Circle Learning-Online Assignment

Innovative Lesson Plan-Structure of Villus

Five Kingdom Classification

Wonder!!!!!!

Cancer-causing worm heals wounds: Study

“It’s not a high-tech performance, but it’s a good story,” said Queensland-based parasitologist Michael Smout from James Cook university.

He explained his latest study at a science competition by using a large teddy bear, an oversized worm and a velvet liver on how liver parasites cause cancer, and how they might also assist in the development of treatments for non-healing wounds.

“Throughout Southeast Asia there’s a very high rate of a particular form of liver cancer. It’s caused by chronic infection with a parasitic worm, or liver fluke, which is found in one of the staple foods – uncooked fish,” he said.

One-sixth of infected people develop liver cancer, and in Thailand alone 20,000 people die of this cancer each year.

“My research focuses on ‘worm spit’, molecules secreted by the parasites that cause cells to multiply faster than they normally would,” Smout said adding, “That’s a key factor in the initiation of many cancers, and I’ve been able to isolate a molecule, granulin, that causes excessive cell growth.”

By making worm granulin in the laboratory, Smout has found that it is not just a potent human cell growth stimulator – it also promotes wound healing.

“We don’t know yet how this works, but we suspect that as the worm feeds on the liver it also heals the wounds it creates. In the short term this would be beneficial to the human host, but the repeated wounding and healing over decades could lead to this form of cancer, which has a dismal prognosis.”

Smout is a member of the Queensland Tropical Health Alliance, based at James Cook university in Cairns.

“Our work on this project is two-fold. Firstly we aim to develop treatments or a vaccine to prevent liver fluke infection, which in turn will dramatically reduce the incidence of liver cancer in Thailand and surrounding countries,” he said.

“Secondly we believe that an in-depth understanding of liver fluke biology, particularly focusing on how it heals the wounds it creates, could lead to new treatments for non-healing wounds which are an increasing problem with smokers, diabetics and an ageing population,” Smout said.

Buying Diseases?

High BP medicines put eye sight at risk

Certain blood pressure lowering medications may have dangerous side effects as researchers have found a link between taking vasodilators and developing early-stage age-related macular degeneration (AMD) that could lead to vision loss and blindness.

AMD - the deterioration of the eye's macula, which is responsible for the ability to see fine details clearly - affects millions worldwide.

"As significant as these results may be, it is important that they be replicated first, and if possible tested in a clinical trials setting before changing anyone's medication regimens," cautioned Ronald Klein from University of Wisconsin's school of medicine and public health.

To reach this conclusion, the researchers conducted a long-term population-based cohort study from 1988 to 2013 of nearly 5,000 people aged 43 to 86 years.

After adjusting for age, sex and other factors, the researchers found that using any vasodilator such as Apresoline and Loniten, which open (dilate) the blood vessels - was associated with a 72 percent greater risk of developing early-stage AMD.

Among people who were not taking vasodilators, an estimated 8.2 percent developed signs of early AMD.

In comparison, among those taking a vasodilator medication, 19.1 percent developed the disease.

While the study provides risk estimates of associations between blood pressure lowering medications and AMD at various stages, the researchers cautioned that their study was not able to discern effects of the medications themselves and the conditions for which participants were taking those medications.

Great Findings!!!

Scientists map over 17,000 proteins in human body

Bangalore: In a landmark find, a team of international researchers led by Indian scientists, for the first time, in the world has mapped more than 17,000 proteins in 30 organs of the human body.

The research was carried out by the scientists of the Institute of Bioinformatics, National Institute of Mental Health and NeuroSciences (Nimhans), Bangalore and Johns Hopkins University, and will be published in the journal Nature.

The team discovered 17,294, which account for around 84% of the total proteins. They also found 2,535 proteins that had been classified as “missing proteins”. It has also found 200 new proteins that had not even been predicted before.


“Though India did not take part in human genome project, successful completion of a human proteome map by Indian researchers now puts India at the front of global efforts to illustrate the human proteome. This is really a matter for pride and satisfaction for science and researchers working in India,” Akhilesh Pandey, who is the lead researcher, founder director of Institute of Bioinformatics, Bangalore, and professor of Johns Hopkins University, was quoted as saying.

It took over two years for the researchers to complete the project. The research was done on 30 different human tissues, including brain, liver and blood cells.

According to Harsha Gowda, a scientist at the IOB, “It was the perfect combination of technology and know-how. After the genome profiling, proteomes were the most obvious thing to do. Proteome profiling is more difficult because they show varied expression in different organs.”

The team comprised of 72 scientists, of which, 46 are Indians.

The discovery is seen as an important breakthrough in the medical field as it will hep unravel the root cause of many diseases such as heart problems, cancers, diabetes and others.