Inhibiting Complement System to Aid in Genetic Engineering

While taking a deeper look into the complement (C) system, I came across this paper that focused on how the inhibition of the C system may play a role in improving the efficacy of viral genetic engineering vectors. Specifically for this paper, researchers had noticed that the use of baculovirus as a vector for gene transfer in liver cells worked in vitro but had drastically reduced gene transfer in the presence of human blood serum. They hypothesized that the baculovirus was triggering the C system components that remained in the serum which then caused this drop in efficacy.

By making use of a monoclonal antibody that inhibits a late-stage component of the C system, researchers were able to observe increased survival of baculovirus vectors in human serum. Researchers were also able to protect baculovirus vectors in serum and whole blood samples by using Cobra Venom Factor (CVF)  which mimics a component in the C cascade and results in depletion of the pathway, therefore inhibiting any cascade activation from the baculovirus.

While this paper focuses on increasing the efficacy of a single gene transfer vector, it can also be used to open up questions about the efficiency and biocompatibility of many other vectors as well.


Hofmann, C., Strauss, M. Baculovirus-mediated gene transfer in the presence of
human serum or blood facilitated by inhibition of the complement system.
Gene Ther 5, 531–536 (1998). https://doi.org/10.1038/sj.gt.3300607

At the Strike of Midnight

Parrotfish are vital characters in the coral reef ecosystem. As they munch on the macroalgae and sponges that, if left unchecked can smother reef-building corals, Parrotfish take on the role of gardeners pruning back growth and keeping it in a healthy range. The health and behavior of the near hundreds of different species of parrotfish found on the reef, can be used as a gauge for how the rest of the system may be fairing.

While helping a conservation group in the Dominican Republic, my group was learning how to ID the different species and life-cycles of parrotfish to record the populations most commonly found on the reef. Our instructor insisted that before we can learn to ID the parrotfish in the sea, we must ID the parrotfish within ourselves. Given my intensely blue hair at that time, I was likened to a midnight parrotfish, but (as you will see from this paper) I hope this was a comparison of only appearance and not temperament.

Midnight Parrotfish Scarus coelestinus

A very short paper from the Burkpile lab here at UCSB, studied the behavior of groups of juvenile Midnight parrotfish. While normally herbivorous, these juveniles will occasionally hunt in packs and raid the nests of other fish (mainly sergeant major damselfish) for eggs. While it is common for some species of fish to raid the nest of competing individuals of the same of a different species, this paper points out that this seems to be the first time that this behavior has been seen in parrotfish.

Adam, T.C., Kelley, M., Ruttenberg, B.I. et al. Groups of roving midnight parrotfish (Scarus coelestinus) prey on sergeant major damselfish (Abudefduf saxatilis) nests. Mar Biodiv 47, 11–12 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12526-016-0475-4

How Fight or Flight Actually Gets Triggered (its not the chemical you think):

I got interested in the other functions of bone. It turns out, in addition to being more "alive" than we think, bone provides a pathway for the secretion of certain hormones. Bone also plays an important part in the triggering of the acute stress response known as the fight or flight response. The hormone osteocalcin helps bring about this acute stress response. When the body is under acute stress, the brain signals the skeleton to release this osteocalcin.
The reason why bone specifcally triggers this response is pretty interesting. As the skeleton evolved to protect us, the researchers of the study I looked into hypothesize that the stimulation of flight or fight response makes perfect sense as yet another physiological mechanism that protects the organism.
 "If you think of bone as something that evolved to protect the organism from danger -- the skull protects the brain from trauma, the skeleton allows vertebrates to escape predators, and even the bones in the ear alert us to approaching danger -- the hormonal functions of osteocalcin begin to make sense" is how they phrase it.
In order to test weather osteocalcin was necessary or sufficient to the triggering of fight or flight, the researchers took mice that had been engineered to not produce osteocalcin and wild type mice and presented them with stressors. The mice that had been engineered, as it turns out, were completely indifferent to the stressors while the wild type mice were stressed as predicted. Additionally, the researchers were able to create a fight or flight stress response in the modified mice just by injecting a large amount of osteocalcin into the mice.
This study shows how animals that do not have adrenal glads and cannot produce adrenaline can have normal fight or flight responses. Adrenaline is not necessary for fight or flight.
In conclusion, adrenaline gets a lot of credit for the fight or fight response, when that credit should really go to the skeleton and the hormone osteocalcin.

How The Lamprey Eel's "Cough" May Have Evolved into Lungs:

The lamprey is, according to this study, the most basal (closest to the bottom of the phylogeny tree) vertebrate in terms of the evolution of the lung. One of the most critical elements of breathing is the neurological element of a "rhythm generator". This rhythm generator must be sensitive to metabolically produced CO2 and be able to rhythmically activate based on the levels of CO2 present/metabolic demand. This is what allows our bodies, and all bodies that breathe like we do, to breathe automatically.

While lamprey eels may not have lungs specifically, they do have what has been identified as the very first rhythm generator to evolve. In order to gather nutrients, lampreys bury themselves in the sediment of bodies of water and generate a rhythmic flow of water through their bodies. This water flow not only collects nutrients, but satisfies metabolic gas exchange requirements. This slow rhythm generation is also called the lamprey's "cough".

Additionally, the researchers isolated lamprey brain stems and found that they rhythmically stimulate the ventilatory muscles that allow for this rhythmic water flow.

So, anyway, we have these weird looking guys to thank for the fact that we breathe automatically.

Oceanic Iron Fertilization: A 2020 Update

The topic of oceanic iron fertilization to combat climate change was a hot topic in the early 2000s, and in 2012 one of the first large scale operations to employ this technique was completed by the Haida Salmon Restoration Corporation under the direction of businessman Russ George.

The idea is that if the ocean is seeded with an excess of iron, this iron will stimulate a growth of phytoplankton. The phytoplankton will then take in carbon dioxide and fix the chemical. When they decompose the excess carbon will not be released back into the atmosphere, the phytoplankton that fixed it will fall to the bottom of the ocean, taking the carbon out of circulation.

However, a recent study done at MIT concluded that, while iron fertilization may stimulate the growth of phytoplankton in a lab, phytoplankton in the wild already exist in a delicate balance with their available nutrients. Through a series of complicated mechanisms, adding iron would cause no change to the total amount of phytoplankton in our oceans. Additionally, it has been hypothesized that the fertilization would favor some species of plankton over other, leading to large toxic algal blooms, devastating other species. One of the lead researchers on the MIT project concluded that, “I think we should tackle the source of the problem — reducing our carbon emissions — rather than trying to come up with band-aids. " I agree with this sentiment, though, people are still looking into iron fertilization even now (https://www.biogeosciences.net/15/5847/2018/) . The idea isn't quite dead yet. 

https://news.mongabay.com/2020/03/climate-fix-fertilizing-oceans-with-iron-unlikely-to-sequester-more-carbon/

(algal bloom)

The Immune Response to Discrimination

Hi everyone, congratulations (!) for being in the home stretch of the most unprecedented quarter of our undergraduate careers. Here's the citation for the article I presented much too quickly about, proposing a physiological pathway linking perceived, chronic discrimination to a stress response, mediated by three biomarkers, that ultimately leads to poor relationship outcomes. Again, an interesting biological perspective with which to view the inherently unjust structure of American society.

Doyle, D. M., & Molix, L. (2014). Perceived discrimination as a stressor for close relationships: Identifying psychological and physiological pathways. Journal of behavioral medicine, 37(6), 1134-1144.

Tropical Rainforest in the Antarctic

Here's the citation for the article identifying a temporary rainforest near the south pole about 30 mya.

J Klages, U Slazmann, T Bickert, C Hillenbrand, K Gohl, G Kuhn, ... R Dziadez. 2020. Temperate rainforests near South Pole during peak Cretaceous warmth. Nature 580, 81-86. 10.1038/s41586-020-2148-5.