Jemma Buchalter

you should write it properly ie not bullet points - Dr Chris Willmott

we are not emphasising the methods section because you have not actually done the experiment, but it is nonetheless good practice to write in sentences not bullet points - Dr Chris Willmott

This article is just some background reading on the physiology lecture we had today about skeletal muscle. As you get older it becomes harder to move and be involved in exercise, this is linked to many things but especially to the loss of skeletal muscle function and mass. Experiments were carried out on rats with the ages 2 and 3, this experiment concluded that a process called AMP-activated protein kinase (AMPK) slowed down in older animals. This process enables the skeletal muscle to stimulate the body to burn off fat and to fuel cells by the production of mitochondria. It is thought that the skeletal muscles of marathon runners have high levels of AMPK activity. It was found that the older the rat the lower the AMPK activity and that the young rats that did more exercise had double the amount f normal AMPK activity. This shows that the older the rat the lower the AMPK activity therefore harder work needs to be put in order to maintain the same benefits from exercise as was gained during their youth. - Jemma Buchalter from Bookmarklet

Last week we seemed to have quite a bit of work but it all seemed perfectly manageable with our new timetable! The main piece of work I focused on last week was the #MB1031 poster assignment, which we originally thought we had to have done by Thursday in order to get it to the printer in time for it to be ready for Tuesday. We sat down on Tuesday and planned out what we need to do and assigned jobs to each person and met back up on Tuesday to make our poster. Just as we sat down to construct our poster we received an email informing us that the poster presentation was cancelled due to the tutor strikes! This lifted a lot of stress of our shoulders and enabled us to spend the whole weekend making our poster to the best of our ability, meaning we were very pleased with it when submitting it this morning! This week I am looking for to the physiology practical, even though it is on a strike day it is unaffected, as last weeks was very enjoyable and interesting! Physiology is one of my favourite modules so far so I am very glad that it is what my degree is focused on! - Jemma Buchalter

Our #BS1006 lectures are currently on muscles and reflexes and more specifically, motor neurons. This article is about the effects aging has on the motor neurons. As we get older the number of motor neurons we have greatly decreases due to a number of reasons including drinking excessively. The age at which muscle fibers naturally start to decrease at is 50 and by the age of 60 loses in motor neurons and units are very apparent. At the present day there are no treatments in place to try and stop motor neuron degeneration but experiments are being carried out to try and stop this from happening. - Jemma Buchalter from Bookmarklet

i know that resistance training and exercise can help slow down the rate of muscle loss from the age of 40+ and find the idea of investigating what exactly is happening to the muscle units and neurons that causes this an interesting area. I don't think people realise that their muscle loss starts so early in life, it doesnt just disappear when you are 70 and this would probably encourage adults to do some kind of resistance training around middle age to benefit them later in life. - SarahJohnson

So, this week was our first week of our much lighter timetable and I have to say so far I am enjoying it a lot! Our new module, an introduction to physiology, is extremely interesting as well as very fast past! My degree stream is medical physiology so I have been very excited to start this module and so far I have not been disappointed, although in the first lecture it was difficult taking notes and listening as the power point wasn’t up on blackboard. The other new module we have started this week is genes and medicine and it has started of recapping the topics lectured on in the genes module. This will be an extremely useful revision session and really help me understand genetics! Hopefully now the timetable has cleared up I will be able to focus more on going over the lectures as well as completing all our assessments on time! - Jemma Buchalter

This morning we had our last genes lecture by Professor Ketley, I thought it was quite a difficult lecture! He had so much to go over and I hadn’t seen any of it before which made it quite daunting for 9am Monday morning start! We also had a timed essay this morning for #MB1031, which I thought went okay! I was quite worried about it because I was away all weekend but the two hours free we had this morning really helped me feel a lot more confident. I have quite a bit of catching up to do this week as I missed Thursday and Friday of uni however this shouldn’t be a problem as my friends take really good notes in lectures. I missed Thursday and Friday because I was being award of gold duke of Edinburgh award at St James’ place which was amazing! I am looking forward to next week as our timetable thins out a lot and we get next Tuesday off! - Jemma Buchalter

Congratulations! I get mine at the end of this month so hope it's as good as you say :D - Arnold Gangaidzo

Cancer is a disease that kills hundreds and thousands of people a year, it is a disease that we are desperately seeking a cure for. Scientists at the UK’s institute of cancer research may be one step closer to achieving this! These scientists have proven that by blocking the enzyme LOXL2 metastasis is prevented because they proved that this enzyme is important in the early stages of the cancer spreading. This is important because it has been reported that 90% of cancer deaths are due to tumours migrating around the body. So far this research has just been carried out on mice using chemicals and antibodies to block the activity of LOXL2. This discovery holds the potential to find a cure for cancers that have spread around the body (e.g. breast cancer), saving many more lives than are saved now. - Jemma Buchalter

The week that has just passed has been an extremely successful one! I was really nervous to receive my exam results but there was no need to be and I am really pleased with how I have done. Thankfully, all my hard work is paiding off! Over the weekend I completed my #MB1031 report, I found it challenging when trying to write the abstract! We had a lecture today about the report and what to include i.e. graphs etc. luckily I had included most of it, so there are only a few thing I need to add-in in preparation for Thursday! Today I completed my #BS1011 assignment and managed to get 100% which I am really pleased about, especially because this stats work hasn’t been the easiest. I was told that the stats work wouldn’t be compatible with my mac but it has been absolutely fine! I just had to download this programme called statplus which had all the data analysis tools on it and in some places was better to use than on Microsoft word! - Jemma Buchalter

Thank you. I have managed to install it :) . - Arnold Gangaidzo

This article highlights the importance of aseptic techniques and strict practises when handling genomes. We are taught all about this in our #BS1009 practicals where we have to practice aseptic techniques such as; working right next to the Bunsen burner, not keeping the lid off an agar plate for a prolonged period of time and wearing latex gloves. The example used in this article is that scientists examining people’s genomes sequences may contaminate the sample with there own DNA thus giving wrong information to the patient about possible diseases they may or may not have. It is difficult to keep a sample completely uncontaminated but it is also extremely important, so tighter lab practices need to be enforced! - Jemma Buchalter from Bookmarklet

yes me too!! My graph just don't look right! - Karina Bunting

I will! I'm just finding it difficult trying to remember how to use excel! - Jemma Buchalter

This week has felt like a very long week and I can’t wait for the weekend! The workload has started to get heavier and is a lot more stressful this semester when compared with last, especially the #BS1011 assignments. I am finding them very difficult and also annoying that I can’t do them on my laptop (I have a mac). However with a little help from my friends on the course I managed to complete this week’s assignment just in time! I will be glad when the excel stats work is over! We have started a new set of lectures in #MB1005 with a new lecturer, Professor Ketley, who seems to be very enthusiastic and a really good lecturer. I can see myself looking forward to his lectures. I am really enjoying the membranes and receptors module, it is a lot of work but extremely interesting. Dr Norman, who takes these lectures, is also a really good lecturer and makes the information easy to understand. However, I do wish that the membranes and receptors workshop was not the day after as I am... more... - Jemma Buchalter

| came across this article and found it extremely interesting. It is about how the detection of protein can indicate the risk of certain cancers developing. Scientists monitored levels of modified proteins and identify those who proceeded to secondary tumours with great accuracy. This finding is especially useful in rarer adrenal gland cancers, high levels of protein were shown to be present in cultures of metastatic cells from tumours of the colon, breast, head and neck. The modified enzyme is carboxypeptidase E, it is transported to the nucleus where it increases the activity of a gene involved in metastasis. This finding is a massive step forward in allowing the identification of patients with cancer most like to develop and spread thus allowing people at a high risk to be monitored more closely for signs of spreading so can be treated as appropriate. - Jemma Buchalter from Bookmarklet

Into our second week of semester two and it seems to be going a lot slower than week one! When I first saw the timetable for week 1 I thought it looked horrible but it actually went surprisingly quickly and was very enjoyable! However this week it is only Tuesday and it feels like the days are dragging on! The lectures and modules are all very interesting but the long breaks between them are such a nuisance. I’m glad to have finished my #BS1011 assignment before the deadline, I attended the help session to go over two questions, which thankfully I got correct! My aim to stay up to date with my lectures isn’t going so well at the moment but this weekend I’m going to have a big catch up weekend and get completely up to date! Tonight I’m going to go over all the genes lectures in preparation for tomorrow’s tutorial. - Jemma Buchalter

I found the tutorial and lecture we had today on genes extremely interesting #MB1005. It was fascinating how a change as small as one altered base pair in the DNA sequence can have such huge consequences (e.g. mutated glu to val results in sickle cell anaemia). I found this article interesting; it is about scientists finding another mutated gene that results in kidney cancer. It was already known that the main mutated gene involved in kidney cancer is the tumour suppressor VHL gene however, now a new gene has been discovered, the gene PBRM1, it has been found to be mutated in approximately a third of the cases of patients with kidney cancer. These mutations affect the packaging of DNA in cells, winding and unwinding, both of which are extremely important processes. So it is of extreme importance that we establish these genes affected so new personalised cancer therapies can be discovered allowing the exploitation of these mutations. - Jemma Buchalter

Only three days into semester two and I am already very busy as my timetable is extremely full, especially on a Thursday when I am at 9am until 6pm! So far I am enjoying the new modules, I found the genes tutorial really helpful today and I thought the lecture later on and the lecturer were both very good and interesting. The microbiology practical was helpful in refreshing my memory of aseptic techniques, gram positive and gram-negative bacteria. I am now looking forward to the membranes and receptors lecture tomorrow, I find these two topics extremely interesting. I just hope I’m not too tired at the end of the day to go over all of the work! - Jemma Buchalter

This article links in with our #MB1030 genomics essay and our first #MB1030 assignment on Professor Fry's lecture. It is an extremely interesting article explaining to us how cancer "cop-opts" into the immune by using fluorescent tags (which i did my #BS1010 nobel prize presentation on). This development has been found by studying the tumour of a zebrafish and is paving the way for potential therapies that eliminate the early stages of cancer in humans. This research gives us an amazing insight into the early stages of cancer and how we can possibly stop the cancer before it causes any serious damage. At the moment the human population is in need of discoveries like this one to become closer in finding a cure for cancer. - Jemma Buchalter

really interesting article indeed, considering I classified a zebrafish for my assignment - Khetase Chiwowa

same! well done jem! - Sarah Williams

Well done!! - Alice Baxter

goodluck too!! - Izzah Abdul Latiff

Well done :-) - Shubnum Razak

congradulations! - Paskuwal Kosalie Mendis

well done! i was a bit disappointed with my result this week, i would really like it is we got feedback on where we went wrong in the answer! - Sarah Williams

oh no :( hope you find them soon! if not you can have a look at mine! - Fiona Harrington

Hope my notes were helpful to you. I think we made good progress with our revision today, if we continue this until tuesday then at least we will know we have tried our best! - Alice Baxter

perhaps booking a library room and going through some questions on monday would benefit us all just to highlight any areas where we may be struggling, then we will have monday sfternoon and tuesday morning to re-reads notes on that area? - Sarah Williams

This article relates to my #MB1030 presentation topic gene therapy. Gene therapy has the potential to be a hugely beneficial treatment for people with genetic diseases however there are still many problems with gene therapy at the clinical stages. In gene therapy a therapeutic DNA gene is injected into the cell in place of the defective one in order to correct the genetic defect, with the use of a viral vector. However it has been a mystery as to where the beneficial gene ends up, so a large number of cells are infected with the new gene to increase the chance of the new gene ending up in the correct place. Scientists are now discovering ways to eliminate this lottery aspect of gene therapy and make it more of an exact science! - Jemma Buchalter

I had a look at the article and it seems really interesting, but I just wonder if the fact that the target is found on chromosomes, does this mean that retroviruses may only work on those with a specific chromosome? - Sebastian Sansom

Really liked it !!!! - Persefoni Ioannou

I thought the #BS1010 was easier this week so it shouldn't take you too long hopefully :) - Luke De Moya

yess, i just did it then and it didn't take half as long last weeks one! - Jemma Buchalter

At first I found it more of an annoyance and then forgot about it, but now I am using it more and finding it really interesting and useful. it is a good way of keeping up to date with things you are interested in and with lecture topics! I wouldn't say I was addicted yet but I no longer find it an annoyance! I am currently subscribed to 14 feeds but that increases when lecturers introduce new topics, as I add a feed relevant to that topic! - Jemma Buchalter

This article links to Dr Wilmots lecture for #MB1030 about animal testing. This article shows us how certain types of activists try to get animal testing banned, in this article the activists are abolitionists. In this article the activists have been very intimidating and persistent in their methods to get animal testing banned. Their methods involved relentlessly intimidating their victims for years, vandalising their property and ruining their reputations/ lives e.g. Some company directors had leaflets distributed near their homes falsely telling neighbours they were convicted pedophiles. The crown prosecutor came to the conclusion that the defendants were not legitimate animal welfare protesters but people who were prepared to carry out criminal acts, which tormented and deeply distressed their victims, sometimes over a number of years. There are many different people against animal testing but they have adapted to more peaceful and humane methods of protesting, which are more... - Jemma Buchalter

The article is related to my #MB1030 presentation topic, Gene therapy. Gene therapy is a very important technology that has the potential to save hundreds of thousands of life. Scientists are only at the beginning of developing methods of gene therapy but already success if being shown. This article shows the success of gene therapy in fighting against the fatal genetic disorder, X-SCID-X-linked severe combine immunodeficiency. Although this article focuses on just one boy it also tells us this treatment has been successful in nine other boys. What happens; a working copy of the defective gene is placed in the child's bone marrow cells in the body which are then left to hopefully grow and help restore the child's immune system. However there were serious risks/ side effects, the possibility of developing leukaemia, but these have now been corrected so that risk is much lower. This type of gene therapy is risky, only one third of X-SCID patients will find a fully matched donor and is... - Jemma Buchalter

I remember looking at this at A level when we did about genetic diseases and the immune system. It is so sad but I remember watching an inspiring video about how a boy's life was transformed by this type of gene therapy! - Rachel Bell

The help session I attended today was really helpful and enabled me to solve the few questions I had left! - Jemma Buchalter

This article links into our #MB1030 work we have been doing on haemoglobin. Sickle cell anaemia is a disease in which the red blood cells are no longer circular but sickle shape causing painful blockages in blood vessels, depletion of blood and severe anaemia. Now scientists are developing methods using stem cell transplant to treat this disease. There has been great difficulty in trying to get transplants to work in adults because the patients bone marrow needs to be destroyed first, however it has been successful in about 200 children. However after the proceed a great deal of intensive care is required thus many poorer countries, where the disease is prominent, are unable to provide this procedure. Another issue is finding suitable donors to supply the stem cells but this may be solved by being able to create stem cells from the patients own tissue and using gene therapy to correct the genetic mutation that causes sickle- cell anaemia. This procedure has been successfully completed... - Jemma Buchalter

Scientist think they have found a way of using chondroitin sulphate (CS) to develop new ternary complexes to improve the efficiency of gene delivery. They added the CS to cationic complexes to construct ternary complexes, which were then examined. The cationic polymers bound to pDNA to form cationic polypexes and the cationic liposomes bound to pDNA to form cationic lipoplexes. Showing that CS is able to contribute to polyplex-mediated gene delivery. so that gene delivery can be more effective and safer. Gene therapy is important in the treatment of many genetic diseases including haemophilia - Jemma Buchalter

Which module is this relevant to and how? - Dr Alan Cann

this is relevant to #MB1030 as my presentation I am giving is on gene therapy. - Jemma Buchalter

Pick the closest answer to your calculations. - Dr Alan Cann

i have had that problem too, its not really accurate but i just use the closest ones! - Jalpan Patel