theiconoclast.info

I’ve always liked science better than fiction. This is because, in the most exciting science, there are many unresolved questions that no one knows the answers to. Unfortunately, people are rarely taught what we don’t know. So, without anymore introduction, here are a five of my favorite mysteries of biology:

1.      It has been well demonstrated that chronic stress (such as caring for a sick family member, taking 5 APs while playing a sport and working, being a medical student, etc.) as a direct result of its hormonal effects on the body, reduces the efficiency of the immune system. But the question is, why? This is the evolutionary equivalent of kicking someone when they are down. Why would the body evolve to be more likely to get sick when it is all ready in potential danger (i.e. under stress)? Did our ancestors not experience the types of prolonged stress people experience in modern day environments? Are the harmful effects of stress merely byproducts of a response that is beneficial on a more profound level? Or is there a better explanation?

2.      Tumor suppressor genes are genes that occur in every cell in our body, and (surprisingly enough) they function to suppress tumors. We all have multiple tumor suppressor genes, but if 2 or 3 of these genes are somehow lost (as a result of mutation), cancer may develop. Therefore, one would expect that evolution would have placed these genes relatively far away from each other in the genome. That way, if a cell lost one of these genes, it would not necessarily lose all of them, and thus would probably not become cancerous. However, for unknown reasons (perhaps there are none) what are arguably the 3 most important tumor suppressors\ genes are located on the same 40 kilobase chunk of DNA. If this chunk of DNA is lost (and it often is) a cell will almost definitely become cancerous, as it has lost its 3 most important tumor suppressor genes in one shot. Why are these genes so close together?

3.      There was a particular lung cancer drug that was in clinical trials a few years ago. The drug worked by targeting a cellular receptor that was upregulated in lung cancer cells. The entire research community was excited about its chances for success…

And the drug failed epically. Except for in nonsmoking, Asian women. Why???

4.      Depending upon whom you ask, scientists have no idea what seventy five percent of the human genome does, as it doesn’t seem to encode any proteins.

5.      One would expect that genes would be dispersed evenly throughout the human genome. However, scientists have found that instead, genes are clumped together into gene rich regions, leaving long stretches of DNA where no genes are to be found. Why?

Brad Rybinski

Hypothetical computer-generated image of what an intermediate between a human and a chimpanzee face might look like. [After Nancy Burston and David Kramlich, from C. A. Pickover, Computers and the Imagination: Visual Adventures Beyond the Edge (Alan Sutton, Stroud, 1991).]

Chimpanzees are the closest living relative of the human species. Estimates vary, and it depends upon how one defines it, but scientists agree that chimpanzees and humans are somewhere between 93.5% and 98.5% identical. This raises an interesting question: Could a chimpanzee and a human interbreed?

At first glance, the answer would appear to be an emphatic no. Chimpanzees and humans are different species, and the biological/reproductive definition of a species is: “A group of organisms that is able to reproduce naturally to produce fertile offspring.”. As chimpanzees and humans are different species, one would expect that they could not successfully reproduce, simply because they would not have been defined as different species if they could. However, the key lies in the phrase “to produce fertile offspring”…

Chimps have 48 chromosomes, and humans have 46. Thus, a chimp/human hybrid (here after referred to as a “humanzee”) would have 47 chromosomes in each of its body cells (48/2 + 46/2: think meiosis: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meiosis ). As 47 is an odd number, a humanzee could not produce viable gametes (sperm and eggs), because it could not evenly divide its chromosomes into two groups. Therefore, all humanzees would indeed be sterile. But the question still hasn’t been answered: could a humanzee actually be made?

First of all, chimps and humans may have interbred in the past. At least, according to geneticist David Reich at Harvard. See this link for an explanation of why he believes this is so:  http://www.nytimes.com/2006/12/10/magazine/10Section2a.t-5.html. Furthermore, according to multiple biologists, there is no scientific reason why a humanzee could not be created. It just would be sterile, as mentioned. And in fact, the attempt was made in Russia in the early twentieth century (http://www.unmuseum.org/humanzee.htm). However, these attempts did not succeed, as the scientist attempting them did not have access to many viable primates, failed at keeping them alive, and used artificial insemination technology that was not much more advanced than a turkey baster. But with modern day technology, there is probably no reason a humanzee could not be produced. Thoughts?

Brad Rybinski

Other Sources:

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/57516.php

http://graphics8.nytimes.com/images/2007/08/01/health/adam/9125.jpg

The Iconoclast: Blood Types

Do you know your blood type? Blood type refers to the type of antigens on the surface of your red blood cells. You can have A antigens, B antigens, both A and B antigens, RhD (this is the name for the plus or minus antigen, if you have RhD you are “positive”, if you don’t you are “negative”), or no antigens (type O). These blood types are important, as they determine who can donate blood to whom. But all of that is covered in a good (or even bad) high school biology course. Here are 3 interesting things about blood types:

1.      People who are Type O are less likely to develop malaria if they are ever infected with the parasite. They may also have a lower risk of certain cancers. No one knows why.

2.      The blood types seem to correlate with resistance to cholera. People with Type A are less likely to develop cholera than those with Type B, and people with type B are less at risk  than those with Type O. And people with Type AB are so resistant that they will almost never develop symptoms, even if they are infected with the disease. Once again, no one has any idea why.

3.      Some Japanese believe that blood type influences ones personality, just like some Americans believe in astrology. If you had to pause to wonder if this is true, then stop reading my blog!

Brad Rybinski

The Iconoclast: Get Smarter

If you are lucky enough to be a member of my audience, chances are that you are all ready pretty smart. But then again, who wouldn’t want to be smarter if they could? Typing “become smarter” into Google produces over 12,700,000 results (in a handy 0.22 seconds). Regrettably however, many of the things these websites will tell you to do are either obvious (like getting a good night’s sleep and eating breakfast), mundane (teaching you how to study), or not backed up by even the smallest amount of science (taking a herb called ginkgo biloba). But fortunately, scientists may have discovered (a year or so ago) a way to actually make one legitimately smarter…

Go to  http://www.soakyourhead.com/ . They explain the research better than I’m willing to take the time to. But in summary, this is a link to a computer game (yes, a computer game) that has been shown in preliminary studies to boost IQ if played regularly. I used to play this game a lot (last summer), and although I don’t know if it produced any IQ improvement, I do know that I improved substantially at the game. Enjoy…

Brad Rybinski