Zoologger: The Largest Arthropod to Prowl the Land: Samantha Hill

Among the beautiful beaches and gigantic waves in Palmyra atoll, just south of Hawaii, a big creature waits his chance to emerge as the sun goes down.

Jawless Vertebrae Had the Worlds Sharpest Teeth: Meghan Skura

The Conodont is recorded to have the sharpest teeth of any animal that ever lived, hoever its teeth are barely thicker than a human hair.

Ancient Creature was a Miniture Monster: Christina Vilkhovoy

A 500 million year old monster looking predator was discovered in the deposits of Canada.

Some Echinoderms Will Never Grow Up: Erica DeMello

In life, people think of being “immature” or not growing up as a bad thing. But in this case, for species like echinoderms, it can be advantageous.

500-Million-Year-Old Sea Creature Unearthed: Desiree Villeneuve

Scientists have discovered a 520-million-year-old preserved fossil of an arthropod known as a fuxhianhuiid.

Paradox Worm' Xenoturbella Bocki Lacks Brain and Sex Organs, But Could Be Mankind's 'Progenito:Dana Hebert

There is a high possibility that a paradox worm can be more related to humans that many other more advanced organisms.

Tuesday, May 7, 2013

A Look at the World Explains 90 Percent of Changes in Vegetation

photo courtesy of nasa.gov

Human kind runs this world, building, expanding and surfacing as much of mother earth as they can. Some say this is our way of flourishing in our environment and taking advantage of things earth has to offer but we must take a step back and look at the damage being done. “In the last thirty years, vegetation has changed significantly the world over (Schaepman).”

Climate is the main thing that control vegetation, being the start of the growth process and human kind can control the climate. With our excessive amounts of abuse of the environment we are not allowing earth to naturally control and regulate its self. “Within the last thirty years, for instance, vegetation activity has increased in the northern hemisphere but declined in the southern hemisphere (Schaepman).” Over all there have been drastic changes in the ecosystem due to humans activity, from driving cars to desecrating forests and it is only worsening. If nothing is done about these changes it is not known exactly what will happen but predictions of worsening living conditions have been made.

“The majority of the changes – more than 30 percent overall – were caused by human activity (Schaeoman).” This article talks about the largeness of our effect of the environment, and gives insight to just how bad it is and could be. With this information known and public it’s time to start changing out ways.

Future of organs? Synthetic tissue built with 3-D printer

photo courtesy of trbimg.com
On April 4th, 2013, Amina Khan wrote an article in the Los Angeles Times describing some new developments in the scientific and medical world. The article, entitled, “Future of organs? Synthetic tissue built with 3-D printer,” describes how scientists have developed a 3-D printer that creates materials that very closely resemble human tissues. The substances used to make this material are actually quite simple. They are networks of water droplets coated in lipids, and will someday be used to replace damaged tissue in living organs. 

The droplets of water consist of lipid bilayers, similar to cell membranes, that allow things to go in and out. Before creating the 3-D printer, this process of creating these water droplets was a tedious and laborious process. Now, since the production of the 3-D printer, it uses a micropipette to squeeze the droplets out, which sped up the process incredibly.

Scientists were surprised by these results. They did not expect that they would be able to use these droplets as tissues. The did not expect that once they could print the droplets that they would so closely resemble human tissues, and also did not expect that they would be able to make them in such an efficient way. Along with replacing human tissue, the synthetic tissue will be able to act as nerve pathways, triggered into contracting like a muscle, and even able to send electrical signals, like a nerve. These tissues will be used to graft onto organs to replace damaged parts, and to grow more cells.

Blog Post Author Taylor Berube from Section 124-28

Works Cited
4, Amina Khan April. "Future of Organs? Synthetic Tissue Built with 3-D Printer." Los Angeles
Times. Los Angeles Times, 04 Apr. 2013. Web. 19 Apr. 2013.

Tissue engineering: Growing new organs, and more

photo courtesy of mit.edu
Tissue engineering research has progressed from using tissue for replacement organs and transplants to focusing on creating tissue that can be used to study diseases and develop new drugs for treatments. Scientists at MIT are especially focused on this research. Sangeeta Bhatia, a professor at MIT, has developed a liver tissue, which has allowed her to study malaria and hepatitis c. She has used thin pieces of this liver tissue to implant in mice, which has allowed her to study new possible treatments.

In addition, scientists at MIT are in the process of developing a “human-on-a-chip” system. This would be a system of interconnected tissue that could be modified based on what diseases are being researched. This “human-on-a-chip” system would allow scientists to study multiple diseases at once and test the effects of different drugs on tissues.

Other tissue engineering research includes, research to develop regenerative therapies that would aid in healing wounds and tissue injuries. A professor at MIT, has developed implantable scaffolds that have endothelial cells within them. Endothelial cells are cells that secrete proteins that respond to injury. These cells could be used to help repair damage caused by surgeries, cancer, smoke, and cardiovascular disease. These implantable scaffolds are currently used in clinical trials to help heal blood vessel injuries that are caused by the needles used in dialysis. If these trials are successful, the implantable scaffolds could potentially double the amount of time a person with kidney failure is allowed to be on dialysis.

Lastly, professors at MIT are attempting to develop cardiac tissue that would help heal patients who have lost their voices. The cardiac tissue would include electronic sensors and a synthetic polymer. It would heal people who have lost their voices by restoring the function of their vocal cord. The challenge that arises in developing organs is that it is necessary for the blood vessels in the tissue, when implanted, to connect to the patient’s blood supply. Scientists at MIT are trying to combat this problem by inducing blood vessels to form by trying to grow cells on a nano-patterned surface.

Blog Post Author: Mary Catherine Maher 124-28

Article Citation:
Trafton, Anne. "Tissue Engineering: Growing New Organs, and More." MIT's News Office. Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 14 Dec. 2012. Web. 17 Apr. 2013