Upload
others
View
0
Download
0
Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
JUNIOR COLLEGEB A N G A L O R E - 29
Published By: Department of Biology
Editorial BoardEditor: Mr. Benjemen Bosco J.Lecturer, Department of Biology
Co-editors:Priyanka Prakash II-BIndra Priyadarsini II-BMonisha Ramesh II-BTarooqh Ahmed I-B
BIOSCOPEScience News Letter
Volume : 7; Issue :1November 2011
International Year of Forests – 2011Forests are one of the precious natural resources on the earth. They are an integral part of global sustainable development. They provide us with various natural services and play an important role in economy of the nation too. Forests are vital to the survival and well being of people.
The United Nations General Assembly declared 2011 as The International Year of Forests – the theme being “Forest: Nature At Your Service” - to raise awareness on sustainable management, conservation and sustainable development of all types of forests. The forest resources of the world are under grave threat due to overexploitation, deforestation, urbanization, shifting cultivation practices, natural disasters etc.
Considering the importance of forests, there is need to Protect and Conserve the Forest ecosystem. The International Year of the Forests provides an excellent platform to increase awareness of the connections between healthy forests, ecosystems, people and economies. Let us all be a part of it and help enhance forest Biodiversity.
Frog skin to treat cancer
Scientists have accidentally discovered
some key proteins from the skins of a little
known frog which they say could be a
potential treatment for up to 70 diseases
including cancer, diabetes etc. Researchers
at Queen's university in Belfast stumbled
upon some unusual properties in its skin's
secretions while doing research on the
waxy monkey f rog f rom Sou th
America."The properties were found to
either stimulate or inhibit the growth of
blood vessels, an ability which can be used
in a controlled and targeted way to treat a
number of diseases" the researchers said.
Professor Chrish Shaw, who led the
research, said:"The aim of their research is
to unlock the potential of the natural world
to reduce human suffering. "We are
absolutely convinced that the natural world
holds the solutions to many of our
problems. We just need to pose the right
questions to find them." Professor Shaw
was quoted saying by the Daily Mail.
The researchers were testing a range of
proteins taken from secretions from frogs
and toads. They realised that the proteins
in the secretions-which the frogs and toads
use for protection from predators-also
control the growth of blood vessels, a
process known as angiogenesis.
Tejaswini. M (I PCMB - A)
Trekking @ RamnagarThe long-awaited event – “Trekking” organized by the eco-club was
finally held on the 31st of October 2011. It was a one day trek that
rose up all our enthusiasm. We visited the Indo-American Hybrid
Seeds Pvt. Ltd., after which we were off on our way to the Ramnagar
Hills for trekking. We assembled in college at 8:30am, had our
breakfast and set off for an exciting day that was ahead! We had a
splendid time.
Our first stop was at the Indo-American Hybrid Seeds Pvt. Ltd.. The 25
acre beautifully maintained land was completely attributed to a wide
variety of plants. We were given a lot of information on plant tissue
culture too. We also got to have a look at the poly-house green houses
and the climate control green houses where the plants are cultured in
an invitro and aseptic conditions. This visit enlightened us on the
importance of biotechnology and its influence on our lives.
After a good educational field trip at the Indo-American Hybrid Seeds
Pvt. Ltd., we were all set to go for the actual trek! The scenic beauty of
the hills enthralled us. We were all so excited. We started climbing the
hills. Oh! It was more tiresome than we thought it would be. Yet we had
loads of fun and we didn't have the heart to end our journey uphill! We
climbed as high as we could and had a couple of photo sessions too. It
was an amazing experience.
It was the most wonderful and exciting day for all of us. It was definitely
one of the most memorable days in our lives that we will always
cherish.
Indra Priyadarsini (II PCMB-B)
First Hand TransplantIn 1998, a multinational team of surgeons performed the first successful hand
transplant in France .The transplant recipient had lost his hand in a circular saw
accident nine years ago. Arteries and veins in the arm and hand were connected to
supply vital nutrients. Regeneration of nerve tissue, even after reconstruction, was
more gradual and three months after the operation he started to regain sensation
in his fingertips.
Naveen Kumar S
(I PCMB E)
Kidney Donors Live Just As Long As Non Donors?
Every thirty minutes all the blood in our body is filtered through two kidneys. But diabetes can cause these organs to fail,
leading to a buildup of chemicals in the blood that would be fatal without dialysis or a kidney transplant.
At least six thousand healthy people every year in the United States
donate a kidney to someone they know and about hundred more
come forward to anonymously give the gift of Glomeruli (the basic
filtration units of the kidney). It's true that you only need one kidney
to live, but the operation required to remove its twin and the risk of
disease developing in the remaining one later on make donation a
serious decision.
Transplant surgeon Dorry Segev of the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine studied mortality among eighty thousand
kidney donors during the past fifteen years, comparing them with
healthy people who have both kidneys; it was found that there was
increase or decrease in mortality among donors once they recover
from the operation.
Although donors are carefully screened before the procedure, there are risks: “it's still a major operation. You are still
living with one kidney. People still need to think about it and be aware of the risks in taking on this heroic act”.
Kirthana
II PCMB 'F'
Pine way to make moneyThe pine trees in North India soak up moisture in the soil so much like
the eucalyptus and prevent other trees from growing, but then pine
needles are processed and converted into coal which can then be
used as fuel by the local members. This processed coal is known as
pirul coal. The actual process of making coal is surprisingly
uncomplicated .The pine needles are burnt to a cinder and
transformed into ash. Interestingly even at this early stage it begins to
resemble charcoal. This is then mixed with low dung mixture .The
two are then mixed together in the proportion of 1:10 .It is then put in
a specially made molding machine to make the new coal. Then it is
allowed to settle and cool and it doesn't have the hardness but yet is
not soft enough to crumble. This is virtually smokeless and produces
very little ash. It can be used as fuel for specialized stove since it is
economically beneficial.
Ranjitha (II PCMB F)
Amazing Fact: Secret of chameleon's tongue
When the weather cools, cold blooded animals slowdown, which should be good news for their potential prey. But the colorful chameleon which can unfurl a tongue twice its body length in 0.07secs does not lose much speed in unleashing its weapons. To find out why, Christopher Anderson and Stephen Debin tested chameleons under different conditions, discovering that if temperature dropped by 10 degrees, tongue snaps slowed only by about 10 to 19 percent. The secret lies in the collagen tissue of the tongue which uncurls based on momentum, not muscle activity. In contrast, under the same chilly condition, the tongue movements of ectotherms which rely on a muscle based system, slowed by 42%. The lizards, however, were not quite as quick to reel in their prey, the recoiling action, which depends on muscle contraction fell by 42 to 63 percent.
Sushmita Shekar I PCMB B
Vegetable IvorySAVING ELEPHANTS AND THE RAINFORESTS
What do African Elephants and South American rain forests
have in common? They both are being eliminated from the
face of the earth at an alarming rate. During past three
decades, poachers in search of ivory tusks have decimated
large populations of African elephants. Across the Atlantic
Ocean, another kind of massacre is happening to the rain
forests each year. The destruction amounts to be fifty acres
per minute, an area roughly the size of West Virginia.
However, a lovely Amazonian palm might help to save its
rain forests relatives and the African elephants.
Several tropical American palms are known to produce
'Vegetable ivory', but the most important one among them is
“Phytelephas aequatorialis”, also called as the ivory nut palm
(Phytelephas—elephant plant: equatorials—equatorial
region which this palm is a native) These palms are also
called P.macrocarpa by some authors, which refer to the
large fruits bearing ivory like nuts. They are most abundant in
the Amazon Basin of Bolivia, Ecuador and Peru. The ivory nut
palm grows in large rain forests along the streams and on
wet hillsides. Large pinnate leaves up to 20ft tall arise from a
woody trunk above the moist soil. Ivory nut palms are
dioecious. Female palms bear cluster of large, brown fruits
that are studded with numerous woody, pointed horns and
contains four or more large seeds which are called “Tagua
nuts” The seeds have an outer shell (seed coat) and an inner
large white endosperm.
The white, dried endosperm inside the seeds contains a
substance called hemicellulose that becomes so hard and
dense that it can be carved and polished like Elephant's tusks.
Called vegetable ivory, the endosperm of ivory nut palm is
used in the manufacture of buttons, chess pieces, dice,
umbrella handles, billiard balls etc. It is also used in the art of
scrimshaw for intricate carvings without endangering species
like Elephants, Whales and Walruses. The endosperm of
immature seed is pulpy and hence used as a sweet food for
people and animals of that region. Vegetable ivory has
hardness similar to Elephant's ivory because like that of wood
vegetable ivory is essentially composed of thick walled dead
cells. In fact, vegetable ivory is remarkably dense with a
rating of roughly 2.5 on the scale of mineral hardness. But
what about the demand for elephant ivory? No artificial
plastic can take its place however; Vegetable ivory is a
desirable substitute for Elephant ivory. Like Elephant ivory,
vegetable ivory is natural. Unlike Elephants, which must die
for their precious ivory, vegetable ivory is a renewable
resource. A single female ivory nut palm may produce up to
50 pounds of nuts in a year, that's roughly the amount of ivory
in an average African Elephant tusk. The Elephants however
yields its ivory only once, while the palm produces nuts
year after year. The only drawback of ivory nuts is their
size as average seeds are about two inches (5 cm) long
and this would limit the size of the articles made from
them. However, milled nuts can be fused into a larger,
solid mass with modern bonding cements under heat
and pressure. Another ecological incentive for using
vegetable ivory is that, renewed trade of ivory nuts
could help in protecting endangered rain forests of
Ecuador, Columbia and Peru. Natural rain forest
products such as vegetable ivory can generate up to
five times the income of banana plantations and cattle
ranches.
Meanwhile the tropical
f o r e s t s and t he i r
inhabitants are rapidly
being destroyed. Who
knows what biological
secrets may reside in
the genes of these vanishing species. The devastation
of the earth's tropical rain forests is analogous to a
worldwide burning of libraries without reading any of
its books. May be the vegetable ivory palms can help to
save at least a part of these beautiful rain forests before
it's too late and at the same time help to preserve one of
the most magnificent mammals that ever roamed the
earth.
EVANGELINE PRISCILLA
II PCMB E
For Private Circulation Only