Monday, September 9, 2013

In vitro Burger?! Blog #3


Last month, I came across a horror video about how chicken and cows are converted to the hamburger you starve for at Macdonald’s.  I was horrified and saddened by the pictures I saw.  It was indeed inhumane, cruel and disgusting that I became a strict vegetarian. Chicken were massively strangled by machines while cows were put ALIVE in a place that tears them apart into pieces. Many said to me: well its already killed so abstaining yourself from meat doesn’t change the fact that million of animals were treated this way in factories.  Buying a burger for me is like encouraging people to continue this slaughter for the sake of paper money. So I continued my practices hoping someday this will change.
It actually did: YAY! I came across the most awkward research you could ever find. Growing animal muscle cell in the lab in vitro to meet your meat “needs”. (meet, meat it rhymes also!) 

Dr. Mark Post of Maastricht University in the Netherlands unveiled the culmination of five years of research: a lab-grown “test tube” beef burger, cooked in a pan. According to Post “A few cells that we take from a living cow can be turned to 10 tons of meat” Post also posted the an animated procedure on how could that be done:





In other words, we could get meat by extracting cells from a living cow and clone them to get a nice burger! The most important thing that it is quite easy to do, doesn't break any moral values concerning animal abuse and mass slaughtering. on the bright side this research was actually funded by Google's CEO (a million $) and we hope that this continues!
Many doesn't seem to feel concerned about the topic: they will continue to get their daily meat meal like usual but it is a great discovery for us vegetarians, for fighting the worldwide hunger, and lowering high meat price! Also real meat does have high probability of contamination of Ecoli! So you should be concerned guys! The post suggest that more than 50% of greenhouse gases are emitted from these animal factories.
 The taste! Yea everyone  is wondering what about the taste? is it the same than actual meat you usually have everyday? Well I am not going to answer that question. I am going to leave to it to your curiosity. To watch the video with all the details about this experiment go to: 
http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/13/4605528/your-meat-addiction-is-destroying-the-planet-but-we-can-fix-it
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Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Do not shower everyday ! Blog # 2


Do not take a shower, you will get Alzheimer?

Mom: “did you take your shower.” Me: “ Tomorrow! I don’t want to get a disease!”
It was indeed the “fact of the day” that I threw yesterday at my mom. She didn’t believe that getting a shower and taking a good care of your hygiene might attract deadly diseases like Alzheimer’s. She said it was a “joke, and she is not to be fooled easily

Nowadays everything is possible with advent of extensive research and this bloom of facts that might twist your mind upside down!

This correlation between sanitization and Alzheimer’s is a proven fact. According to Dr. Fox “countries with higher levels of sanitation had higher rates of Alzheimer's. For example, countries where all people have access to clean drinking water, such as the UK and France, have 9% higher Alzheimer's rates than countries where less than half have access, such as Kenya and Cambodia”
Your question is why increased sanitization and higher hygiene is correlated with this increased Alzheimer’s incidence?
The answer to this question is simple. It is because you didn’t give the “friendly” microbes and foreign particles access to your body. This access cause the body to release T cells (antibodies). In other words you didn’t give a chance for your body to interact with the outside environment to develop resistance to more dangerous encounters like Alzheimer’s. according to the same study: “Deficiency of anti-inflammatory ("regulatory") T-cells has links to the types of inflammation commonly found in the brain of those suffering with Alzheimer's disease”

So the take home lesson: “ get filthy!”

Reference:
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/09/130904105347.htm


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Tuesday, September 3, 2013

Molecular Biology -Blog 1- Inhibition of Neurodegeneration

Imagine your brain covered with plaques made of proteins and your neurons destroyed by tangles of proteins. This is not some apocalyptic disease. This is Alzheimer's disease! In a few patients, Alzheimer's is genetic and triggered by genes called: Apo e2, e3 and e4 which transcribe the proteins that entangle the brain. But in 95 % of patients, Alzheimer's is a sporadic disease meaning that it is self occurring and random where genetics have no role to play. In other words, while Apo genes are responsible for this increased likelihood to get the disease, we can't fully blame it on our genetic code. 

So, there are other factors that increase the disease occurrence. What about diet? Our body is a dynamic system that is in constant need for nutrient. Paracelsus, a pioneer in toxicology, once stated "Anything could be a poison depending on its dose and its nature".An extensive research was conducted in Massachusetts Institute of Technology. This study showed that reduced caloric intake activates SIRT 1: an enzyme that protects against age associated brain impairments. According to Tsai "We not only observed a delay in the onset of neurodegeneration in the calorie restricted mice, but the animals were spared the learning and memory deficits of mice that did not consume reduced-calorie diet." 

It is important to realize that balanced diet play a crucial role in maintaining a normal body functioning. Moreover, doctors realized that coconut oil has a very positive role for patients with Alzheimer's. Some were miraculously cured using this substance, but these are only observations and no study was made to assess how can an oil be able to slow down the progression of the formation of the plaques. 

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