In my Evolution class, we are completing group projects revolving around the
evolution of different diseases or viruses. One group chose to focus on
anthrax. I decided, that for this blog post, I would review and discuss their
blog. Hopefully, I am not too repetitive because I don't want to bore my
teacher with information she has already read!
Misty, Joe, and Claire worked with and participated in grid computing for
Rosetta@home. While THIS Rosetta does not teach
you different languages, it has critical importance to the scientific world.
This particular grid focuses on protein structure and folding within the
diseases malaria, anthrax, HIV, Alzheimer’s, and even cancer. There is one
specific protein in
Bacillus anthracis
called EF, which is short for oedema factor. This protein inhibits a different
protein in the body which then "lowers the body's ability to fight off
foreign invaders." Obviously, without this ability, the body is
susceptible to infection.
The group of students also conducted an interview with an expert in the
topic of anthrax. Specifically, they interviewed a professor in Biochemistry
and Molecular Biology at the University of Kansas Medical Center, Mark Fisher, Ph.D.
Different research projects and his studies of focus seem to be about protein
folding. More information can be found here:
Mark
Fisher Ph.D's web page. In the interview, he first discussed his background
information about himself and what events lead him to where he is today. He
then discussed his work specifically with anthrax. Developments with the
electron microscope have helped his research with ph levels and how they
control the protein structure. In regards to evolution specifically, Dr. Fisher
mentioned that commonly, when presented with medium that will inhibit growth,
bacteria will mutate to survive (sounds familiar!). This causes different
strains of the same virus. He wants to figure out, and have other scientists
figure out, which regions of the DNA sequences are the ones that will mutate,
given the opportunity. The group also asked Dr. Fisher what how he responded
when talking with someone who does not believe in evolution. He told them that
he explains his stance (pro-evolution) in ways that others can understand. One
thing he said that really resonated with me was, "Every human being on
Earth...[is] a walking history of evolution on this Earth. We are literally 3
billion years’ worth of information in books that are put on [
sic] our
genome." Based on the interview blog post alone, Dr. Fisher sounded like a
wealth of knowledge and a great resource for the project the group did.
Each member of the group then posted about their feelings and reactions
toward the interview. All were positive and showed that they seemed to really
enjoy speaking with a professional.
The next post was an article that related to their topic. It is long, but
really interesting!
Read paper here
A couple things made me widen my eyes with surprise. I always think about
anthrax infecting cows, sheep, and maybe a goat or two. This article though
states that
Bacillus anthracis can
also infect...earthworms (specifically the red worm). Weird right? The bacteria
spend part of its life cycle in the intestine of these worms. The other thing
that really struck me was regarding bacteriophages. Theoretically, it makes
sense that a bacteriophage can infect any given bacteria - hence the name
bacteriophage. However, I never thought about bacteriophages much outside of my
Microbiology flashcards. They actually infect
Bacillus anthracis and insert its own DNA. Doing this, the bacteria
goes through lysogeny. From this point, it can undergo sporulation. Other
options though include making a home in an earthworm or starting a biofilm. It
was interesting to learn about other variances between just the simple switch
between a spore and a vegetative cell. This picture below shows a bacteriophage. Personally, I think they look like robots!
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| sahsrojas.pbworks.com |
Overall, I would say that Misty, Claire, and Joe did a wonderful job with their blog! I think they worked hard to maintain it through the semester and related concepts to classwork. It seems as though they each learned something that would not otherwise be taught in a semester introductory course. I encourage you to take a look at it! http://rosettacomputergrid.blogspot.com/
But seriously, I mean it. Read the blog and the article!!
Kelsey
The most recent assignment was to find an article pertaining to our topics and answer questions proposed by Dr. Walker. This was the paper the group chose to discuss.
http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0006532
It is a bit long
