Sleep: the cure for obesity and heart disease?

The new craze of 2017 - getting more sleep? Research has recently been in the media to show that the effects of sleep can be even more beneficial than we have anticipated.


Getting less than seven hours sleep a night has been linked to a higher body mass index - the measure most commonly used to assess health. It has been shown that just an extra hour of sleep a day can turn of genes which influence becoming obese.


Research published in the American Journal of Respiratory Critical Care Medicine has suggested that sleeping longer could have profound effects on immunity. It was discovered that in children with Obstructive Sleep Apnea, where sleeping is effected by irregular breathing, levels of DNA methylation were higher. The point of methylation was found to decrease the expression of the FOXP3 gene, which codes for T regulatory lymphocytes, amongst other proteins.


Sleep has also been found to be essential for the consolidation of memories for the learning process. It has been suggested that during sleep the brain carries out a process called synaptic pruning in which synapses are removed, at the same time other synapses are strengthened, leading  to better memory recall. Evidently, sleeping increases the brains focus, attentiveness and therefore the ability to recall these memories.


Research published by the BBC's TV programme, 'Trust Me - I'm a Doctor', has suggested that reducing sleep by an hour can cause genes that are associated stress to become expressed more frequently. Increases in the expression of genes associated with diabetes and risk of cancer were also observed. However, these adverse effects on the volunteers in the study were all reversed when an hour of sleep was added. American research by the National Sleep Foundation has also found that decreased levels of sleep increase the expression of the leptin hormone which stimulates appetite. Furthermore, during periods of deep sleep chemicals in the body are activated which decrease the blood pressure and heart rate. Sleep deprivation can therefore increase the risk of cardiovascular disease, stroke and angina.




References:

• BBC News
• NHS Live well
• Whatisepigenetics
• NewScientist
• SleepFoundation

Effects of psychedelic drugs

Research at Imperial College London has suggested that the use of hallucinogenic drugs (psychedelic drugs) such as LSD and magic mushrooms could be decreasing brain activity by reducing blood flow to certain areas of the brain and decreasing brain connectivity. Particularly, blood flow was reduced to the thalamus, the region of the brain that relays sensory information to other areas of the brain. A decrease in connectivity between the hippocampus and the posterior and also the medial prefrontal cortex. The research used fMRI scans for the thirty volunteers who had been injected with the drug psilocybin. The results were surprising given that it is generally believed that the use of psychedelic drugs increases brain activity. It is thought that psychedelic drugs could be used to treat people who are suffering with depressing; scans have shown that these regions of the brain with overactivity have been linked with depression.

The drug that had been tested at Imperial was found to have a similar chemical structure to the neurochemical transmitter serotonin. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter responsible for moods and mood swings based on the levels of serotonin present; it is mainly found in the nervous system, blood platelets and bowels. Psilocybin binds to cell receptors for serotonin which are targeted for depression treatment.Researchers in Switzerland have suggested that it is not only the short term effects that could be useful for treating depression but also the clinical long term effects. Psilocybin could be responsible for increased gene expression and proteins that contribute to the growth of nervous tissues and also promote long-term neuroplasticity.

Effects of psychedelic drugs

Research at Imperial College London has suggested that the use of hallucinogenic drugs (psychedelic drugs) such as LSD and magic mushrooms could be decreasing brain activity by reducing blood flow to certain areas of the brain and decreasing brain connectivity. Particularly, blood flow was reduced to the thalamus, the region of the brain that relays sensory information to other areas of the brain. A decrease in connectivity between the hippocampus and the posterior and also the medial prefrontal cortex. The research used fMRI scans for the thirty volunteers who had been injected with the drug psilocybin. The results were surprising given that it is generally believed that the use of psychedelic drugs increases brain activity. It is thought that psychedelic drugs could be used to treat people who are suffering with depressing; scans have shown that these regions of the brain with overactivity have been linked with depression.

The drug that had been tested at Imperial was found to have a similar chemical structure to the neurochemical transmitter serotonin. Serotonin is the neurotransmitter responsible for moods and mood swings based on the levels of serotonin present; it is mainly found in the nervous system, blood platelets and bowels. Psilocybin binds to cell receptors for serotonin which are targeted for depression treatment.Researchers in Switzerland have suggested that it is not only the short term effects that could be useful for treating depression but also the clinical long term effects. Psilocybin could be responsible for increased gene expression and proteins that contribute to the growth of nervous tissues and also promote long-term neuroplasticity.

Image from: HebMuseum 

Image from: Wikipedia 

However, the effects of psychedelic drugs are not all beneficial because long term usage can cause increased blood pressure (hypertension) which gives an increased risk of stroke, heart disease and heart attacks. Other effects include nausea, increased body temperature and ataxia (a disorder that effects co-ordination). Hallucinogenics have been used to create sensations that appear real; sometimes these hallucinations ( drug induced psychosis) are positive and cause enlightening feelings whereas they may also be negative and bring on periods of anxiety.

References:

• NewScientist
• Medical News Today
• Psychedelics 
• NHS ataxia 

Curing acne

How acne occurs has never been truly understood until now. Latest research has found that the harmless bacteria Propionibacterium acnes turn sebum into fatty acids. Sebum is secreted by the sebaceous gland which cover the entirety of the body, with exception to the soles of the feet and the palms of the hands. Sebum is made of triglycerides, wax esters and free fatty acids making it a very oily substance which means that it is ideal for keeping the skin waterproof but also protecting the skin from bacterial and fungal infections. Sebum makes its way to the skin through the hair follicles but when these hair follicles become blocked with dead skin cells and sebum the bacteria Propionibacterium acnes begin to thrive. When follicles below the skin become blocked, white heads appear and when the follicles on the skins surface become blocked black heads appear. Propionibacterium acnes lives on the skin but is only harmful when it gets trapped in the aerobic conditions of hair follicles and it causes inflammation and spots. When the bacterium is trapped it turns sebum into fatty acids that cause cells to become inflamed. It has been found that the fatty acids deactivate histone deacetylases - the enzymes which stop inflammation. Once deactivated, the skin cells produce more chemicals which further worsens the acne that forms. The image below shows Propionibacterium acnes.

Image from:SuperNaturalAcneTreatment 

The research also shows that washing the face isn't as effective as previously thought as biofilms form, which are structures caused when the bacteria stick together and this helps to keep them attached to the skin. Researcher Gallo and his team who were in charge of the project have confidence that they can inhibit the fatty acids. However, further cures may be difficult to find because many of the bacteria the are beneficial.

The research also suggests that some people may be more likely to develop acne because their hair follicles are particularly lacking in oxygen and others may have genes that mean they're more likely to get inflamed skin from the fatty acids caused by the breakdown of sebum. Another possible reason is that they have a type of the bacterium that will produce more of the fatty acids. Teenagers are more likely to develop acne because of the hormones released during puberty which cause the production of sebum to increase meaning more of bacteria are able to survive causing more acne. 

References: 

• HowStuffWorks
• Wiki
• NewScientist

Artificial intelligence

Recently an enterprise called Kernel has been created to research and produce methods which are able to enhance human intellect. The founders believe that artificial intelligence will be one of the biggest businesses. They're currently doing research which shows how the brain works and trying to be able to copy it. It is hoped that this research could help to cure memory diseases by potentially building a synthetic implant for the hippocampus (the area of the brain which is involved long term memory, personality and planning) and this new technology has already found to be successful in animal experiments.

A Differentiable Neural Computers are able to learn and make use of data without human input and can use it's working memory. A DNC has been able to use the tube and plan journeys where it takes in to account change overs from a tube map. However memory storage has so far been an issue for DNCs.

Artificial intelligence could have a major role in medicine and could be used to diagnose conditions and suggest treatments; it could potentially be more precise than human doctors and lead to more successful treatments and increased efficiency, as a recent study in the US has found that many treatments are unsuccessful due to incorrect diagnoses. Machine learning algorithms could be used to analyse numerous statistics to find patterns and predict a patients risk of developing certain diseases based on their health report. These machines could also be used to analyse body tissues to look for cancerous cells with increased accuracy.

References:

• NewScientist
• NewScientist
• NewScientist

Infertility

There are many different treatments for infertility. However, many of these treatments have a higher chance of the child being born with disabilities.

One of the many techniques used to overcome male infertility is intra-cytoplasmic sperm injection, which can be used when there are deformed sperm, these sperm may also be incapable of movement. During this method of fertilisation, a sperm cell is injected into a human egg using a needle and then the embryo is inserted into the womb. The principle difference between ICSI and IVF is that IVF uses eggs which are place with multiple sperm and are fertilised naturally by the sperm releasing enzymes on to the surface of the egg, which allow it to gain entry. It's theorised that the insertion of the needle could lead to affect the eggs internal structure. However, ICSI children are more likely to have abnormalities but the treatment has been found to have no effect on the intellect of the child nor to the child's weight or height. Children born by this method have been found o have a lower sperm count but it is still hopefully that they may be able to have children naturally.


Image from: Invitra

Recently, there have been several three parent babies born. The children were found to be completely healthy. This technique can overcome the issue of embryonic arrest (embryo development), which is problematic in IVF treatment. Pro-nuclear fusion is used; after the fertilisation of an egg, the genetic information is extracted and placed into a donor egg, meaning that the egg has the full genetic information of both parents.
Image from: Discovery

A potential new technique is using sperm binding beads which will be able to capture the healthiest sperm for the fertilisation process later on. By choosing the best sperm, the health of the child can be more assuring. Interestingly, this method could also be used a contraceptive, as the beads could absorb the sperm preventing fertilisation. This has been researched on mice and has prevented pregnancy in the mice.

Image from: Science alert

Another new technique is using synthetic ovaries, which would enable women who have undergone chemotherapy to have children. Chemotherapy can lead to infertility as. However, the synthetic ovaries would be able to keep the human egg-prodding follicles alive in a laboratory. It could also allow women with endometriosis to have children, this is a condition where the lining of the womb isn't in the correct place. This method may also be able to delay or even prevent menopause which is thought to be linked with the development of osteoporosis. 

References:

• New Scientist
• New Scientist
• NHS
• BabyCentre
• Science alert

The chemistry of the crime

At a crime scene there are many different methods for gaining information about the crime and the perpetrator. Most commonly, finger prints are used as a method for identifying the offender, this process is known as dactyloscopy. There are three main types of finger prints: latent, patent and plastic finger prints. Latent finger prints are those that have been created by the oils of the body and sweat. Latent finger prints cannot be seen with the naked human eye and will require chemical techniques (later discussed) to help reveal them. Patent finger prints are those that have been left on hard surfaces and do not require any chemical enhancement as they can be seen by the human eye and are therefore simply photographed. The third type of finger prints are plastic prints which are 3D and have the ridges of the true finger, whey can be made using wax, clay or paint, although perpetrators try to generally avoid these.

Image from: Forensicsciencelaw12

To this day, crime scene investigators still use a well known technique known as dusting for finger prints. It has been in use since 1891. A very fine powder is gently spread across the area where the finger prints may be present. The fine particles adhere to the oils in the finger print impression and revealing it, this can then be removed with tape or photographed. The fine particles usually have a pigment which visualises the print and gives greater contrast. There is also a binder present that helps the powder stick to the impression, iron powder is broadly used binder. Well known pigments are carbon particles and flakes of metal can even be used, such as aluminium and copper. Sometimes fluorescent powders are used but this can transfer DNA and change the impression.  

Image from: Emaze

A more recent method for revealing finger prints was discovered in 1982 by mistake by Japanese scientists. This technique is known as cyanoacrylate fuming, cyanoacrylate is a molecule which is found in superglue and so people often call this method "revealing fingerprints using superglue". This method works because the oils left from the fingers causes the cyanoacrylates to form polymer chains when the two come into contact. For this reason cyanoacrylate fuming is able to reveal latent finger prints. 

Another well known device used by the police force is the breathalyser. There are different types of breathalyzers, most commonly known is the alcosensor and the intoxilyzer. The alcosensor makes use of hydrogen fuel cells with a pair of platinum electrodes. The breath sample of the suspect flows through one side of the fuel cell and ethanol present will be oxidised by the platinum, the products of which are electrons, protons and ethanoic acid (a carboxylic acid). If there is lots of ethanol present in the breath sample, there will be more electrons produced and hence a greater electrical current.

The intoxilyzer uses infrared spectroscopy which is based on the fact that each bond in molecules absorbs a certain wavelength, causing the bond to stretch or bend. Then when analysing the results of infrared spectroscopy, you can determine whether the OH bond is present in the molecule and find other evidence of the presence of ethanol.


Image from: Leoaffairs

The image below shows what the results of Infrared spectroscopy of ethanol may look like:

Image from: Chemguide

References: 

• Foresneicsciencelaw12
• Compoundchem
• CMI Intoxilyzer
• Alcosensor
• Infrared Spectroscopy

Printing a revolution!

3D printing is a fairly new concept which has the potential to change medicine forever. Already we are seeing great medical advances, such as in surgery, which are greatly due to 3D printing. With 3D printing we could create structures which are suited to each individual, this could be simply life changing to many people. Such as the story of Hayley Fraser, the first girl in the UK to have a prosthetic hand created with a 3D printer. There are many more cases, like that of Hayley, such as the case of Leakhena Laing, who had a leg amputation after a car accident.






Recently scientists have been able to 3D print bone that could be used to replace damaged bone tissues. This would remove the need for implants, which has numerous drawbacks including the fact that they are easily broken. Another potential option is to take bones from other parts of the body which encompasses more surgery and often stress for the patient. There is also a dearer alternative, which is to use crystallised bones from human bodies. However, 3D printing would provide a more ideal and cost effective method of replacing damaged bones whilst also reducing the surgery required by the patient. Currently, Northwestern University in Illinois has have created an ink which allows the printed bones to be elastic to such an extent where they can be altered during surgery to create the perfect fit. The bone will then turn into natural bone.




Leading scientists are now trying to make the next step - 3d printing living tissues and organs. Before it had been problematic developing blood vessels which could deliver nutrients and oxygen.


Can we 3D print blood?




References:

• The New Scientist
• BBC 
• The Guardian
• The Guardian