The Sharks Potential in the Cure for Human Cancer
Thumbing through the pages of Business Week, the headline read Maybe Jaws Can Put the Bite on Cancer. Interested, I continued to read the short article. According to the reporter, Otis Port, researchers at California State University in Fresno say that they have isolated four substances in shark cartilage that appear to inhibit cancer (93). Curious, I continued to read the rest of the article. The chemicals block a mechanism discovered in the mid-1980s at Harvard University: Tumor cells secrete a protein called angiogenin that entices blood vessels to grow close to cancers and nourish them. The shark extracts counteract angiogenin and the tumor starves (93). I sat there pondering the concept and decided that I would further investigate this intoxicating find.
Physiology of the Shark
The Immune System
It is obvious that the sharks and rays of the ocean have existed for a tremendous length of time, 450 million years to be exact. They have survived without dying from bacterial infections, diseases or viruses. This may be because their immune system has changed minutely over those 450 million years. It seems that cartilaginous fish have four different classes of immunoglobulin and that shark antibodies lack the specificity that permits recognition of the subtle differences between two similar types of bacteria (Litman, 68). Sharks antibodies lack the capacity to bind more strongly to an antigen during the course of a prolonged immune response, which has been determined to be an advantage in fighting infection (Litman, 68). Some would think that this inhibits the shark from being able to fight off anything. However, this ancient immune system benefits the shark wholeheartedl...
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...he big question is, how far do we push it and are we going to exterminate the main killing machine of the watery ecosystem with the quest for our own survival? It remains a mystery.
Bibliography
Altman, Lawrence K. ìShark Substance Found to Limit Tumor Growth.î New York Times 1 May 1996: A15.
Beardsley, Tim. ìSharks Do Get Cancer.î Scientific American October 1994: 24-25.
Hooper, Judith. ìUnconventional Cancer Treatments.î Omni February- March 1993: 59-62.
Lane, Dr. I. William, and Linda Comac. Sharks Donít Get Cancer. Garden City Park: Avery Publishing Group Inc., 1992.
Litman, Gary W. ìSharks and the Origin of Vertebrate Immunity.î Scientific American November 1996: 67-71.
Mestel, Rosie. ìSharksí Healing Powers.î Natural History September 1996: 40-47.
Ports, Otis. ìMaybe Jaws Can Put the Bite on Cancer.î Business Week 21 November 1994:93.
This article looks at the impact of having an energetically costly immune system on the rest of the body’s functional traits. This article found that crickets metabolic rates were heritable and that there was no connection between immune functions and metabolic rate.
"Position Page: To What Extent Does Globalization Contribute to Sustainable Prosperity for All People? - Economics and Enviroment." Position Page: To What Extent Does Globalization Contribute to Sustainable Prosperity for All People? - Economics and Enviroment. N.p., n.d. Web. 09 Jan. 2014.
Sharks have also been subjected to medical research, games and competitions, jewellery, souvenirs and cosmetics. We need to take into consideration that sharks play a vital role in the natural world that we live in. it is imperative that we look after these majestic creatures and ensure they remain protected. We need to be aware of the dangers of sharks, swim in protected areas where there are shark nets, and do not swim after dark in the sea (especially not alone) as the sea is the sharks home. Humans should also be wearing wet suits as protection in the ocean. The sea is where they live, they swim freely and they eat – they do not particularly target humans but rather prey on food that is available to them in their habitat.
In 2015 only 59 shark attacks have occurred around the world compared to the millions of sharks killed by humans every year. Due to these accidental shark attacks people tend to think that sharks, especially Great Whites are evil creatures with malice intentions when attacks do occur; but, on the contrary that is wrong. Sharks are not the only beautiful and unique creatures in the ocean, they also play a vital role in our ecosystem; however, due to human interference they might not be around much longer, through awareness sharks can be protected from endangerment.
Thesis: Sharks should be conserved because they are an important part of the ocean, attacks are often incidental, and human behavior influences the behavior of sharks.
In today’s world poverty is not only viewed in terms of average income/wealth, but as the lower end of distribution regarding income, education, health accessibility, nutrition, productivity, participation in politics, etc. Thus, poverty is defined as the “economic condition in which people lack sufficient income to obtain certain minimal levels of health services, food, housing, clothing, and education generally recognized as necessary to ensure an adequate standard of living” (Funk & Wagnall 1). Adequate, however, depends on the standard of living for each country.
Most people think that sharks are large, fast-swimmers, and savage predators. This is true of some species and groups should be interested of the appealing aspects of biology found within it: all sharks have an excellent sense of smell; some can detect electrical discharges; some sharks give birth to one of the
Without sleep humans would struggle more than a teenager in high school. Sleep is a fundamental part of human life. Sleep helps the human body remain in homeostasis, or maintaining stability. Highschoolers are notorious for falling asleep in class, right? Well actually teenagers have different sleep schedule than other adults. In fact, if the groups are aggregated into ages, not all of the groups are not receiving the amount of sleep that the groups should be. But there are ways to better a sleep schedule. The people that don’t receive enough sleep and don’t want to fall victim the ailments of sleep deprivation should adhere to these rules. Sleep is one of the most important parts of our lives and we need to understand how to get a good amount.
People often do not know how crucial sleep is to the body or how much they should be sleeping. This can lead someone to forego sleeping the adequate amount of hours a night. A sleep deprived individual may unknowingly attribute short term and long term effects of sleep loss to something other than sleep loss. These effects of sleep loss can show up in many aspects of someone’s life. One’s wellbeing and success in academics can be adversely impact loss of sleep. Sleeping a minimum number of hours a night is necessary to maintain academic performance, mental health, and physical health.
Sleep Deprivation is a growing concern in modern day with people in general especially students. The lack amount of sleep students get on a daily basis has a huge impact over their lives. Sleep is essential for everyone and has a significant contribution. However, in today’s society young adolescents are receiving less time of sleep due to many reasons. Although, many do not realize as they lose more sleep there are bad side effects that come along with that which could potentially hurt these students internally and externally. Foremost, sleep deprivation needs to be regulated in order to refix how students are sleeping and to better reflect on each and every individual.
However, not everyone gets the 7-9 hours of sleep they need on a regular basis. In a study done by the National Institute of Health, one-third of Americans get less than 7 hours of sleep and more than 70% of high school students are not getting enough sleep on a school night (National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute 2012). Sleep deprivation is slowly becoming a global issue that the general population, especially students, are not very concerned about. This lack of concern is worrisome because sleep deprivation can have negative effects on a person’s lifestyle, especially on their physical health and their performance in
There is and has been a clash between Islam and the Western nations which has been becoming more and more apparent, increasingly so in in the 21st century. The clash is based on a fallacious understanding that has shaped the worldview of generations of Europeans and Americans that has progressively found its way into Western scholarship. This worldview’s roots were developed early on in the European-Christian ethos and its ideological tree now produces fruits that are fed mouth to mouth by the talking heads of modern political movements. This paper will attempt to present the recent perception of Islam in the West and how it developed and effected American society.
Poverty, also know as the “silent killer” (Causes of Poverty), exists in every corner of the world. The death rate of poor children is a staggering number; about 9 million die each year. Some view poverty as people not being able to afford an occupational meal or having to skip a meal to save money. This isn’t true poverty; poverty is where people live on $1.25 or less a day. According to Causes of Poverty, 1.4 billion people live like this. Even more shocking than the last statistic is that half of the world’s population lives on $2.50 per day.
Has anyone ever considered thinking about what the world is really going through? How many people don’t have the necessities in order to survive? If so, what are these people going through? Poverty is the state of one who lacks a standard or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions. Sometimes events occur that changes a person’s perspective on life. Poverty is one that can have a huge effect on not only one person, but also the people around him/her. Over half of the world is going through this tragedy and we, being the ones who created it, have the responsibility to end it.
The turbulent world we live in today has countless imperfections. John Esposito, a professor in Georgetown University, states both alternative and intriguing ideas on the future of Islam and its upcoming era of reformation. The main issue is the extremists and fanatics who use Islam in order to justify their terrorist actions. Furthermore the Western media has stained the religion of Islam to the point where Muslim-West foreign relations have declined since the 1970’s. As stated by Esposito within his book, “The Future of Islam”, Islam had become the center stage of media networks and many news agencies; one witnessed “an explosion of interest in and coverage of Islam.” Islam has since then become a sensationalized topic and also has become the headlines of the 21st century’s history. Esposito further states how this misconception of Islam is a controversial and important role in today’s politics. Today’s Muslim population of over 1.5 billion people plays an integral role in today’s global history and Western society. Esposito’s main objective of this book is to explain “how we got to where we are and what we need to understand and do to create… ‘a new way forward’.” Esposito also explains throughout his book how Islam has been both a “source not only of compassion, morality, and virtue but also of terror, injustice, and oppression.” His ideas can be thought of as both promising and controversial to say the least.