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by Charlie Snow
I know reality TV can be a little annoying, however, Deadliest Catch is one reality TV show I will not let fall into this category. Documenting the lives of crab fishermen from season to season, there’s a lot to keep track of when watching: who’s inheriting the boat, friendships, fights, deaths, arrests. The most important part of Deadliest Catch, the thing that keeps the show going, however, is crab. So welcome to a biological explanation of all the crabs of Deadliest Catch. “All the crabs” really just refers to two types of crab, King crab and Opilio crab. During October, the boats race to collect their quotas of king crab and in January, they do the same for opilio crab, with seasons lasting from as little as four days to up to four weeks. Each crab season is filled with drama, disaster, and death, and yet little is known about either species. King crab is arguably the most well known crab species. With a leg span of up to five feet and spiky shells reaching up to 11 inches, these crabs are some of the largest in the ocean. Typically, these creatures reside in waters only 28-55 degrees Fahrenheit and can be found, “in the Bering Sea and Aleutian Islands, along the coast of the Gulf of Alaska, and south to British Columbia, Canada,” according to the National Oceanic and AtmosphericAdministration (NOAA). These crabs can range from brown to a cold bluish red in color and have two distinctly different sized claws, a larger one for catching prey and a smaller one for more delicate handling of the food. Each female crab can up to 500,000 eggs at a time and once they have grown to be a decent size (which they do through shedding their old skin and growing a new one) King crab don’t really have that many predators unless they’ve just molted. These crabs average out to be around 6-8 pounds but have been known to reach almost 20 pounds and a pound of king crab can cost as little as $33, making them one of the most affordable crabs on the market. Last year, the total Alaskan king crab catch totalled at about 6 million pounds, worth of $73 million dollars. Another interesting fact about these crab is that only male king crab are allowed to be harvested, and there are over 120 differest species that fall under the umbrella term of ‘king crab’. Only three species, however, are commercially fished Opelio crabs, though less well knows, are also important for bringing in the money. Also known as snow crabs, these creatures have four pairs of walking legs as opposed to the king crab (which only has three). Their shells are much rounder and have less spikes than king crabs and their coloring ranges from brownish on top to a pale yellow on their bellies. Opelio live at shallower depths than king crab and can be found, “off the coast of Alaska in the Bering, Beaufort, and Chukchi Seas.” With only a 6 inch shell diameter, these crabs are much smaller than king crab, however, once snow crab have reached maturity, they undergo a terminal molt, meaning they never molt again after that, as opposed to the king crab’s regular molting. Opelio crab are known to live about 20 years and are preyed on by a wide variety of creatures such as, “seals, sea otters, octopi, other crabs, and a wide variety of fish.” Opelio crab is usually sold in clusters that go for 20$-28$ per pound. Like king crab, only male opelios may be harvested, and in 2020 almost 37 million pounds of opelio were harvested, totaling at over $101 million. So no matter what tricks are pulled, what ships struggle, who betrays who in the desperate search for crab, let’s remember the reason all of it happens. As many of the crewmen and captains say on Deadliest Catch, “Crab in king.” https://www.fisheries.noaa.gov/species/red-king-crab
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by Simran Jayasinghe
Maybe it was a case of strep throat, an ear infection, or pneumonia that prompted you to take a trip to your doctor’s office, expecting to be prescribed a quick course of antibiotics and be sent on your way. We have come to think of antibiotics as as a quick, easy fix for a wide range of problems, but their efficacy may be changing due to something called antibiotic resistance. Let’s briefly go over how antibiotics work. Antibiotics are used to treat bacterial infections. They are not effective against viral infections, and therefore cannot be used to treat a cold, the flu, COVID-19, or any other disease caused by a virus. There are a few different ways that antibiotics work. Some antibiotics prevent the bacterial cell from making a specific molecule that provides structure and strength to its cell wall, weakening the cell wall to the point where the bacterial cell cannot survive in the human body. Some antibiotics stop a bacterial cell from making proteins, therefore blocking important functions and making it unable to multiply in the human body. Different types of antibiotics work in different ways, but they all end up making the bacterial cells unable to survive in the human body, killing them. Since their discovery, antibiotics have been used to fight many different bacterial infections. But like all living things, bacteria adapt to survive, and we have started to see more cases of bacteria that have adapted to be resistant to certain antibiotics. There are a few different ways that bacteria can develop antibiotic resistance. One is taking antibiotics too often. If someone has taken antibiotics to fight against a certain type of bacterial infection many times, the bacteria will become more and more resistant to the antibiotic. Bacteria can also acquire antibiotic resistance when antibiotics are used incorrectly. If someone takes antibiotics to try and treat a viral infection, the antibiotics will target bacteria in your body that weren’t causing an infection, causing this bacteria to adapt and gain antibiotic resistance to protect itself. If this bacteria becomes a problem in the future, the type of antibiotics that targeted it before may not be effective. This can be a problem in healthcare, as patients with antibiotic-resistant infections may need stronger antibiotics or different types of antibiotics. In some cases, no antibiotic will work on a certain bacterial infection. These drug-resistant bacterial infections can be dangerous and even deadly. It is important that healthcare providers and individuals take steps to reduce the risk of acquiring antibiotic-resistant infections. For healthcare providers, these steps include being careful of how often antibiotics are prescribed, and evaluating if antibiotics are really necessary, even when patients ask for them. For individuals, this means taking antibiotics as prescribed; not saving prescribed antibiotics for later use, taking antibiotics prescribed for someone else, or taking antibiotics for viral infections. This can also mean checking if antibiotics are necessary when given a prescription by your healthcare provider. Did you learn something new about antibiotics/antibiotic resistance? Let us know in the comments! Sources: LiveScience, https://www.livescience.com/44201-how-do-antibiotics-work.html CDC (Centers for Disease Control), https://www.cdc.gov/drugresistance/about.html It’s World Cancer Day and we wanted to share some organizations to support! All of our picks are nonprofits dedicated to promoting cancer awareness and research, and we want to note that they are great places to learn about cancer and cancer research regardless of if you contribute or not!
⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ We know that making a donation is not always an option, so our first spotlighted organization has a way to contribute that is completely free! The Linda W. Daniel Foundation’s #MoveMeMonday initiative requires participants to get moving! For every 15 minutes of exercise (or every 1 mile of running/biking/swimming etc) that participants complete on each Monday, LWDF raises 1 dollar to support cancer organizations! To learn more, click here. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The Roman Thompson foundation is bringing awareness to childhood cancer, specifically neuroblastoma. Their website allows you to choose a research initiative to support, and track the use your donation! Their current initiatives are the Precision Medicine Program, and a Neuroblastoma drug trial. To learn more, click here. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀ The American Association for Cancer Research, and the American Cancer Society are both great resources to check out! They provide important information about cancer and cancer research, and they both accept donations. By Simran Jayasinghe 
(click on the link above to download visual poster) Malaria is a disease caused by a parasite typically spread through infected mosquitos, although in rare cases it can also be spread through exposure to blood that is already infected with the malaria parasite. When the malaria parasites enter a person’s body, they infect the liver and multiply. After the parasites mature, they start to infect red blood cells, at which point people start to show malaria symptoms. In the red blood cells, the parasites multiply, destroying the cell. Daughter parasites are released, which then enter other red blood cells and continues the cycle. (cdc.gov, 3/26/2021) . Recent research has found, that the malaria parasite also hijacks the cell’s actin and uses it to transport adhesins to the cell surface, making the red blood cells sticky, which can lead to blockage in blood circulation and other malaria complications. (nature.com, 3/27/2021)
Malaria is typically found in warm and wet climates, since mosquitos and parasites survive best under these conditions. Although malaria in the U.S has been eliminated, other than imported cases, it still remains an issue in other parts of the world, such as sub-Saharan Africa and other parts of Africa, as well as south Asia, parts of east Asia, and parts of south America. In 2019, there was an estimated 229 million cases and 409,000 deaths from malaria worldwide. (cdc.gov, 3/26/2021) Sickle Cell Sickle cell disease is caused by one amino acid mutation in the beta chain of the hemoglobin protein. Red blood cells that have normal hemoglobin are usually round, smooth, and circulate unobstructed through blood vessels. People with sickle cell disease have the mutated gene and abnormal hemoglobin (hemoglobin S or HbS), which causes their red blood cells to be hard and c-shaped, or sickle shaped. The sickle cells’ shape means that they don’t circulate through blood vessels well, and can block blood flow, which can lead to complications such as strokes and pain episodes, as well as causing damage to organs such as the kidneys, spleen, and liver. The sickled red blood cells are also destroyed quickly, which causes anemia. People with sickle cell disease have a shorter life expectancy than the general population, with a national median life expectancy of 42-47 years. (hematology.org, 3/28/2021) The gene for sickle cell is recessive gene, so in order for an individual to have sickle cell disease, they need to inherit two copies of the mutated gene. If an individual inherits only one copy of HbS (mutated hemoglobin) and one copy of HbA (normal hemoglobin) , they are carriers of the sickle cell trait. The sickle cell trait does demonstrate incomplete dominance, which means that people with the sickle cell trait will have both normal red blood cells and sickled red blood cells. Carriers of the sickle cell trait have slightly more hemoglobin A than hemoglobin S, which keeps their red blood cells functioning as normal. (See diagrams in poster above.) In 2010, over 305,000 babies were born with sickle cell disease, and more than 100 million people live with sickle cell trait worldwide. (hematology.org, 3/27/2021) (ncbi.nlm.nih.gov, 3/27/2021) How Sickle Cell Affects Malaria By the rules of natural selection, the gene responsible for a deadly disease such as sickle cell anemia should have been removed from the population, yet we see that the gene is very prominent in certain populations. Recently, scientists found that people with the sickle cell trait, or carriers, have some protection against the fatality of malaria. People with sickle cell trait can still get infected with malaria, but after they are infected, the sickle cell mutation prevents the malaria parasite from causing damage. The sickle cell mutation also prevents the parasite from sending adhesins to the cell’s surface, making the cell less sticky and therefore preventing malaria-related complications. (ncbi.nih.gov, 3/27/2021) However, people who are homozygous and have sickle cell disease do not have this protection. (malariajournal.biomedcentral.com, 3/28/2021) Why is this important? These observations explain why the gene still remains in the human population. Since the gene provides protection against a potentially fatal disease, individuals who have the trait tend to survive in regions where malaria is endemic. These individuals have a higher chance of passing on the gene to their offspring, leading to a higher frequency of the gene in these populations. (evolution.berkeley.edu,) Literature Cited can be found in visual poster (download above). |
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