Monthly Archives: November 2020

Cell Biology

Find Me a Meme!

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Find a cartoon, animation, audio, or video, meme, etc. that reflects how you feel about cell biology at this point in the semester OR that makes you learn something new. 

I chose this meme format to create my meme because it is one of my favorite scenes from the show ‘The Good Place.’ There are so many fun ways to edit this meme to fit any subject you want. My fiancé had the bright idea to use this template to make a cancer themed meme, so I looked through the ‘Hallmarks of Cancer’ document to find inspiration.

I like to think it encompasses the feelings of a cellular checkpoint dealing with a cell that has overstimulated growth factors and avoiding apoptosis, or a reoccurring cancer that is treatment resistant.

Genetics

Writing Assignment 5

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Write a summary of a genetics related coronavirus article from a popular news source.

“Does Covid-19 Risk Depend On Blood Type? More Research Points To Yes”

            Forbes Magazine posted an article on their website describing recent findings between COVID-19 and genetics. The first are studies posted in Blood Advances[2,5] which suggests people with type O blood are less likely to test positive for COVID-19 and less likely to have severe symptoms. The Danish study[2] noted people with type O blood were 13% less likely to test positive and people with blood types A and AB are associated with increased risk of severe symptoms. The study compared data from 473,000 tests for COVID-19 from a 2.2 million person control group. Having such an ethnically homogenous country makes for a great control group when health care is public and data is accessible to the researchers. Blood types will vary considerably due to different ethnic groups and countries, and a control population can be hard to maintain. They found that patients with blood type A or AB were more likely to require ventilation and kidney dialysis and had longer stays in intensive care units.

Genetic testing company 23andMe[1] released data on a study with more than 750,000 people and found that people with type O blood were between 9 to 18% less likely to test positive. 23andMe has access to 12 million already sequenced people with a large test pool consenting to take part in the study. They’ve found that a gene on chromosome 3 has a specific variant that coincides with blood type. A study in Spain and Italy[4] found that those with type A blood were at increased risk for respiratory failure and type O had a “protective effect.[3]” with 35% lower risk. The study also found that many of the cases had a similar variant on the gene that codes for blood type. Studies done by Harvard Medical School[6] and Columbia Presbyterian Hospital in New York did not find an independently associated link between blood type, although they did find that people with blood type B and AB were more likely to test positive for the virus. They also found symptomatic people with blood type O were less likely to test positive.  

Though the findings are still being discussed, these studies have brought in new data about the nature of the virus and it infects cells. The link between blood type and the possibility of testing positive for COVID-19 still needs to be studied to use this information in a meaningful way. While correlation does not equal causation, the data is consistent over the span of these studies mentioned in the article. However, as stated, “[..] ABO blood typing still shouldn’t be considered predictive in patients who get Covid-19.”

Works Cited

1. 23andMe finds evidence that blood type plays a role in COVID-19. 23andMe Blog. Published June 8, 2020. Accessed October 27, 2020. https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/blood-type-and-covid-19/

2. Barnkob MB, Pottegård A, Støvring H, et al. Reduced prevalence of SARS-CoV-2 infection in ABO blood group O. Blood Adv. 2020;4(20):4990-4993. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002657

3. Gajewski M. Does covid-19 risk depend on blood type? More research points to yes. Forbes. Accessed October 27, 2020. https://www.forbes.com/sites/mishagajewski/2020/10/14/does-covid-19-risk-depend-on-blood-type-more-research-says-yes/

4. Group TSC-19 G. Genomewide association study of severe covid-19 with respiratory failure. New England Journal of Medicine. Published online June 17, 2020. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa2020283

5. Hoiland, RL. Fergusson, NA. Mitra, AR. Griesdale, DEG. Devine, DV. Stukas, S. Cooper, J. Thiara, S. Foster, D. Chen, LYC. Lee, AYY. Conway, E. Wellington, CL. Sekhon, MS. The association of ABO blood group with indices of disease severity and multiorgan dysfunction in COVID-19. Blood Adv. 2020;4(20):4981-4989. doi:10.1182/bloodadvances.2020002623

6. Latz CA, DeCarlo C, Boitano L, et al. Blood type and outcomes in patients with COVID-19. Ann Hematol. 2020;99(9):2113-2118. doi:10.1007/s00277-020-04169-1

Genetics

Writing Assignment 4

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Review of the BBC film Race for the Double Helix

            Life Story: The Race for the Double Helix is focused on the story of James Watson and Francis Crick in their discovery of the structure of DNA. Watson is an American scientist working at Cambridge along side Crick, whose main thesis is on hemoglobin. At the same time, Maurice Wilkins in Kings College is dedicating his studies to finding the structure of DNA when Rosalind Franklin transfers from Paris to do x-ray crystallography on DNA. While Wilkins and Franklin were supposed to be working on their research together, competition broke out between the two of them, with Franklin believing Wilkins is trying to take credit for her work while also not taking her seriously as a female scientist.

            Watson and Crick are constantly reprimanded for their enthusiasm on DNA stating that they should be working on their post-grad research and leave DNA to the experts already working the field. This does not stop them, however, as they search out any scrap of information they can get form other scientists, and sometimes, by any means necessary. The biggest focus is finding out how many chains are in a strand of DNA and its three-dimensional shape. Rosalind Franklin’s x-rays begin to show prominent forms of a helix, but she dismisses the idea because she wants to look from every method to find out why it is the shape it is. Maurice Wilkins sees this as a personal attack because his goal has always been DNA and her x-rays prove his theories.

            Watson attends a hearing where Franklin states her findings on the B form of DNA and brings this information back to Crick. This fuels them to begin building their own model based on this little information. The model was a failure, however, and they were once again dismissed and told to go back to their work. Later, Watson and Crick learn of the rough percentages of adenine, thymine, cytosine, and guanine in DNA and try to figure out how these could fit together. In their words, it should be “pretty.” However, this still leaves them puzzled on how the bases would fit together and how they are being held together. No one seems to agree on bond types or arrangement.

Rosalind Franklin, while keeping her findings to herself, figures out the two chain DNA and phosphate backbone. There was a piece of information she missed that Crick was able to figure out how to use her work to build their model. She leaves out a C2 section, which is a dyad, or anti-parallel fibers. Crick used two sharpened pencils to show that DNA is anti-parallel. He demonstrated how both pointing in the same direction makes the pattern repeat too early, but if they are running opposite and symmetrical, then the chain will have to turn to make its helical structure before it begins repeating. Anti-parallel refers to the direction of the DNA strands with the 5’ phosphate facing the 3’ hydroxy group. The two strands running anti-parallel allows for the base pairs to fit with the orientation of the sugar molecule.

            Watson and Crick are still fast at work trying to get all the pieces of the model to fit together while Rosalind departs from her research position, leaving Maurice the hope of inheriting her findings so that he could be the one to discover the structure. While placing the pieces of the puzzle of sugars and bases, Jerry Donahue takes note of Watson’s attempt at pairing the bases and notes that the keto form would allow the pairs to align instead of the enol form, moving a hydrogen from an OH to another carbon. Watson makes cutouts of the molecules and starts to rotate pieces until he gets them to align and has the department approve a building of another model. Watson and Crick had finally succeeded at determining the structure of DNA much to the chagrin of Wilkins and Franklin. In the end, Watson, Crick, and Wilkins were awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for their discovery. Franklin, unfortunately, passed before the prize was awarded.