Biology Newsnotes

General Biology

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The Mining Company Guide-Biology	Alissa Adamson
1&2	Due: 4/13/98
3/26/98	Submitted: 10-Apr-98
Blind No More
Researchers at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and Cornell University reported that a genetic defect is what is responsible for progressive rod-cone degeneration (PRCD) in dogs. PRCD is known to be the cause of blindness in some dogs. PRCD starts to deteriorate the retina and ultimately results in blindness. The human form of this disease would be called retinitis pigmentosa, the leading cause of inherited blindness. Prior

Discover	Karen Reissig
Pages 70-76	Due: April 14, 1998
April 1998	Submitted: 14-Apr-98
A Head Full of Hope
A fast growing brain tumor,called glioblastoma, can become so widely spread that the most skillful surgeon can't remove all of it. A new gene theraphy - GLI 328 - is being offered to its victims. As much of the tumor as possible is removed, then suicide genes are implanted into the remaining cancer cells. The implant is composed of mouse skin cells that carry genetically altered mouse leukemia virus. The virus contains a gene of the herpes simplex virus in which the virus has been crippled to infect and not reproduce. The virus will only infect dividing cells so the brain cells are safe. The infected cells are then vulnerable to an antiviral drug.

The Cincinnati Enquirer	Ronda Jordan
Metro b8	Due: 4-14-98
4-11-98	Submitted: 14-Apr-98
Tow Accident Spills Diesel fuel upriver from Tristate
An estimated 1,000 gallons of diesel fuel was spilled into the Ohio river last Wednesday after a tugboat ran ashore the Coastgaurd reported. They don't consider this a major spill and say that most of the fuel will dissipate into the river. How many times has this happened? One may be ok, but ten could cause a problem. The company is responsible for cleaning it up, but they claim that you can't clean it up before it dissipates. They also claim that this won't have an environmental effect!

Submitted: 5-May-98	Karen Reissig
Comment on a Newsnote
Tow Accident Spills Diesel Fuel Upriver From Tristate
It is quite possible that the 1000 gallons of diesel fuel in and of itself would not be a serious problem once dissipated in the river. Once the diesel fuel mixes with all of the other industrial and consumer waste that ends up in the river, it may create quite a different situation. If everyone viewed the pollution of the river based only on one pollutant, no one would ever find a need for pollution control. It is casual attitudes like the tugboat operator's that have caused the environmental nightmares that face us everyday.

National Wildlife	Karen Reissig
Pages 42-47	Due: May 5, 1998
April / May 1998	Submitted: 5-May-98
Are Our Coastal Waters Turning Deadly?
An outbreak of an organism along the shorelines has caused death to many fish while also presenting a real health risk to humans and other wildlife. The organism,Pfiesteria, is referred to as the cell from hell causing divers in wet suits to have red blistering sores, excessive irritability, memory loss, and vertigo after swimming through a fish kill. Pfiesteria is hard to classify since it has plantlike and animallike ways during its 24 distinct life stages. Pfiesteria, identified a few years ago, may have existed a thousand years ago. It is categorized as harmful algae which does better in pollutant enriched waters.

Scientific American	Ronda Jordan
pgs.36-37	Due: 5-5-98
April 98	Submitted: 5-May-98
Cosmic Antimatter
English physicist P.A.M. Dirac claims that for every particle of ordinary matter there is an antiparticle with the same mass but an opposite charge. This theory was proved by Carl D. Anderson, a physicist at the California institute of technology. Scientisits continue looking for anti stars and anti galaxies that are a result from the "big bang".

Submitted: 5-May-98	Ronda Jordan
Comment on a Newsnote
Are Our Coastal Waters Turning Deadly?
If this has existed for thousands of years, why haven't we heard about it before? Could this cause death in people or just the red spots? If this has existed for thousands of years, maybe it has mutated from pollutants and other environmental factors, causing it to start reacting with fish and people. Should we be concerned about this as vacationers and swimmers? Is there a cure? I think we should have heard more about this in the media, but I guess they don't want us to get scared.

Submitted: 5-May-98	Ronda Jordan
Comment on a Newsnote
Tow Accident Spills Diesel Feul Upriver from Tristate
I didn't think about the combination of the feul and other pollutants in the river. People wonder why there are dead cows and other animal carcasses in the river and why these things don't survive. We need to knock sense into these people and make them realize that it's the fault of the pollutants that they say won't hurt anything after it dissipates. Maybe for each gallon they spill, they could pay a thousand dollars for the cleanup.

DISCOVER	DANIEL GORDON
VOL 19	Due: 5/5/98
MARCH 1998	Submitted: 12-May-98
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Submitted: 14-May-98	DANIEL GORDON
Comment on a Newsnote
TOW SPILL
I THINK 1,000 TONS OF DIESEL FUEL IS IMPORTANT AND WILL CAUSE DAMAGE TO WATER LIFE IN THE OHIO RIVER. I ALSO THINK THE COMPANY CAN START THE CLEAN UP AS SOON AS IT HAPPENS BECAUSE THIS WILL STOP IT FROM SPREADING AND WILL HELP SAVE SOME SPECIES.

The Cincinnati Enquirer	Ronda Jordan
A26	Due: 5-26-98
5-21-98	Submitted: 26-May-98
New Drug Helps Stop Clots in Heart Patients
A new drug improves chances of survival for patients who have suffered a mild heart attack or severe chest pains. Aggrastat prevents platelets from clumping together to form clots that can cause heart attacks. Studies show that there is a thirty-nine percent reduction in deaths when Aggrestat combined with aspirin was given as a treatment compared to Heparin and aspirin. Together Aggrestat and Heparin could probably reduce risk of death by clotting to a very small chance.

National Wildlife	Karen Reissig
Pages 18 - 19	Due: May 26, 1998
June/July	Submitted: 26-May-98
When It Became a New Species,a Tiny Songbird Was Thrust into the Limelight
The Biscknell thrush, first observed in 1881, was thought to be a subspecies of the gray cheeked thrush until DNA testing indicated that the two species diverged one million years ago.In 1995 distinct species status was granted and attention was given to preserving the species. Research is quite difficult as the thrush is rare and prefers to nest in thick remote forests. One thing that is known is that the bird is very sensitive to disturbances. Its summer breeding grounds are in the Appalacian Mountains in New England which are being invaded by towers and ski trails. It winters in the Carribbean where only 18% of the forests are still standing.

National Geographic	Alissa Adamson
192	Due: May 26, 1998
Nov. 1997	Submitted: 27-May-98
Living Rototillers Aid Old Oaks
Oak and pine forests once covered half of Scotland, but after centuriesof exploitation only 1 % of the forests remain. There are still a few one hundred year old oaks left in the Rahoy Wildlife Reserve. But the acorns can't take root because bracken fern chokes the ground. To solve this problem three rare Tamworth sows were turned loose last march to root for insects amoung the oaks. The pigs are expected to eat large quantities of the vexing bracken and to aerate and fertilize the soil. The Tamsworth were given this job because they closely resemble the extinct English forest pig, once known as a champion digger.

Submitted: 28-May-98	Ronda Jordan
Comment on a Newsnote
When it Becomes a New Species, a Tiny Songbird was Thrust into the Limelight
How in the world did they discover something like this that happened one million years ago? Why were they doing DNA testing on this bird? How endangered is it? Now that we know about it is it too late? What do you the possibilities are that they have another relative out there? This goes to show that there are animals out there that people haven't even begun to discover.

Submitted: 28-May-98	Ronda Jordan
Comment on a Newsnote
Living Rototillers Aid Old Oaks
It is very hard to imagine that so much forest was cut down. Why were all these trees destroyed? The pigs you talked about sound really neat and useful. I hope that they save what is left of these trees. This kind of thing should have never have happened. There is no reason why that much forest should have been cut down.