress is not controlled, it starts to kill brain cells in the body. Stress causes the release of a hormone called cortisol. Giving rats daily injections of corticosterone (rat cortisol) for several weeks kills certain brain cells. Stressing the rats each day for the same amount of time has an identical effect as well. It is important to try to relieve stress. Spending time with friends or family or a pet are also good alternatives. Exercise and spending time with family, and listening to music. For Rebecca, she relieves stress by spending time with her family, laughing, and exercising. X-ray technicians work in a variety of environments such as a hospital, clinic, operating room. The ideal work environment consists of being safe, clean and pleasant, but that often means we have to clean up a large mess. An orderly environment reduces stress.
Sandra Espino a psychologist , said that people react to small emergencies with a big reaction. As for her she’s a psychologist who works with patients each day that need help. “Worry gives a small thing a big shadow”- Swedish Proverb. Sandra has seen many types of cases, and some cause patients to have a mental break down. When she sees patients, they tell her what they are thinking. Sandra finds it rewarding to be in contact with people when they need it the most Sandra Espino said. Mrs. Espino finds it interesting. The human body is truly amazing because it has the capability of performing multiple tasks at once Espino said.
Sandra teaches young children about the human brain and how to remain calm at her Centros de Desarrollo dif Hidalgo. The children’s faces are not included to protect their identity. Photo courtesy of Sandra Espino
During an emergency Espino tries to be a role model for others. She remains calm to make the environment run smoothly. She realized that psychology was a science in itself. The human body is truly amazing because it has the capability of performing multiple tasks at once. Also, the human body is interesting to learn about because it’s weird. You can learn so much from it. The nervous system is activated mainly through sympathetic nerve centers in the spinal cord. In response this causes pupil dilation, increased heart rate, a dilated bronchi which reduces the stomach contractions and stimulates the adrenal medulla suprarrenales. It also triggers a gland that secretes hormones such as adrenaline (epinephrine) that produces major effects such as an increased heart rate, vasoconstriction, increased
metabolism and bronchodilation. According to studies humans respond to an emergency situation almost instinctively and as an automatic survival response to fear and danger. Learning about the human body is a rewarding experience, because we learn more about the parts that are responsible
for how we function day in and day out. Also the unknown is an essential detail that motivates us to understand and admire how the human being can be formed so perfectly and yet be so imperfect, at times. In psychology sometimes we are faced with unmanageable situations because the object of
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Sandra teaching parents how to help their children during an emergency. Photo by Sandra Espino study is the “human being” which has characteristics that define it, and there is no certain way to cure. A variety of techniques can be applied to each person according to their needs and that’s when my work is a “challenge”. For every hour or two Sandra faces human beings with different backgrounds that I get to help in one way or another, and that is the most rewarding aspect of my job. It depends on the activities to be performed, for example if I only have individual consultations I treat between 3-6 people. If the activities involve conferences or workshops the groups can range from 2 to 5 groups with 20 or 40
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participants. Anne Sanchez, RN, BSN, also faces emergency challenges. While trying to find what is wrong with the patient, the situation can be very stressful “Your mind will answer most question, if you learn to relax and wait for the answer” said William S. Burroughs. As for Nurse Sanchez, she has learned to manage stress in order to find out what the patient has and how to address their needs. Anne is hoping to continue to use technology to advance the ability of clinicians to care for patients. Anne has seen different things each day in her job, stress is a frequent occurrence in nursing Anne Sanchez said. Sability of
“The human body is truly amazing because it has the capability of performing multiple tasks at once” -Sandra Espino clinicians to care for patients.“ Stress is a frequent occurrence. She has learned to take deep breaths and try to focus on dealing with the situation. While working with a patient she has tried tried to stay calm and keep co-workers calm as well during the emergency. Registered nurses have try to focus on taking care of patients, or solving the problems. She usually tries to block out what she is feeling and focuses on the patient first.
After an emergency, she feels tired, happy, and or sad depending on the outcome. For Dr. Sanford Jeames, while working can be very interesting says, “What I do know is that I know nothing”. This quote responds to an emergency situation almost instinctively and as an automatic survival response to fear and danger. His interest is to serve others. Dr. Jeames tells his students to follow their career, and they should always help others. For emergencies there are a lot of things that happen at any time. Emergency personnel have to be prepared to be strong and help other people. The human mind is so mysterious, it acts differently when it’s put in the position where it sees blood, or even senses fear.
Sandra and students working on a group activity. Photo courtesy of Sandra Espino
Sandra working with students on a group activity. Photo courtesy of Sandra Espino
The brain is an organ which acts differently. “Why does the brain react in this certain manner?” That’s a different subject. It’s important for the brain to remain calm so that the the body can remain healthy.
“What I know is that I know nothing” -Dr. Jeames
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Let Stress Go! By April Hernandez
Photo taken from Public Domain Pictures
Cardiovascular System Stress hormones cause blood vessels to compress and raise high blood pressure. Frequency of chronic stress starts to raise a risk for hypertension and problems with blood vessels. This poses a greater risk of suffering a stroke or a heart attack.
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Photo taken from Wiki Commons
Photo taken from Free Stock Photos
Respiratory System
Nervous System
Stress makes a person breathe harder. People that have asthma or lung disease such as emphysema, can make it harder to receive air. If chronic stress is frequently it can cause an asthma attack, and can cause rapid breathing or hyperventilation which can trigger panic attacks.
The nervous system is responsible of (CNS) which is the “flight or fight� response. Once, the brain reacts the hypothalamus gets the ball rolling, telling the adrenal glands to release adrenaline and cortisol. If the (CNS) continues to not return back to normal, it affects the body system. The symptoms of chronic stress are irritability, anxiety, and depression. Also other are headaches and insomnia. Stress is a factor of overeating, or not eating normally, as well as drug abuse and social withdrawal.
Photo taken from Clipart Cow
Immune System Stress helps the the body immune system. It help to prevents any infections and to heal wounds. Cortisol starts to take over the body, inhibiting histamine secretion and inflammatory to foreign invaders. If people are under constant stress it make it more of a risk of a viral illness like influenza or a common cold. High stress increases more opportunities to raise diseases and infections in the body.
Photo taken from Flickr
Photo taken from Pixabay
Photo taken from Pixabay
Yogurt
Blueberries
Dark Choclate Dark chocolate helps to reduce stress in the body. It contains antioxidants that help trigger walls of blood that relax muscles. This helps lower high blood pressure and improves circulation in the body. Chocolate contains a natural substance of “euphoria” which is a similar feeling of being in love.
Yogurt relieves emotion, including stress. Bacteria in the gut may contribute to stress in the body. Researches have shown brain signals to the gut can inflame gastrointestinal symptoms. The probiotics found in yogurt help reduce activity in the brain as emotions and stress.
Photo taken from Public Domain Pictures
Walking Walking can help the body to improve body health. The five reasons why walking helps relieve stress: •It can put the brain in a relaxing state •Helps reduce stress •Walking helps stress busting endorphins •Walking with family helps relieve stress •Reduces fatigue
Photo taken from Pixabay
Pistachios
Phytonutrients help to build a strong defense system and relieve stress. Antioxidants and phytonutrients found in berries make your defense system stronger and help fight stress. Eating blueberries boost a natural killer cells “ a white blood cell” which plays a role in immunity which counters stress.
Photo taken from Flickr
Writing It helps to write things that are bothering you, making you angry, or sad. Writing for 10-15 minutes makes you think about the events that caused you to feel stressed. Talking about your feelings is a better way because you let yourself express feelings and think about life.
When the body is under stress, it's better to do an activity that requires a repetitive process. Opening the shell helps to eat slow, making it a diet friendly snack. Pistachios help reduce acute stress by lowering high blood pressure and heart rate. They contain phytonutrients that provide antioxidants to support for cardiovascular health.
Photo taken from Youtube
Meditation When meditating you only focus on the things that matter in your life. Paying attention to the breathing exercises can be used to manage stress.
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On the Path to a Greater LONGEVITY By Anna Tutuianu
A
bout 10,000 people a day turn 65 in the United States, and will continue to do so for the next 15 years. By 2050, the number of seniors living in the US is expected to more than double from 39 million to 89 million. In this day and age, an older demographic is surviving to live longer lives at an almost exponential rate, and while treatments for the symptoms and maladies that come on because of aging have only been getting better, the question remains: what are we doing wrong? Currently there are hundreds of institutions and researchers across
the world looking into the treatment of diseases in seniors and the answers to a greater worldwide longevity. Millions of dollars are made everyday through the sales of pharmaceuticals, treatments and care meant to help symptoms of aging. With an increasing population of elders, it’s only logical that a lot of money is to be made in such a field, but it’s questionable whether industries with such specific focuses offer the best ways to help elders. In a time when the population of seniors is only growing larger and larger, current efforts in aging research and the treatment of the elderly should not just be focused
on miracle cures and highly specialized disease models. Rather, lifestyle changes play a much larger role. Aging, itself, and the science behind it has always been somewhat of a mystery. There have been many theories offered to explain why our bodies age, but aging is a very complicated process that takes into account many different aspects of our lives. Currently, the general consensus is that it begins in our cells. From there, things begin to differ: “There are two main theories,” says Dr. Sonstein, a practicing geriatrician. “One is that our genes are programmed to live a certain amount of time.” This so-called ‘genetic programming’ has been known for awhile. In 1961, anatomist Leonard Hayflick demonstrated that a human cell population will only replicate a certain number of times until the cells remain in existence but cease to divide, achieving a state of senescence. From there, senescent cells can ultimately be killed off by a group of molecules called senolytics that will induce their death. Caloric restriction (CR) has been found to increase age-related survival in rhesus monkeys, pictured left, in addition to increasing lifespan and the onset of age-related diseases in smaller organisms such as mice, rats and yeast. CR has shown promising results in humans as well, though, it’s full effects are still uncertain and require more extensive research.
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Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons
Another major theory of aging is also tied to cellular senescence. Telomere shortening is the shortening of the ends of chromosomes every time DNA is replicated, and progressive telomere shortening is what brings about the senescence of cells. The other theory Dr. Sonstein mentions is the freeradical theory.
processes in something called autophagy.” “But it’s a big leap to translate that model from mice to humans,” adds Dr. Tewari. It’s also a bit of a stretch to say that any of these theories of how
“I was surprised at how many big names are behind some of these pushes,” Dr. Tewari laughs. “Harvard and MIT-trained researchers, Nobel laureates. There’s a lot of interest in this.”
“When cells die―and there are millions of cells that die every day―they release compounds called free radicals,” says Dr. Sonstein. “Those free radicals in turn do damage to other cells.” Free radicals are molecules that induce deterioration in cells and are tied to oxidative damage. Free radicals can damage DNA extensively and cause effects of aging and cancer. Research has shown that the blocking of free radicals and the introduction of antioxidants can increase lifespan in organisms. But another important find to not be forgotten, and perhaps even tied to free-radicals, is caloric restriction. Caloric restriction is exactly what it sounds like: the restriction of caloric intake but without malnutrition. Caloric restriction has been shown to delay disease onset and mortality in primates, rodents and yeast. “When a cell is not involved in processes of growth and protein production, as it is in caloric restriction, the cell slows down and it kind of has to ‘clean house,’” says Dr. Tewari, a certified geriatrician. “It has to basically get rid of old proteins that are hanging around and slow down its metabolic
Telomere shortening, the progressive shortening of the ends of chormosomes each time cells replicate, has long been thought to play a major role in the mechanics of aging.. Above, the telomeres of chromosomes are shown by the bright, white spots.
we age and how we can extend Photo Courtesy of Wiki Commons the age at which we die are certain in humans despite large amounts of evidence. A lot of headway has is looking for the fountain of youth been made in aging research in and everybody wants to be around the past 30 years, especially at the longer.” cellular level and in disease models, but it is very difficult to test whether In past years, more and more specific treatments based off of businesses have become interested processes such as caloric restriction in anti-aging research. In 2014, are beneficial in humans when aging the Palo Alto Institute of California is something that includes so many announced a $1 million prize for different facets whoever and clear could “hack scientific the code” for results are aging and that “I think we do a very good job downdifficult to same year, obtain. stream, in terms of developing these Google started firm new and innovative technologies to kick the That CalicoLabs the can down the road a little further, doesn’t with a goal stop people but we don’t do a lot of stuff upstream.” to treat from age-related making diseases. money off In early of aging 2015, Leonard Guarente, one of research, though. the leading aging researchers at MIT and in the world, released a “This research has been around for supplement based from recent finds decades and it’s just getting more in aging research with his startup interesting now,” Dr. Tewari says. Elysium Health, behind him, some “There’s probably a lot of altruistic of the leading minds in biology and researchers, but there’s also medicine. probably a lot of people who know there are billions of dollars to be “I was surprised at how many big made in aging because everybody
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“I think that there’s a lot more money to be made off of these new innovative technologies to cure something and do these heroic measures,” Dr. Tewari says. “But then it becomes kind of boring to talk about how we can keep people healthier longer.” A multitude of supplements and vitamins targeted to fight symptoms of aging are found at local pharmacies. Above is pictured an energy supplement. Many such supplements do not go through FDA approval. Photo taken by Anna Tutuianu
At the Pharmacy When it comes to aging, there is a lot of interest in nutraceuticals and supplements as well. BASIS, a supplement recently released by the MIT-backed startup Elysium Health, is one such high-end example, and while many pills and nutraceuticals targeted at symptoms of aging may gain popularity in the future, many are sceptics when it comes to supplements and vitamins. When one stands at their local pharmacy and asks Jean Austin, the local pharmacist, to show them the most notable products people buy to treat symptoms of aging, she lists them out, keeping count on her fingers as she does so. “There’s Prevagen, that people take for memory. A lot of people also take ginkgo for memory, too. Coenzyme Q is helpful for cardiovascular problems and glucosamine with chondroitin is popular for osteoarthritis, which is just the normal process of our joints getting worn down over time. People also think that antioxidants can sometimes help with aging, too..” When asked how beneficial these products are, she answers, “A lot of the products may help, but a lot of them don’t harm, either.”
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names are behind some of these pushes,” Dr. Tewari laughs. “Harvard and MIT-trained researchers, Nobel laureates. There’s a lot of interest in But how does “hacking the code” of aging really help the lives of elders now? Should we be looking at treatments of aging in such a way? Most geriatricians argue no. “I feel like, time and time again, the major pharmaceutical companies, the NIH, big governing bodies that dictate on health and come up with new and improved products and spend lots of money on research, focus on a very disease-based model with specifics on things like cardiovascular research, dementia, cognitive-decline research or stroke research,” says Dr. Tewari. “A lot of this stuff is very dissected. And, I think we do a very good job downstream, in terms of developing these new and innovative technologies to kick the can down the road a little further, but we don’t do a lot of stuff upstream.” By upstream, Dr. Tewari means lifestyle changes. Dr. Tewari offers the examples of Blue Zones. Blue Zones are populations or demographic areas of the world where there has been found to be a disproportionately higher number of centenarians and
supercentenarians, people who live to 100 and greater. Some notable Blue Zones include Sardinia, Italy; Okinawa, Japan; and Loma Linda, California. “They’ve found that, for whatever reason, people in these Blue Zones are not only living to 100 and beyond, but actually living in a healthier way than their cohorts in other areas of the world,” says Dr. Tewari. Studies of Blue Zones have identified common lifestyle traits in all communities. Among them include having a purpose and passion in life, supportive family structures, diverse communities of different age groups, constant and moderate physical activity, and plant-based diets high in legumes. In another smaller study, it was found that in a group of over 100 centenarians and supercentenarians living in New England had staircases in their living situations, a community to rely on, some form of spiritual connection and great ways to lower stress in their lives. In addition, it was found that having a sense of humor was a common thread. “You can imagine how that might affect the milieu or their brain chemistries as well,” Dr. Tewari
mentions. But along with a healthy lifestyle, genetics may play a role in deciding who gets to live to 100 or not, too. “When they have done age-related studies on centenarians and supercentenarians, it has been found that they do have very similar genetic makeups that predispose them to all the same diseases we associate with old age,” Dr. Tewari explains. “So, stroke, cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, all these things that we associate with getting older, they have the same amount of material, but getting to a cellular level, it has been found that they also have pathways or genetic predispositions to counteract these diseases.We’re all human, we’re all similar, but for some reason, these centenarians and supercentenarians have enough genetic variation to counteract the predisposition we’re all born with.” It is possible that it is in these areas, the loopholes in genetic material that non-centenarians have, nutraceutical companies and similar industries with products for longevity are targeting their efforts. Regardless, it is agreed upon by geriatricians that maintaining a healthy lifestyle is much more important. In fact, the earlier one starts with a healthy lifestyle the better. “There are things that people in their youth can do now, really,” says Dr. Sonstein. “Exercising, obviously, and eating correctly are just the basics.“ But preventative measures for a better end-of-life experience in current youths and middle-aged adults are not the only ones that should be taken. There need to be changes made in end-oflife treatments as well, and it is important to remember that while quantity, the number of people
we keep alive, is very important, it is also just as necessary to pay attention to quality, the how people are kept alive. “Unfortunately, in medicine these days, we’re trained to fix problems, rather than prevent problems. I think that’s changing but I think we really need more emphasis on the forefront,” says Dr. Tewari. It is a common occurrence for elders to not receive treatments for age-related diseases until the ending moments of their lives. If these elders were to have received geriatric care previously, Dr. Tewari says that a lot of unnecessary pain could have been spared. In addition, many confusing situations may arise. “It sounds rather harsh to say, but sometimes it is very important to talk to patients about a ‘good death,’” says Dr. Tewari. “How do these patients want to die? What do they want in their future? Would they like to remain alive but in a sentient state where they’re not in control of themselves and must rely on a machine to survive?” These types of questions are important ones that need to be addressed before the last moments of somebody’s life and ones that should be included in geriatric care. As of yet, geriatric care and aging research focuses on a very dissected and specifics-based model, and while these things are very important in terms of caring for our older population, it is just as, if not more, important to take into account the lives and lifestyles of elders. There is a lot that can still be learned from Blue Zones and centenarians, but we do know that improving the lifestyles of people of all ages will benefit our seniority and our society as an older demographic is growing larger and larger.
That’s the case with many of the supplements and nutraceuticals sold to “cure” aging. Many of them, not regulated by the Food and Drug Administration, pass by the inspection of security checks that other pharmaceuticals would be subjected to, which is why many people remain sceptics of them. “It would take a huge effort and billions of dollars from the FDA to begin regulating an industry like that,” says Dr. Sonstein, a practicing geriatrician. In summary, the FDA won’t begin checking such products any time soon, and while the supplements and nutraceuticals found at pharmacies don’t harm consumers, some doctors don’t recommend them to elders. “If they don’t need it, they shouldn’t take it,” says Dr. Sonstein. But some vitamins and supplements might help, especially in regards to keeping up a better lifestyle. “Something I always recommended to my patients was Vitamin D. They’ve found in studies that Vitamin D dramatically decreases the number of falls that older people have,” says Dr. Tewari. “Falls are a major problem in the elderly. They can lead to fractured hips or broken bones that leave the older person in a, potentially, immobile state. And you can imagine the massive consequences of that.” That’s why some vitamins like Vitamin D can make a large difference in an elder’s life and why some supplements and pills found even at a local pharmacy shouldn’t be disregarded. “Primary-care doctors will tell their patients, ‘Hey, this has worked for former patients, maybe it will work for you,’” says Austin. “Then the patients come to me and try out the supplement. You really don’t know what’ll work.” With the advent of a larger older demographic, these supplements and nutraceuticals will be an interesting place to watch for.
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00 Candles
The How (and Why) We Get There Writing and Artwork by Anna Tutuianu
F
or years, gerontologists, scientists who study the process of aging, have come up with hundreds of theories as to why organisms age. If one thinks about it, the process of aging is counterintuitive to the pillar of modern biology, Darwin’s theory of evolution, especially when evidence for genes that cause aging has been found. There is no reason for us to age and die off; theoretically, organisms could continually repair themselves and never reach sensecence. For unknown reasons, though, the bodies of many organisms begin to deteriorate after adulthood and eventually the organisms die off. But why would organisms develop such genes in the first place if they’re detrimental to the goal of all organisms: to survive? The why and how’s of aging are still mysteries in the scientific community, but here are some theories of how and why aging occurs.
Our Programmed Deaths There are two major categories of factors describing how our bodies age: programmed factors and damage-related factors. Programmed factors encompass all the ways in which our bodies are “programmed to die.” The most prominent of these includes telomere shortening and senescence. Cellular senescence is the process in which normal cells cease to divide as a reaction to DNA damage. Cells’ reactions to DNA damage are due to the progressive shortening of the ends of chromosomes, telomeres, with each replication of DNA over the course of somebody’s lifetime. Telomere shortening has been shown to have many correlations with age and age-related diseases, telomere shortening’s exact role in aging is still a debated question. Other programmed factors for aging include proteins such as mTOR, an inducer of autophagy, the cleanup and recycling of cellular components and waste, and genes like FOXO3A, which plays a major role in cell death.
Products of Our Environment The second category of factors includes damage-related factors. The term damage refers to the damage our bodies have accumulated over the course of our lifetimes at cellular and macroscopic levels. There are more hypotheses about how our bodies age by the accumulation of damage and stress at the cellular level, most pertaining to genetic damage. As we live, our cells and their DNA replicate. Over time, more and more mutations in the DNA that were previously never there build up naturally. It has also been suggested that DNA damage in mitochondrial DNA, the coding sequences for the energy powerhouses of our cells, influence aging. Sometimes, however, genetic “casualties” occur because of the presence of free radicals or reactive oxygen species, molecules that will tear apart anything they come in contact with. It is for these reasons that antioxidants are often sold as supplements to counteract aging at pharmacies. Another well-known theory of aging is the waste pile-up in cells over time. Build-up of waste interferes with cell metabolism, slowing their functions.
The Evolution of Aging Aging is a counterintuitive process; many organisms age, and eventually die as a result, yet the primary goal of all organisms is to survive. There have been many theories that organisms age due to the “wear-and-tear” their bodies experience simply from living. However, those theories are put to the test when such biologically similar species such as mammals have very different life spans and evidence for genes and proteins that induce senescence in organisms is found. Theoretically, there is no reason for organisms to age when they could continually repair themselves. In the past, evolutionary biologists have proposed that genes that are beneficial in earlier stages of life are often selected over genes that are beneficial in later stages, therefore leading to genes that cause aging. This theory has been supported by many experiments, one classical example being an experiment where the breeding of fruit flies with longer lives led to the reproduction of offspring with longer lives as well. Other theories say that the bodies must “budget” the energy allowed to them for reparations and functions other than reproduction and will therefore be unable to live forever when their priority is to reproduce as quickly as they can.
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At the pharmacy, one can find hundreds of supplements and vitamins marketed to counteract symptoms and diseases of aging. Many such supplements are meant to aid with memory loss, osteoarthritis and cardiovascular problems, among others, and while such products as the ones pictured above are not regulated by the FDA, headway with other drugs such as rapamycin and metformin and their connections to longevity is being made at the moment in the scientific community. Photo taken by Anna Tutuianu
Image Courtesy of Christoph Bock