It is a pleasure to welcome Dr. Wim Steelant, Dean of the College of STEM, to present our seminar this coming Friday. Dean Steelant will discuss the role of medicinal plants in drug discovery. I hope very much you will be an engaged audience.
Moreover, please be sure to thank Dean Steelant. He is providing pizza for everyone in attendance. Drinks are on your own!!!
I enjoyed Dr. Steelant’s presentation. It was interesting to hear how he was never entirely sure about what he wanted to do in college, but he made it to where he is now, gaining a lot of research experience along the way. His research on medicinal plants was particularly fascinating to me. I was not aware that aspirin was derived from the willow tree, or that taxol was derived from the yew tree- we don’t typically think about things like where drugs come from when we are taking them, but it is amazing that common drugs that many of us take regularly are derived from plants. It was also fascinating to learn that so many anti-cancer drugs are derived from plants. Although there are many plant-derived drugs that are beneficial to our health, he also discussed some plants that have a toxic effect and can cause illness or even death. What did you guys find most interesting about the presentation?
ReplyDeleteI am glad you enjoyed the talk. We lost so much knowledge on the power of nature. Sad!
DeleteI thought that Dr. Steelant's presentation was very informative! Like Amina, I did not know about anti-cancer drugs being derived from plants. It was also interesting to see that many uses for plants that we have come from the Native Americans. I wonder if the Native Americans were not colonized by the Europeans, would our medical treatments be more plant based than they are now?
ReplyDeleteI found the presentation really interesting and informative. Growing up, my family used a lot of home remedies that involved the use of a lot of plants and natural products for medicinal purposes and overall well being. Like Dr. Steelant mentioned, many normally scoff at the idea of natural or holistic treatments for things but there can be some truth to it. Nettle leaf, for example, has been used to alleviate joint ache and arthritis but it is not until recently that research has shown that Hox alpha, an extract from nettle, helps suppress Interleukin-1beta that is involved in stimulating matrix metalloproteinase expression under inflammatory conditions associated with inflammatory joint disease. What was most interesting to me and is important to remember is that just because it is natural does not always mean it is good for you. Like the dean said, many people are not aware of the effects of dosage or their combination with other medicines. Ginger, for example, can be helpful in alleviating nausea and arthritis pain but consuming too much can actually cause rashes, ironically nausea, and can interfere with anticoagulant medication. So it is always important to pay attention to what you are consuming and how much!
ReplyDeleteIm there with Ludmila, sometimes medicinal plants can be a boon. Cultures all over the world have been using natural remedies for years, and perhaps we have a little bit to learn from some of these cultures.
ReplyDeleteI think people underestimate the capabilities of plants, sometimes. We think of "Species" in mammals very differently than species of plants. Speciation of plants isn't always as obvious as speciation in the Animalia kingdom, yet two different species of plants can be VERY different in composition and physiology, despite seeming to look similar. I think theres a lot of valuable information to be gathered from studying plants, and we tend to underestimate this value.
Continuing on Josh's point... there is a tremendous amount of information that we can obtain from studying the interaction of plants with our bodies. However, plant remedies are often looked down upon, and even demonized for political interest. This is most noticeably shown by the scheduling of cannabis (schedule 1), which makes it difficult to obtain for research. Even low THC-high CBD strains, that have been shown to diminish seizures in individuals, are under the same scheduling. It's ridiculous that something found in nature that has medicinal benefits can be looked upon as a last resort to the cocktail of drugs that some individuals are on.
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed Dr. Steelant's presentation. I learnt a lot about anti-cancer plants, to be honest I had no idea tgere were anti-cancer plants. However, I was really fascinated with Dr. Steelant's journey of finding what he really enjoys doing. I am sure all of us are trying to figure out what we going to do with life, but what I learnt from his speech is that we shouldnt be afraid of changes. He travelled all the way from Belgium to end up where he is right now.I know it's not really related to Biology,but this is what I found to be impressive and motivational.
ReplyDeleteThe use of medicinal plants to combat illness is as old as humankind. For centuries, Native peoples of various cultures have used plants as medicine for all sorts of healing. Unfortunately the modern view of plants is very different from what it was. We were once connected to nature, honored and respected nature, and tapped into its greatest medicinal potential, where plants were viewed and appreciated with utmost reverence.
ReplyDeleteIn my opinion and in view of Dr steelant’s presentation, herbal medicine still hold immense potential that if tapped into through scientific research, can entirely revolutionize healthcare as it stands currently
Titin is the largest polypeptide and is found in high concentration in heart and skeletal muscle. It is encoded by TNN gene and expressed in multiple isoforms because of alternative splicing. Connecting the Z line to the M line in the sarcomere, it play an important role contraction of striated muscles and contributes to force transmission at the Z line and resting tension in the I band region. It is entirely responsible for passive force generated by muscles as it limits the range of motion of the sarcomere in tension. Besides, Titin helps in organizing of the thick and thin filaments during sarcomere assembly. It also contains protein kinase domains responsible for muscle gene expression. A case study cited by Dr walker was the rippling muscle, a malfunction associated with this particular Titin domain. In his presentation Dr Walker also used sequence homology the exists in the Titin polypeptide of different organisms including Clytia hemispaeric (jelly fish) and Dosophilia to advance an augment that Titin has been evolving for the past 4 million years.
ReplyDeleteQuestion:
How has alternative splicing and point mutation contributed in evolution of Titin polypeptide