Brenda Milner: One Hundred Years of Brilliance 11 Potential Misdiagnosis of Alixe Ménard Psychosis: What We Have Learned in the Past Decade
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4 When 6 Cannibalism Kills: A Story of Table Why a Meal of Tuberculosis Human Meat May Vaccines & Be One of Your Diabetes Last of Luka Vukovic Hailey McTaggart Contents 7 Emerging Nanotechnology: 8 Nanoparticles as a Drug Delivery Breakthrough Starshot: The Next Platform Giant Leap for Mankind? Emil-Al Kadi Mathieu Levesque 10 Dear Darwin 9 Sijyl Fasih Brenda Milner: One Hundred Years of Brilliance 11 Potential Misdiagnosis of Alixe Ménard Psychosis: What We Have Learned in the Past Decade Dominique Yelle 15 The Eastern Hognose Snake: The “Cobra” of 12 13 Canada How Artificial To Whom to Give Alysha Riquier Intelligence Can One’s Heart: Issues Help Us in Medical Concerning Organ 15 Diagnostics Donation Why are Branched Chain An Duong Simon Reilley Amino Acids Important While Exercising? Marie-Pier Millette 16 Rust Fungi: Protecting our Cultivars from Crop Disease Salman Ahmadi Editor-in-Chief TheWebsite ManagerTeam Editors Sanmeet Chahal Michael Leung, Kelly Xu Shobhitha Balasubramaniam, Setti Logisitics Coordinator Belhouari, Skyra Cheng, Natalia Rédactrice en chef Naiema Zaman Forero, Princia Gangnon, Colin Setti Belhouari Author Coordinators Griffiths, Divine Kankenga, Emily Kelly Xu, Simon Yves Reilley Lam, Navpreet Langa, Ann Lee, Production Manager Authors Karan Mediratta, Megan Miaro, Jasmine Bhatti Salman Ahmadi, An Duong, Sijyl Alexandra Phan, Ivana Radonjic, Fasih, Emil-Al Kadi, Mathieu Angeli Reyes, Shreya Sarmah, Art Director Levesque, Hailey McTaggart, Alixe Michelle Vandeloo Elsie Lebedev Ménard, Marie-Pier Millette, Simon Translators Reilley, Alysha Riquier, Luka Setti Belhouari, Vicky Dupont, Deputy Editor-in-Chief Vukovic, Dominque Yelle Sarah Miller, Dara O' Connor, Hailey McTaggart Illustrators and Photographers Alysha Riquier, Aria Slippert, John Evans, Myriam Hamza, Miléna Sokolowski, Media Manager Evan Nanni, Angeli Reyes, Sophie Suatac, Mihaela Tudorache, Saania Tariq Alysha Riquier, Yzabelle Bisa Michelle Vandeloo BIZARRE SCIENCE When Cannibalism Kills Why a Meal of Human Meat May be One of Your Last Hailey McTaggart, 3rd Year BPS According to a 2017 article from the British national is a major factor in the biology of many species and may newspaper, The Sunday Times, “Cannibalism is our last ta- influence population, life history, competition for mates and boo (Sunday Times, p.40)”. In a time when people are ex- resources, and behaviour” (Polis, p.225). posed to more cultural systems and beliefs than ever, canni- For humans, however, cannibalism may have detri- balism is among the few practices that continue to fascinate mental consequences on the health of the consumer in the and horrify in equal turns. Within most social groups, it is form of disease. The prion disease Kuru, for example, is of understood that anyone who engages in anthropophagy, much interest to scientists who explore the effects of canni- or the consumption of human flesh, will become a pariah balism within human populations. This disease is brought whose values jeopardize the moral and ethical constructs of about by prions, which are the misfolded forms of prion the community to which they belong. However, does canni- proteins that have the capability to incorrectly fold other balism pose as much of a threat to human health as it does proteins, spreading the disease (Prion Alliance, 2013). These to the welfare of society? prions will spread across a person’s brain, killing neurons Society’s virtually unanimous commitment to the re- and causing a swift cognitive decline, resulting in death (Pri- jection of cannibalism is a fairly recent one. According to on Alliance, 2013). Bess Lovejoy of Lapham’s Quarterly (2016), Europe has a In the early 20th century, members of the Fore tribe rich history of medicinal cannibalism. She states that hu- of Papua New Guinea began to present with Kuru and, by man blood was consumed by individuals with epilepsy the 1950s, up to two percent of the tribe’s population were during the ancient Roman times and was a favourite health dying of the disease every year (Rettner, 2015). This epidem- tonic during the Renaissance. In addition, the use of mum- ic presented strange to scientists, since usually every year mies by apothecaries began as early as the Renaissance and only one or two people out of a million die of a prion dis- became extremely popular throughout the 18th Century as ease (Prion Alliance, 2013). Upon further investigation, re- an ingredient in treatments for bleeding, joint pain and poi- searchers determined that Kuru had spread throughout the sonous bites. Lovejoy also notes that cannibalistic practices tribe through group necrophagy, or the group consumption have been associated with several ancient tribes. For exam- of remains (Rudolf & Antonovics, 2007). At this time, the ple, members of tribes from Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Ven- Fore people practiced a funerary ritual involving the mass ezuela were known to practice funerary cannibalism. or the consumption of the brain of a dead loved one (Rettner, consumption of the remains of a loved one, with the goal 2015). It is investigations like these that have led scientists to of, “incorporating the dead into the future life of the tribe” conclude that endemic disease may result from cannibalistic (Lovejoy, 2016). practices within populations of social organisms that share While the majority considers anthropophagy to be ab- their prey (Rudolf & Antonovics, 2007). normal in modern times, it would be incorrect to state that In conclusion, it appears that abstaining from anthro- the act of cannibalism is unnatural, in general. A 1981 re- pophagy serves to protect both society and the collective hu- view of literature pertaining to intraspecific predation in a man biology, as a serving of human meat might come with a total of about 1300 species found that, “[cannibalism] complimentary side of disease for a human consumer. 4 Image Source: Alysha Riquier, 2nd Year BIO 5 A Story of Tuberculosis Vaccines & Diabetes Luka Vukovic, 3rd Year BIM Image Type 1 diabetes (T1D) is defined transplant of islets (Lee, Gan, & Calne, Source: as the absolute loss of insulin-produc- 2012).” ShutterStock ing beta cells in the pancreas. To be Scientists are working on encap- clear, genetic predispositions and envi- sulating these stem cells in semi-per- ronmental triggers can cause the loss of meable membranes so that they are these cells at any age. Without insulin, protected from the immune system; Image Source: the body cannot move glucose across although research, “has not yet been VectorStock cell membranes from the blood and meaningfully translated into clinical into tissues, where cells must use it to islet transplantation (Krishnan et al., ing insulin, how were their 1HbA1c’s generate energy. As a result, the body 2014).” being lowered? is starved while excess glucose builds This is where the Bacillus It might simply be that there is up in the blood. Without any insulin Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine, a live more glucose usage around the body. to use up the glucose, the cells in our attenuated tuberculosis (TB) vaccine BCG appeared to cause a “systemic shift bodies are forced to catabolize fats and employed worldwide since the early in glucose utilization, shifting from pri- proteins for energy, while high glucose 1900s, comes in. Not only is it a cheap marily oxidative phosphorylation to concentrations damage the endothelial and accessible vaccine, it has also been aerobic glycolysis (Kühtreiber et al., linings of small capillaries such as those used as a “potential treatment for can- 2018).” By putting the body in a high- in the eyes, kidneys, reproductive or- cer (Wang & Lin, 2008). How has such er state of glucose utilization, hyper- gans, and the peripheries. a common vaccine managed to “signifi- glycemia could be better treated via an Knowing that most cases of T1D cantly reduce the blood glucose levels,” altered metabolic state. This change in are the result of autoimmune dysfunc- measured as the 1HbA1c levels of dia- metabolism may be related to the epi- tion (this wipes out the insulin-produc- betics (Faustman, 2017)? The BCG vac- genetic changes that come with the vac- ing beta cells), how have we tried curing cine is known to increase the levels of a cine. Certain genes were being upregu- T1D? To understand potential cures, we certain cytokine, a tumor necrosis fac- lated (turned on) via demethylation of need to comprehend that it is the mem- tor (TNF) (Faustman et al., 2012). This DNA, resulting in the reprogramming ory cells that recall and recognize beta cytokine can induce, “significant chang- of cells to promote aerobic glycolysis cell- specific surface proteins. Upon es in gene expression which ultimately (Kühtreiber et al., 2018). Whether this recognition, they release antibodies help to increase regulatory T-cells while metabolomic shift takes place through- that mark them for destruction. As a re- removing self-reactive memory cells out the body or only in specific regions sult, they cannot naturally regenerate to (Faustman, 2017)”, those which cause is yet to be understood. restore the body to a pre-diabetic state. the autoimmune dysfunction. Note that Sometimes, science is a lot of So why not use stem cells to regen- regulatory T-cells help to prevent the shooting in the dark. Who knew that erate beta-cells? Regrettably, extracting immune system from instigating in- a TB vaccine could have potential sig- stem cells from bone marrow is deep- flammation, thus allowing beta cells to nificance for T1D treatment? Stranger ly invasive, implants may cause cancer, regenerate and restore insulin produc- still, even frontline researchers cannot and the beta cells are wiped out again tion. There have been promising results yet figure out how the molecular biolo- only a few months after implantation. to support this hypothesis, as seen by gy comes together. Nevertheless, this is 1 “While the early results were promis- the significant lowering of HbA1c lev- an area of work that can shine light on ing, with some 70% of the patients re- els of diabetic trial subjects (Kühtreiber novel medical insights.