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A scientific tool takes a look at a possible causal-effect of the caste system in India.
29 Thursday Aug 2013
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A scientific tool takes a look at a possible causal-effect of the caste system in India.
14 Wednesday Aug 2013
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“When did you last have your dental clean up/exam”, asked the front desk nurse. I thought for a long time, trying to visualize the mental image of the dentist so that I may be able to place the time point of my earlier visit. No idea. But I know, this was long before I started graduate school. “7 years”, “or so”, I said. Then I stood there, witnessing a quick stare, darted by an expression of disapproval on my nurse’s face.
I made a trip to a dentist a few days back. After a rigorous hour and half appointment consisting of X-Rays, drilling and intense poking, I was seated next to the dentist who was pouring over my results. Turns out, that my calcified arrangement of my ectodermal tissues a.k.a teeth, were in near-perfect condition. While I was cheering inside, mentally putting off my next doctor’s visit for another 7 years, my dentist eyes sparkled. He said, very flatteringly – “you have genetically superior teeth”! I giggled, not knowing why. His remark was based on my absolute inability to possess the supernumerary structures, pompously called wisdom teeth.
No kidding, wisdom teeth are extremely painful, annoying, irritating, unnecessary, and expensive, and sometimes even dangerous to get rid of. Someone out there, had that sense of humor to name it ‘wisdom’ teeth, although it was historically named to signify the time at one’s life during which these molars usually begin to appear – between 15 & 25, an age bracket where many would have (supposedly) pursued wisdom by way of education or through life experiences. That name, however, was clearly oblivious to the irony it had created among uninformed school students who thought they weren’t wise enough to have extra molars erupting from beneath their gums. While most of the us – members of the constantly evolving human race- have been genetically selected against the need for these extra molars in our jaw line, a few of us still develop them. Clinically, they are vestigial structures, which were critical for human ancestors to be able to chew harder food and foliage. Importantly, teeth was crucial for survival of the prehistoric man who valued his sharp teeth for attacking, clutching and consuming his prey. As we evolved, we began standing up and used limbs for that purpose. Moreover, having numerous teeth was probably advantageous at a time when survival meant the fittest (the medical insurance then, was also pretty bad, just like it is in the States now).
A quick google search indicates that over 35% of the world population don’t have wisdom teeth, while it is intriguing to me why some of us still do. A few chromatin modifier genes have been implied in expressing the PAX6 gene responsible for wisdom teeth eruption. However, not much genetic data seems to exist on PubMED (a medical database of research findings). Moreover, without any evolutionary advantage for not having those extra molars, it is likely not to become extinct.
Now with full genomes of most organisms being sequenced, living or fossilized, we now have access to understanding the millions of genes (which gave rise to anatomical structures) that our ancestors possessed and those we don’t anymore. But not all vestigial structures that became extinct are useless to us now. There are tons of examples for that, but I’ll share the one I just found out. While reading this article, I found out that human ancestors had once harbored the gene L-gulano-γ-lactone oxidase that allowed them to synthesize their OWN vitamin C! Modern man, unfortunately doesn’t have it.
So, crank up on those berries and lemons.
Ciao!
24 Wednesday Apr 2013
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inIn our 4G-network-shrinking-world, social media communication has revolutionized sharing accurate information reliably and instantly. So reliable that fieldwork research traditionally conducted only by scientists is now being transformed into community- based science projects, involving non-scientist science-loving volunteers called ‘citizen scientists’. Scientists are stepping out of their Ivory Towers of Universities and research laboratories, to engage with the society and lend their expertise and knowledge to develop sustainable, general public scientific initiatives – called citizen science.
Dr. Erin Bayne Associate Professor at Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, has pioneered a successful citizen science project in collaboration with conservation biology students and over 1800 citizen scientists, to collect data on avian mortality in Edmonton, the results of which are published in Wildlife Research (2012). Dr. Bayne is enthusiastic that “academicians can now use technology to easily train interested [citizen scientists] to collect large amounts of data that would otherwise be impossible to do them ourselves”. But he cautions, “Citizen Science efforts without a good understanding of scientific principles of data collection and experimental design are doomed to failure”. Exciting projects like this are springing up all over the world. Take for example, the project created by Louise Emmons, Bret Whitney, and David Ross Jr that culminated in a fascinating and an incredibly useful audio CD which compiled characteristic sounds of over 100 mammalian species in the Costa Rican rainforests. This is part of the several citizen science initiatives at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, which since 1966 has enlisted the help of over 200,000 volunteers worldwide to classify bird observations and collectively generate what is today’s largest and most comprehensive repository on bird data. Across the globe, technology has empowered citizens to voluntarily take up the role of scientist to systematically collect scientific data in diverse areas – from physics to geology to marine biology. Be it FrogWatch Canada or Hummingbirds @ Home that study human-environmental interactions influencing animal populations, or Project MERCCURI or μBiome that populates microbial data from hundreds of human volunteers to understand dietary and lifestyle impact on human health. The Zooniverse: Snapshot Serengeti project can bring cheer to wildlife photographers interested in processing thousands of live snapshot images of ecosystems, while gamers get to play against the EyeWire Project and map their retinal neuronal cells to study brain functions.
Citizen scientists have access to some incredible mobile apps and premade kits to share collected data with scientists, who will then compile and analyze statistical trends to make the data publishable in refereed scientific journals and conferences. Strikingly, these research findings rely entirely on volunteers such as yourself, your grandmother, your neighbors’ kids, hockey players, or the cab driver that drives around the city making thousands of observations…anyone, with little or no scientific training. But why engage volunteers when scientists could simply program supercomputers to collect data? Of course, computing has advanced the art of data analyses, but citizen science relies on public engagement, and exchange of ideas and opinions between science experts and science enthusiasts. Like-minded youngsters and adults have a unique intuition, passion and scientific curiosity that when shared in a meaningful approach, can exponentially scale up the reach of these projects. Suhel Quader is heading two such assignments in India: Seasonwatch, a 20 year project studying changes in seasonal cycles of plants and Migrantwatch, a published 4-year research effort studying migratory patterns of birds indicative of seasonal changes. On the advantages of citizen science, he says “they help adding to the scientific knowledge base and also change us as citizens — to care about the environment and develop a relationship with what is around us.”
What’s next for citizen science?
Scientific innovations impact the air we breathe, the food we eat, the distances we travel, and the way we now perceive media, communication, education, health and society. Technology has democratized accessibility to scientific information, and created higher scientific awareness and visibility of public amongst policy makers and decision makers. Shouldn’t science then be included in our powerful public policy decisions? During the 2012 US Presidential election campaign, ScienceDebate.org invited thousands of concerned citizens to post what they thought were the country’s central science issues, and the top questions were then posed to the candidates. Marvelously, citizens from all walks of life freely began debating on topics ranging from economics to space expeditions to belief systems. This citizen science initiative was highly popular and a great success, because it was solely based on the interest and intent of the common man’s quest for the right of information and assessment of the impact of science and technology in their lives. As more citizen science projects innervate societies, larger communities are engaging in real life scientific projects that are gradually transforming the way science is perceived and performed, and with the power of technology and media, we may not be far from when citizens could influence how tax money should be assessed when budgeting funds for scientific work. As US anthropologist Margaret Mead rightly said, “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world; indeed, it is the only thing that ever has”.
***A version of this article can be found here.
08 Friday Feb 2013
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inThis is my first ever, post. First ever blog. And what triggered this long-standing (and never materialized) plan to start my blog? Andrew Hessel’s talk at the University this evening. It was a fascinating one full hour talk, watching a scientist – businessman – public speaker, endorse his impeccable science communication skills, to convince you about his revolutionary mission (will it be successful or not? Time will tell) on affordable, personalized therapeutics for cancer treatment.
Tomorrow, along with two other University colleagues, I get this chance to chat with Andrew Hessel. More of those details later.
If nothing, I took one message home this evening. Life and career, and the passion that fuels life and career, is a continuum. Even when in doubt, keep (yeah, calm and move on) exploring! I’m at the cusp of deciphering my next career move as I close on my six-year PhD. And this talk today, somehow made me hopeful and cheery.
Thanks, Andrew!