Abbie+M.

__Multiple Sclerosis Breaktrough__
Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a motor neurone disease, it affects more than 2.3 million people globally. The disease turns the body's immune system against itself. Specifically, it attacks myelin which surrounds and protects nerve fibres; this results in damage produced by immune T cell which inhibits transmission of nerve impulses. If the damage to myelin is slight, nerve impulses will travel with minor disruption; although, if the damage is extensive and if scar tissue replaces the myelin, nerve impulses will be disrupted and nerve fibres will become damaged. This results in symptoms such as fatigue, weakness in limbs, vision problems, slurred speech, chronic pain, issues with memory, depression, numbness and tingling in limbs. =__Treatments__= Currently, there's no cure for MS. Treatments tend to focus on slowing the progression of the disease and managing symptoms of MS, some people's symptoms are so mild that they don't need treatment. Disease-modifying therapy, is medication that targets certain aspects of the inflammatory process to slow progression and reduce relapse. No disease-modifying therapy has been approved to treat primary progressive MS. Researchers are currently trying to find ways to stop and reverse MS.

=__Of Mice and Men__= There's a potential cure for MS with cell transplantation therapy and injecting induced pluripotent stem cells. In this situation, they introduced MS-like symptoms to mice by inducing a viral infection of the central nervous system, specially engineered human neural cells were injected into the spinal cords of these mice. Prior to gaining the neural cells, the mice were unable to eat or drink on their own and couldn't stand for very long. The human neural stem cells transmit chemical signals that instruct the mouse's cells to repair any damage caused by MS. Experiments by Dr. Tom Lane and his team suggest that TGF-beta proteins compromise a certain type of signal. Prior to the transplant, Dr. Lane did not expect the transplant to give an advantage to the mice. They actually believed that the mice would reject the cells, similar to the manner that a patient's body may reject a donated organ. But within less than two weeks of the transplantation, the mice had recovered their motor skills. After six months, the mice showed no signs of regression. The improvements showed a partial reversal of symptoms; immune attacks were blunted and the myelin was repaired. Prior to transplantation, the researchers grew the stem cells so that they were less crowded on the Petri dish than normal, this resulted in extremely potent stem cells. Since the stem cells caused a chemical response, it's possible that the procedure could be incorporated into a drug form. The researchers must test the durability and safety of the stem cell therapy in mice before starting clinical trials. Their ultimate goal is for this treatment to be accessible and safe for those with MS.



media type="youtube" key="Naecv3h868c" width="560" height="315"

__Works Cited__
[|MS Society] [|io9] [|Multiple Sclerosis News Today]

__Further Readings__
[|UChicago News] [|Health Line] [|Science Direct] [|MS Society] [|News-Medical]

//Wikipost #2// =__Human Evolution__= If you ask someone "Where do humans come from?" they're more than likely to say that we evolved from chimpanzees or apes. Despite the fact the we share 99% of our DNA with chimpanzees, this common statement about evolution is actually false. Humans didn't evolve from these animals but we do share a common ancestor with them. If humans didn't evolve form apes then what did we evolve from?

**__How Does Evolution Work?__**
The DNA that makes up the genes of every organism is subject to random mutations. These mutation can effect traits such as eye colour, or a certain behaviour. This type of selection happens naturally due to the organism's environment and the mutation is often beneficial to said animal. For instance, what we now know as the Polar Bear was originally just a brown bear. A random mutation occurred that changed it's fur from brown to white, the white fur allowed the bear to blend in with the arctic environment. Thus allowing the bear to hunt for prey without standing out. The gene for white fur was passed on as it benefited the animal and the gene for brown fur became extinct in the species. Organism evolve certain traits that will increase the survival of said organism.

**__Milestones in Human Evolution__**
The human linage separate from that of apes is happened roughly 7-13 million years ago. The earliest members of our lineage who could walk upright were australopithecines. In the 1970s, scientest found the remains of Lucy in Africa. Lucy is an adult who skeleton measures at 3.5 feet tall and she belongs to an early ancestor of humans known as //Australopithecus afarensis.// Her remains are roughly dated from 4.1 million years ago. The oldest known fossil that's associated with the //Homo// genus dates to 2.8 million years ago. One of the defining traits in humans is bipedalism, the ability to walk on two legs, has only been evolved over 4 million years ago. Certain traits such as art, complex symbolical expression, and elaborate cultural diversity have only been around for the past 100 000 years. The beginning of agriculture and the rise of civilization has occurred in the past 12 000 years. Humans are characterized and know for their ability to use and make tools. The oldest stone tools are said to be 3.3 million years old. This means that australopithecines made them or that an earlier and unknown type of //Homo// made them. There's fossil and genetic evidence that shows that human evolution began in Africa. Roughly 60 000 years ago, modern humans left Africa and began to colonize the rest of the world. There's genetic evidence that proposes that they bred, to some extent, with Neanderthals and Denisovans. //Homo sapiens// are currently the only species of humans on Earth, but they've only been around for the past 30 000 years. Many of us are aware that humans didn't evolve from apes, this means that there's no missing link between the two species. The question that many scientist are asking is what was the last common ancestor of the two different species.

media type="youtube" key="K4S2qJboi4I" width="560" height="315"

__**Works Cited**__
[|National Geographic] [|National Geographic (2)] [|Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History] [|Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History (2)]

__**Further Readings**__
[|National Geographic] [|National Geographic (2)] [|Discover Magazine] [|Science Recorder] [|Daily News] [|Science World Report]

//Wikipost #1//

__The Extinction of Evolution__
Every living organism depends on evolution in order to survive, without it we wouldn't be here today. In recent years, scientists have been working on editing the genomes of humans. While we all have certain traits that we're insecure about, cosmetic surgery can fix some flaws, so why go as far as changing the human gene code? By modifying the genes of human embryos, scientist could create what is essentially a 'perfect' human. They can eliminate any potential disease or life threatening conditions that the person might have later on in their life had their genes been left alone. With gene editing scientists can also give a person specific height, eye colour, hair colour, physical strength, stronger immune system, you name it and it can be modified into the gene code.

__Why Genetic Engineering?__
This concept might seem rather intimidating, but it will benefit the human population largely. If every human embryo is genetically modified so that they would never get any kind of disease, this would eliminate any and all diseases that effect humans. That could potentially mean that there would be no need for vaccinations as everyone would be immune to the viruses. We could increase human life span, better our health, and be born potential geniuses. We would have a new type of humans who are biologically perfect.



__How?__
In April of 2015, researchers at the Sun Yat-sen University in China successfully edited the genomes of human embryos. The researchers had produced embryos to modify the gene accountable for thalassaemia (a fatal blood disorder). In order to do so they used a technique known as CRISPR/Cas9. This technique uses a bacterially obtain protein that cuts out a certain gene, it's then replaced or repaired by a different molecule. The teams used this technique on 86 embryos and waited two days in order for the gene editing to take place. 71 embryos survived, but only 54 were genetically tested; this means that 28 spliced successfully. Many scientist believe that this experiment shouldn't be continued until there's an international consensus on wether it's a safe and ethical practice.



media type="youtube" key="mAmHoCbhyaw" width="560" height="315"

__Further Readings__
[|The Guardian]

[|Genetic Literacy Project]

[|Sernedip Studio]

[|Discover Magazine]

[|Discover Magazine (2)]

__Works Cited__
[|Telegraph]

[|Discover Magazine]

[|Live Science]

[|Cyprus Mail]

[|New Internationalist]

[|New England Bio Lab]