CRISPR Cas9 and it's potential commercial use

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CRISPR Cas9 is a breakthrough in the world of genetics and many other fields as well, it is faster and cheaper than all other genetic editing tools. CRISPR acts as a cut and paste tool, allowing you to take out unwanted DNA and replace it with new ones. This works by using the Cas9 component of the chemical that is an enzyme that lets us remove or insert certain parts of the gene.Then, a certain type of called guide RNA (gRNA). This consists of a small pieces of a pre-designed RNA sequence found in a longer RNA "scaffold". The "scaffold" part binds to DNA and the pre-designed sequence guides Cas9 to the right part of the genome. This makes sure that the Cas9 enzyme cuts at the right part in the sequence of genetic information. This breakthrough has the potential to change pets foods, and even our babies. The morality is up for debate on whether this is acceptable. However this is a breakthrough and will change many things in genetic nevertheless.

Vegan Diet and Food as Medicine

Dietary Benefits A Vegan Diet and Healing of The Body

The China Study, written by T. Colin Campbell in 2005, is a report of his observations of the Chinese lifestyle, finding that the the population following a vegan diet had a much higher life expectancy. This case supports the fact that longer, higher quality of life is expected with a diet that avoids all animal based products, but it also connects with the body and its ability to function more efficiently and to outlive the norms of an average animal product consumer. This myth of animal products, such as eggs, meat, and even milk, are helping with growth and strengthening the body has been surfacing the world for ages, but those products have actually been proven to be a health hazard and to worsen it by causing issues such as cancer, heart attacks and disease, along with many others. There are many ways of treatment of disease, one of them is believed to be with food, which is a natural source of it's needed vitamins and nutrients that can be easily attained through a vegan diet. Today, heart disease is the number one health issue in the United States. The vegan diet does not only reduce your risk of health issues, but boosts energy, and reduces the amount of unhealthy fats that enter your body, helping with with obesity which is also a major health concern nowadays. Also, many hesitate to switching to a vegan lifestyle because of the the misconception that it is a strictly raw and tasteless diet, when it in no means has to be.

ThingLink Questions- https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XI1W4MPX7D2YdF90Q0KY8_Nq3OxXcXI6j9OukbHIy_E/edit

Mitochondrial Disease

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Mitochondrial Disease is a chronic illness in which the mitochondria, the organelle in cells responsible for creating energy (ATP), does not work properly. When the mitochondria do not work properly, many of the body's organs that need a lot of energy to function, such as the heart, brain, muscles and lungs, do not work well because they do not have as much energy as they need. The symptoms of mitochondrial disease are wide ranging and vary from person to person, which is why it can be so hard to diagnose and is frequently inaccurately diagnosed. In the worst cases, people can suffer from strokes, heart and kidney problems, blindness, deafness, liver disease, muscle failure, and even death. About 1 in every 4,000 kids that are born in the U.S. will develop a version of this disease by the time they are 10 years old. Mitochondrial disease is not contagious. It is a genetic disorder, which can come about because of a random mutation in the mitochondrial DNA or it can be genetically passed a mother to her child. Though mitochondrial disease most commonly appears during adolescence, it can also appear in later life. So far, mitochondrial disease has no cure. There are only treatments like "mito cocktails", which only provide temporary relief for some of the symptoms. However, these treatment do not address to the root of the problem, the mitochondria's inability to creating the necessary energy for the body. People should care about mitochondrial disease because a cure could save the lives of thousands of struggling kids and adults each year who never get the chance to live a normal life. There is not much controversy over the disease and why and how it occurs, but doctors and professionals do debate about different treatments and how effective they are. There are also some debates on mitochondrial diseases relationship to cancer. Specifics on both of these are not given.

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Mitral valve replacement is necessary when a person's heart valves are no longer able to function properly. The most common way of performing a valve replacement is through open heart surgery. The two types of valves that can be used are mechanical valves and biological valves, both have pros and cons.  Valve replacement is most commonly used when the patient is not eligible for a heart transplant and a valve replacement can extend there lifespan. The setbacks of valve replacement include; risks of surgery, need to take blood thinner, replacement in 5-10 years, and constant need to acknowledge that your heart can stop functioning properly. The need for valve replacement can be used by genetics, dietary habits, and heart diseases. A new form of valve replacement called TAVR has been created. This form repairs the valves through the use of a catheter rather than open heart surgery. Other forms of valve replacement include robot-assisted surgery and replacement or repair from smaller incisions.

What stem cells are and how they can help and Effect your body. -Maddy Potter

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Stem cells are found in the bone marrow of adults and in the umbilical cord of children. Stem cells replace damaged cells with new repaired cells to keep the body healthy. Stem cells can be specialized to any function in the body when you are a child which are the embryonic stem cells, and once you are an adult stem cells are less likely to be able to specialize in any function, but more likely any function in one area of the body. Research is being conducted with mice after they receive radiation therapy stem cells are implanted into them, and the results have shown that the stem cells have increased cognitive functions.  

Questions to the Thinglink

Sleep Deprivation-Is it Really that Serious?

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Sleep deprivation is caused when the body does not get enough sleep during the night. Each night, children and teenagers need about 10 hours of sleep and adults need anywhere from 7-9 hours. However, their are several obstacles that are preventing individuals (students in particular) from getting enough sleep such as new technologies (phones, computers, and television), early school starting times, and too much work. Once individuals become sleep deprived, they often stay sleep deprived. This is because the body's systems are on a "biologic clock" and when individuals do not sleep, the entire body begins a habit to follow the new schedule--causing the body to sustain its poor sleeping habit. Most individuals are unaware of the deadly consequences that sleep deprivation can bring to them. The effects and consequences of sleep deprivation include hallucinations, mood swings, lack of memory, poor response time, changes to the immune system, increased chances of stroke, and in extreme scenarios--death. But why does sleep deprivation have such extreme consequences? During the day, the body builds up extra waste such as adenosine. Adenosine is stored in the brain. When adenosine builds up, it encourages the body to sleep. While sleeping, the body's glympharic system, the system that clears out the extra adenosine from the brain, is much more active. Also, while sleeping, the body repairs DNA. Their are several solutions to sleep deprivation such as moving the starting time of school later, not using technologies before going to bed, spending plenty of time in sun each day, etc. Sleep deprivation is an extremely dangerous public health epidemic that must be paid more attention to.

Obesity and Genetics

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There is much controversy over whether obesity is a genetic disease. Many people think that genetics is just an excuse for obese people to be lazy. But the evidence suggests that the idea of all obese people being lazy is not well founded (though it does a have a little merritt). People can't come to an agreement on how many genes affect obesity - mostly because we haven't discovered them all - but we do know that there are at least 5. These differences are usually caused by genetic switches, or the differing of one pair of genes to another. The side effects of these genetic switches include, but are not limited to, the inability of your body to regulate how much fat its body has and the dictation of someone's work ethic. The later symptom I listed points to a major environmental variable in someone's obesity, and indeed these variable exists. In fact, it is almost a larger contributing factor to the dictation of obesity than genes are.  A gene might stop your body from burning off fat, but if you don't gain the fat from eating too much in the first place there will never be a problem. This brings up a major question. Do obese people have the power to get the better of their genes by leading a healthy lifestyle? The answer seems to be yes and no. It is possible, but at the same time much harder for an obese person to lose weight and then maintain the loss. In conclusion, obesity is a disease dictated by both genes and environment.

Autism: The ongoing study

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Autism is a neurodevelopment disorder that usually restricts someone's ability to communicate and interact in social situations along with causing repetitive behavior.  Autism is a spectrum disorder meaning it can manifest in patients in different ways and severities.  Low severity cases only show some awkwardness and dislike of social situations while patients with severe autism can not have the ability to communicate and some might need 24 hour assistance.  Usually diagnosed in children, autism is a life-long disease that currently has no cure but instead medications and interventions that can make the anxiety and other symptoms that usually follow autism more managable.  Though it is one of the most common neurodevelpmental diseases in the US, the root cause of autism is still unknown due to the complexity of the disease.