Discovery of an Enzyme May Help Create Better Biofuel

Article: http://www.news.wisc.edu/22033

Aug. 15, 2013 

This article describes how people thought they understood how plants created lignin, a compound that helps plants have structure.  Researchers discovered a gene in plants that helps create an enzyme that is key to lignin synthesis, or putting together lignin compounds.  John Ralph, a professor of biochemistry and biological systems engineering, said "This is the first new gene in the [lignin] pathway that's been discovered in ten years."  The enzyme caffeoyl, shikimate, esterase, or CSE that the gene produces is important in the creation of lignin.  When scientists grew mutant plants without the gene, the amount of lignin dropped by 36%.  If the plant has less lignin, then it would be easier to break down and therefore be a better biofuel.  By manipulating this gene, scientists will most likely be able to create a better biofuel than before.  

This relates to biology class because it shows how enzymes affect living organisms-- what we studied.        

Energy for Runnning

http://www.runningforfitness.org/book/chapter-7-eating-drinking-and-running/energy-while-running

Author: Owen Barder

Source: Running for Fitness Blog

Date: Dec 2013

This article explains how your body breaks down/burns energy for extended periods of strenuous exercise, like, in the case of the article the running a marathon.

Barder explains how, as we learned in class, our energy comes from three major macromolecules: carbohydrates, lipids, and sometimes proteins. Running, which is an aerobic activity, burns mostly carbohydrates and lipids. Low intensity running begins by burning mostly fat, but as the intensity goes up, so does the amount of carbohydrates burned. These two macromolecules do not store/burn energy in the same way though, which has led runners to develop strategy for storing and relaeasing energy in the most efficient way possible.  

Throughout the post, Barder discusses tips and strategies like “carbo-loading" which is where runners eat a lot of carbohydrates the night before a marathon so their stores of carbohydrates. He also explains the importance long, slow training runs which teach the body to rely on lipids for a longer period time of exercise instead of glycogen (a carbohydrate), a more limited source. He also discusses how and when to get energy during long runs in the context of the carbohydrate capacity of the blood. By using Barder's scientific strategies, runners can perform their best.

ribozymes

http://exploringorigins.org/ribozymes.html

This Article is about ribozymes. In class we have been studying enzymes and their application in the human body. Enzymes act as a catalyst. It allows for 2 substances to mix easier without affecting the output materials. There are tons of different types of enzymes and each one breaks down a different substance. The one similarity? They are all proteins. Proteins are building blocks in your body. They are the stuff that does stuff. Not all proteins are enzymes. Some proteins are muscles, or bones, or other organs. For a long time, scientists thought that proteins were the only thing that did applications in your body, but they were debunked by 2 scientists named Sidney Altman and Thomas Cech. These two proposed that ribosomes could break down other materials as well as proteins. These scientists found that some RNA as catalytic properties and can act like an enzyme. These were called Ribozymes.
Ribozymes aren't more powerful or more common than normal enzymes, but it's interesting how a ribosome, which is used to make proteins, actually can do some of the same stuff.

Cellular self-destruct has deep roots through evolution

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/10/141016192824.htm

Date: October 16th 2014
Source: Molecular Biology and Evolution (Oxford University Press)

       This article explains the importance of the the protein caspase-8, a protein responsible for triggering the death of a cell in a process known as apoptosis.

       The researchers had taken the protein and triggered it in a variety of animals, the protein had triggered the elaborate death pattern in all of the tests, mammals and non-mammals The protein can be triggered in any animal in the animal kingdom. This shows how the protein functions universally through the evolutionary pathway. It turns out that this protein is important in evolution because it allowed animals to get rid of sick, inefficient or dangerous cells, It also reacts with another protein called FADD. The key protein reaction produced can be observed throughout the animal kingdom too.

      This relates to what we learned in class by covering how animal cells evolved to work the way they do, and shows more detail on how animal cells function.

Nobel Prize in Medicine Recognizes Achievements in Cellular Transport

http://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/medicine/laureates/2013/press.html

Date: October 7th 2013
Source: Nobelprize.org
             
                  This article shows the study of this year's Nobel Prize winners in Physiology or Medicine. The scientists, James Rothman, 62, Randy Schekman, 64, and Thomas Sudhof, 57, "Have discovered the mystery of how cells organize their transport system".
                    They learned about how cells keep track of and regulate the vesicles that are in charge of the system. They studied how cargo is moved around in a cell, and how traffic "congestion" is caused by mutated genes and basically leads to buildup of vesicles in certain areas. Also, the nature of the transport system which talks about the fusing of protein molecules to target membranes, and the specific combinations of these fusions. One particular scientist investigated how cells communicate with each other with signals, and realized that everything was very controlled and precise and timing was very important. They also used the information they gathered to benefit disease research for neurological and immunological diseases as well as diabetes and how without the cells intricate transport system the cell would collapse.The three scientists did most of this work separately, but each in turn helped the others.
                       This pertains to our study of cells in class, but it dives further into the complexity of how cells work and are so self sufficient.

Biodiversity in Balance, How is it Maintained?

Link: sciencedaily.com/releases/2014/09/140903162635.htm

Date:September 3, 2014
Source:International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis

Anna Rychlik

    This article is about new studies on biodiversity that ask "what relating to biodiversity exactly do we need to protect? The article writes that even though we are taught in biology that 2 species cannot occupy the same niche(what we learned in class), this is not true. It gives an example by talking about 2 fish in the Baltic sea that survive in the same niche. 
    It explains the possibility for this with a theory called "Relative Nonlinearity of Competition" that explains that 2 species can occupy the same niche because of how the 2 species react differently to density dependent, density independent, and other limiting factors found in nature. 
    If this theory would prove true, it would completely disprove and contradict everything we learned about biodiversity in our unit on ecology. 

Stem Cell Breakthrough for 'Cinderella Cells'

Author: David McNamee
Published: August 27th, 2014

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/281557.php


In this article, the author, David McNamee, talks about how scientists have recently discovered a new way to create the cells that make up the spinal cord, muscles, and the skeleton. Before, they used stem cells to grow these cells. However, these cells that are developed from stem cells are not very accurate, because they do not occur naturally. Fortunately, scientists have found a much better way to achieve this goal. The cells of bone, tissue, and nerves are formed by specific cells, called neuro-mesodermal progenitors. Although they have been discovered for over 100 years, these NMPs have just recently been realized as crucial for the development of spinal cells. After this, scientists immediately started to try to find a way to create them, and now, they have. With this new discovery, a great leap has been taken toward creating spinal cells, something that has been eluding science for years.

This article relates to our textbook because it gives an example of a way that cells can be used to replace damaged cells in order for an organism to continue to function properly. Being able to create the cells that make up parts of our body is important because when the cells of these organs get damaged, we can replace them with fresh, healthy cells to keep our bodies working properly. Our textbook also explains this on page 180.