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Mutant
altered sequences of DNA (typos in code)
Rebels
aberrant proteins (people that bring code to life)
Invaders
unwelcome in brain (obstacles that block train tracks)
Evaders
not there when needed (fuel required to move train)
Dr. Friedrich Meischer
discovered DNA in pus
no one believed it
Scientists studied proteins instead
Dr. Oswald Avery
Tested how bacteria could adapt and pass down traits
Discovered that DNA had traits, not protein
How many nucleotides long is DNA?
over 3 billion nucleotides long
Huntington disease
involuntary movements and loss of voluntary movement
Creates protein that clogs brain cells
Medicine created to stop dangerous proteins from being synthesized
Nancy Wexler
Had a chance of Huntington disease
Researched how to find the gene
Cut up DNA like beads to compare
Tags
Used to find specific parts of the genome
Normal DNA (vs Huntington)
CAG repeat <35 times
Huntington DNA
CAG repeat 40+ times
La Bobera
early onset alzheimer’s in a family in Colombia
Largest cohort of people with familial alzheimer’s
Why did researchers want to study la bobera?
In their 40s so other diseases couldn’t affect research
Consistent decline
Dr. Alois Alzheimer
studied Auguste Deter
discovered Alzheimer’s disease
Camera Lucida
light-bending tool that reflected the images from a microscope onto a flat surface
Auguste Deter’s brain was..
a fraction of the size it should’ve been
Tangly substance and plaque in her neurons, way more than dementia patients
What was in Auguste’s neurons?
Tangly substance and plaque in her neurons, way more than dementia patients
Tubingen
university where DNA and Alzheimer’s were studied/discovered
Presenilin 1
gene that la bobera has mutated to cause alzheimers
(GAA → GCA)
Causes waste to not be able to be taken out of the brain
Chromosone 21
extra of this (down syndrome) almost all develop alzheimer’s
Piedrahita
first la bobera to survive alzheimer’s to age 70
Danny Goodman
died of frontotemporal dementia
became hypersexual
gave no privacy
Arnold Pick
german psychiatrist
Found that dementia could be focal and not just diffuse
Found different types of focal diseases
Anna Jirinec
left half of brain was 13% smaller
Left temporal lobe
mediates language
Focal processes
affect particular part of the brain (tumors and strokes)
Diffuse processes
attack the whole brain (senile dementia)
Picks Disease
frontotemporal dementia
Chromosome 17
GRN gene mutation for Pick’s disease, C instead of T
3 parts of proteins
albumin, fibrin, and gelatin (all contain nitrogen)
Proteins
cut, merge, transform other molecules and structural support and mediate cell division
Coup d'etat
proteins attacking our own brain cells
Lauren Kane
NMDA receptor encephalitis
antibody stuck to her NMDA receptor, caused similar effects to PCP
PCP: phenylcyclohexyl piperidine (aka sernyl)
affects limbic (emotional) system
Ovarian tumors are found in 50% of _____________ cases (⅕ have a relapse)
NMDA receptor antibody
Mike Bellows
whole body contractions and agitation
Dr. Grey McCarthy
discovered antibody that stuck to glycine receptors
Santiago Ramon y Cajal
discovered that nervous system wasn’t continuous (individual neurons)
Otto Loewi
discovered messenger molecules for long distances between neurons (neurotransmitters)
Neurotransmitters
adrenaline, dopamine, and serotonin
Glycine
neurotransmitter that lets us relax
Kuru
mystery disease in Papua New Guinea, wilted neurons
laughing and tremors
Dr. Vincent Zigas
researched Kuru
Dr. Daniel Carleton Gajdusek
compared Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie and found they were all contagious
Joe Holloway
damaged brain tissue, died from Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
deadly, caused difficulty w/ movement, language, and behavior (people acted celebratory)
Alfons Maria Jakob
discovered Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease
scrapie
causes sheep to scrape wool off
Kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, and scrapie
all were contagious, had microscopic similarities of Spongiform encephalopathies
Spongiform Encephalopathies
neurons melting away leaving spongy brain
Encephalopathy
derived from Greek work meaning “brain suffering”
Fore tribe
women and children ate brains of deceased (spread Kuru specifically in the tribe)
Once cannibalism stopped in fore tribe…
Kuru went extinct
Spongiform Encephalopathies had ____ traits
herculean (could survive heat/time/pressure)
Dr. Stanley Prusiner
sifted through brain and discovered protein that caused Spongiform encephalopathies
Prion
infectious proteins (all people have it but different shape between healthy and SE)
healthy prion
extends in stiff helices (stretched frozen slinkys)
unhealthy prions
unfolded helices and protein crumples onto itself (cause healthy prions to become SE to multiply)
SE diseases
mad cow disease (UK meat eaters), fatal familial insomnia (sleeplessness that causes death)
Dr. Sonia Vallabh
researching DNA-like molecule that could cure prions
small molecules
no more than 50x the size of a water molecule (can freely go in and out of cells)
Francois Magendie
he proved that what we eat is important (thought we just needed protein)
Casimir Funk
found deficiencies from missing molecules
Vitamine
vital + amine (arrangement of N and H atoms)
Why was E taken away from vitamine
not all vitamins have Nitrogen
Vitamin B12 deficiency
weight loss surgery or vegetarianism (smoldering confusion, limp limbs, difficulty sensing where the arms and legs are in space)
vitamin b6 deficiency
medications (seizures, dementia, confusion)
vitamin b1 deficiency
(false memories)
____ of all americans have a prescribed medication
half
___% of americans fill more than 5 prescriptions a month
12
__% of pescriptions are made of small molecules
90
biologics
medications made from proteins and DNA-like molecules
small molecules are…
more heat stable, simpler to purify, and easier to package in pills
Small molecules in medicines can have
bad side effects
Parkinson’s disease medication can cause
compulsive gambling
seizure medication can cause
word finding difficulties
abraham lincoln
rage caused by Blue Mass
blue mass
mercury (Hg) used as medicine
⅓ Hg by weight
Licorice root
Glycerol
Rose water
Honey
Hibiscus petals
Norbert Hisschhorn
he researched lincoln and the blue mass pills
First emperor of Qin dynasty died of __, resting side with rivers of _, not explored
Hg - mercury
Lewis and Clark
took thunderclappers, mercury deposits found from diarrhea
Calomel
mercury used for teething kids
“_ pints of saliva per day from Hg”
3
Mercury
Changes calcium levels of neurons making them fire when they shouldn’t
Some can change shape of neurons
Causes nervous system to sabotage itself
mercury given to children
wild behavioral changes, insomniacs, depression, hallucinations
year that less than 1% of calls to poison control were about mercury
2019
disease of celebrities
high levels of methylmercury from fish
arsenic
debunked medicine for leprosy, psoriasis, and malaria
gold
debunked medicine for tuberculosis
Lisa park
lost ability to walk well, began getting fake memories, alcoholic, low thiamine levels (34 nanomoles per liter)
She got the same medicine as Lauren Kane and Mike Bellows to stop toxic antibodies but it didn’t work
multiple neuritis
Dr. Sergei Sergeievich Korsakoff
researched multiple neuritis
Arkady Volkov
arms and legs weakened, couldn’t remember anything, fake memories, alcoholic
multiple neuritis
nerves between spine and limbs were destroyed so arms and legs had become weak, multiple bc affected lots of neurons throughout the body, caused by lack of thiamine
Korsakoff’s syndrome
strange cognitive profile that sometimes accompanies multiple neuritis, fake memories and memory loss
Christiaan Eijkman
studied multiple neuritis on chickens (got sick after eating only white rice and got better after brown rice)
Late 1800’s: outbreak of ____ in Dutch troops
18 men died a day
multiple neuritis
dedek
stuff taken out of brown rice to make white rice had nutrient
aneurin
anti-multiple neuritis product in brown rice, changed to thiamine bc of sulfur
Thio
greek word for sulfur