<![CDATA[Class Oracle Media - Biology]]>Fri, 31 May 2024 12:50:06 -0400Weebly<![CDATA[A New Way to Halt Excessive Inflamation]]>Mon, 05 Jul 2021 22:41:18 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/a-new-way-to-halt-excessive-inflamationSummary: The protein Arginase-2 works through mitochondria to reduce inflammation. The findings could lead to new treatments for diseases associated with neuroinflammation, including multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis.
Source: RCSI
RCSI researchers have discovered a new way to ‘put the brakes’ on excessive inflammation by regulating a type of white blood cell that is critical for our immune system.
The discovery has the potential to protect the body from unchecked damage caused by inflammatory diseases.
The paper, led by researchers at RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences, is published in Nature Communications.
When immune cells (white blood cells) in our body called macrophages are exposed to potent infectious agents, powerful inflammatory proteins known as cytokines are produced to fight the invading infection. However, if these cytokine levels get out of control, significant tissue damage can occur.
The researchers have found that a protein called Arginase-2 works through the energy source of macrophage cells, known as mitochondria, to limit inflammation. Specifically they have shown for the first time that Arginase-2 is critical for decreasing a potent inflammatory cytokine called IL-1.

This discovery could allow researchers to develop new treatments that target the Arginase-2 protein and protect the body from unchecked damage caused by inflammatory diseases.



“Excessive inflammation is a prominent feature of many diseases such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis and inflammatory bowel diseases. Through our discovery, we may be able to develop novel therapeutics for the treatment of inflammatory disease and ultimately improve the quality of life for people with these conditions,” commented senior author on the paper Dr Claire McCoy, Senior Lecturer in Immunology at RCSI.
The study was led by researchers at the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, RCSI (Dr Claire McCoy, Dr Jennifer Dowling and Ms Remsha Afzal) in collaboration with a network of international researchers from Australia, Germany, and Switzerland.
Funding: The research was funded by Science Foundation Ireland, with initial stages of the research originating from a grant from the National Health Medical Research Council, Australia.

From Neurosciencenews.com 3/5/2021

]]><![CDATA[20 of the Fluffiest Cat Breeds]]>Sat, 03 Jul 2021 19:16:14 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/20-of-the-fluffiest-cat-breeds
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]]><![CDATA[Why do Dogs Tilt Their Heads?]]>Sat, 03 Jul 2021 19:05:16 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/why-do-dogs-tilt-their-heads
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]]><![CDATA[Insectopedia]]>Sat, 09 Jan 2021 15:53:00 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/insectopedia
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A stunningly original exploration of the ties that bind us to the beautiful, ancient, astoundingly accomplished, largely unknown, and unfathomably different species with whom we share the world.

For as long as humans have existed, insects have been our constant companions. Yet we hardly know them, not even the ones we’re closest to: those that eat our food, share our beds, and live in our homes. Organizing his book alphabetically, Hugh Raffles weaves together brief vignettes, meditations, and extended essays, taking the reader on a mesmerizing exploration of history and science, anthropology and travel, economics, philosophy, and popular culture. Insectopedia shows us how insects have triggered our obsessions, stirred our passions, and beguiled our imaginations.
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]]><![CDATA[The Snails of Ireland and Spain]]>Sun, 03 Jan 2021 02:04:23 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/the-snails-of-ireland-and-spain
"It's consistent with the idea that almost everything we have in Ireland, that can't swim or fly, was brought here on a boat."
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]]><![CDATA[First Peoples were European and Asian Mix]]>Sun, 20 Dec 2020 16:34:03 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/first-peoples-were-european-and-asian-mix
The first people to arrive in the Americas have long been assumed to have descended from Siberian populations related to East Asians. It now seems that they may be a mixture between the Western Europeans who had reached Siberia and an East Asian population…” ​
]]><![CDATA[Our Still Surprising Family Tree]]>Wed, 16 Dec 2020 16:16:58 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/our-still-surprising-family-tree
]]><![CDATA[Restless Creatures: The Story of Life in Ten Movements]]>Mon, 14 Dec 2020 16:33:56 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/restless-creatures-the-story-of-life-in-ten-movements
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From flying pterodactyls to walking primates, the story of life as told through the evolution of locomotion.
       Most of us never think about how we get from one place to another. For most people, putting one foot in front of the other requires no thought at all. Yet the fact that we and other species are able to do so is one of the great triumphs of evolution. To truly understand how life evolved on Earth, it is crucial to understand movement. Restless Creatures makes the bold new argument that the true story of evolution is the story of locomotion, from the first stirrings of bacteria to the amazing feats of Olympic athletes.

       By retracing the four-billion-year history of locomotion, evolutionary biologist Matt Wilkinson shows how the physical challenges of moving from place to place-when coupled with the implacable logic of natural selection-offer a uniquely powerful means of illuminating the living world. Whales and dolphins look like fish because they have been molded by the constraints of underwater locomotion. The unbending physical needs of flight have brought bats, birds, and pterodactyls to strikingly similar anatomies. Movement explains why we have opposable thumbs, why moving can make us feel good, how fish fins became limbs, and even why-classic fiction notwithstanding-there are no flying monkeys nor animals with wheels. Even plants aren't immune from locomotion's long reach: their seeds, pollen, and very form are all determined by their aptitude to disperse.
       
     From sprinting cheetah to spinning maple fruit, soaring albatross to burrowing worm, crawling amoeba to running human-all are the way they are because of how they move. There is a famous saying: "nothing in biology makes sense unless in the light of evolution." As Wilkinson makes clear: little makes sense unless in the light of locomotion. A powerful yet accessible work of evolutionary biology, Restless Creatures is the essential guide for understanding how life on Earth was shaped by the simple need to move from point A to point B.
]]><![CDATA[Uncovering How Viruses Evade Cell Defenses]]>Fri, 06 Nov 2020 17:24:12 GMThttps://www.classoraclemedia.com/biology/uncovering-how-viruses-evade-cell-defenses
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