The hard - headed brain

I believe we can all agree that the brain is the most crucial of all body organs. Some may argue this to be the heart as a person may be brain dead whiles the heart beats on. Technically, it is not the case as that phenomenon is short - lived and not possible without brain stem function.

Before I loose you on the brain-heart relationship, it is not my intention for this post.

As it's brain awareness week (the global campaign to increase public awareness of the progress and benefits of brain research) , I'm here to tell you about the ongoing challenges we face where treatment of diseases of the central nervous system (CNS) is concerned.

If you can tap into your biology knowledge from school, remember that the CNS consists of the brain and the spinal cord and it basically runs the coordination errands from the brain to the other body parts. Now if you had so much responsibility as that of the brain where everyone relies on you for everything, you can't help but to set rules and create boundaries as you cannot please all the people all the time.

Blood brain barrier describes the mechanism by which the brain regulates the movement of substances in and out of its space. The structure is such that it allows nutrients through and stops contaminants from the blood crossing over to the brain. The downside to this is that it also hinders drugs from penetrating the barrier.

Alzheimer, Parkinson, HIV and Multiple Sclerosis (MS) are examples of conditions difficult to treat as it has been impossible to deliver drugs able to fight them to the brain. The decision as to who gets a permit and who does not depends on factors such as make and size. Basically, anything that dissolves in fat (lipid soluble) may cross over but has to be of a certain size (Molecular weight between 400 - 600 Dalton).
I know what you are thinking, So why not just make drugs that are lipid soluble and between 400 - 600 Dalton? Well, it's not that simple.

Most substances such as small molecules or proteins which are a major component of therapeutics do not fit the size and lipid soluble criteria. Over manipulation will lead to a loss of drug efficiency. In cases where other transport mechanism have been used to get some drugs across, the dose is not high enough to have any significant effect.

However all hope is not lost. Think of a scenario where you want access to a restricted area, you simply tag along someone who has clearance. In that same way, there's the potential of deceiving the blood brain barrier into allowing "prohibited" substances through by use of the middle man.

Still the brain is far from gullible and this process has it's own challenges. So in the mean time, the brain remains "hard - headed" and researchers press on.
As the saying goes - Where there's life, there's always hope    

For the love of maths

So today (3/14) if going by the American date format has been set aside to celebrate the mathematical constant Pi. Remember this formula, "Area of a circle = πr^2"?. 
To recap, Pi = 'the the ratio of the circumference of a circle to its diameter which has the same value as the ratio of the circle's area to the square of its radius. 

Why is this relevant? Click here to ask Pi-day 

Here is to wishing all lovers of maths a happy Pi day.

A women's day piece

Women's days is here once again. This year my thoughts have drifted away from women in science to a  more general outlook on women through this short piece. Enjoy!!!


Loving yet ruthless, weak yet strong,  run down but yet you press on.
The typical description of your average woman.
A priceless gem so appealing to all.
Faced with any situation and she is sure to triumph.
Through the darkness she spots the light.
Like the leaves changing with the seasons yet the stump remains deeply rooted in the ground. Such is the gift of a woman.

Making ends meet, keeping the family together, looking out for everyone else without a second thought for herself, toiling on from dawn till dusk when she finally catches a moment for herself. Feet up, head on the pillow and the sunrises once again ready to face another day.

With every sunrise comes a smile, the smile worn for victory. Victory from living to combat another day.
With as many hands as the octopus, no one can multitask as efficient as the woman.
Be it the hawker on the street, the rejected lady with no shelter at night, be it the teenager dropping out of school or the little girl facing abuse, each one has a success story to tell.

She braves the storm, breaks the rules and against all odds live on to fight still wearing that smile of victory.
Fight for our liberation, for our rightful place in society, fight for our voice to be heard.
Today we have taken our seat at the table and with laughter we can shout from the roof tops.
We are here to stay. Women's day is here to stay.

Happy international women's day to all you women out there.

Who is an African expert???

Komla Dumor of BBC hitting the nail on the head with his entertaining TEDxEuston video. Enjoy!!!

Sharing your story to inspire the next generation

The Research Council UK, has recently published a collection of real life experiences from various researchers on their career journey.

This is an excellent source of information, inspiration and motivation for upcoming researchers. Take your pick here.   

Today's Science Break through

Discovery of penicillin, The first murine antibody, Landing on the moon, Dolly the sheep, Launching onto mars, The earth is not flat, Profiling the complete human genome etc etc. Off the top of my head, these are a few key scientific breakthrough's over the years, many before my time and the list could go on. Depending on your age you would either have woken up one morning to one of these stories headlining the news or you may stumble upon the literature at some point through education, career or on a TV quiz show.

        

I was asked an interesting question during a recent interview which inspired this blog. What would you consider the key scientific advancements of today?????
The first thing that came to mind was nanotechnology, then the dog that had been treated of paralysis and then the passing of Venus (this doesn't really count as a breakthrough though as it's more of a natural occurrence). Others that flashed across my thoughts included the growing of sperm cells from skin cells and the ongoing debates on open access journalism.

As my first thought was on nanotechnology, that was my answer. However, on hindsight I would say stem cells or gene therapy. Now if you are of scientific background and you read this post, I believe your answer would be tailored to your field of interest and the advancement in that area, If you are not a scientist however, I am curious to hear from you on what you consider to be a key scientific advancement today.

Why did nanotechnology come to mind? Well, I recently graduated from my MSc (Pharmaceutical Science with management studies) and you know the scenario where as you prepare for exams there is always the inevitable question predicted to be on the paper and so you study the subject inside out? Such was the case with one of my modules (development, manufacturing and regulation of medicines) and the lecture on drug delivery systems was a favorite tipped for the exam paper. The focus on this topic was the use of nano particles as potential drug carrier. This has been and still is at the heart of many pharmaceutics today as nano particles are envisaged to be less toxic, present lesser side effects and can easily adsorb and carry other compounds. Like all new discoveries however, there are potential hazards. Having read, re-read and written about this recent development for months, no surprise then that it influenced my answer.

Stem cells on the other hand I believe are more exciting to explore. It is almost like one of those super hero characters who have the power to impersonate all they come in contact with. One can basically mold stem cells to become what is desired. Obviously the process is a lot more complex. There is a lot of ongoing research exploring Stem cell  therapy and a key area of development has been in the treatment of leukemia using bone marrow transplants. This is where stem cells are harvested from the bone marrow of a healthy donor and injected into the recipient. There are factors to consider such as compatibility and immunogenic reactions but on the whole the procedure has proven to be promising. It is with this therapy that scientist have reported the growth of other body parts from the engineering of a single cell.

Gene therapy is another favorite of mine. Here, genes are used as the tool for the treatment or prevention of disease by either inserting, replacing, deleting or causing a mutation in the original gene. Gene therapy is the most immature of the three and leaves much scope for development.    

Nanotechnology, Stem cell therapy and Gene therapy have made my top three list of what I perceive to be today's scientific breakthrough. Whichever discovery wows you, the quest for a better tomorrow in the fight against disease and treatment of unrelenting conditions continues as scientist persevere in the discovery process. The down side to crude developments is the side effects which come to light over time and the reason why it takes about 10 years on average from the discovery of a new entity to putting drugs on the shelf.  

I am curious to hear from you on what you consider to be a key scientific advancement today.

I'll have that one please??? 5.6', dark hair with dimples

 image from http://www.geneticsandsociety.org/article.php?id=5549

Listen to this interesting debate on "Designer Babies" via GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News)