Articles

Sanjana Ramaswamy - Grade 11 (2020-2021)

Mitosis is the asexual process in which somatic cells divide. During mitosis, there are four main phases. In the first stage, known as prophase, the nucleus of the cell disappears, spindle fibers set up and chromosomes form. Then, the sister chromatids line up in the center of the cell in the next phase called metaphase. The spindle fibers that were formed earlier will then pull apart the sister chromatids to opposite poles of the cells during anaphase. In the last stage, telophase, the nucleus will reappear and the chromosomes will unwind. The cell will then split into two in a later phase called cytokinesis. There are several factors that can affect how fast or efficiently the process of cell division takes place. For example, cancerous cells are cells that uncontrollably divide. The main difference between mitosis in healthy cells and mitosis in cancerous cells is that each phase of mitosis in cancerous cells is completed faster, resulting in an overall faster cell division. In this case, the KI-67 protein was found, and its interaction with different cells during the mitosis was found to be a major cause of cancer. Ki-67 links to a PP1-gamma in an unusual way, compared to the 200 other proteins PP1 interacts with normally. The unusual shape was discovered by Dr. Senthil, but the reason for the discrepancy is still under investigation. Hopefully, we will soon find an answer to the mystery behind cancer.

Sourced by: https://www.brown.edu/news/2016-08-30/mitosis

Bhavana Pedada - Grade 10 (2020-2021)

A galaxy named CQ 4479 was recently discovered to be red and in the act of shutting down. What makes this galaxy especially unique is that it has a rather large black hole at its center. This information has American astronomers bewildered as they believe studying this unique galaxy will help them to fully learn how exactly galaxies shutdown/die. Currently, astronomers do not know the full depth of the process and can only differentiate between live and dead galaxies based on their colors. To further their research, astrophysicists Kirkpatrick and Cookie delopy SOFIA, an airplane that is equipped with a telescope that can see a range of infrared wavelengths that other observers could not see. SOFIA was successful in its tasks and helped reveal that CQ 4479’d blackhole is about 24M times bigger than our sun and is growing about 0.3 solar masses per year. Further calculations have allowed astronomers to conclude that its stars and black hole are growing at the same rate. The new information and research conducted around galaxy CQ 4479 has progressed our knowledge of galaxies and has brought up many new theories regarding the lifecycle of galaxies as well.

Sourced by: https://www.sciencenews.org/article/astronomers-rare-galaxy-cold-quasar-star-formation