Mistletoe is a semi-parasitic plant that grows on trees. It is also part of the tradition to give a kiss under the mistletoe on Christmas, but what if mistletoe could give the kiss of death to cancer?

Long ago, mistletoe was a pagan religious symbol thought to have supernatural qualities of therapeutic nature, conveying good fortune, defense from sorcery, and conveyed fertility. In the middle ages, mistletoe was hung on the ceiling to ward off unclean spirits. The Vikings thought mistletoe could bring the departed back to life, and the Romans used it to legalize marriages by a kiss beneath it.

Mistletoe is thought to have immune-stimulating, immune modulating, and cytostatic properties. It supposedly also helps with cough, asthma, seizures, and even hypertension.

In Australia, at the University of Adelaide, they are research how mistletoe extracts could aid in chemotherapy for colon cancer, which is the second largest cause of death in the Western world. Mistletoe extracts are already employed by colon cancer victims in Europe, but have not been tested in the U.S. In the studies, one mistletoe extract, from a species grown on ash trees, Fraxini, was found very effective against colon cancer. When compared to chemotherapy, it was easier on healthy intestinal cells, which were tested alongside, and more potent. In certain instances, Fraxini, also increased the potency of chemotherapy against cancer cells. Therefore, this species has amplified toxicity against cancer, and diminishes side effects. However, more research is needed, but is a potential viable alternative therapy for colon cancer.

I think it would be awesome if we could use mistletoe as a possible cure for cancer.  I do wish clinical trials would start in the U.S. Maybe then more kisses would begin with mistletoes instead of Kay.

http://liveandfeel.com/articles/benefits-of-mistletoe-plant-1737
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/11/121130094725.htm

 

Medical myths, eating turkey makes people drowsy

I have always heard that eating a ton of turkey would make me sleepy, but is it true? (I don’t like turkey, therefore it does not matter, but thanksgiving=turkey, so…)

Tryptophan is present in turkey, because it is an amino acid existing in a lot foods. Scientific evidence has revealed that the amino acid is involved in sleep and mood regulation, and can cause drowsiness. L-tryptophan is even advertised as a sleep aid.

However, turkey does not contain a large amount of the amino acid. Turkey, chicken, and ground beef contain almost equal quantities of the amino acid, approximately 350 milligrams per 115 grams. Pork and cheese are comprised of a greater quantity of the amino acid per gram than turkey. Plus with all of the other food eaten with turkey at Thanksgiving, would limit its absorption because it is suggested for maximum absorption, an empty stomach is necessary. The drowsiness after eating turkey can be explained by the large meals eaten during Thanksgiving with lots of carbohydrates, because blood flow and oxygenation to the brain are lowered.

Voila! The turkey mystery has been debunked with a little biology! Super cool!

Here are some Thanksgiving fun facts!

·         The first thanksgiving was thought of as the one that occurred in Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1621, but there are twelve claims that the first Thanksgiving happened in places in Texas, Virginia, and Massachusetts.

·         The turkeys in images on thanksgiving are not the same turkeys people actually eat. Domestic turkeys are too large to fly and weigh twice as much as non-domestic turkeys.

·         People eat 535 million pound of turkey on Thanksgiving.

·         There is an Unthanksgiving day. It occurs on the island of Alcatraz to honor of the survival of Native Americans after the influx of the Europeans.

·         The first Thanksgiving football game was in 1876 in which Princeton played Yale.

·         Only male turkeys gobble.

·         The Pilgrims’ Thanksgiving actually lasted three days, and included fifty pilgrims and ninety Wampanoag Indians. There menu was different from the modern Thanksgiving feast, and included berries, shellfish, boiled pumpkin, and deer.

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2151163/

http://facts.randomhistory.com/thanksgiving-facts.html

Have you ever wondered why the leaves change color in the fall? Well, it is such a simple question, and many people believe the leaves are just dying, but what is the science behind it?

Leaves contain three main pigments or molecules: chlorophyll, carotene, xanthophylls, and anthocyanins. Chlorophyll acquires the sun’s energy to generate food for the plant, and is the molecule for the leaves green color. Carotenes cause yellow colors and are found in carrot roots, while xanthophylls cause corn to be yellow, and anthocyanins cause beets to be red and eggplants to have their purple color.

In the latter part of the summer season, shorter days and chillier nights halt the manufacturing of fresh chlorophyll, and promote its breakdown. The other pigments in the leaves are not broken down, and are no longer disguised by the chlorophyll molecules, therefore becoming apparent. Different species, then based on different conditions, produce different hues of color. If anything stops the production of auxin, like the changing autumn weather, the stem and leaf stalk becomes structurally weaker, and allows for the leaf to break off in the wind.

During the growing season, auxin, a plant hormone, is also produced. This molecule controls a group of cells at the bottom of each leaf stem, also known as the abscission layer. If anything stops the production of auxin, like the changing autumn weather, the stem and leaf stalk becomes structurally weaker, and allows for the leaf to break off in the wind.

These reasons would have been so cool to learn as a child, not just in botany. I have also noticed that leaves have become less bright in the last ten years, specifically in my hometown, and I wonder the reason for that.  Pollution? Acid Rain? Research!

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/10/071012104737.htm

http://faculty.ucc.edu/biology-ombrello/POW/autumn_leaf_colors.htm

So I was thinking (thanks to Mr. Truver) of what I could possible write about pertaining to fall or thanksgiving….well, the answer is pumpkins. Pumpkins are good for pie (if you like that disgusting crap), lattes, libido, jack o’ lanterns, and pumpkin spice everything, but did you know pumpkins show anticancer activity?

The recent study, “Characterization of anticancer, DNase and antifungal activity of pumpkin 2S albumin,” discussed how pumpkin is one of the most extensively used vegetables, and its seeds are a great basis of minerals and protein. The seeds have a therapeutic prospect about them, specifically the 2S albumin in the seeds. The 2S albumin is a class of low-molecular weight seed storage proteins made up of cysteines forming four disulfide bridges and structure comprised of five α-helices. The proteins have translational inhibitory properties, antimicrobial and serine proteinase inhibitory properties, as well as RNA hydrolytic activity, which is not conveyed in any other member of the family. The DNase and antifungal activities of pumpkin 2S albumin displayed strong anticancer activity toward breast, ovarian, and prostate cancer, as well as, hepatocellular carcinoma. The cytotoxic effect of pumpkin 2S albumin is induced through apoptosis. The only other protein that has the same potential is the lunasin peptide taken from the soybean 2S albumin.

I think that with more studies that protein 2S albumin would have great potential for cancer research and cancer cures. It is also helpful because pumpkin is eaten in many countries and could be readily available. Perhaps pumpkins are the key to a possible cure for cancer!

 

http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0006291X14008298

I want to eat your brains...

I want to eat your brains…

In the last of my Halloween blogs, I am choosing to blog about zombies. So what does zombies have to do with molecular biology? Well according to a recent article published in August, “Gene expression during zombie ant biting behavior reflects the complexity underlying fungal parasitic behavioral manipulation,” it has everything to do with it! But I will get to that in a minute.

In general, zombies are thought to occur through the reanimation of human corpses. The creature is deemed fictional. The word zombie comes from Haitian folklore, where it refers to the deceased being revitalized through necromancy of a bokor, or witch. The zombie is controlled by the bokor, forced to be his or her slave.

Zombies can be traced back in literature to discussion of resurrection of the undead in Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein literature by H.P. Lovecraft. However, currently zombies are all the rage and can be seen in art, comics, videogames, tv shows, and movies, with one of the most popular being the Walking Dead. In 2011, the CDC published a graphic novel titled “Preparedness 101: Zombie Apocalypse,” and in the same year the Weather Channel published an article “How to Weather the Zombie Apocalypse.” All of the cultural media surrounding zombies is fine and dandy, but can zombies really exist?

 

So far, no actual zombies, the kind that were human have existed. But from what I understand the disease does exist in plants and insects, specifically in the ant. The study focuses on carpenter ants infected by the fungus Ophiocordyceps unilateralis and their biting behavior curtailed from infection. After infection, and upon observation of biting, samples were taken and a mixed RNA-Sequence analysis was performed on them. The O. unilateralis genome was also sequenced. From the experimentation, the results showed that the majority of fungal genes that up-regulated during manipulated biting behavior are exclusive to the explicit fungus’ genome. The study also showed that the fungus controlled immune and neural stress reactions during biting, and reduced the ant’s chemosensory communication ability, which instigated apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Furthermore, the genes that remained up-regulated encoded for proteins that produced effects on behavior as well as proteins that were responsible for the biosynthesis of alkaloids.

So zombies do exist! I would be interested to know if other fungus in the same wheelhouse would produce similar effects, and if any of the manipulating fungus would have the same effect on invertebrates or mammals. The article was super interesting, and I would enjoy seeing where science goes with this topic over the next ten years.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zombie

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4545319/ for more on the study regarding zombie ants

For more information on zombie plants, please read this peer reviewed article, http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=d1ded09f-a690-49c9-a22c-1e1981ea20cc%40sessionmgr4002&vid=7&hid=4203.

 

It's just a bunch of hocus pocus...

It’s Just a Bunch of Hocus Pocus…

In the middle ages, bread was prepared with rye. I bet you are asking what the hell does bread have to do with witches and how does this relate to molecular biology? Well, the fungus ergot, Claviceps purpurea, can be found on damp rye, and when a person eats very little, it can be a powerful hallucinogen. The hallucinogen that is responsible is ergotamine and lysergic acid amide, which is structurally similar to LSD and contains alkaloids. An alkaloid is a cluster of naturally occurring molecular compounds that are comprised of basic nitrogen atoms. (That is what this has to do with molecular biology, in case you were wondering…) However, in great quantities, it can be fatal. People who ate the bread often danced eccentrically in the streets, jibber-jabbering gobbledygook, and foamed at the mouth, until they fell down in the streets from fatigue. However, others who ingested it, suffered from St. Anthony’s fire, which caused mass outbreaks of seizures, diarrhea, vomiting, itching, and dry gangrene in the extremities.

For the drug user to intake their drugs, they practiced a delivery method that was more complex than ingestion. When ingested orally, the consumers would have disagreeable side effects like nausea, itching, headaches, etc. Then it was discovered that absorbing the drugs through the skin would give a better outcome, but the best were the sweat glands and the mucus membranes of the genital region. In order to reach the mucus membranes of the genitalia, early drug users would use brooms. Brooms were also linked to pagan ceremonies, because it was perceived to stabilize both male and female vivacities (the penis fashioned handle and the bristles to describe the female), and was often exercised in marriage services. Other plants were also experimented on for their hallucinogenic properties like nightshade, mandrake, hemlock, and henbane.

Ergotism could have also been a cause for the Salem witch trials. Rye was used heavily by the people of Salem, Massachusetts. Symptoms of ergotism were scratchy skin, burning sensations, phantasms, etc., which were identical to the ailments that the betwiched people of salem complained of. Ergot flourishes in humid environments, which is exactly what the weather condition that transpired in Salem preceding to the Salem witch trials was.

Witches have also been associated with toads, which had been used to exercise religious rites for thousands of years. Some toads are known to secrete hallucinogens from glands on the rear of their heads. Some means of extracting the hallucinogen is licking the toad, milking the toad, and grinding up the desiccated skin of the deceased toad. However, the in some circumstances the desired material contains a mixture of toxic chemicals. Although, the molecule responsible for the hallucinations is bufotenin, a chemical similar to the drug, psilocin, which is found in “shrooms.”

http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2013/10/why-do-witches-ride-brooms-nsfw/281037/

http://www.foodreference.com/html/a-ergotism-salem.html

http://www.damninteresting.com/bad-rye-and-the-salem-witches/

Also some of the information was taken from Dr. Chi Yu’s notes on Hallucinogens!  

Getting Wolfy...

Werewolves are shape shifters with rare strength, swiftness, and senses. We have all seen werewolves portrayed in movies and TV shows like Twilight, Underworld, and even the Vampire Diaries, but do werewolves really exist?

In early Greece it was alleged that a person could be changed into a werewolf through consuming the meat of a wolf that had been combined with the meat of a human, which was thought to be a disease that was permanent. In the next centuries, people thought you could become a werewolf in a variety of ways including:  slumbering under a full moon on a Friday, via a curse, being produced under a full moon, by ingesting various herbs, or even consuming water that a wolf had been in contact with. It was also accepted that wolves dressed in a protective wolf skin, which was detached during the day and concealed. If the magical skin was stolen, he or she could be slain.

There are two medical conditions that could explain lycanthropy. One is clinical lycanthropy, where a person believes that he or she is a werewolf. An example can be seen in 1589, where Peter Stubbe alleged to own a wolf skin belt that allowed his transformation into a werewolf. He alleged that he killed at least 12 people over a time span of 25 years, some of which were consumed, and he was burned at the stake during Halloween in 1859. It is thought that he was mentally ill.
The other condition is hypertrichosis, which is a disease where there is excessive growth in body hair in excess of the ordinary quantity when compared to persons of equal age, race, or sex. People have been recorded to bare this disease since the middle Ages, and were often exhibits in fairs and circuses due to their phenotype. Hypertrichosis can be congenital or acquired. Congenital is rare, and is possibly an isolated skin ailment or factor of an alternate disease. Acquired hypertrichosis is more common and may be due to drug side effects, metabolic ailments, malnourishment, anorexia, and even ovarian neoplasms. Other signs of hypertrichosis include: facial disfigurement, irregularities of the eyes, heart, bones and kidneys.
It is thought that hypertrichosis might be due to a excess stimulus of hair follicles with ordinary levels of androgen-like hormones. Another hypothesis is that the physical features are caused by a relapse of a suppressed familial gene. In idiopathic hypertrichosis, some of the patterns of inheritances have been thought to be due an autosomal dominant trait with two plus family members affected or an X-linked type of inheritance. The connection of chromosome 8 has been reported in individuals with congenital hypertrichosis, and in those particular cases males were more ailed than females. However, the actual epidemiology is uncertain.
Therefore, it is my belief that since this disease has been around for long time that this possibly could be the origin of werewolf lore. I also am curious as to whether an individual has been reported with both porphyria and hypertrichosis (a hybrid), and if the relation of the genes involved if they were in conjunction with one another.
http://eds.a.ebscohost.com/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=3&sid=e5ffc643-d94d-42ab-8926-1f6857d64ee3%40sessionmgr4001&hid=4203
http://www.livescience.com/24412-werewolves.html