Championing the ugly

Follow the links at the bottom of this page to find out about some ugly species needing help! These are part of the EDGE project you learnt about at your trip to the zoo.

http://www.zsl.org/conservation/news/championing-the-ugly,1030,NS.html

Cambridge to be involved in genome sequencing for the NHS?

David Cameron has annouced a  new programme of genome sequencing of 100,000 people who have cancer. This should help us deliver personalised medicine in the future.

He visited the Cancer Research UK Institute on the Addenbrookes to annouce this.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20663090

CO2 and the Doha meeting.

There are global talks about climate change currently in Doha. This is producing a lot of data and discussion.

Information is beautiful (very cool website) has released this to help us make sense of it!
http://www.guardian.co.uk/news/datablog/2012/dec/07/carbon-dioxide-doha-information-beautiful#zoomed-picture

(very cool TED talk about visualising data)
http://www.ted.com/talks/david_mccandless_the_beauty_of_data_visualization.html

How variable are our genomes?

The 1000 genome project aims to sequence one thousand people's genomes. An interesting paper has been published looking at how many mutations we have on average and whether or not they are harmful.

Tha full paper is available here http://download.cell.com/AJHG/pdf/PIIS0002929712005381.pdf?intermediate=true

It is good practice for those of you wanting to study Biology or Science at University to have a go at reading real science papers. Don't worry if there are bits you dont understand - try reading the abstract (a summary) and looking at the figures.

There is also a BBC article on this paper for those who prefer to read that
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20617312

Don't forget to use SNAB online to help you revise fro any exams

Check out the youtube tutorial in the links section.

Helpful snab online sections include...

Skills support to brush up your biochemistry
Skills support to help identify key question words in the exam
A-Z glossary
Links to all interactive tutorials
Bionews

For those of you interested in a career in Science...

...or even just studying science at University

The research journal Science is producing annotated versions of some articles to help students understand how professional research is done.

http://scienceintheclassroom.org/research-papers

Measuring the tiny forces involved in cell division

Scientists have used fluorescent beads to measure what force is generated as an amoeba cell pulls itself into 2 cells during division

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628936.100-tiny-tug-of-war-in-cells-underpins-life.html

Good new for Giant Tortoises!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628935.200-giant-tortoises-bounce-back-in-the-galapagos.html

HIV

HIV is the example we study of a viral infection in Topic 6 of A2. Recent figures in the UK reveal that more people are being diagnosed with this condition and many people are infected but not aware.

See what David Cameron had to say for World AIDS Day

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20564277

But more positive news...

http://www.unaids.org/en/resources/presscentre/pressreleaseandstatementarchive/2012/november/20121120prresults/

New method of generating stem cells?

Scientists at the University of Cambridge have recently announced a new method of making stem cells from blood samples. This were then used to grow new blood vessels that could be used to treat vascular diseases like CHD studied in Topic 1.

http://www.cam.ac.uk/research/news/new-patient-friendly-way-to-make-stem-cells-for-fight-against-heart-disease/

Will climate change affect our food?

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628924.300-climate-change-may-supersize-sweet-potatoes.html

Ct scanning

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20174883

In Topic 8 we learn about different types of medical imaging. In London a hospital is using CT scanning instead of Accident and Emergency.

Interesting BBC TV programme

http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zxmqd

There is an episode on extinction. This is on clickview and iPlayer.

Is climate change even worse than we thought?

http://www.newscientist.com/special/worse-climate

Ugly animals face extinction?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-20323753

An interesting article looking at animals that might not get saved from extinction as they are too ugly!

Could cells from your nose cure paralysis?

Scientists in cambridge have had an amzing break through in treating paralysis in dogs. They used cells from the nose to regrow damaged spinal cords!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20365355 and watch the video to see Jasper walk again.

Interesting appliaction of DNA Profiling!

In Topic 6 in A2 you learn about DNA profiling and how it can be used to identify a dead body or who the father is.

Scientist have used this technique to investigate mating habits in tortoises! http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/20318565

Antibiotic resistance

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20354536

Experts are now saying that resistance to antibiotics is one of the biggest threats to our health. We study this in Topic 6 but you will extract your own antibacterial substances from plants in Topic 4.

Genome sequencing and MRSA

In your AS year you will go on a trip to The Sanger Centre where a large amount of the human genome was sequenced.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn22501-mining-mrsa-genetic-code-halts-superbug-outbreak.html

Here is a link to a story showing how work at this Centre has led to the halting of an MRSA outbreak at the special baby ward at the Hospital in Cambridge. MRSA is a strain of antibiotic resistant bacteria you study in Topic 6.

Genetics, research and the future of medicine

There is a great series of videos on the Guardian newspaper website about genetics and disease. These are relevant for Topic 2.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2012/oct/13/genes-disease-video
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2012/oct/25/breast-cancer-family-genetics-medicine-video?intcmp=239
http://www.guardian.co.uk/science/video/2012/nov/09/brave-new-world-genomics-genetics-medicine-video

David Attenborough's Ark

This Friday at 9pm on BBC2 or on iplayer shortly after that David Attenborough chooses the 10 species he would like to save from extinction.


http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b01ntt8p

We learn more about the natural world everyday!

New polar bear sanctuary found.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20140188

Hurricane Sandy

Hurricane Sandy has had devasting effects in recent days. One effect you might not have thought of or heard in the news is the death of thousands of laboratory animals at New York universities.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-20172256

In  Topic 8 we learn about the use of animals in science - what do you think?

Could easier identification of HIV be around the corner?

In Topic 6 we learn about HIV and how it affects the immune system - could there be a new cheap and easy test for this virus?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-20084303

Stem cells to replace sperm in infertile men

One of the side effects of some cancer treatment is infertility but a new study shows that multipotent stem cells that produce sperm can be extracted before treatment and then reimplanted.

Read the paper here

http://download.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/pdf/PIIS1934590912004754.pdf?intermediate=true

Gene therapy

Gene therapy is a topic we cover in Topic 2 but is not widely available as a non experimental treatment. Now a gene therapy has been licensed in Europe. This is a therapy that uses a virus to infect muscle cells with a working copy of the gene lipoprotein lipase.

http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2012/07/news_detail_001574.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1

Thinking of having your genome sequenced?

Knowing the sequence of your genome would allow for personalised medicine but is it really something that is feasible now? Maybe... There is a new smartphone app that allows you to carry your genome around with you securely should you need it!

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21628896.300-want-to-keep-your-genome-safe-theres-an-app-for-that.html

Look who was in Cambridge yesterday....

Wet summers for England?

Is our climate changing? and what is causing this? This is a subject studied in Topic 5 and recent summers in the UK certainly seem wetter! could this be because of the Atlantic ocean warming?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19848112

Stem cells to treat infertility?

Could we use stem cell technology to help infertile couples? Some skin cells have become grandparents!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19827287

Reading list

Need ideas for extra reading? Here are the top ten popular science books. Don't forget that watching David Attenborough on iplayer is also highly recommended!


http://www.newscientist.com/blogs/culturelab/2012/10/top-10-most-influential-popular-science-books.html

Society of Biology "Biology Week 13-19th October"

There are lots of event in Cambridge for this. Check out

http://www.societyofbiology.org/newsandevents/events
(East Anglia branch)

or ask your teacher.

AS trip to Whipsnade!

The AS students went on a trip to the Zoo as part of Unit 3. Here is a photo of some working hard with a nice picture of Biologists favourite David Attenborough!

A2 trip to Wicken Fen!
For their Unit 5 Core practical The A2 students recently went to Wicken Fen (link available at bottom left of this page). Here is a photo of some of our A2 students doing some pond dipping.

Do you like eating fish? Climate change might be changing the size of your meals!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19758440

The human effects on our environment are obvious and now shocking evdience is coming from the Great Barrier Reef in Australia (ask Janet or Sue about this area of the world!)

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-19800253

What do you think about GM food?

We could use GM technology (covered in Topic 8) to produce allergy safe food as well as pesticide resistant crops. What do you think?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19785006

In Topic 8 we study depression and one of the theories behind its neuroscience and treatments. this is a very prevalent condition with 1 in 10 workers taking time off for depression in seven European countries

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-19759964

Olympics and Paralympics!

The Olympics and the Paralympics have captivated Britain and the world this summer. In A2 Topic 7 we learn about exercise and prosthetics. Check out some of these links to find out more about the sporting extravaganza of London 2012.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/olympics/2012/

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/disability-sport/

History of the Paralympic movement

Biologists (working at the Sanger Institute nr Cambridge) have published the most detailed map of the human genome - looking into regions that were thought to be "junk DNA". This data is all open access to all. Pretty amazing stuff!

http://www.nature.com/news/encode-the-human-encyclopaedia-1.11312

A ten year girl has received a new vein - grown from her own stem cells!

Link to summary of the journal paper
Link to story on BBC

ADVANCE WARNING!

The Society of Biology along with Cambridge Science Festival is holding National Biology Week. This starts with the Big Biology Day on October 13th 2012.

IVF can be carried out using donor eggs which have their nucleus removed and replaced with the nucleus of the propspective mother and then fertilised. This may be necessary because mitochondria which are found in all cells have their own DNA which can be mutated and cause disease affecting muscles. If the mother has mutated mitochondrial DNA, she can avoid passing this on to her childen by using an "empty" donor egg.

The baby produced in this way would have 3 genetic parents - a father (50% of DNA), the nucleus mother (49.9% of DNA) and mitochondrial mother (0.1% of DNA). The Nuffield Council on Bioethics have been discussing whether or not this is ethical. What do you think?


Link to BBC news story
Report from the Nuffield Council

Could the risky and invasive prenatal tests CVS and amniocentesis be a thing of the past?

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18353055

Could CT scans increase cancer risk? In Topic 8 we learn about different types of brain imaging. CT scans use X-rays to produce detailed images of the body

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18342867

Paralysed rats learn to walk again!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-18278945

Climate change could alter the world we live in but it is still not universally understood.

Check out this link from the Guardian which is "everything you need to know about climate change"

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/interactive/2011/aug/15/everything-know-climate-change

Cystic fibrosis is a terminal genetic condition that affects the respiratory, gastric intestinal and resproductive systems. People with the condition often have chest infections that can lead to lung scarring as they produce musus that is too sticky and so traps bacteria in the lungs. Recent work has suggested garlic extract may help reduce the number of infections.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/05/120527115543.htm

There is an increasing problem of antibacterial resitance in many disease causing bacteria (eg MRSA) which you cover in topics 4 and 6. Could humans have actually caused the evolution of bacteria to speed up?

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/05/bacteria-evolving-faster/

Stem cells are a hot topic in Biology. The ethics of using stem cells aside - how can we replicate the differentiation process outside the body? Maybe nanotechnology has the answer...

http://www.guardian.co.uk/nanotechnology-world/nanotechnology-shaping-stem-cell-research

CREST AWARD

Some AS students have stayed after their exams to work towards a Silver CREST award and start to collect data for their A2 coursework. Here is some evidence of them hard at work!

Humans are very bad at estimating risk. What is the risk of a train crash? or a plane crash? or a car crash? or dying from lung cancer after smoking? Here is an article about human risk intelligence.


 http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428655.900-the-man-who-gave-us-risk-intelligence.html

In Topic 6 you learn about the immune system but the immune system of newborn babies can react differently to adults or older children. Scientists have developed an artifical newborn immune system that they can test vaccines on before giving them to real babies.

http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg21428664.500-artificial-immune-system-gives-baby-vaccines-a-booster.html

Michael J Fox (Back to the Future movie star) has Parkinson's disease which is you study in Topic 8. He has a Foundation which researches cures and treatments into the disease. One option for treatments is stem cell therapy. There are some problems with this and many ethical issues as you will discover in Topic 3.

Michael J Fox video

http://www.newscientist.com/article/dn21838-michael-j-fox-sidelines-stem-cells-for-parkinsons.html

Meerkats are threatened by inbreeding! A good example of how biologists are using biology to address an issue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18119177

Part of Topic 7 "Run for your life" is about the effect of too little or too much exercise. Here is an article about the risk of arthritis in young sports players.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18119177

Aspirin may also prevent skin cancer - you learn about this drug as a treatment for CVD but a recent study suugests taking aspirin may reduce the risk of developing skin cancer

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-18233717

Biology AS trip to London Zoo 2012