Taking the sting out: Australian gene editing is crossing the pain threshold

In the article, “Taking the sting out: Australian gene editing is crossing the pain threshold”, by Naaman Zhou he discusses the work done by Dr. Greg Neely and his team. He has been studying the science of pain for years. Back in 2010, he was able to find 400 new genes in fruit flies that are also found in humans that are related to pain. Recently, through genetics, he has seemingly cured the sting of the box jellyfish. 

Pictured above is Dr. Greg Neely in his laboratory. 

Located in Australia, his team utilized CRISPR to make the changes in DNA. To create the antidote, he took human cells and added the jellyfish venom. These cells died from the venom. Here is where CRISPR comes in. The team used CRISPR to edit cells, and then added more venom. The cells that did not die, were recollected. These resistant cells were sequenced. It was discovered that the cells that were unaffected had no cholesterol in them. So, to create an antidote, the solution would be to add something that leads the cells to lose their cholesterol to become resistant to the venom. 

Now, in his lab, Neely is looking at all aspects of pain and looking into how he can utilize genetics to find more solutions. By using the same sort of ideas, genetics can be applied to anything from chronic pain to cancer. Cancer seems to be one of the largest obstacles in medicine that humans have had to face. Neely is looking into how the same genetic concepts he used with the jellyfish sting can be applied to cancer. He aims to minimize chemotherapy’s effect on good cells and increase its ability to fight malicious ones. 

Other scientists also have the same idea to use genetics in cancer treatment. According to the article, “Gene mapping lays groundwork for precision chemotherapy”, around 95% of affected individuals are still getting chemotherapy, this seems like a good place to start. The basis is that all tumors are different. Each has a unique genetic profile, and there are more than 100 chemical agents available to use. The study looks at creating a map of gene-drug interactions. Typically drugs are used by how effective they are on average. Using genetics, chemicals can be matched to which tumors they can target the best. 

To me it seems miraculous that we are already able to edit something as fundamental as genes. Genetics is really such an evolving field, and it was not too long ago that Watson, Crick, and Franklin discovered the structure of DNA. Learning about how scientists are already learning to apply CRISPR to real world problems is extremely impressive. It makes me very hopeful in the treatment of cancer that genetics could help be part of the solution. I can only imagine what more we will be able to do with even more time, experience, and knowledge. 

rebuilding coral reefs

Currently there is research going on in order to save the coral reefs. In Science Magazine, Warren Cornwall describes the research Madeleine van Oppen has been doing for a few years now in order to genetically change coral so that it is able to withstand higher seawater temperatures. A lot of the coral reefs around the world are dying due to global temperatures rising and an increase of carbon dioxide in the water. It is estimated that the seawater temperatures will increase another 3°C by the year 2100. One of the many problems the researchers at National Sea Simulator face is that coral only spawn once a year. Once the coral spawns, the eggs only survive a few hours if they aren't fertilized by sperm giving researchers a limited window of opportunity that only comes once a year.

It's very sad to read about how much coral we've already lost from The Great Barrier Reef as well as other reefs around the world. This research isn't just to genetically alter coral so that they can survive the increasing temperatures but also to find the stronger corals, ones that are able to survive the warmer water and coral bleaching, and continue to reproduce those in order to rebuild the reefs. There has been success with this research but not enough to stop the decay of the reefs.

Koalas Get A Helping Hand from Genetics

The endangered Queensland koalas have been getting help from researchers at the National Environmental Research Program Environmental Decisions Hub (NERPED) which have conducted experiments which analyzed their genetic patterns. Their results concluded that the right balance of tree cover and roads is the key to protecting these animals from urban growth. For example, in areas where tree cover falls below 30 percent, the genetic variability drops significantly, as with areas containing major highways. In order to maintain their genetic diversity, koalas must leave the trees to find a mate. This poses huge risks to these animals as civilization expands into their natural habitat.
Koalas are an Australian icon and therefore will always have plenty of support when it comes to their safety. The part of this article that I was drawn to the most were the organizations' suggestions, which included habitat bridges and underpasses beneath highways. These are great suggestions and I believe that they could absolutely help the koalas cross roadways to reduce the number of individuals struck by automobiles.

The original article can be found here.
A link to the Australian Koala Foundation can be found here.

Playtpus Venom can help manage Diabetes in Humans

     Diabetes is a disease in which blood sugar levels can increase to high because the hormone insulin is not being made or is not working properly. (Diabetes: MedlinPlus.). People can either have type 1 which is when insulin is not made at all, or type 2 which is when insulin is not working as it should. There is no cure for it but it can be managed with medication that is almost like insulin, diet and exercise. To much sugar in the blood over time can cause damage in the eyes, nerves, and kidneys, it can also led to heart disease, stroke, and the lose of a limb. The insulin that is made for diabetes patients is not as effective as the real stuff, scientists in Australia think they have found a better treatment for people with type 2 diabetes. The key is in the platypus and echinda.

http://sydney.edu.au/images/content/news/2013/11_november/14_VL_Echidna_3.jpg

http://www.creationscience.com/onlinebook/webpictures/lifesciences-platypus.jpg

    The platypus is a odd looking aquatic egg-laying mammal from Australia, and they happen to have a venomous spur behind their back feet on males, it is the image in the bottom. The image in the top is the echinda is also a egg-laying mammal the is also called the spiny anteater. A team of scientists led by Professor Frank Grutzner at the University of Adelaide and Associate Professor Briony Forbes at Flinders University, have discovered that platypus and echinda have a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) that is resistant to degradation. In humans GLP-1 degrades within minutes and in people with type 2 diabetes the GLP-1 is not there long enough to stimulate the release of insulin. The platypus produces GLP-1 in their venom and in their gut as well, the reason for the GLP-1 in their venom is unknown and came to quite a surprise to the scientists. The GLP-1 in platypus and echinda can help synthesis new medication for diabetes that stimulates the body to produce it's own insulin.


Diabetes: MedlinePlus. (n.d.). Retrieved December 01, 2016, from https://medlineplus.gov/diabetes.html

University of Adelaide. (2016, November 29). Platypus venom could hold key to diabetes treatment. ScienceDaily. Retrieved December 1, 2016 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/11/161129114432.htm

Genetics and Human Migration

     For the past decade, geneticists have been studying the link between migration patterns of human and genomic variation. 

     What is understood today is that Africa is the human's evolutionary birth place. But what is not completely understood is how migration patterns have influenced or effected our genomic variation. To study this, scientists have collected genomic data for individuals from more than 270 populations across the world. Genomic data was collected from countries including Africa, Australia, New Guinea. Countries including Australia and New Guinea contain some of the earliest archaeological and fossil evidence of modern humans outside of Africa, and therefore it was important to study these locations as part of this research.

     After analyzing the collected data, scientists were able to conclude an approximate time period that different populations migrated from Africa. For example, current studies show that about 2% of genomes from individuals of Papua New Guinean ancestry, their ancestors separated from Africa earlier than Eurasians did. Eurasian countries- land lying between Asia and Europe- include Russia, Belarus, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Tajikistan, and Kyrgyzstan.

     In addition to narrowing down the patterns of human migration, scientists have also discovered something else. Studying ancient DNA has shown that many large-scale populations have disappeared without a trace, except for their bones. This means that populations that used to live in Eurasia, for example, are no longer traceable by science.

    To discover migration patterns and connections between different countries and genomic variation, has lead to many discoveries and many more questions. However, scientists are still researching more migration patterns, hoping to discover more secrets of our past.

More about human migration and genomic variation is provided below.
http://phys.org/news/2016-02-genome-human-migration-evolution.html

      

Anti-typhoid Gene Found

 

        

        Researchers say they have found a gene variant that has a natural resistance against typhoid fever. Scientists from the Nossal Institute of Global Health, at the University of Melbourne in Australia, screened the genome of hundreds of healthy and infected people from Vietnam and Nepal. Dr. Sarah Dunstan, the lead researcher of the study, says the were looking for genes "associated with susceptibility, or resistance from typhoid." They found that people carrying a particular variant of the HLA-DRB1 gene provides a better protection against typhoid fever. HLA-DRB1, also known as major histocompatibility complex, class II, DR beta 1, codes for a receptor that plays a central role in the immune system, by recognizing proteins from invading bacteria. Dr. Dunstan says, "this study is the first large-scale, unbiased search for human genes that affect a person's risk of typhoid."

        Typhoid fever, also known as enteric fever, is a serious health problem to underdeveloped countries. Consuming food or drinking water contaminated with the Salmonella Typhi or Paratyphi bacterias is how typhoid fever is contracted. 26.9 million people are infected with typhoid fever, and about 200,000 people succumb to typhoid fever a year. The infecting bacterias are becoming resistant to antibiotics, and currently, there is no licensed vaccine for typhoid fever. Hopefully, this discovery can lead to enhanced vaccines for not only typhoid fever, but also other invasive bacterial diseases. 

 

        Although, I did not initially know much about typhoid fever, this article stood out to me. Just hearing that researchers are getting closer to discovering treatments to serious diseases, makes me happy. This could be the beginning of a discovery that could change the world.

Main Article: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/11/141111105158.htm

Related Article: http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/285212.php

Centipede Toxin Kills Pain

Chinese red-headed centipede

    In a test done by Glenn King of the University of Queensland in St. Lucia, Australia,  purified a molecule of 46 amino acids from the toxin, or venom of the Chinese red-headed centipede.  When it was tested in rat neurons by IV, the peptide inhibited pain-associated sodium ion channel and had little effect on related channels.
    Researchers then compared the molecule injected into mice that were exposed to noxious chemicals or heat and saw that the higher the does the less they felt pain and showed no obvious side effects.  The researchers came to the conclusion that this molecule and maybe others from centipede toxins could provide powerful pain treatments for chronic pain. However it only mentioned the studying being done with Chinese red-headed centipedes, so it leaves me to wonder how other centipede venom would act.  I thought this was a very interesting article, like I stated above though, I wonder if other centipede venom reacts the same way or if different centipede venom can help with things other than pain.

http://doi.org/n35
http://ezproxy.stockton.edu:2048/login?url=http://search.proquest.com.ezproxy.stockton.edu:2048/docview/17584456?accountid=29054

Ancient dung heaps are genetic time capsules

DNA extract from ancient latrines has recently discovered a new way  to identifying the plants and animals that existed in northern Australia's remote Pilbara region more than 30,000 years ago.  The genetic material was collected by Daithi Murray of Murdoch University's Ancient DNA Lab, from what is believed to be the oldest sample yet uncovered in Australia's dry environment.  In a paper published recently in the journal Quaternary Science Reviews, Murray, doctoral student, and colleagues detail their success in extracting ancient DNA from three locations in Western Australia and one in South Africa.The West Australian samples come from "middens".  Middens is a hard, impermeable amalgam that is formed over centuries from the accumulation of faecal matter and organic material such as plant and animal tissue built up.  The fossil middens consist of material from the local environment used for construction of the nest, or for food by the midden's host.  Thus,  they contain detailed information about the plants and animals present in the localized area at the time.   The middens that were used in this study were previously analyzed for pollen and macro-fossil remains allowing the researchers to assess the effectiveness of DNA techniques in providing further information.

Many animals both local and extinct were found in one midden in the Cavenagh Range.  One of which was the common brushtail possum which was last seen in the region in the 1930s.  Importantly the technique also led to the identification of plants and animals that had previously gone undetected in the earlier types of studies, such as a range of previously indistinguishable arid zone grasses.  Murray says their study shows ancient DNA can be successfully extracted from these fossil middens, to date back to up to 30,000 years ago!  Since there is not a lot of ecological data dated back this far, this tool could be very helpful to scientists.   Middens will also be helpful in determining changes in the environment over time.