April 24, 2015

Long-term desiccation resistance of 3 extremophile organisms in different lichen substrates

Declan Balow '15

Arimoclomol treatment for ALS using Heat Shock proteins

Summer Haag '15

Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) is a fatal neurodegenerative condition that affects nearly 30,000 people in the United States, with 5,000 new cases each year. There is no known cure for this disease, but current treatments and therapies focus on slowing the progression of the disease. Transgenic mice that over express the human mutant SOD1 gene have very similar phenotypes to that of a human ALS patient. Arimoclomol is a pharmaceutical which acts as a co inducer of heat shock proteins. Increasing these heat shock protein levels has been shown to prevent the progression of certain diseases. One study by Kieran et al. examined the use of Arimoclomol to prevent the progression of ALS in SOD1G93A mice (Kieran et al. 2004). They found this treatment to be successful for the treatment of ALS in SOD1G93A mice and showed significant benefits of using Arimoclomol to slow the progression of the disease. Therefore, activation of the heat shock response may be a successful way to treat ALS and possibly other neurodegenerative diseases. Recent studies have shown new approaches to treatments for this disease along with backing up the results of this study. Although no cure has yet been found, research for this disease has recently received increased awareness and funding from the general population. With new treatments and approaches, a cure for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis may be

The presence of bacterial phylotypes in cavity active and cavity free patients

Joanna Chapman '15

Dental cavities are the most common disease found in children. They are caused by the formation of plaque on the enamel of teeth. If left untreated cavities can lead to serious health issues such as diabetes and heart disease. Previous studies have focused on the individual microbes responsible for the formation of cavities. The purpose of the study, The Dental Plaque Microbiome in Health and Disease, was to determine if there was a difference in the communities of bacteria present in cavity free and cavity active individuals (Peterson et. al., 2013). My presentation of this paper focuses on identifying these bacteria and their importance. Plaque samples were taken from 8 children been the ages of 5-7. The DNA from the samples was isolated and separated into cavity free and cavity active pools. The two pools there then amplified, clustered and identified. The results of this study provide evidence that bacterial communities differ between individuals with and without cavities.