BreakThrough - Ramaz US Science Publication - April 2021

The Ramaz Science Journal Spring Edition / April 2021

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Table of Contents Fighting Cancer with

Extraterrestrial Colonization

Nanoparticles

by Eric Kalimi ‘22 Pg. 16

by Ron Alweiss ’22 Pg. 3

The Future of PTSD Treatment The First Human Genetic Footprint Turned 20

by Eric Kalimi ‘22 Pg. 19

by Sydney Eisenstein ’22 Pg. 5

A New Age in American

The “Chimpanzee” Vaccine

by Sarah Silverman ‘24 Pg. 21

by Ariella Goloborodsky ’''23 Pg. 8 Children with COVID-19 Combat Kidney Injury

Climate Policy

Respiratory Failure

by Samantha Sinensky ‘21 Pg. 24

by Alexa Gribetz ‘23 Pg. 11 Umbrella Species

by Daniel Kalimi ’23 Pg. 13

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Fighting Cancer with Nanoparticles Cancer is one of the world's largest killers; however, hospitals have begun implementing nanoparticles to efficiently and effectively destroy cancer cells. Previously, hospitals implemented synthetic treatments to deal with cancer, but these methods kill both cancer and normal cells. Due to these toxic remedies, scientists have developed an alternative procedure of eradicating cancer cells while barely affecting the normal cells. The compound of calcium phosphate and citrate has been analyzed and considered for years before scientists concluded its safety and success rate were up to standard.

The problem subsequently became how to deliver the compound into the cytoplasm of the cancer cells. Scientists from Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität in Germany concluded they could use nanoparticles containing the compound to invade the cancer cells. "We have prepared amorphous and porous nanoparticles consisting of calcium phosphate and citrate, which are encapsulated in a lipid layer," von Schirnding, an LMU researcher, explains. The lipid layer allows these nanoparticles to enter cells without fear of other cells attacking these compounds. Once the nanoparticle enters a cell, the encapsulating layer breaks down, so the calcium phosphate and citrate can flow through the cytoplasm. If inserted into cancer cells, the nanoparticle will eliminate the cell. However, if inserted into a normal cell, the nanoparticle will have little effect.

Research has proven that the larger the tumor, the more lethal the compound is to it. Cancer cells destroy the outer membrane of the nanoparticle, allowing the substances to disperse throughout the cell. Normal cells leave the membrane intact and let the nanoparticles exit the cell through its lysosomes. Scientists experimented on mice with tumors to analyze the effects. With only two doses, administered locally, we were able to reduce tumor sizes by 40 and 70%, respectively," says Engelke.

Over two months of examining the mice, scientists detected no side effects, proving nanoparticles are safe to use. This innovative method of treating cancer cells could reduce or even exterminate the number of deaths from cancer.

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Ron Alweiss ‘22

References "Lipid Nanoparticles Carrying Calcium Phosphate And Citrate Are Selectively Toxic To hihiCancer Cells". Fight Aging!, 2020, hihihttps://www.fightaging.org/archives/2020/12/lipid-nanoparticles-carrying-calciumphosphate-and-citrate-are-selectively-toxic-to-cancer-cells/ "Nanotechnology: Nanoparticles As Weapons Against Cancer". Sciencedaily, 2021, hihihttps://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/12/201218131852.htm.

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The First Human Genetic Footprint Turned 20 The Human Genome Project (HGP) is known as one of the most ambitious scientific projects of all time. It was led by an international team of researchers looking to map and sequence all of the genes - together known as the genome - of our species, homo sapiens. The HGP gave humans the ability to read a complete genetic blueprint for building a human being. Ting Wang, a geneticist at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis says that the blueprint has changed the way medical research is conducted. “It’s highly, highly valuable,” says Wang.

A committee from the U.S. National Academy of Sciences initially articulated the goals of the HGP in 1988. HGP researchers decoded the human genome in three major ways: finding the order, or "sequence," of all the bases in our genome's DNA; creating maps that show the locations of genes for major sections of all our chromosomes; and producing linkage maps, through which inherited traits (such as those for genetic disease) can be tracked over generations. The HGP has led researchers to assume that there are probably about 20,500 human genes. The HGP has gifted the world with a resource of thorough data about the structure, organization and function of the complete set of human genes. This data can be thought of as the basic set of inheritable "instructions" for the development and function of a human being.

As the HGP marks its 20-year anniversary, many researchers are both celebrating and critiquing the achievement. For example, researchers are celebrating that this master genetic blueprint led to many drug therapies that could target specific biological processes. The outcome includes more than 2,000 drugs aimed at specific human genes or proteins. Additionally, the genome has made it possible to disentangle complex networks involved in managing gene activity and how chemical modifications to DNA change that activity. The genome has also led to the discovery of many genes that do not make proteins, but instead make mRNAs. Although the HGP has positively impacted the world in various ways, researchers are also reflecting on the project’s weaknesses. Despite the project’s landmark achievements, “the human reference genome we use has certain limitations,” Wang says. Firstly, the genome is not completed; there are gaps in the more than 3 billion DNA letter long reference, especially in stretches of repetitive DNA. Scientists know that there is DNA in those gaps, but the technology that built the template

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cannot read every letter. Therefore, scientists are unsure of how the letters are arranged and how many letters are present in those gaps. And despite being a collection of more than 60 people’s DNA, the reference doesn’t fully encapsulate the full range of human genetic diversity.

Many researchers have ideas of how the genome project could be improved, including how to expand the genetic diversity of the genome. Ambroise Wonkam, medical geneticist of the University of Cape Town in South Africa, notes that one of the easiest ways to compile a complete catalog of human diversity is to sequence the genomes of 3 million Africans. Africa is where modern humans originated, and study after study has uncovered thousands to millions of new genetic variants among people of African descent.

To address the issue of mending gaps in the genome, Wang and other scientists with the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium will use new DNA deciphering technology, called long-range or long-read sequencing, to read each human chromosome from end to end. By sequencing each chromosome completely, researchers will be able to construct a full picture of a person’s genome, including determining exactly what came from each parent. Those full pictures may allow researchers to better follow patterns of inheritance and track down genetic sources of diseases more easily. In 2020, researchers reported the first fully complete sequence of a human chromosome, the X chromosome. That effort closed 29 gaps in the reference sequence for that chromosome, including 3.1 million bases spanning the centromere, the part of the chromosome important for separating chromosomes during cell division. Learning more about centromeres may help researchers understand

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why chromosome division sometimes goes wrong, leading to cancer or genetic conditions such as Down syndrome.

While the existing genome contributed to advancements in genetic medicine, infectious diseases, microbes, and other areas of biomedical research, the results of expanding the project are endless.

Sydney Eisenstein ‘22

References Hesman Saey, Tina. 2021. “The first human genetic blueprint just turned 20. What’s next?”. hihiScienceNews.

National Human Genome Research Institute. “What is the Human Genome Project?”

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The “Chimpanzee” Vaccine If you have turned on the news recently, opened the New York Times, or maybe even eavesdropped on conversations happening around you, you have heard the buzz about the Coronavirus vaccines! Most of us have heard about the Pfizer vaccine, Moderna vaccine, and the new Johnson and Johnson vaccine, and some may even understand how they work, but have you heard about the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine? This vaccine injects the spike protein of the Coronavirus through a double-stranded DNA, encapsulated in a chimpanzee version of the adenovirus. The company recently came out with their phase three trial results, saying that while this vaccine is up to 90% accurate, compared to the 95% efficiency rate of Moderna and Pfizer, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine is cheaper and more-easily distributed than the other vaccines.

Like the other three vaccines, the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine, also known as the AZD1222, uses a portion of the coronavirus, called the “ spike protein” as the base for their vaccine. This vaccine differs from Moderna and Pfizer, in the way they store the genetic instruction for building the Coronavirus spike protein. The AZD1222, like the Johnson and Johnson vaccine, stores the instructions to build the coronavirus spike protein in a doublestranded DNA, unlike the other vaccines that store the instructions in a single-stranded RNA. Where this vaccine truly differs from all others is in its transportation of the DNA, holding the instructions for coronavirus spike protein, into one’s body. This vaccine uses a chimpanzee version of the Adenovirus, a virus that acts as a cold or mild flu, to carry the spike protein into the human body. Adenovirus-based vaccines have been developing for a long time, especially for diseases such as malaria, HIV, and Ebola, but none of them have ever been approved for use in the United States. The reason for this is because some of these vaccines have been attacked by the body’s immune system, proving them ineffective. The adenovirus usually causes a common cold, or flu, which many people already have antibodies against. The adenovirus would not be able to transmit the spike protein into the body because it was immediately fought off by the immune system. The scientists at Astra-Zeneca and Oxford

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University have solved this problem by using a modified chimpanzee version of the adenovirus, which humans rarely have immunity to. This modified version of the chimpanzee adenovirus can enter cells, but cannot multiply within them.

So, how exactly does this vaccine work? When you get the vaccine injected into your arm, the adenovirus travels near a cell, connects with its surface proteins, and is then “eaten” by the cell. The adenovirus enters the cell by being pulled in through a bubble made of the cell membrane. Once it is inside the cell, the virus leaves the bubble and travels towards the nucleus, where the rest of the cell’s DNA is held. The adenovirus then injects its DNA into the nucleus, where its instructions for building a coronavirus spike protein are read and translated into mRNA. The next step to building immunity is building the spike proteins. The mRNA soon leaves the nucleus and the molecules in the cell begin reading its instructions and building spike proteins. Some of these spike proteins transfer to the surface of the cell and are seen as spikes on the cell membrane. These spike proteins are soon recognized by the cell’s immune system. The immune system quickly responds to the spike proteins because it has already been “awoken” by the entering of the adenovirus.

When the vaccinated cell dies, the spike proteins that were on the surface of the cell are swept into an immune cell called an antigen-presenting cell. Like the vaccinated cell, this cell assembles the spike proteins on its surface. Soon, other cells, called T cells see these spikes and begin to raise awareness from other immune cells to fight the disease.

The next step is for the cell to make antibodies. This process begins when another type of immune cell sees the spike proteins on the vaccinated cell. A few of these cells stick to the spike proteins, then when they connect with other cells, called T cells they begin to release antibodies to the spike protein. The antibodies attach themselves to the spike proteins, and this protects other cells from the virus cells. This helps prevent infection and helps signify that the virus needs to be attacked.

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So, while this vaccine may be less “popular”, per say, it is an extremely innovative vaccine that may influence decades of medicine to come!

* this article was written in March 2021 Ariella Goloborodsky ’23

References Jenny Strasburg, March 7th 2021, “Oxford-Astra Zeneca COVID-19 vaccine Startup in Conflict With hihiUniversity Ahead of Planned IPO”, Wall Street Journal https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/oxford-covid-19-vaccine-startup-inconflict-with-university-ahead-of-planned-ipo-11615130558 Jonathan Curom and Carl Zimmer, March 11th, 2021, “How the Oxford-AstraZeneca Vaccine Works”, hihiNew York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/health/oxford-astrazeneca-covid-19-vaccine.html

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Children with COVID-19 Combat Kidney Injury Although COVID-19 was initially considered to be a respiratory virus, it has also proven to be a multisystem illness that is often associated with kidney damage. Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a common complication that can occur in adults who experience COVID-19. Furthermore, over 10 percent of children who are hospitalized with COVID-19 suffer from AKI. An observational study was conducted of 238 pediatric patients who were admitted to Wuhan’s Children Hospital with COVID-19. A 1.2% prevalence of acute kidney injury was found among this population of patients. Studies from the United Kingdom and Saudi Arabia report an incidence rate ranging from 21% to 29%.

Moreover, Northwell Health system collected data from March through August 2020, to conduct a retrospective study of children under the age of 18 who were combating either acute COVID-19 or Multisystem inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C). The hospitals participating in this study were: South Shore Hospital, Staten Island University Hospital, and Lenox Hill Hospital. As the documentation of urine production was not chronicled reliably, serum creatinine was used to delineate and stage AKI. None of the patients had usable baseline serum creatinine, and so they estimated the creatinine by assuming that the patients had a normal glomerular filtration rate at baseline. Out of the 63% of patients who were admitted for acute COVID-19 and the 37% who were admitted for MIS-C, AKI developed in 11.8% of them.

Children with acute kidney damage remain in the hospital for at least eight days longer than other children who don’t suffer from this additional complication. People who suffer from AKI have decreased urine production and difficulty regulating their body fluids. Isabel Roberti, the director of the Children’s Kidney Center at RWJ Barnabas Health in West Orange, New Jersey, stated that while the damage can resolve on its own, it can also progress into chronic kidney disease. Additional consequences of AKI include: mortality, kidney replacement therapy, length of mechanical ventilation, and pediatric intensive unit care (PICU) stay. Abby Basalely, a pediatric nephrologist at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, New York, and coauthor of the study, stated, “Recognizing that kidney function contributes to outcomes post-COVID is important to think about, especially in the pediatric population. These kids are young and have a whole life ahead of them.”

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Although most children with COVID-19 do not become terminally ill, organ failure as a result of acute infection or subsequent MIS-C is a serious consideration in the pediatric population.

Alexa Gribetz ’23

References Abby Basalely, Shari Gurusinghe, James Schneider, 2021, Acute kidney injury in pediatric patients hihihospitalized with acute COVID-19 and multisystem inflammatory syndrome in children associated hihiwith COVID-19, Kidney International https://www.kidney-international.org/article/S0085-2538(21)00268-4/fulltext Marcus A. Banks, 2021, Some Children with COVID-19 or MIS-C Face Kidney Injury https://www.the-scientist.com/news-opinion/some-children-with-covid-19-or-mis-c-face-kidneyinjury-study-68536

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Umbrella Species There is no denying that humans have a history of negatively affecting the environment and have led to the extinction of many wildlife. Hawaii University estimates that there are 8.7 million species on Earth and only 1.7 million of them discovered by scientists, but the scary part is that a UN report estimates that 1 million are threatened with extinction within decades. With so many animals and plants being essential to the health of our Earth, it is up to us to protect them and save the environment so when picking which animals to conserve, different organizations put into consideration umbrella species.

Umbrella species are species that when we protect them, it requires the protection of other animals and plants in their ecosystem. It is a conservation strategy where you focus on protecting the habit of one species which ends up protecting many others living in the same habitat. Animals identified as umbrella species typically have large home ranges that cover multiple habitat types, so when forming protective boundaries around them, it protects their whole ecosystem. Umbrella species are usually endangered like Amur Tigers who are considered endangered by the IUCN’s Red List and whose conservation protects boars and deers in their habitat. Other umbrella species like Northern Spotted Owls are under the status of “threatened” meaning that their conservation isn’t of utmost importance but they still take measures to protect them because with their protection comes the protection of old-growth trees, Mollusks, Salamanders...etc. With umbrella species, there is also an aspect of them needing to be charismatic to entice aid for habitat conservation. Pandas are the most well-known example of this because they look cute and cuddly, which makes them more mainstream, leading to more support for their protection. People believe that because of this, other species that live in the same regions as pandas are protected, but many scientists are starting to see that this isn’t really true.

Although the efforts made in China to conserve pandas have been successful, the fact that they only focused on pandas is harmful to other species living in their habitats. They would create panda reserves suited only for pandas, making it hard for other wildlife to thrive. Threatened species like Asiatic black bears and forest musk deer are diminishing in numbers when living in these panda reserves. This is because these panda reserves are in high elevation bamboo forests which are good for

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pandas but bad for the bears and deers. The worst part is that it works both ways where habitats suited for Asiatic black bears and forest musk deer adversely affect the panda populations living there. It is very hard for the needs of two animals or plants to align because they all have very specific habitual needs to prosper that their habitat doesn’t offer when people created it for someone else’s needs. To some extent umbrella species have been helpful for gathering support, but in the real world, there is a possibility that supporting only one species at a time can negatively affect the neighboring wildlife.

Daniel Kalimi ’23

References Kelly, Chris. How master planning can support biodiversity by designing for ‘umbrella species’. https://www.hassellstudio.com/conversation/connecting-pandas-people-and-nature Misachi, John. What is an Umbrella Species? 25, Apr. 2017: https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/what-is-an-umbrella-species.html Nuwer, Rachel. For Shielding Endangered Neighbors, Pandas Make Flimsy Umbrellas. 25, Feb. hihi2021: https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/25/science/pandas-umbrella-species.html Platt, John. Giant Panda Conservation Also Helps Other Unique Species in China. 16, Sep. 2015: https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/extinction-countdown/giant-panda-conservation/

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Samayoa, Monica. Northern Spotted Owl’s Endangered Species Act Status Will Remain Unchanged. hihi15 Dec. 2020: https://www.opb.org/article/2020/12/15/northern-spotted-owl-endangered-species-act/ Wang F, McShea WJ, Wang D, Li S, Zhao Q, Wang H, et al. Evaluating Landscape Options for hihiCorridor Restoration between Giant Panda Reserves.18, Aug. 2014: https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0105086

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Extraterrestrial Colonization During February and the beginning of March 2021, advances in space exploration to Mars have dominated science news. NASA successfully landed a space probe, “Perseverance,” on the red planet to search for signs of extraterrestrial, microbial life. SpaceX’s rocket prototypes, that are planned to transport humans and cargo to Mars, SN9 and SN10, have also made the news for their destructive test flights. Although space technology has been developing, there is a powerful surge of effort towards researching methods of reaching and further studying Mars.

NASA, the US federal government’s space program, is leading the world to study other planets. The program currently has five operational rovers studying the surface of Mars and revealing information that wouldn’t be available from Earth. As of today, NASA’s goals are inquisitive and scientific; each mission is designed to advance human understanding of space and other planets. NASA plans to use their rovers to better study Mars’s climate, geology, and ultimately astrobiology, if signs of microbial life appear. The hope is that the information about Mars’s formation and existence will help scientists gain a better understanding of Earth’s creation and subsequently a better understanding of the universe.

Although NASA’s goals are ambitious, SpaceX is trying to push the bounds of space travel by making spaceflight significantly more affordable. Elon Musk, the company’s CEO, announced that he believes that the cost of space flight will shrink by over 98% from the 152 million dollar NASA space flight average. He suggested that the two main cost reductions will stem from using reusable parts and an increase in volume of space vehicles. The company has allocated its entire lifetime to

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creating fully reusable rocket boosters; this has already reduced the price of SpaceX’s launches by a massive 60%. The next important, yet more gradual, step to bringing the cost of spaceflight down is increasing the availability of spaceflight. When manufacturers started producing cars, only the wealthy could own cars. Once cars became mass produced, the cost of owning a car dropped significantly, allowing the public to gain access to them. Elon Musk plans on encouraging spaceflight so the prices will significantly diminish.

SpaceX is not just aimlessly dropping the price of space travel: the company plans to create a lasting human colony on Mars. The recent SpaceX rocket test launches have been prototypes for “Starship.” This rocket will take people from Earth to Mars in the hundreds, playing a significant role in starting a human colony on Mars. Musk plans on sending people to the red planet for the first time in 2024 and immediately afterwards beginning the first extraterrestrial colony of many. His ultimate plan is to expand humanity beyond our planet and eventually beyond our solar system. He said, “You want to wake up in the morning and think the future is going to be great — and that’s what being a spacefaring civilization is all about. It’s about believing in the future and thinking that the future will be better than the past. And I can’t think of anything more exciting than going out there and being among the stars.”

Eric Kalimi ’22

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References 2021, SpaceX Starship, SpaceX Eric Ralph, 2021, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk talks Starship SN9 explosion, Teslarati

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The Future of PTSD Treatment In the 1940s, doctors used a treatment known as Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) to stop pain in the head and neck. After living through the traumatic experiences at war Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), many soldiers develop become extremely tense and aggressive. Recently, army doctors began using SGB to help manage their symptoms. In recent studies, the treatment has shown itself to make patients calmer and more easily treatable with other conventional methods.

Doctors inject the medication into the patient's neck between the 6th and 7th cervical vertebrae.

The goal is to block the Stellate Ganglion, which is a collection of nerves in the sympathetic nervous system. The aggressive symptoms of PTSD most likely come from that area which controls the "fight or flight" response system. There have been no studies confirming how the mechanism functions, but studies have shown that the treatment is far more effective than other advanced PTSD medications.

Several patients reported that the treatment saved their lives. Dr. Sean Mulvaney cautions people to know that the treatment is not a cure for PTSD, but a leap in an individual’s care. SGB makes patients immediately feel more relaxed and mellow, even while talking about their troubled pasts. This state is extremely helpful for people who were unwilling to take part in conventional treatments. SGB doesn’t make people forget about the past or make them come to terms with it, it just allows them to react less rashly so they can then talk about their pasts and hopefully come to terms with it.

With novel evidence, SGB has proven itself effective, but the scientific community still doesn’t know exactly how it works. Patients and doctors should not be too quick to accept this new treatment before fully understanding its effects. On the one hand, SGB could present an important step in the recovery process for PTSD victims, but it is important to recognize that the treatment is still in its infant stage and more testing is necessary to determine the exact process and risks.

Eric Kalimi ’22

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References US Department of Federal Affairs, 2018, Stellate Ganglion Block (SGB) and Posttraumatic Stress hihiDisorder (PTSD), Center for Compassionate Care Innovation Sean Mulvaney, 2019, PTSD: Treat the Epidemic in Our Ranks, U.S Naval Institute Ben Werner, 2019, New Study Supports Using Shot to Treat PTSD, US Naval Institute

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A New Age in American Climate Policy The Biden Administration has made history in many ways. The first woman vice president, having the most votes ever for a single candidate- the list goes on. But something historic, and lifechanging for future generations, is its push for climate preservation and the fight against Climate change. During the last four years, the Trump Administration has made dramatic cuts to Environmental and Climate-related programs. They have opened up federal land and waters to drilling- causing devastating effects to the ecosystems in these protected lands. Also, and probably worst of all, during the Summer of 2017, the administration pulled the United States out of the Paris Climate Agreement.

This agreement, the largest and most expansive of its kind is a legally binding international treaty on climate change. It was adopted by 196 countries in Paris, on December 12th, 2015. Its goal is to limit global warming to well below 2, preferably to 1.5 degrees. At this temperature, the effects of Climate Change are negligible, rather than catastrophic. Many against the agreement, including the Trump Administration, claim that the agreement was “bad for business” and would hurt American investments abroad. This fact has been easily disproved by scientists and economists alike, who show how the impact of climate change on trade, farming, and agriculture is more detrimental than the proposed plan.

Biden’s team, led by EPA administrator Michael Rega, have decided to put science at the forefront of their administration and signed America back into the accord.

In addition to re-erecting previous Climate policies, the Biden Administration has pushed many new initiatives. One of these is a climate plan that aims to cut greenhouse gas emissions from the power sector to net-zero by 2035. Through this capacity, America’s energy sector, one of the largest in the world, can prepare for a “clean energy” future. John Kerry, a former Secretary of State during the Obama administration, will lead this effort as a special envoy for climate change, a newly established Cabinet-level position. However, some in the Climate justice community are at odds with some of Mr. Biden’s proposals. He does not fully support the Green New Deal, a piece of legislation proposed by Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, that aims to completely alter the American Economy through a push for “Green” jobs. This is by no means a moderate piece of legislation, and since Biden ran as a moderate, there was no foreseeable way he would support it. In the first 100 days of the Biden

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administration, great strides have been made for a cleaner and brighter future. Let’s hope this type of progressive and dynamic policy continues throughout Biden’s tenure.

Sarah Silverman ’24

References Administration , Biden. “Executive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and hihiRestoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.” The White House, The United States Government, hihi21 Jan. 2021, https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefing-room/presidential-actions/2021/01/20/executive-orderprotecting-public-health-and-environment-and-restoring-science-to-tackle-climate-crisis/ “Biden Signals Radical Shift from Trump Era with Executive Orders on Climate Change.” The hihiGuardian, Guardian News and Media, 27 Jan. 2021, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/jan/27/joe-biden-climate-change-executive-orders Bill Ritter Jr. Director. “Biden Plans to Fight Climate Change in a Way No U.S. President Has Done hihiBefore.” The Conversation, 27 Jan. 2021, https://theconversation.com/biden-plans-to-fight-climate-change-in-a-way-no-u-s-president-has-donebefore-152419 Irfan, Umair. “How Joe Biden Plans to Use Executive Powers to Fight Climate Change.” Vox, 9 Nov. hihi2020, https://www.vox.com/21549521/climate-change-senate-election-joe-biden BREAKTHROUGH -APRIL 2021

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Press, The Associated. “U.S. Rejoins Paris Climate Agreement.” The New York Times, 20 Feb. 2021, https://www.nytimes.com/video/us/politics/100000007718398/psaki-refugees-cap-policies.html? playlistId=video/us-politics “US Envoy Urges Nations to Look at Security Implications of Climate Change.” Voice of America, https://www.voanews.com/science-health/us-envoy-urges-nations-look-security-implications-climatechange

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Respiratory Failure The surgical face mask has become a symbol of the COVID-19 era. Yet, amid constant maskwearing by the general populace and the high-volume usage of disposable personal protective equipment (PPE) required by healthcare workers, a new and unseen environmental problem developed.

Plastics are a common constituent of these protective garments and the focus on protecting the public and healthcare workers from COVID-19 has overshadowed the need for the proper waste management of this plastic-containing item. Single-use face masks are composed of the plastics, polyurethane, polyacrylonitrile, and polypropylene. Similarly, disposable PPE, such as surgical gowns, masks, and gowns, are composed of nonwoven materials often integrating the plastics, polyethylene, polypropylene, and polyethylene terephthalate. Like the plastic bottle and plastic bag crises, discarded face masks and other PPE are posing environmental concerns. Approximately 129 billion masks are utilized globally each month. This means that a whopping three million face coverings are thrown away each minute. In comparison, 43 billion plastic bottles are used each month. In a shorter period, face masks are utilized on a larger scale than plastic bottles. Most of these are disposable masks made from plastic microfibers. Such masks are not biodegradable and disintegrate into smaller plastic particles called microplastics and nanoplastics that pollute our oceans and freshwater systems. In turn, we drink freshwater and consume fish and other aquatic animals, thereby consuming plastic particles on a regular basis. In addition to plastic waste, degradation of disposable masks release other harmful chemicals, such as bisphenol A (BPA), heavy metals, and pathogenic microorganisms.

Unlike bottles, face covering disposal is not regulated and there is no official guidance regarding mask recycling. As a result, masks are often thrown out as solid waste. Another growing fear is the emergence of a face covering called nanomasks. These are directly made from nano-sized plastic particles and thus, do not require a breakdown period to produce nanoplastics in the environment.

Unfortunately, no data has been collected to illustrate the negative effects of mask disposal on the environment, so we do not really know how masks contribute to the larger issue of microplastics in the environment. The environmental research community must act swiftly to understand the impacts of mask pollution and how to reduce its effects.

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An interesting health concern is that the disposable face masks may be contaminated with COVID-19 virus. For example, COVID-19 has been identified on the surfaces of trash cans and trash collectors may be at risk to COVID-19 exposure. The persistence of COVID-19 virus on the surfaces of single use surgical masks deposited into various environments, whether aquatic and terrestrial, is unknown. The lack of a specific approach for the disposal of surgical masks can turn into an unforeseen threat to public health and to the environment.

To combat this new source of plastic pollution, mask-only trash cans can be established to prevent people from discarding masks as municipal solid waste. Individuals should also consider wearing reusable masks (such as cotton masks) or biodegradable disposable face masks. On a grander scale, stricter waste management programs for masks should be implemented.

Samantha Sinensky ’21

References Fadare, Oluniyi O, and Elvis D Okoffo. “Covid-19 face masks: A potential source of microplastic hihifibers in the environment.” The Science of the total environment vol. 737 (2020): 140279. hihidoi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.140279 Joana C. Prata, Ana L.P. Silva, Tony R. Walker, Armando C. Duarte, and Teresa Rocha-Santos hihiEnvironmental Science & Technology 2020 54 (13), 7760-7765

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hihiDOI: 10.1021/acs.est.0c02178 O'Neill, Mike. “COVID Face Masks Are a Ticking Plastic Bomb – 3 Million Thrown Away Every hihiMinute.” SciTechDaily, 14 Mar. 2021, scitechdaily.com/covid-face-masks-are-a-ticking-plastic-bomb-3-million-thrown-away-every-minute/.

Xu, Elvis Genbo, and Zhiyong Jason Ren. “Preventing Masks from Becoming the next Plastic hihiProblem.” Frontiers of Environmental Science & Engineering, vol. 15, no. 6, 2021, doi:10.1007/ hihis11783-021-1413-7.

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Have you heard about immunity? It is through scientific investigation and rigorous scientific study that immunity can be achieved without sacrificing millions more human beings on our planet. We, at BreakThrough, continue to celebrate the achievements of science and are happy to champion and report new developments in immunology and all other things scientific.

EDITORS Samantha Sinensky ’21 Sydney Eisenstein ‘22 FACULTY ADVISOR Ms. Lenore Brachot

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BREAKTHROUGH -APRIL 2021

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