(August 2004) PET or Positron Emission Tomography scans have become an important aspect of medical imaging and diagnoses, allowing doctors to look into the human body as never before. PET scans are different from other medical imaging techniques because they do not actually look at the body itself. Instead, PET scans look at bodily process by detecting the decay products from radioactive tracers injected into the body. Radioactive tracers are designed to mimic naturally occurring substances and tend to deliver less radiation than an X-Ray. When the radioactive tracers decay inside the body, they release a positron, the antimatter equivalent…

(August 2003) The mucous membranes are one of the largest organs of the body (Figure 1). Collectively, they cover a surface area of more than 400m2 (equivalent to one and a half tennis courts) and comprise the linings of the gastrointestinal, urogenital and respiratory tracts [15,18]. Figure 1: Schematic diagram of the mucous membranes of the body and surfaces with which they are in contact. These mucosal surfaces, while located inside the body, are actually a physical barrier between the outside and the sterile interior cavity of the body known as the “systemic” environment. Critical nutrients, oxygen and other molecules…

(August 2003) Cancer: A Familiar Name, but What Does it Mean? Cancer refers to the hyperproliferation of cells that have lost the ability to be controlled by normal cell signals. Cancer cells have the ability to proliferate independent of their environment and are capable of metastasizing, or colonizing other tissues in the body. There are three basic characteristics of early cancer cells. The first is that they have lost the ability to undergo apoptosis, or programmed cell death. Cells that have suffered irreparable DNA damage activate specific proteases and nucleases that destroy the proteins and DNA of the cell, thereby…

(August 2005) The Human Y chromosome The Y chromosome is the shortest chromosome in humans, and most of the Y chromosome is believed to be made of junk DNA. In the 1960s, Ohno proposed that the human Y chromosome is a profoundly degenerated X chromosome with very few genes on it encoding male-specific features1 and some began to speculate that the continued degradation of the Y chromosome might result in the extinction of the human male. In order to address this question, it is helpful to know the origin of the Y chromosome. Surprisingly, the most primitive Y chromosome found…

(August 2004) Modern medicine has done little towards finding a cure for the common cold. An extensive search for the cause of the common cold led to the discovery of over one hundred different Rhinoviruses. Researchers also found that Rhinoviruses are only responsible for half of all colds, with adenoviruses and several others causing the remaining half. In total, hundreds of different viruses cause symptoms known as the common cold. Due to the vast number of viruses responsible, vaccination is not a reasonable way to prevent or eradicate the common cold. How colds have been treated in the past Colds…

(August 2003) As the population expands there has been increasing concern over whether current rates of food productions can support the growing population. In response to the increasing demand, scientists and farmers have been working hard to come up with new ideas to meet these needs. These ideas range from simple procedures including selection of the best seeds to more complex procedures requiring the transplantation of genes into different plant species. This article focuses on one of the important aspects of plant science which is the growth of plant cells in an artificial media. This process is known as plant…

(August 2004) Scientific interest in medicinal plants has burgeoned due to increased efficiency of new plant-derived drugs, growing interest in natural products and rising concerns about the side effects of conventional medicine. Based on current research and financial investments into medical plants, it seems that they will continue to play important roles in human health. This article reviews the current state of medical plant utilization, concerns over safety and perspective on the future development of medical plant markets. Background The use of various herbal remedies and preparations are described throughout human history representing the origin of modern medicine. Many conventional…

(August 2003) “Biodiversity, the planet’s most valuable resource, is on loan to us from our children.” – Edward O. Wilson As a recent addition to the English language, with roots in both ecology and evolution, the definition of the word ‘biodiversity’ is still evolving. Zoologists and botanists typically consider biodiversity to refer to the variation and frequency of organisms within a given area, whereas evolutionary biologists may prefer to include in this definition the genes that contribute to the variation within a species as well. In either case, biodiversity can generally be defined as the total composition of evolutionary units…

(August 2003) When opportunity strikes you may just find Cryptococcus neoformans making the most of it. Cryptococcus neoformans is pathogen. Cryptococcus neoformans is also an opportunist. Over the past 10 years, infections of this pathogen have been on the rise, mostly striking individuals with compromised immune systems [1]. As an emergent disease it has taken advantage of the recent rise in the rates of immune-suppressing diseases, such as AIDS, as well as the use of drugs that suppress the immune system [1]. This interesting organism is increasingly being placed under a microscope to uncover how it is taking advantage of…