Science Art Work of the Month: December

Following Luke Jerram's HIV (series 2) and Rob Kesseler's Sphagnum moss, we are so pleased to have yet another wonderful and inspiring artist, Jennifer Wen Ma, accept to be a part of our kNow-Science Artwork of the Month series.

Below, Inked Garden by Jennifer Wen Ma, currently on view at the Vancouver Art Gallery.

Inked Chandelier
courtesy of Jennifer Wen Ma's studio

Inked Chandelier (2014), a large-scale installation composed of more than 700 live plants, mostly native to Canada’s West Coast, is painted completely black with Chinese ink. Suspended from the oculus of the Vancouver Art Gallery’s rotunda, the plants continue to grow as green buds sprout from the blackness. The site-specific work is a dialogue between the past and present, in which Ma pays homage to the legacy of ink painting by emphasizing time as an element of the composition: viewers observe the live installation transform over the duration of the exhibition.

For further information on the work of Jennifer Wen Man please visit littlemeat.net

Girl's own immune system engineered to fight leukemia

Cancer free thanks to a new Immunotherapy for Childhood Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia: Emily's story.

9-year-old Emily Whitehead is the first girl to be cured, as of 2012, of a highly aggressive form of acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) via a novel form of immunotherapy against leukemias. The girl did not respond successfully to chemotherapy before she entered as the first patient of a new trial by study leader Stephan A. Grupp, M.D., Ph.D., a pediatric oncologist at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia and a Professor of Pediatrics at the Perelman School of Medicine of the University of Pennsylvania. What the team did was to bioengineer T cells to work not against pathogens, viruses, bacteria etc. but to recognize and kill the leukemia cells that normally evade regular T cell surveillance. 

What is a T cell?
T-cells are a type of white blood cell that circulate around our bodies, scanning for cellular abnormalities and infections.

Adding a receptor on T-cells allow them to recognize the
target cell - in this case the cancer cell - and kill it.
Our immune system often struggles to recognize cancer cells
as foreign, because the cancer cell is actually very similar to
many other cells in our body. 

Researchers first extracted the patient's own T cells and added a receptor to them that specifically recognize an antigen, an antenna that specifically marked these cancer cells. Once the T cell receptor binds to the cancer cell antigen, the T cell is able to kill the cancer cell as effectively as our immune system kills many viruses and bacteria. This is a powerful method to utilize patient's own arsenal in their immune system against cancer. 

 This past July, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration designated the so called CTL019 approach as a Breakthrough Therapy, helping to expedite its progress into broader clinical trials. While it's very early days, the future looks promising for such therapies. Source of the news can be found here.

Giving Tuesday 2014

Dear kNOW-SCIENCE Supporters,

Did you know that giving money to a worthwhile cause can make you happier?

Make kNow-Science your worthwhile cause this year.

As 2014 draws to a close, we can look back on a successful year of kNow-Science growth. A great series of talks at Genspace, The birth of kNow-Science Kids and an active Mythbusters Blog dispelling, or confirming, those old wives tales. To all who have attended talks and events have helped keep us going with your enthusiasm, support and smiles, we thank you and look forward to seeing you again in the future.

We rely on volunteers and also your generosity to keep growing and developing on the path we have thus far travelled.

So why not take the opportunity and show your support of kNow-Science with a donation, and help us continue to bring you the knowledge you didn't know you needed.

Are e-cigarettes harmless?

Are e-cigarettes harmless?

E-cigarettes, this unknown.  

Using our Ask the Expert form, Matthew Guidetti asked KNow Science about e-cigarettes. 

Are they healthy or not? 

                 Are they worse or better than normal cigarettes? 

                                                                       What are their side effects?

Astonishingly, scientists have published more than 300 scientific papers on e-cigarettes since 2009. Probably right after the first e-cigarette set foot on the market, when it was just a niche habit or an alternative to cigarettes for the elite, scientists all over the globe were already busy experimenting with e-cigarettes ⁱ.  Data ranges from their modes of action, how routes of administration change their effects and whether they are ultimately safer than conventional cigarettes.

Why has all this science not reached the public? Why are people still uncertain about e-cigarettes when we [scientists[ know so much? 

kNow-Science put two of our scientists, cancer expert Dr. Simona Giunta and brain biologist Dr. Ilaria Ceglia on the task of extracting comprehensible information from the jungle of published data.

So, what's the consensus? 

Here are three main conclusions. Some are predictable, others definitely worth knowing!

1 – E-cigarettes are a great way to stop smoking.

2 – E-cigarettes are dangerous in a different way to normal cigarettes. While tarmac and other toxic substances are gone, the metal mechanisms in many e-cigarettes produced upon vaporization have been shown to release heavy metals, which you inhale with each puff ^1-2.  A much better choice is all-ceramic e-cigarettes, which do not contain metallic parts, and hence have less risk of releasing heavy metals.

3 – E-cigarettes still have all the side effects of nicotine use. Changes to heart rate and blood pressure and propensity to cause lung cancer are still there ^3-4. Ingesting large quantities of nicotine, whichever the route, is not advisable from a health perspective. 

The benefit of e-cigarettes over conventional cigarettes is that they can facilitate smoking cessation ^5-6.

Lung cancer is the number one killer cancer in the world for both men and women. It accounts for 13% of all new cancers, and a recent, extremely well controlled study showed convincingly that about 90% of lung cancers are due to smoking. [i]ⁱ

Doing the simple math, this means that if the all the smokers quit tomorrow the incidence of cancers overall would decrease by over 10%.

Now that you know the [scientific] truth about e-cigarettes, will you embrace the [scientific] truth about health and change your life accordingly?

Thanks for reading from the kNow-Science team.

---

1.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25180481

2.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23526962

3.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23526962

4.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24343348

5.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25303892

6.     http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25301815

ⁱ  http://www.ecigalternative.com/ecigarette-studies-research.htm

^i[i] U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The Health Consequences of Smoking: A Report of the U.S. Surgeon General, 2004.

Science Art Work of the Month: November

kNow Science' connection with amazing artists continues with our Winter piece of artwork on display on our website for November and December. 

Sphagnum moss

Close up view of a stained leaf. The 'tile' pattern is made up of hyaline cells; dead cells capable of holding large amounts of water.

Rob Kesseler 2010

Developed in conjunction with the Gulbenkian Science Institute, Portugal

It's a true honor to have London-based artist Rob Kesseler display one of his art pieces for kNow-Science. Rob is the Chair of Arts, Design and Science at the University of the Arts in London and his beautiful pieces follows our October artwork, an HIV (Series2) sculpture from the glass Microbiology series by Luke Jerram.

Are you an artist that finds inspiration in science and the natural world? Submit your entry by emailing us at info@kNow-Science.org. We'd love to hear from you!

7th Annual Imagine Science Film Festival

The Imagine Science Film Festival, 

in partnership with the Rockefeller University Science Communication & Media Group (SciCommAndMedia.rockefeller.edu)

and kNow-Science

presents

 SHORTS: INTIMATE PORTRAITS OF LIFESPAN AND DISEASE

Wednesday, October 22nd

Rockefeller University, Carson Family Auditorium

Reception: 6-7 PM
Program: 7-9 PM Intimate Portraits of Lifespan and Disease - Short Films Screening

Personal monologues dissecting all facets of health from birth to death and the time in between. Narratives range from the fantastical tale of a test subject girl turned into a chimera, to a true account of three New Yorkers and their experiences with lithium and Bipolar. Whether fictional or real, each short illuminates the intricacies and struggles of existence.

For tickets, more events and shorts information, visit:
http://imaginesciencefilms.org/events/shorts-reception-intimate-portraits-of-lifespan-and-disease/

kNow Science joins the Climate March 2014

In a historic day on Sunday for NYC, almost half million people took the streets in a demonstration aimed at ending global inaction on climate change.

Backed by the data collected by scientists around the globe showing evidence for global warming and a worrying increase of CO2 emissions, the march was an incredible success and a fantastic example of science connecting with the people and catalyzing real action and change.

kNow Science scientists and members marched in their lab coats demanding for policy changes to better our environment and preserve our planet.

Do you kNow [the]  Science behind climate change? The debate is over and the science is clear. Read more about it here.

kNOW-SCIENCE talk at Genspace: Cells and Proteins - The Common Origin of Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's diseases

Cells and proteins- the Common Origin of Neurodegeneration in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's

A Talk by Dr. Sarmistha Ray-Saha

When: Thursday, July 10th 2014, 7pm
Doors open at 6:30pm

Where: Genspace, The MEx Building
33 Flatbush Avenue,
Brooklyn NY 11217

($5 suggested donations at door)

For questions contact us at info@genspace.org

 

 

Join us at Genspace for the third in a series of lectures presented as part of the kNOW SCIENCE outreach program at Rockefeller University. The program delivers public lectures on current biology at a level suitable to a general audience.

Neurodegeneration refers to damage in the brain that impairs mobility, speech and memory in the affected individuals. This talk will delve into the activities inside a working cell and explore the science behind this debilitating condition.

Dr. Ray-Saha is a postdoctoral scientist in the Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Signal Transduction at the Rockefeller University. She is studying the interaction of cell-surface sensors, also called receptor proteins, with other proteins. Her research with protein interactions and crosstalk spans 10+ years and she is also interested in protein-based therapeutic approaches to treat diseases. Aside from her scientific engagements, she volunteers for Uniting Against Lung Cancer, an organization that funds lung cancer research. You can find her on LinkedIn.

kNOW-SCIENCE Summer series at Genspace Continues

The kNOW-SCIENCE Summer Lecture Series at Genspace continues with Dr Whitney Winter and her discussion on vaccines.

Breaking Down the Vaccine Debate:Understanding How Vaccines Work and Why They're Beneficial

7:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Thursday, June 26th

Location: Genspace HQ Organizers: Ellen D. Jorgensen, Ph.D.

Join us at GENSPACE for the kNOW-SCIENCE monthly seminar series commencing on 

May 29th 2014 @ the Genspace Community Lab 

33 Flatbush Avenue, 7th floor

Brooklyn, NY 11217

kNOW-SCIENCE on Cancer is well received by NYC residents

This entry is mirrored from the author’s blog.

Since I’m a human in 2014, I’ve had my life impacted in some way by cancer. As have all of you. Wednesday evening at Brooklyn’s Genspace, Dr. Simona Giunta gave a talk on some of the basics of cancer entitled — “Cells, DNA and the Truth about Cancer.”

Dr. Giunta is a cancer research at Rockefeller University and team member of know-science.org, a non-profit group that works on promoting science education and knowledge. Since the purpose of the talk was to help bring better awareness of the science behind cancer to the non-scientific community (of which I am a member of), I thought I’d put down the big takeaways I had from the talk. Working backwards from the end. In a very non-scientific format.

---

The big delivery

The real cure will take individualized medicine, but going all in on individualized medicine is not something Dr. Giunta advocates — it’s expensive and will segregate by economic status (Though, I wonder if there’s a Moore’s law for biology).

The real-world solution, the right-now solution is: Play the statistical odds. Don’t smoke, eat healthy (that can be picked apart in a lot of ways), exercise, wear sunscreen, and don’t drink too much. Sound advice, not bad advice, but somewhat unexpected advice coming from a cancer researcher.

---

Why individualized medicine? Why is this expensive, far away route the only true cure?

Cancer cells are cells that don’t die. Normal, altruistic cells kill themselves off after extensive damage (think peeling skin from a sunburn). Cancer cells are cells that literally have the ability to kill themselves blocked. It is kind of like Bill Murray in Groundhog’s Day.

---

We’ve done the genome project, why can’t we just fix that part of a person’s DNA?

Two reasons.

1. The genome project was done on a somatic cell. While genetically speaking, all of our cells are similar (minus some mutations here and there). The part of the genetic code that gets read by different cells, is well, different. Liver cells, bone cells, skin cells are all reading from the same book, but they are reading different pages. So the story is slightly different for each of them.
2. Changing the DNA of every single of the trillions of cells in our body is not possible. The majority of cancers are due to random mutation that could happen in any cell in our body. To find that single cells before it becomes a tumor, before it acquires more mutations and divide to give rise to many cancer cells, would be like finding a needle in an haystack, or worst: a cancer cell in hundred trillion cells in our body. Yet, usually our immune system does precisely that. Sometimes, though, one could escape it’s attention…

---

Alright, so, cancer is a DNA/gene issue. So why does lifestyle matter?

Mutations happen. You can inherit some, yes. Others happen because of external factors in your life — smoking, bad diet, radiation exposure.

Some happen because, well, we’re imperfect and so are the biological systems we have that are responsible for copying our genetic code. Sometimes, there are bad copies. It doesn’t matter if you stay inside all day eating kale smoothies on a treadmill, you will have mutations.

It’s not even limited to copies. It’s just general repairs. DNA inside a cell can get damaged for all sorts of external reasons. They’re resilient and efficient as hell, but they might still make an error in their repairs.

Mutations that block the self-destructing code of cells (which means a cell can’t kill itself, which means cancer) can happen during any of the thousands-millions of DNA copies or repairs that occur each day in each of the 100 trillion cells we have in our body.

That’s a lot of activity to monitor.

---

So yeah, there’s a lot of things that we just really can’t control yet.

Ergo you have to know the person, their cells, and the mutations that unique individual has in their genetic code. That level of uniqueness described above is staggering. That’s why using scientifically acquired statistics to prescribe lifestyle choices is the best option we have right now. Control what you can control. Take the rest in stride.

kNOW-SCIENCE Seminar Series at GENSPACE

As part of our efforts make science engaging and accessible to all, Dr. Simona Giunta, founder of kNOW-SCIENCE will be giving the opening talk of the kNOW-SCIENCE Summer Lecture Series at Genspace, a community laboratory in Brooklyn.

Genspace Talk: Cells, DNA and the Whole truth about Cancer
7:00 PM to 8:00 PM on Thursday, May 29

Location: Genspace HQ Organizers: Ellen D. Jorgensen, Ph.D.

Talk description: "This is the first in a series of talks by Rockefeller University scientists as part of the kNOW-SCIENCE public outreach program, which presents lectures covering various areas in biology at a level suitable for a general audience. Dr. Giunta is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Chromosomes and Cell Biology. Her work centers around DNA damage in mitotic cells, but she is very active in the University's programming for the general public".

Join us at GENSPACE for the kNOW-SCIENCE monthly seminar series commencing on 

May 29th 2014 @ the Genspace Community Lab 

33 Flatbush Avenue, 7th floor

Brooklyn, NY 11217

kNOW-SCIENCE connects with Art Studios in Brooklyn

kNOW-SCIENCE connects with Art Studios across the City to bring science to artists and art to science, and to encourage multidisciplinary projects and idea sharing.

Watch this space to know more about our events...

kNOW-SCIENCE participates in the Rockefeller University Science Saturday

The Rockefeller University's Parents & Science initiative hosts numerous events throughout the academic year. kNOW-SCIENCE participated with its own booth to the Science Saturday Open Day in May 2014, sharing the excitement of science with children and adults alike!

 

Cancer. What is it, where does it come from and can you increase your chances of avoiding it?

Cancer, a word that has more than 700 million hits on Google, that features in 100 million news articles and affects, directly or indirectly, the majority of the world population, still remains a mystery to us. So, what is cancer and where does it come from?

Our very own Simona Giunta, from the kNOW SCIENCE team, explains the basics of cancer. To read the full article, click here.

kNOW-SCIENCE launches new website

Scientists from the Rockefeller University launch a new online interface for the kNOW-SCIENCE.org initiative, educating non-scientists and the public about the latest research topics and scientific information. Our in-house web-developer, Alistair Field is re-shaping the kNOW-SCIENCE website and building some cool animations to make science more accessible to the public. Want to book one of our amazing presentation? Click on the Presentations tab above! If you have any issues using our new website or spot any mistakes, please let us know @ info@know-science.org

kNOW-SCIENCE partners with Genspace for community science outreach

kNOW-SCIENCE and Genspace join forces in tackling science literacy in the general public. The collaboration will feature a series of monthly lectures at the Genspace community laboratory delivered by kNOW-SCIENCE's scientists on a variety of topics. Want to attend the lectures and/or to know more? Watch this space or subscribe to our email list by emailing us @ info@know-science.org

What is a Cell?

Trees in a forest, fish in a river, horseflies on a farm, lemurs in the jungle, reeds in a pond, worms in the soil — all these plants and animals are made of the building blocks we call cells. Like these examples, many living things consist of vast numbers of cells working in concert with one another. Other forms of life, however, are made of only a single cell, such as the many species of bacteria and protozoa. Cells, whether living on their own or as part of a multicellular organism, are usually too small to be seen without a light microscope. 

Cells share many common features, yet they can look wildly different. In fact, cells have adapted over billions of years to a wide array of environments and functional roles. Nerve cells, for example, have long, thin extensions that can reach for meters and serve to transmit signals rapidly. Closely fitting, brick-shaped plant cells have a rigid outer layer that helps provide the structural support that trees and other plants require. Long, tapered muscle cells have an intrinsic stretchiness that allows them to change length within contracting and relaxing biceps. 

Still, as different as these cells are, they all rely on the same basic strategies to keep the outside out, allow necessary substances in and permit others to leave, maintain their health, and replicate themselves. In fact, these traits are precisely what make a cell a cell.[cit. Nature.com]

How does our Brain work?

The brain performs an incredible number of tasks including the following:

• It controls body temperature, blood pressure, heart rate and breathing.
• It accepts a flood of information about the world around you from your various senses.
• It handles your physical movement when walking, talking, standing or sitting.
• It lets you think, dream, reason and experience emotions.

All of these tasks are coordinated, controlled and regulated by an organ that is about the size of a small head of cauliflower.
Your brain, spinal cord and peripheral nerves make up a complex, integrated information-processing and control system known as your central nervous system. In tandem, they regulate all the conscious and unconscious facets of your life. The scientific study of the brain and nervous system is called neuroscience or neurobiology. Because the field of neuroscience is so vast -- and the brain and nervous system are so complex -- this article will start with the basics and give you an overview of this complicated organ.
We'll examine the structures of the brain and how each section controls our daily functions, including motor control, visual processing, auditory processing, sensation, learning, memory and emotions. [Source: Craig Freudenrich, Ph.D. and Robynne Boyd]