Sarah Reyner 

 November 18. 2013

BSC 110L

Section 1

Charles Champagne

Avances in the !or o" #eicine $sing %enetics

&he article p'blishe on Science (aily)s *ebsite+ ,%enes $ni-'ely /presse by Brains

mm'ne Cells anno'nces a signi"icant iscovery in the "iel o" genetics. &hese avancements

*ere mae by researchers at #assach'setts %eneral ospital in the p'rs'it o" a better

'nerstaning o" several ne'roegenerative isorers.

&his investigation irectly relates to the genetic section aresse in this biology 110 lab.

&he 4no*lege that gaine in genetic section enable me to comprehen the science behin the

researcher)s "inings. n t'rn+ the ability to ecipher the st'y)s concl'sion enables me the

ability to provie the "ollo*ing e/planation o" s'ch iscoveries as *o'l to a separate party.

&he core o" the research con'cte *as centere aro'n an imm'ne cell "o'n in the

 brain calle a microglia. &hese cells are consiere macrophages an have the role o" s'rveying

s'rro'ning tiss'es "or pathogens+ to/ins+ an in5're or ecease cells. 6nce etecte+ they

 phagocyti7e or eng'l" the targete s'bstance or secrete a to/ic s'bstance onto it that *ill estroy

it. &his ne'roto/ic tenency is *hat researchers are concerne *ith beca'se microglia can also

respon the same to*ars healthy tiss'e. &hey aim ienti"y a *ay to control this response

 beca'se e/cess o" this phagocytic or ne'roto/ic response leas to several evastating

ne'roegenerative isorers.

 

&he investigation o" microglia behavior involve st'ying the genotype o" the cell an

ienti"ying the se-'ence o" genes responsible "or etecting their environment+ an ability calle a

sensome. $sing brain cells "rom mice+ the researchers "irst ienti"ie the gene that e/presse

this sensome behavior. &hey ne/t compare the sensome gene o" a yo'ng mo'se to that o" an

oler mo'se. &heir res'lts concl'e *ith the oler mo'se isplaying a lo*er potential "or

ne'roto/ic behavior an a higher e/pression o" the etection o" pathogens.

&he investigation o" the microglia sensome establishe the iea that microglia in a

healthy brain are less li4ely to be ne'roto/ic *ith age. &his isting'ishes microglia in the brains

e""ecte by ne'roegenerative isorers *ith high levels o" ne'roto/icity. &he ienti"ication o"

this genome an ho* it behaves enables "'t're st'ies to narro* in on this speci"ic gene

se-'ence in isease microglia. Researchers in this st' hope that by comparing the t*o

genotypes+ they can evelop *ays to o*n reg'late or 'p reg'late the e/pression o" the sensome

gene in isease microglia.

&his article attracte my attention primarily beca'se can eeply relate it to my o*n li"e.

$n"ort'nately the ne'roegenerative isorer+ Al7heimer)s isease+ is prevalent in my genetic

escent. Recently my %ran"ather *as iagnose *ith Al7heimer)s isease a"ter sho*ing signs

o" ementia an memory loss. ver since his iagnosis+ he has progressively *orsene at a rapi

rate. !hat starte *ith slight short term memory loss+ s'ch as "orgetting *hat he ha "or

 brea4"ast+ gre* to be consierably signi"icant. e lost his sense o" irection+ "orgetting *here he

*as going or ho* to get bac4. Conse-'ently+ he *as no longer permitte to rive a vehicle.

S'ch impairments event'ally le my "amily to ma4e the i""ic'lt ecision to have him care "or

 pro"essionally. &his transition "rom "amily care initiate *hen *as isoriente a"ter *onering

o't o" the ho'se at night.

 

As yo' can imagine+ the pain that this isorer has ca'se my %ran"ather as *ell as my

"amily is immense. Saly+ this isorer targets many other "amilies along *ith mine. &he

isheartening "act that sets Al7heimer)s apart "rom many other iseases is the little hope there is

"or recovery. 6nce it has been iagnose+ the progression o" symptoms is most al*ays

irreversible. &he amo'nt o" research being con'cte on both the ca'se an treatment "or the

isease is immense+ yet+ little avancements have been mae. &his is *hat ma4es this article

signi"icant to both mysel" an the many "amilies s'""ering "rom its impairments. &he

 brea4thro'ghs mae by the researchers o" #assach'setts %eneral ospital provies 's *ith a

sense o" hope. &he iscovery o" this missing lin4 mar4s a step "or*ar on the p'rs'it o" a c're

to Al7heimer)s isease.

!hat type o" so'rces

&his article *as p'blishe by Science (aily on November 19+ 2013. &he "inings

isc'sse in this article can be tr'ste to be acc'rate base on the so'rces the a'thor ac-'ire the

in"ormation "rom. &hese so'rces incl'e the researchers at #assach'setts %eneral ospital an

the preceing 5o'rnal articles p'blishe in Nat're Ne'roscience regaring their "inings. Several

irect -'otes "rom the researchers themselves *ere 'se thro'gho't the article to e/plain the

science behin their e""orts+ *hich in t'rn+ provie evience o" the ata)s valiity. &he science

 5o'rnal that the a'thor also erive in"ormation "rom is Nat're Ne'roscience. &his accreite

scienti"ic *or4 can also provie the ass'rance o" the acc'racy o" the ata presente by the

a'thor.

Altho'gh the article provie a'thentic ata "rom the st'y+ "elt that the concl'sion *as

not "'lly e/plaine. &he article states that ,recent st'ies have ienti"ie t*o o" the microglial

sensome genes as contrib'ting to Al7heimer)s ris4+ b't oes not speci"y their role an ho* they

 

contraict to reg'lar gene se-'ences. Aitionally+ m'ch o" the presente st'y is vag'ely

escribe. &he reaer is provie *ith minimal aspects o" the e/periments 'sing many

'ne"ine scienti"ic vocab'lary an the general concl'sions ra*n base on the res'lts. &his

mae it i""ic'lt to ecipher the message an overall concl'sion o" the st'y escribe in the

article.