Life sciences will be crucial safeguard against looming crises SA
The life sciences are going to be very important in the future, and, of course, they are going to affect us in a lot of different ways. I think we will face tremendous crises on this planet in the future. Crises about health and disease, crises about climate, the weather, and sustainable resources, and I think that, in all of these, knowledge of the life sciences is going to be an important field.
The careful breeding of animals and the cultivation of plants promoted the development of attributes in both that were regarded as beneficial by humans, and minimised those attributes regarded as undesirable. This, to all practical intents and purposes, amounted to genetic modification, but executed slowly, on a hit-or-miss basis, and over generations.
The problem facing geneticists and biotechnologists is explaining what they are doing, how they are doing it, and why they are doing it, in terms that people can understand. Thus, the reason why so many people were hostile to genetically modified plants was that they could see no benefit for themselves in these developments. In the popular mind, the benefits all seemed to be destined for business
Thus, we have the serious problem of methicillin- resistant staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infection, caused by staphylococcus aureus bacteria, which can resist all but the most powerful drugs and which can cause serious illness, especially among older people and those with weakened immune systems. Ironically, MRSA is an especial problem in hospitals, and it is estimated that 1,2-million American hospital patients are infected annually. In Britain, it is estimated that about 1 000 patients die each year as a direct or indirect result of MRSA infection.
Then there is severe acute respiratory syndrome (Sars), which emerged in southern China in November 2002, and is caused by a previously unrecognised coronavirus, now designated the Sars-associated coronavirus (Sars-CoV). Coronaviruses are a group of viruses that have a crown-like or halo appearance when viewed through a microscope; they usually cause only mild to moderate upper-respiratory illness in humans, although they have on rare occasions been linked with pneumonia. But in animals, including dogs, cats, birds, pigs, and mice, they can cause severe disease. Sars-CoV, however, killed 774 people worldwide (out of 8 098 known to be infected) during its original outbreak (from November 2002 to end July 2003).
A third example of a modern infectious disease that could threaten humans is the H5N1 variety of avian influenza (bird flu). This claimed its first human victim, a three-year-old boy, in Hong Kong, in 1997, but was not detected in humans again until early 2003, again in Hong Kong. In birds, it has since spread across Asia to Europe and Africa.
Among humans, it has infected people across Asia, in parts of Africa (Djibouti, Egypt, and Nigeria), and in one European country (Turkey). Up to last month, there have been 380 cases of human infection by H5N1 worldwide, of which 240 have been fatal.
The worst-hit countries have been Indonesia, with 132 cases, of which 107 were fatal, and Vietnam, with 106 cases resulting in 52 deaths. Fortunately, all cases seem to have been bird-to-human infection. But scientists fear that a mutation of the H5N1 virus could result in a strain which could easily be transmitted from human to human, creating a pandemic with the potential of putting millions of lives at risk.
Germiston Genius
Sydney Brenner was born in Germiston, east of Johannesburg, on January 13, 1927, and matriculated at the age of 15. He then studied at the University of the Witwatersrand, receiving degrees in medicine and science in 1947, publishing his first paper as sole author in 1946. Thereafter, he moved to the UK where, in 1954, he received a doctorate in chemistry at Oxford University. In 1957, he moved to Cambridge and joined the Medical Research Council, becoming director of the Laboratory of Molecular Biology and the Molecular Genetics Unit. It was at Cambridge that he did the work that would later win him the Nobel Prize.
In 1989, he moved to the US, to California, where he remains resident to this day. In 1996, he became president and director of science of the Molecular Sciences Institute, in Berkeley. He subsequently became a Senior Distinguished Fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, in La Jolla.
In his career he conducted pioneering research with roundworms, organisms which are now commonly used to study genetics, and his research with the tiny (on average, 1 mm long) and transparent nematode worm, caenorhabditis elegans, resulted in important insights into aging, nerve cell function, and con- trolled cell death. Brenner also discovered how the order of amino acids in proteins is determined, and established the existence of messenger RNA.
In 2002, he was, along with John Sulston and Robert Horvitz, awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine, for his discoveries concerning the genetic regulation of organ development and programmed cell death.
Chinese medicine practitioners believe that a fungus adaptogen, or natural adjustment, inhibit the immune system is overactive propelled it is underactive. Many health claims to the effect of Ganoderma lucidum on the human body s immune system. Those claims based primarily on the presence of free radicals and ultra-high molecular weight polysaccharides The antioxidants in Ganoderma lucidum extract. Ganoderma lucidum also includes elements of K (k), magnesium (mg), calcium (Ca) and germanium (ge).
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Many studies have been completed in the fungus from foreign universities are China, Japan and South Korea. Many of them is a test tube or animal studies. Outcome is not clear, but they seem to indicate, at least in these non-human systems, the fungus has an impact on the human body The immune system, the nature of some anti-tumor and some anti-viral activity. A group of researchers in 2002 reported that the fungus seems to be to protect the liver inflammation caused by infection.
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More recent studies, the Asian University has started investigating the fungus on human cells or organizations. A recent study, done in Taiwan showed that Ganoderma inhibit apoptosis (cell self-destruction) in human white blood cells. This discovery may help To explain the beneficial effects of Ganoderma lucidum, the body s immune system.
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Ganoderma has recently attracted extensive attention of the Western cancer researchers. Case studies from Columbia University, indicates that Japan nutritional supplements containing Ganoderma lucidum and isoflavones, soy derivatives, may contribute to the prevention and treatment of prostate cancer.
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Ganoderma lucidum can also be used to treat conditions of the nervous system, which is used to soothe the nerves, the treatment of insomnia, reducing stress, eliminating neurasthenia, increasing the determination and focus. Laboratory studies have shown that a considerable doubts whether the fungus as sedative drugs on cells The central nervous system and may have painkilling and anti-seizure properties.
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Ganoderma lucidum is also used to treat other diseases. These uses are generally backed by little or no scientific evidence. They include:
gastroenteritis
Diarrhea
Constipation
gallstones
ulcer
Acne
alopecia
inflammation of the kidneys
menstrual Laichao
erection
low sexual desire
Ready
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Almost all the fungus from the market are cultivated mushrooms. Preparation is to use different cap, spores, mycelium. These preparations in the form of the fresh mushrooms and the whole capsule, the focus is observed, extracts, tablets, tea bags, tea Particles, tincture. A common dose is 1800-2400 mg capsule-like, every day. However, dosesvaryhugely are receiving treatment depending on the circumstances of the strength and part of the mushroom be used.
Prevention
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High-dose (2-9g) Ganoderma regularly throughout the process to take 3-6 months, could lead to diarrhea upset stomach and dizziness. Epistaxis from the high doses of Ganoderma lucidum also from time to time. Claimed that some Chinese high-dose vitamin C to take this Herb can control diarrhea.
Interactive
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For Western medicine, there are reports of Ganoderma lucidum have a negative interaction between warfarin, the blood thinner drug. Because of Ganoderma lucidum extract can cause blood pressure drop, people with prescription drugs (taking blood pressure-lowering) should be used only when the fungus they are monitored by a doctor.
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