tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-87164750600002357412024-02-07T19:53:10.443+01:00biocomiche.it - la scienza leggera da leggereBiocomiche spiega la scienza ad adulti e bambini in maniera leggera, semplice, divertente, ma sempre in maniera affidabile!
Se volete scoprire il meccanismo dei farmaci che hanno fatto la storia, delle malattie e delle cure più diffuse; conoscere i segreti di cosmetici, prodotti industriali e biotecnologici; capire come funzionano le cellule, gli organi e tutto il nostro corpo, incluse le sue parti più nascoste; esplorare il mondo dei funghi, dei batteri e dei virus: siete nel posto giusto!biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.comBlogger113125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-28145716557366583492018-10-08T13:12:00.000+02:002018-10-08T13:12:25.264+02:00RADICALI LIBERI, DNA E CANCRO (VIDEO) - [Episodio n. 3 della serie: Nascita vita e opere dei radicali liberi]<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/249086344" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="520"></iframe><br />biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-3083913097988361442018-10-08T13:05:00.000+02:002018-10-08T13:12:53.301+02:00SUPEREROI CONTRO I RADICALI LIBERI: GLI ANTIOSSIDANTI (VIDEO) - [Episodio n. 2 della serie: Nascita vita e opere dei radicali liberi]<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/249086154" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="520"></iframe><br />biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-56025406486015056882018-09-11T11:11:00.002+02:002018-10-08T13:13:14.266+02:00LA CATASTROFE DELL'OSSIGENO E I RADICALI LIBERI (VIDEO) - [Episodio n. 1 della serie: Nascita vita e opere dei radicali liberi]<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="390" mozallowfullscreen="" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/249085982" webkitallowfullscreen="" width="520"></iframe><br />biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-2692898635980578422017-01-12T19:30:00.000+01:002017-01-12T19:30:45.135+01:00Trigliceridi (triglycerides) (#glossariobiocomico)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Sono un con<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">centrato di <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">energia.<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"> P</span>er questo <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">costituisco<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">no la principale </span>riserva energetica <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">del </span>nostro corpo (<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">= <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">la <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">panza</span></span>)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">spesso <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">solo <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"> accumulata</span></span> e mai utilizzata. Sono la riserva energetica anche <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">di molti animali e piante, quindi <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">fanno anche parte della nostra dieta.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">S</span>ono sempre formati da tre <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><i>acidi grassi</i> attaccati a un suppor<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">to fatto di <i>glicerolo</i> (per questo si chiamano tr<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">i</span>-gliceridi). <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">P</span>er non annoiarsi, <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">cercano di variare il più possibile il proprio assortiment<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">o <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">di acidi grassi<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">, scegliendoli </span>più o meno l<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">ung<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">hi</span> e più o meno caric<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">hi</span> (<i>satur</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">i</span></i>) </span>di atomi di <i>i</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><i>drogeno</i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">. <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Q</span>uest<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">e differenze re<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">lati<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">vamente piccole nella loro composizione</span></span></span> hanno <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">effetti</span> s<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">pesso </span>sproporzion<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">atamente importanti sulla serenità di chi li mangia.</span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span> </span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></span></div>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW3dj-wrfeVYqH12AwwacSjyvT-pNOXSJJqhL3onpqMu_VBITPYqGHAKHA9SF3Rh_2Vaq9VwjtMchqC_UbECRHMdo0L47NjD5AZwXQqMNzyi-DlZhQEjGnZdSb-4BsxcUmKM7CXY6FbfL/s1600/Il+trigliceride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="struttura dei trigliceridi /triglyceride structure" border="0" height="505" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPW3dj-wrfeVYqH12AwwacSjyvT-pNOXSJJqhL3onpqMu_VBITPYqGHAKHA9SF3Rh_2Vaq9VwjtMchqC_UbECRHMdo0L47NjD5AZwXQqMNzyi-DlZhQEjGnZdSb-4BsxcUmKM7CXY6FbfL/s640/Il+trigliceride.jpg" title="struttura dei trigliceridi /triglyceride structure" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I trigliceridi visti da/ Triglycerides depicted by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>.</td></tr>
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-56715108454755853912016-11-18T13:34:00.000+01:002016-11-18T13:43:48.143+01:00La celiachia - 3 minuti di salute (VIDEO) - per Zanichelli Editore<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Dopo una lunga gestazione, i video della serie "3 minuti di salute", sceneggiati da Danilo Allegra di <a href="http://biocomiche.it/">biocomiche.it</a> per la Zanichelli, sono finalmente pronti!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">I video trattano di alcuni argomenti di interesse pubblico (come la <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2013/04/celiachia-glutine-cellule-t-dendritiche-sistema-immunitario-natural-killer.html" target="_blank">celiachia</a>, i vaccini, la dipendenza dalle droghe e dal fumo) con una grafica semplice ma accattivante, contenuti come sempre rigorosi e un linguaggio appena un po' più "scolastico" di quello di biocomiche.it.</span><br />
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La serie di video è collegata ai libri di testo della Zanichelli, quindi è interamente disponibile solo per studenti e insegnanti (l'elenco completo dei titoli e i link per approfondire gli argomenti si possono trovare all'indirizzo <a href="http://online.scuola.zanichelli.it/sadavalanuovabiologiablu/3-minuti-di-salute">online.scuola.zanichelli.it/sadavalanuovabiologiablu/3-minuti-di-salute</a>).</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Tutti gli altri dovranno accontentarsi di questo video sulla celiachia, che la Zanichelli ha messo a disposizione di tutti sul suo account youtube.<br />
Buona visione!</span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="304" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/uSpd943CpLg" width="540"></iframe>biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-22645646005848887662016-05-03T18:04:00.001+02:002016-05-12T11:18:40.011+02:00Le cellule staminali / Stem cells explained (VIDEO)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Cosa sono le cellule staminali? Cosa le distingue dalle altre cellule del nostro corpo? Questo simpatico video di <a href="http://biocomiche.it/">biocomiche.it</a> vi aiuterà a chiarirvi le idee.</span><br />
<i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Questo progetto</span></span> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">è stato </span></span>ideato e realizzato da Danilo Allegra, con i disegni di <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a> e il supporto dell'<a href="http://www.discimus.it/" target="_blank">associazione DiSciMuS RFC</a>, per <a href="http://users2.unimi.it/unistem/index.php/archivio_unistemday/" target="_blank">Unistem 2016</a> (Napoli).</span></i><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><i>(ENGLISH) </i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">What are stem cells? What makes them different from other cells in our body? This funny video by <a href="http://biocomiche.it/">biocomiche.it</a> will help you understand these important cells.<br />
<i>This project - supported by the <a href="http://www.discimus.it/" target="_blank">association DiSciMuS RFC</a> - was designed and realized by Danilo Allegra, with drawings by <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>, for <a href="http://users2.unimi.it/unistem/index.php/archivio_unistemday/" target="_blank">Unistem 2016</a> (Naples). </i></span></span><br />
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-28956515731275934472016-03-08T19:18:00.000+01:002016-11-18T13:38:14.361+01:00Biocomiche @Unistem2016!<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Venerdì 11 marzo 2016, <i>biocomiche.it</i> <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">è andato di </span>nuovo in trasferta a Napoli, in occasione di <a href="http://users2.unimi.it/unistem/index.php/archivio_unistemday/" target="_blank">Unistem</a>, la manifestazione sulle <u>cellule staminali</u> organizzata dal laboratorio della senatrice a vita Elena Cattaneo.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhXyA-liAuFPO9TZf2vil-dJQ79f0BbDEtFj4lnzVSvV7tTq4oYgPCG1FpNIkU9spbNR3Yjk6suOXsScLujtcHSe2G1el_fMWZE5W0qQFUlHNf032V8vBwNTwULSZTbJhIyLUBkCZ6Vie/s1600/logo.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="131" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuhXyA-liAuFPO9TZf2vil-dJQ79f0BbDEtFj4lnzVSvV7tTq4oYgPCG1FpNIkU9spbNR3Yjk6suOXsScLujtcHSe2G1el_fMWZE5W0qQFUlHNf032V8vBwNTwULSZTbJhIyLUBkCZ6Vie/s320/logo.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L'Università Federico II di Napoli è una delle <a href="http://users2.unimi.it/unistem/index.php/lancio/in-arrivo-tutti-i-programmi-di-unistem-day-2016/" target="_blank">70 sedi sparse in vari paesi europei</a> che hanno partecipa<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">to</span> all'iniziativa (cliccate <a href="http://users2.unimi.it/unistem/wp/wp-content/uploads/NAfed_programma_IT1.pdf" target="_blank">qui</a> per scaricare il programma).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Anche noi di biocomiche.it - grazie alla sponsorizzazione dell'associazione <a href="http://www.discimus.it/" target="_blank">DiSciMuS RFC</a> - <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">abbiamo dato</span> il nostro contributo: <u><b>una breve presentazione disegnata sulle cellule staminali</b></u>, come sempre un po' matta e fuori dagli schemi.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFk-zk94LNDGaSFT_DBeRPRzAA-ezzk0kit5ji6vxpjU4bYXccd3Iu7N7IU1PWkAKaL7fV5SNRRtOkorl0JMS4eYCmcZka_FwDoYMbQhQL9czDEYjXDo8Uq-Oy6zWD8sK2uxZmQ7Bwo9F/s1600/IMG_3553.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgIFk-zk94LNDGaSFT_DBeRPRzAA-ezzk0kit5ji6vxpjU4bYXccd3Iu7N7IU1PWkAKaL7fV5SNRRtOkorl0JMS4eYCmcZka_FwDoYMbQhQL9czDEYjXDo8Uq-Oy6zWD8sK2uxZmQ7Bwo9F/s400/IMG_3553.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">In omaggio a Napoli, il Vesuvio fa da sfondo alla nostra storia sulle cellule staminali. La mano (in tutti i sensi) è di <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16?fref=ts" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Gz0Cd7ETN7cVhqobcEIi4TvRVb7iR00VhNDq-NHyowjjroha90T001u0Vs3Rm5dUUfIQ0klwq9HuPRrRY0sY8o2WAUu05KS40rrXsl8j0zjd3zphGSAULjrWQiMRf2Pom9RZRiyTKyIB/s1600/IMG_3562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8Gz0Cd7ETN7cVhqobcEIi4TvRVb7iR00VhNDq-NHyowjjroha90T001u0Vs3Rm5dUUfIQ0klwq9HuPRrRY0sY8o2WAUu05KS40rrXsl8j0zjd3zphGSAULjrWQiMRf2Pom9RZRiyTKyIB/s400/IMG_3562.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Alcuni dei personaggi della nostra storia sulle cellule staminali, disegnata da <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16?fref=ts" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>.</span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Se volete, potete <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rivedere la nostr<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">a performance (e l'intero evento) </span></span>in<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><b><u>streaming</u></b>, all'indi<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">rizzo:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> <a href="http://www.dol.unina.it:8445/Mediateca/Evento/player.jsp?idevento=169612">http://www.dol.unina.it:8445/Mediateca/Evento/player.jsp?idevento=169612</a></span> </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(il nostro intervento inizia più o meno al minuto <span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">22<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">, dopo l'introduzione da parte del prof. Zambrano<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> di DiSciMuS RFC, e dura circa 12 minuti).</span></span></span> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><u>N.B.</u><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> Purtroppo</span> lo streaming <b><u>funziona solo con Internet Explorer</u></b>;<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> i</span></span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">n alternativa, se avete il programma <a href="http://www.videolan.org/vlc/" target="_blank">VideoLAN</a> (<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">chiamato anche</span> VLC)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">:</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- cliccate su "Media" nella barra degli strumenti in alto;</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">- cliccate su "Apri flusso di rete...";</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">- inserite l'UR<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">L</span>: <i><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">mms://143.225.163.196/video/160311_UniStem2016.wmv</span></i>;</span></span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><span style="background-color: white;">- cliccate su "Riproduci". </span></span>biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-25780567800811447642016-03-08T18:43:00.004+01:002016-03-08T18:43:55.908+01:00Riparazione del DNA, gli sforzi ammirevoli di una cellula (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">Le nostre cellule, come noi, sono giustamente interessate a mantenersi in buona salute. E visto che la salute delle cellule dipende principalmente dall'integrità del loro <i>DNA</i>, è soprattutto di lui che devono (pre)occuparsi..</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">..</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=22" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\riparaz-cell.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini Ciclo cellulare AIRC vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\riparaz-cell.jpg&width=600" height="300" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'apoptosi" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-23470753077453910912015-11-06T21:30:00.000+01:002015-11-06T21:30:53.780+01:00L'apoptosi, suicidio cellulare o esecuzione? (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">L'apoptosi è la morte più amata delle nostre cellule. Certo, la
cerimonia è piuttosto sobria e riservata (non ci sono le carrozze con i
cavalli), tanto da passare quasi inosservata. Però è rapida, pulita ed
efficiente: ed è forse proprio per questo che è così apprezzata.</span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , "sans-serif";">..</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=21" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\apoptosi.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini Ciclo cellulare AIRC vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\apoptosi.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'apoptosi" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-50453181182902629292015-10-29T22:58:00.000+01:002015-10-29T22:58:07.258+01:00Ciao, sono una cellula e 80 voglia di comunicare (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In molti parti del corpo le nostre <i>cellule</i> vivono addossate le
une alle altre, con solo qualche fluido strato di grasso, non più spesso
di una tenda, a separarle. Invece di lamentarsi per la mancanza di
privacy, mostrano una commovente tendenza alla socialità, allacciandosi
in un mare di interazioni e relazioni con le proprie vicine</span>...</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=20" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\comunicazione%20intercellulare.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini Ciclo cellulare AIRC vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\comunicazione%20intercellulare.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sulla comunicazione tra le cellule" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-19232422460137684962015-10-07T08:32:00.001+02:002015-10-07T08:32:21.646+02:00Biocomiche.it @ Futuro Remoto 2015!<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Questo mese <a href="http://biocomiche.it/">biocomiche.it</a> parteciperà per la prima volta a un festival scientifico! Dal 16 al 19 ottobre, in piazza Plebiscito a Napoli si svolgerà Futuro Remoto, la festa di scienza più antica d'Europa, giunta quest'anno alla sua 29a edizione.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ci trovate nel padiglione Corpo e Mente, ospiti dello stand di <a href="http://www.discimus.it/" target="_blank">DiSciMuS</a>, un'associazione culturale campana che si occupa di divulgazione e formazione scientifica.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Il tema dello stand di DiSciMuS è "Scienza in notizie: come ti svelo il falso".</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Il contributo di biocomiche.it sarà composto da quattro presentazioni della durata di 15-20 minuti su temi scientifici caldi: Glutine, Vaccini, Olio di Palma e Fiori di Bach.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKQFHn27CKtvFueofvU8s9wMBGF9wrcsHH8eYM4i4vzNcLSFTdXBmhX8A0eVph-8Yu99Uxu_qv6IyiBZLbxJoXoNBAW_r3TBUBy5eXjynxjCyGaKMJ93By-cN1WUyzR8Qs_839mpTSF-e/s1600/logo+evento.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="344" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpKQFHn27CKtvFueofvU8s9wMBGF9wrcsHH8eYM4i4vzNcLSFTdXBmhX8A0eVph-8Yu99Uxu_qv6IyiBZLbxJoXoNBAW_r3TBUBy5eXjynxjCyGaKMJ93By-cN1WUyzR8Qs_839mpTSF-e/s1600/logo+evento.jpg" width="500" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Ad accompagnare le parole del "presentatore" <a href="https://it.linkedin.com/in/daniloallegra/it" target="_blank">Danilo Allegra</a> ci saranno le simpatiche illustrazioni di <a href="https://www.facebook.com/danilo.battaglia.16" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>, disegnate "in diretta" con la consueta ironia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Inoltre, l'illustratrice <a href="http://graphicdna.it/gallery/home-2/" target="_blank">Dania Puggioni</a> preparerà una delle sue <a href="http://graphicdna.it/gallery-category/graphic-facilitation/" target="_blank">mappe mentali</a> che farà da sfondo visivo e concettuale a tutti i nostri contenuti.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Noi ci saremo, tutto il giorno da venerdì 16 ottobre a domenica 18 ottobre, e lunedì 19 solo la mattina. E voi, ci sarete? Venite a trovarci!</span>biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-65701738829253467682015-09-17T16:40:00.001+02:002015-09-17T16:41:12.068+02:00Una corsa a ostacoli per la riproduzione: il ciclo cellulare (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Tutti hanno le proprie aspirazioni e anche le nostre <i>cellule</i>, quando diventano adulte, provano timidamente a guardare al futuro. Il sogno di molte di loro è trovare un buon lavoro, sistemarsi in un organo non troppo periferico, e magari mettere su famiglia, cioè <i>riprodursi</i>.<br />
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Quando il ritmo di crescita dell'organismo è sostenuto (<a href="http://physrev.physiology.org/content/87/2/521" target="_blank">come durante lo <i>sviluppo embrionale</i></a>) il lavoro di certo non manca, lo spazio abbonda, e i nuovi arrivi sono più che benvenuti. Pertanto le cellule vengono incoraggiate a riprodursi. Tuttavia devono farlo in maniera ordinata, seguendo un percorso riproduttivo prestabilito chiamato <i>ciclo cellulare</i></span>...</span></div>
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\ciclo-cellulare.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini Ciclo cellulare AIRC vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\ciclo-cellulare.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'epigenetica" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-28164773432096377102015-09-01T15:32:00.002+02:002016-05-03T18:13:54.554+02:00Cos'è la leucemia / What is leukemia? (TED-Ed Video)<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Le <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2014/05/cellula-staminale-trapianto-midollo-osseo-leucemia.html" target="_blank">cellule staminali</a> del midollo osseo sono cruciali per la nostra salute perché si trasformano in nuove cellule del sangue, che supportano e proteggono il nostro corpo. Ma quando la trasformazione non va a buon fine, delle mutazioni nocive possono spingere le cellule a riprodursi senza controllo<span style="font-family: serif;">,</span> formando un tipo di cancro chiamato leucemia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Danilo Allegra e Dania Puggioni ci spiegano come questo succede e come alcuni trattamenti possono dare speranza alle persone che soffrono di questa malattia.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;"> </span><span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Lezione di Danilo Allegra e Dania Puggioni, animazione di Zedem Media.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">(ENGLISH) </span><br />
<span style="font-family: "verdana" , sans-serif;">Stem cells found in the bone marrow are crucial for our health because they are needed to become new blood cells that sustain and protect our bodies. But when the transformation goes wrong, harmful mutations can cause the cells to start replicating without control -- a type of cancer known as leukemia. Danilo Allegra and Dania Puggioni explain how this happens and how certain treatments provide hope for those suffering from the disease. </span><br />
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<iframe allowfullscreen="" class="YOUTUBE-iframe-video" data-thumbnail-src="https://i.ytimg.com/vi/Z3B-AaqjyjE/0.jpg" frameborder="0" height="365" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/Z3B-AaqjyjE?language=it&feature=player_embedded" width="485"></iframe></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-39379439850020834182015-06-15T13:00:00.000+02:002015-06-15T13:00:07.357+02:00Infiammazione e cancro (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La maggior parte delle nostre cellule vive una vita piuttosto tranquilla, e muore serenamente di vecchiaia. Di tanto in tanto, però, anche loro sono vittime di improvvise catastrofi che ne sconvolgono l'esistenza: carneficine scatenate da virus sanguinari, relazioni pericolose con sostanze chimiche variamente urticanti, piogge di cocenti raggi ultravioletti, e così via.<br />
In genere, in questi casi, alcune cellule ci lasciano la pelle, ma molte altre riescono a salvarsi grazie all'attivazione di un antico meccanismo di difesa chiamato infiammazione...
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=18" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\infiammazione_tumori.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini epigenetica cancro farmaci vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\infiammazione_tumori.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'epigenetica" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-90542353029511403472015-05-30T10:40:00.000+02:002015-05-30T10:41:01.832+02:00Epigenetica, l'arte di interpretare il DNA<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Come libro di testo, il DNA non è proprio semplice da usare: 46 enormi tomi (i <i>cromosomi</i>) contenenti più di 6 miliardi di lettere, che comprendono tutte le informazioni necessarie alla cellula, ma anche molte altre che sono superflue o <a href="http://journals.plos.org/plosgenetics/article?id=10.1371/journal.pgen.1004351" target="_blank">addirittura incomprensibili</a>.<br />
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Le proteine “interpreti” hanno il compito di selezionare le parti di DNA davvero utili alla cellula: quando le trovano, le evidenziano <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrd/journal/v11/n5/fig_tab/nrd3674_F1.html" target="_blank">facendoci sopra un segno</a>. Le loro scelte dipendono dal tipo di cellula nella quale si trovano e dall’attività che questa sta svolgendo; ma possono anche essere influenzate da fattori esterni alla cellula, come <a href="http://www.nature.com/nrg/journal/v13/n2/full/nrg3142.html" target="_blank">la presenza di particolari sostanze chimiche o l’alimentazione</a>.<br />
Le modifiche effettuate dalle proteine-interpreti, al contrario delle <i>mutazioni genetiche</i>, non cambiano la sequenza del DNA, né tantomeno i geni: si limitano a fornire una chiave di interpretazione sovrapposta all’informazione genetica. Per questo vengono definite <i>epigenetiche</i> (cioè “sopra la genetica”).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=17" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\epigenetica-arte-di-interpretare-il-dna.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini epigenetica cancro farmaci vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\epigenetica-arte-di-interpretare-il-dna.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'epigenetica" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-86273380014461107392015-04-07T11:37:00.001+02:002015-04-07T11:37:43.790+02:00HPV, il virus cancerogeno che fa ringiovanire le cellule (#biocomichexAIRC)<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">I <i>virus</i> non sono certamente i migliori amici dell’uomo. A volte possono essere utili (per esempio nella <a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=13" target="_blank"><i>terapia genica</i></a>), ma in genere portano disgrazie: <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/11/credere-cura-il-rhinovirus-il.html" target="_blank">raffreddori</a>, influenze, infezioni terribili (come l’<a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2014/10/virus-ebola-meccanismo-di-infezione.html" target="_blank"><i>ebola</i></a>), o addirittura <i>tumori</i>.<br />
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I nostri <i>organi genitali</i>, ad esempio, sono vittime della pericolosa azione cancerogena del <i>virus del papilloma umano</i>, chiamato anche <i>HPV</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=16" target="_blank"><b>LEGGI IL RESTO DELL'ARTICOLO SU SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</b></a></span><br />
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<a href="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\HPV-virus-cancerogeno-che-fa-ringiovanire-cellule.jpg&width=600" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Iacopo Leardini HPV Virus papilloma umano tumore cervice uterina vignetta" border="0" src="http://scuola.airc.it/resize.asp?path=D:\home\090\airc\pressup\HPV-virus-cancerogeno-che-fa-ringiovanire-cellule.jpg&width=600" height="348" title="La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini sull'HPV" width="520" /></a></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-80287232645315105442015-02-09T11:27:00.001+01:002015-02-14T16:21:27.782+01:00Istoni (#glossariobiocomico)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Sono le <i>proteine </i>preferite dal <i>DNA</i>.</span></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Grazie alla loro carica positiva, gli danno sicurezza e protezione, contrastando la sua naturale tendenza alla negatività e alla depressione: per questo, il DNA passa gran parte della sua vita avvinghiato a un istone.</span></span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4p6OTWtRLNE_tNAwRcoNMZkaKCZn7PGkZ_kt5zVsj9g1nZ4P64RQgNhHxfBkguvz0ye0NeDfuJyZ0Xdtd2x4kSjHFOBD97y16juZ93iqgEzA0goZnXX2V0gbB4rpV0XVhisiW17N4u6E/s1600/IMGmod3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ4p6OTWtRLNE_tNAwRcoNMZkaKCZn7PGkZ_kt5zVsj9g1nZ4P64RQgNhHxfBkguvz0ye0NeDfuJyZ0Xdtd2x4kSjHFOBD97y16juZ93iqgEzA0goZnXX2V0gbB4rpV0XVhisiW17N4u6E/s1600/IMGmod3.jpg" height="396" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Vignetta di Rossella Valente</td></tr>
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-17079657668626519812015-02-05T15:00:00.000+01:002015-04-13T16:30:14.658+02:00Sperm's smell: spermine, spermidine and 1-pyrroline<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i><b>Vuoi leggere la versione originale (in italiano) di questo articolo? Clicca <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2014/06/odore-di-sperma-candeggina-spermina-putrescina-pirrolina.html" target="_blank">qui</a>!</b></i></span><br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">You are <i><i><i><i>lying on the bed, pants rolled down to your ankles and arms spread apart.</i></i></i> Beside you, the tablet is still showing <a href="http://www.bonjourmadame.fr/">bonjour madame</a>'s marvels: you are in state of supreme ecstasy that, you know, won't last long.</i></span></i> <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Something bothers you: a poignant smell of chlorine arising from the humid toilet paper you've just tossed to the floor.</span></i> <br />
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">You try to ignore it, but sperm's smell is not to be ignored.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Forums on the internet are full of dirty chats about the taste and smell of human sperm. It is debated whether its taste changes or not based on what you eat (<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1k1Dy1mVeQ">BBC actually tested the thing</a>); on the contrary, most people agree that <a href="http://www.news-medical.net/health/Semen-Physiology.aspx">sperm's odour resembles that of bathroom detergents containing chlorine</a>.</span></div>
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<a href="http://explosm.net/comics/2781/"><img alt="sperm taste & smell comic cartoon Cyanide and Happiness" border="0" src="http://files.explosm.net/comics/Kris/peach.png" height="292" width="530" /></a><br />
One more brilliant comic by Cyanide and Happiness @ <a href="http://explosm.net/">Explosm.net</a><br />
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Human sperm contains pretty much everything – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sugar</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fructose</i>), <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">salt</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hormones</i>, <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proteins</i> and of course <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cells</i> (<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sperm cells</i>) – but it lacks what gives chlorine its peculiar smell: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sodium hypochlorite</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Therefore, the smell must be produced by something else.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As early as in 1677 - when chemists were shamelessly experimenting with organic fluids to figure out what they contained - some crystals were discovered, forming spontaneously in sperm soon after ejaculation; but it took some more centuries before the molecule making up those crystals was identified, and christened with the name it still carries: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spermine</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Spermine can be found all over the body, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iub.1237/full">performing important and still partially unknown functions</a>; it is especially concentrated in sperm (where <a href="http://press.endocrine.org/doi/full/10.1210/er.2011-0012#_i8">it performs important and still partially unknown functions...</a>).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Nowadays, it is <a href="http://www.truthinaging.com/review/department-of-daft-spermine-an-unfortunately-named-antioxidant">a common ingredient of many face creams</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Spermine itself has no special odour, but in the ejaculate its molecule is subjected to a series of chemical reactions which finally convert it into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">spermidine</i>, or into <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">putrescine</i>. The latter has quite a pungent - and, as you may guess, not very pleasant - smell: putrescine actually forms in decomposing bodies (<a href="http://books.google.it/books?id=juAgwsMeNQEC&pg=PA86&lpg=PA86&dq=bacterial+metabolism+of+ornithine+putrescine&source=bl&ots=nwNDWdMDmv&sig=qAHkIsafosU6F0qGbvcUWRG1H18&hl=it&sa=X&ei=LvGGU72cN8aN7QbsvIGoBQ&ved=0CG0Q6AEwBg#v=onepage&q=bacterial%20metabolism%20of%20ornithine%20putrescine&f=false">through bacterial degradation of some amino acids</a>) and it is responsible (at least partially) of their fetid odour.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">However, sperm does not smell like carrion <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">(well, at least it shouldn't: if you thought you finally understood why your ejaculates stink like decomposing bodies, you'd better see a doctor!)</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Why?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The reason is that both putrescine and spermidine are further metabolised by enzymes found in the sperm and are <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1165227/pdf/biochemj00566-0247.pdf">transformed in<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">1-pyrroline</i></a>, reaction's final product, as well as "spermous" aroma itself.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The spermous smell conveyed by 1-pyrroline can be perceived by most, but not all, people: <a href="http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/BF00988831">20% of the population is not able to recognize it</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">(this would explain why some women <a href="http://www.themarriagebed.com/boards/viewtopic.php?f=25&t=28430" target="_blank">claim their man's sperm has no odour at all...</a>) </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In conclusion, let's have a short detour into the world of plants.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">It seems that the tree <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Pyrus Calleryana</i>, of Chinese origin but common in Europe, <a href="http://www.theawl.com/2013/04/this-spring-new-york-city-smells-much-less-like-sperm">stinks like sperm</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Many plants contain spermine, spermidine and putrescine; however, 1-pyrroline produced through their metabolism does not usually accumulate, as <a href="http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-94-009-5171-6_7">it undergoes further reactions and becomes something different</a>. Clearly, Pyrus Calleryana must be an exception.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzqmi5sAVTkWyrVijKZ1TSuQQaEuOpUvdfQV4DVDdu_SqBCz9w0y3iioR2V2CRlHy99udrrEMB9N76GuvEQszea77jNWMdCIP1pjD9AS7zkUALR-SVVeqbcs4Nhsn9VGLfxZMsqp4H2aM/s1600/albero+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Pyrus Calleryana - sperm smelling tree - sperm odour" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCzqmi5sAVTkWyrVijKZ1TSuQQaEuOpUvdfQV4DVDdu_SqBCz9w0y3iioR2V2CRlHy99udrrEMB9N76GuvEQszea77jNWMdCIP1pjD9AS7zkUALR-SVVeqbcs4Nhsn9VGLfxZMsqp4H2aM/s1600/albero+1.jpg" height="400" title="" width="285" /></a></div>
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Sperm tree depicted by <a href="http://danilobattaglia.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>: will a condom protect us from its smell? <span id="goog_1343271771"></span><span id="goog_1343271772"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.giardini.biz/piante/alberi/pyrus-calleryana-chanticleer/">The tree is actually a very beautiful one</a>; therefore, if you don't mind the smell, go on and plant it in your yard. Be aware, though, that Pyrus Calleryana is a very resistant and <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pyrus_calleryana#Invasiveness">invasive tree</a>: you may never be able to get rid of it, and of its stink.</span></div>
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<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">P.S. There is a facebook page called “<a href="https://www.facebook.com/pages/I-hate-Trees-that-smell-like-Sperm/110894505610318">I hate Trees that smell like Sperm</a>”, and it has far more Likes than biocomiche's page. If you also think it is a shame, than be ashamed (it's your fault!) and try to make it up by clicking <a href="http://www.facebook.com/biocomiche.it" target="_blank">here</a>.</span></i></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Other sources and Further reading</span></b></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://archive.org/stream/biochemistryofse00mann/biochemistryofse00mann_djvu.txt"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The biochemistry of semen</span></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/iub.1237/full"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The function of spermine</span></a></span></div>
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-53801147607820079302015-02-02T12:25:00.002+01:002015-02-02T12:25:35.236+01:00Acqua, ossigeno e radiazioni, la ricetta della radioterapia (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Al giorno d’oggi, le <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cellule tumorali</i> non hanno una vita facile. La <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ricerca</i> tira fuori ogni anno nuovi modi per aggredirle, e nella maggior parte dei casi con intenti assassini.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Questo non significa, però, che siano solo i nuovi metodi a portare avanti la lotta contro il <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cancro</i>. Anche vecchie glorie come la <a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=6"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">chemioterapia</i></a> e la <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">radioterapia</i> continuano a ottenere ottimi risultati, e anzi si evolvono con il passare del tempo, diventando sempre più efficienti.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La radioterapia attacca i tumori inondandoli con una pioggia di <a href="http://www.airc.it/cancro/terapia-tumori/radioterapia/">radiazioni molto energetiche, chiamate <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">radiazioni ionizzanti</i></a>. Queste abbrustoliscono per bene le cellule tumorali, <a href="http://clincancerres.aacrjournals.org/content/18/20/5585.full#sec-1">danneggiando la loro parte più sensibile: il <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">DNA</i></a>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=15" target="_blank">LEGGI LA VERSIONE INTEGRALE DELL'ARTICOLO SUL SITO SCUOLA.AIRC.IT</a> </span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VaBkAEYoKpq0AwyFvI5jGxgL1FYLkQXImyOJfFQtkVdlDfpkMmr2ISxVaULtCjMOUHYve3SpfKRmpusHI3CjHICC6bvW08Y2UXzBkHU6_fd1Za7P47-m-HqLCwcKPlM9a-wW7xk56vsv/s1600/resize.asp.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6VaBkAEYoKpq0AwyFvI5jGxgL1FYLkQXImyOJfFQtkVdlDfpkMmr2ISxVaULtCjMOUHYve3SpfKRmpusHI3CjHICC6bvW08Y2UXzBkHU6_fd1Za7P47-m-HqLCwcKPlM9a-wW7xk56vsv/s1600/resize.asp.jpg" height="356" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La vignetta di Iacopo Leardini</td></tr>
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-43936477784485420242015-01-29T10:30:00.000+01:002015-02-05T16:37:05.560+01:00Fighting malaria: tonic water, quinine and sickle cell anemia<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i><b>Vuoi leggere la versione originale (in italiano) di questo articolo? Clicca <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2013/06/malaria-chinino-acqua-tonica-anemia-falciforme-globuli-rossi-emoglobina-resistenza-genetica.html" target="_blank">qui</a>!</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><b>(You may want to read first the <u>first part of this article</u>, on <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2015/01/how-get-malaria-infection-plasmodium-mosquito-anopheles.html" target="_blank">how people get infected with malaria's parasite</a>)</b></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">When left alone to fight against <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">malaria</i>, our body often gets in troubles. Our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">immune system</i> finds it very difficult to get rid of the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">parasite</i> which causes malaria (the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">plasmodium</i>) and, differently from what happens with most other bugs, it can't even properly generate an acquired protection against it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.usfca.edu/fac-staff/dever/health2.pdf">Only after several repeated infections</a>, the body manages to organize a defence system that cannot eradicate plasmodia, but can at least reduce the severity of malaria symptoms and complications. That's why <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/10450421">young - and still non-immunized - children are more at risk</a>, and <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736%2812%2961320-8/fulltext">are the most common victims of the disease</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">A treatment for malaria does exist: it's <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">quinine</i>, which has been known and used for four centuries. This is how it works.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Malaria's plasmodium spends most of his human stay hidden inside blood's most abundant cells, the <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/09/la-lunga-marcia-del-doping-lepo-alle_6.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">red blood cells</i></a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Upon entering a red blood cell, the parasite is seized by an extraordinary hunger, and starts eating all he can find, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003780">especially a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">protein</i> very abundant in these cells, called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">hemoglobin</i></a>. Being a protein, hemoglobin is quite nutritious. But its core, made of <i>iron</i>, is hard, definitely not edible - and also poisonous.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">As he eats hemoglobin, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0038781">the plasmodium carefully sorts the iron waste</a>, <a href="http://www.biochemj.org/bj/365/0343/bj3650343.htm">compacting it</a>, and stocking it into a dedicated container for special garbage. This behaviour may seem quite psychotic, as in a few hours, when the plasmodium will leave the cell, he'll forget about the iron waste, <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0038781">letting it diffuse in the blood</a>, where it will cause great environmental damage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Antimalarial drug quinine mixes with the iron waste within red blood cells and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1729651">disrupts its compacted organization</a>. Free to diffuse within the cell, the waste becomes very toxic, and kills plasmodia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">[<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Note</i>. Quinine has a very bitter taste and is also used to flavour drinks such as Italian "chinotto" or tonic water. Tonic water was originally a "tonic" against malaria, and contained a much larger amount of quinine. Englishmen living in India had to drink tonic water as a prophylaxis for malaria; at some point, somebody had the brilliant idea of adding gin to the bitter drink, to improve its taste. That's how gin tonic was born].</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRP9Q9wpakSQoPSLFAD14cMS29vabxqTXfC2CE89rbucrl7syQvkhoRxDAaUqjRidxTPwwvKgn5LQcQ5y__DW76Ay7JiaDax_DWnqKU5AjI7zouMHfH6-tpnnCLiOUf0BDEV9x0FhKWXA/s1600/gin+tonic.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="gin tonic water quinine malaria comic cartoon" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVRP9Q9wpakSQoPSLFAD14cMS29vabxqTXfC2CE89rbucrl7syQvkhoRxDAaUqjRidxTPwwvKgn5LQcQ5y__DW76Ay7JiaDax_DWnqKU5AjI7zouMHfH6-tpnnCLiOUf0BDEV9x0FhKWXA/s1600/gin+tonic.gif" title="" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">From <a href="http://www.straightdope.com/columns/read/1342/will-the-quinine-in-tonic-water-prevent-malaria" target="_blank">The Straight Dope</a></span></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Therefore, there is a cure for malaria. But if you are an African baby covered since birth with a continuous layer of mosquitoes, the chance you'll get enough quinine to save your life is quite low. Unless you have an alternative mechanism of defence, for example a specific <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">mutation</i> in the hemoglobin <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gene</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In standard conditions, mutated hemoglobins behave normally; but if exposed to stress, they become peculiarly sticky and tend to aggregate, forming hard and elongated crystals that make red blood cells very stiff. Affected cells become locked in a funny conformation, which makes them look like a sickle or a crescent: therefore, they are referred to as <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sickle cells</i>. As soon as sickle cells get to the spleen, they are withdrawn from circulation and sent to scrapping.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Now: what's more stressing than being infested with a parasite? Nothing (anybody who's travelled in the tropics will agree). Indeed, plasmodia infested mutated red blood cells get extremely stressed, become easily sickle shaped and are rapidly eliminated - together with the parasites they host - by the immune system: not because they are infected, but because they are ill-shaped. This impairs plasmodium's replication and protects the body from the most severe consequences of malaria. Thus <a href="http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/192/1/178.short">people carrying one mutated hemoglobin gene have a very low probability of dying from malaria</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">However, if you have both hemoglobin genes mutated, because you got one from each parent, you are in serious trouble. In these people, red blood cells are a complete disaster: stiff, very fragile and constantly sickle shaped, even in normal conditions - that is, when not infected. This leads to <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/09/la-lunga-marcia-del-doping-lepo-alle_6.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anemia </i></a>- due to systematic elimination of red blood cells - and other serious and life-threatening consequences. This genetic disease is called <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sickle cell anemia</i> and it's widespread in all countries where malaria is (or was) endemic.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The case of malaria is a perfect example of <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">evolution</i> and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">selection</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Chance introduced a potentially lethal defect (hemoglobin's mutation), which was retained and propagated only because it helps to fight an even more lethal threat (malaria).<br />
[The mutation is so advantageous that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1683923/">has been separately invented five times during human evolution</a>]</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In countries where malaria still is a problem, and appropriate treatment is not available, carrying the mutation is still an advantage.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In countries like Italy, where malaria was eradicated, sickle cell mutation is just a genetic defect and might at some point disappear.</span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;">Other Sources</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/?term=the+triumph+of+good+over+evil">The triumph of good over evil: protection by the sickle gene against malaria</a></span> <span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt;"> </span></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-81877934762675055842015-01-26T15:35:00.000+01:002015-02-05T16:37:26.475+01:00How we get infected with malaria: the plasmodium and the anopheles mosquito<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i><b>Vuoi leggere la versione originale (in italiano) di questo articolo? Clicca <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2013/05/malaria-plasmodio-zanzara-anofele-sistema-immunitario-globuli-rossi-eritrociti-milza.html" target="_blank">qui</a>!</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Plasmodium</i> is a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">microorganism</i> which causes <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">malaria</i>. Unlike other microorganisms (for example <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2013/03/yogurt-probiotici-batteri-intestino-diarrea-cacca-antibiotici.html">the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">bacteria</i> in our <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">gut</i></a>) plasmodia don't seek permanent homes or stable jobs: they like vagrancy. That's why a plasmodium's life is so eventful; but also cyclically repetitive.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The story of malaria starts with a mosquito, a <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><i>female anopheles mosquito</i></i>. While male anopheles flutter insect-like from flower to flower in search of nectar, female ones go for warm human blood.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Just after biting, before sucking in the blood, they inject a spit of their saliva, which anaesthetizes the skin and <a href="http://www.jimmunol.org/content/176/7/4141.full">keeps it from getting inflamed</a> and painful. This helps mosquitoes stay unnoticed, and give them time enough to finish their meal and leave, without being smashed in a bloody pulp.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAuJm2z086NHhntXCYQwRRd78sY7duCUgk8kXt9gXi05MC8Mzu9zCFq2IWn0I5GMvrFSjbFZjW76Kcj6gaCahYYz707qwkiO7M-IRXLJ-cvYDtmiP4BieqandMizFQqjSdHiPv5qWjWsr/s1600/vignetta+malaria.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="malaria anopheles mosquito cartoon comic" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBAuJm2z086NHhntXCYQwRRd78sY7duCUgk8kXt9gXi05MC8Mzu9zCFq2IWn0I5GMvrFSjbFZjW76Kcj6gaCahYYz707qwkiO7M-IRXLJ-cvYDtmiP4BieqandMizFQqjSdHiPv5qWjWsr/s640/vignetta+malaria.jpg" height="640" title="" width="178" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://www.memecenter.com/fun/107996/Just-a-mosquito" target="_blank">memecenter.com</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">If a mosquito is infected from previously biting a person with malaria, she will inject with her saliva a number of plasmodia. From blood, they move to the liver, where they enjoy a period of acclimatization and training. At the end of this phase, plasmodia get back to the blood transformed in tiny, efficient, aggressive guerrilla fighters.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">A few seconds (<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0050780">less than 2 minutes</a>) after entering blood flow, each plasmodium has already identified and hooked his victim, chosen among the immense herds of stolid <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/09/la-lunga-marcia-del-doping-lepo-alle_6.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">red blood cells</i></a> populating the blood. Once a contact has been established, the plasmodium enters the cell, takes possession of it and <a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0003780">literally starts eating it</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">48 hours later, plasmodia have reproduced and are ready to leave red blood cells to get back to blood. Instead of coming out as they had entered, somewhat stealthily, plasmodia stage a most spectacular exit, causing the simultaneous breakup of all infected red blood cells.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Released plasmodia quickly disappear inside their next victims, while the abrupt materialization of large amounts of cellular debris <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15275344?dopt=Abstract">irritates the <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">immune system</i></a> and activates it, leading to <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;"><a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2013/05/aspirina-cicloossigenasi-febbre-prostaglandine-acido-arachidonico-infezioni-COX-2.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">fever </i>and <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">flu-like symptoms</i></a></i>. Debris are cleared quickly, and the fever is usually of short duration. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The invasion, reproduction and disruption cycle repeats with remarkable regularity, bringing about periodic outbreaks of fever, the most characteristic manifestations of malaria.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Infected red blood cells aren't definitely something you would want to show to your children. The poor things are stiff, swollen and energy-deprived. Ma, aderendo alle pareti dei <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vasi sanguigni</i>, sfuggono al controllo del sistema immunitario e permettono al plasmodio di riprodursi con tranquillità.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Running normally in blood circulation, they would end up being caught in the spleen, a labyrinth of narrow alleys full of check-points, swarming with immune cells raging because of their inability to cope with the infection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">In the spleen of a malaria infected person, red blood cells are thoroughly searched, and killed upon the slightest suspicion: many cell never make it out of the spleen, but most of them are <u>not</u> infected. In fact, the infected ones are so exhausted that <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21458590">they lay down wherever they can</a>, sticking to the walls of some distant <i>blood vessel</i>. By doing so, they avoid the spleen, escape control by the immune system, and allow plasmodia to reproduce, and to disseminate the infection.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">The slaughter of (uninfected) red blood cells carried out by the immune system leads to severe <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/09/la-lunga-marcia-del-doping-lepo-alle_6.html"><i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">anemia</i></a>, a common complication of the disease, and a leading cause of death in people affected by malaria.</span><br />
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<b><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">(you may want to read the <u>second part of this article</u>, about <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2015/01/fighting-malaria-tonic-water-quinine-sickle-cell-anemia.html" target="_blank">how quinine, tonic water and genetic mutations protect you from malaria</a>) </span></b><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3444787/">The cellular and molecular basis for malaria parasite invasion of the human red blood cell</a></span></span></div>
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-32328633083117400982015-01-20T14:53:00.003+01:002015-01-20T14:53:53.900+01:00Telomeri (#glossariobiocomico)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Le due estremità di un <i>cromosoma</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Sbadatamente, ogni volta che una cellula fa una copia del suo <i>DNA</i>, si dimentica di ricopiare il pezzettino iniziale e quello finale di ogni cromosoma. Questo significa che, ogni volta che si riproduce, accorcia un po’ i suoi cromosomi, consumandone i telomeri.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Esauriti i telomeri, la cellula sa che è ormai troppo vecchia per continuare a riprodursi; in base all’umore e al carattere, può reagire entrando in una specie di menopausa chiamata <i>senescenza</i>, oppure morire.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-bidi-font-family: "Courier New"; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: IT;">Alcune cellule, però, possono farsi ricrescere i telomeri come se fossero lucertole, e rimangono giovani per sempre.</span></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-51117632627157746642015-01-16T13:42:00.001+01:002015-01-20T15:29:06.657+01:00To believe is to be cured: the common cold, the rhinovirus and the placebo effect<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><i><b>Vuoi leggere la versione originale (in italiano) di questo articolo? Clicca <a href="http://www.biocomiche.it/2012/11/credere-cura-il-rhinovirus-il.html" target="_blank">qui</a>!</b></i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Waking up one morning, you have the impression that something went wrong: your nose feels as though you had snorted pastry flour, and your mouth (which was wide open all night long) is like dried mud. You got a <i>cold</i>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"> Soon enough, your nose sheds the layer of solidified mucus plastering it, and starts letting out gallons of snot, soaking whole boxes of tissues (as many as you have), then the wrist of your sweaters and shirts; until you'll be forced to suck the blob in and swallow it.</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"> </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">"<i>It must have been because yesterday evening I had no scarf on...</i>" you'll think.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">(</span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;">You are Italian, and fear whiffs of air more than tornadoes, and autumn drizzles more than tsunamis.</span> )</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But you are a little unsure of the explanation, since you were wearing anyway your standard winter ice-pole-jacket, and with 15 °C outside you felt like in a sauna. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Anyway, even though <a href="http://www.prrjournal.com/article/S1526-0542%2803%2900024-1/abstract" target="_blank">seasonal cold peaks do exist</a> (and might have something to do with the temperature), you don't catch a cold because of the cold: it's a <i>virus</i> which makes you sick.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Hundreds of different viruses can give you a cold. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffreddore_comune#Virus" target="_blank"><i>Rhinoviruses</i></a></span> </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;">are by far </span><span style="font-family: Verdana;"><a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raffreddore_comune#Virus" target="_blank">the most common ones</a>. These viruses are so efficient that even when <a href="http://www.commoncold.org/undrstn3.htm" target="_blank">just a few of them get into your nasal cavity, an infection can be triggered</a>.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">They usually get there because, after touching a contaminated person or object (a bus pole, a banknote, a supermarket cart) we pick our nose, or we stick a finger in our eye (which is connected to the nose).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">(The mouth seems to be a less welcoming environment for the virus, therefore kissing (a person with a cold, a banknote or a bus pole) should not be too risky.)</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNMQJX4wLp_M8AOd1Y3cYiekuMfZvjgFnt1TEmG3KTigUOMf_ZxycfHyo571D6AsfqcrmWUUaLcyukiZWw8MoYFpaVxEufk4S91rYTx6LDKWDOz7xoJM9m_7zKszFBi7XDp3ar4fp2jlr/s1600/raffreddore1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="nose picking for pleasure, cold virus book comic cartoon" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTNMQJX4wLp_M8AOd1Y3cYiekuMfZvjgFnt1TEmG3KTigUOMf_ZxycfHyo571D6AsfqcrmWUUaLcyukiZWw8MoYFpaVxEufk4S91rYTx6LDKWDOz7xoJM9m_7zKszFBi7XDp3ar4fp2jlr/s400/raffreddore1.jpg" height="400" title="nose picking for pleasure, cold virus book comic cartoon" width="265" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This book really exists!!</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Once they are inside our <i>airways</i>, rhinoviruses move to the throat and settle by the <i>tonsils</i>, where they start busying themselves with typical virus pastimes: entering cells, exploiting them to create copies of themselves, and then making them burst out in a bloody pulp, in order to release the new viral particles.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In spite of all this violence, rhinoviruses and their friends are little more than bad boys, enjoying the occasional disruption of a cell but not really doing any harm.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The best strategy for the <i>immune system </i>would be to control the infection for a few days, until it dies on its own with little damage and no major symptoms. However, in most cases our body overreacts and things get more complicated.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;"><i>Inflammatory substances </i>released by immune cells lead to <i>blood vessel </i>dilation and leakage. This causes nose swelling, impairs normal breathing and increases the production of mucus, which then overflows all over the place.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Nasal irritation triggers serial <i>sneezes</i>, representing our nose's clumsy attempts to get rid of the whole mess. Anyway, after a couple of days symptoms fade away, and within a week almost all cases are over.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Children are rhinoviruses' favourite victims: it might be because children explore more eagerly than adults their own nasal cavity, and without shame; or because they keep touching everyone and everything, and are therefore more exposed to viral contacts (especially at school).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Moreover, kids' immune system hasn't yet come in contact with all different kinds of viruses, so <a href="http://jid.oxfordjournals.org/content/125/3/243.abstract" target="_blank">it lacks the protective antibodies </a>adults had the chance to build-up during previous infections.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Children who are often sick may incur in a quite common complication: <i>otitis</i>. When the respiratory system is too congested, the mysterious passage connecting throat and ear - the <i>eustachian tube</i>, necessary for ear-to-throat fluid discharge - may become clogged.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">When its sink is plugged, the ear fills up with a sludge, supposedly sterile, but most often contaminated with a few very tiny <i>bacteria</i>. These are perfectly at ease in the swampy environment, and thrive, causing <i>earache</i>, that is otitis.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This must be treated as appropriate: by <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ear_candling" target="_blank">ear candling</a>, or pouring warm oil into the ear (classical and deadly granma's remedies); or simply using <i>antibiotics</i>. But antibiotics won't cure your cold, as they are only active against bacteria.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As a matter of fact, there are no remedies for a cold: first, because it's hard to find a drug so efficient that <a href="http://cid.oxfordjournals.org/content/37/12/1722.1.long" target="_blank">it makes even shorter an already very short illness</a>; second, because there are so many viruses involved, that it would be quite hard to find something affecting them all.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">As for the universally beloved <i>vitamin C</i> - deep in your heart you already know it - <a href="http://www.mv.helsinki.fi/home/hemila/reviews/Chalmers_1975_ch.pdf" target="_blank">it is basically useless</a> (<a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/14651858.CD000980.pub3/abstract" target="_blank">except during very harsh physical stress</a>).</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Or rather: it won't help, if you don't believe in it.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But if you do, it might work.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This is because of one of the most amazing medical wonders of all times: the <i>placebo effect</i>.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">A <i>placebo </i>is a pill which should contain a drug, but instead it has nothing inside (except sugar or other inactive substances). The placebo effect is an improvement of symptoms (or a cure) which follows the administration of placebo: it is therefore a purely psychological effect, triggered by the patient's conviction that he is taking an effective drug.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">This effect is so widespread that <a href="http://it.wikipedia.org/wiki/Doppio_cieco" target="_blank">whenever a new drug is tested, it has to be compared to a placebo</a>, similarly looking but biologically inactive; and neither patients nor physicians should know until the end of the experiment which pill they were taking/prescribing.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDReXapJtWW2tPiQyIh2GrEQMYRNuh73dYZ93JWTR7WjKiDlugZR8B2PUdQINosgtyHFeVsTpSn6ULFW4-68lKqrT4nByM94pGjX9nS8eNgdiIEk1mkeJ4tn3Lw-AVqVE3ZRgX46rk7y5E/s1600/raffreddore3.gif" imageanchor="1"><img alt="placebo effect virus cold comic cartoon" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDReXapJtWW2tPiQyIh2GrEQMYRNuh73dYZ93JWTR7WjKiDlugZR8B2PUdQINosgtyHFeVsTpSn6ULFW4-68lKqrT4nByM94pGjX9nS8eNgdiIEk1mkeJ4tn3Lw-AVqVE3ZRgX46rk7y5E/s400/raffreddore3.gif" height="400" title="" width="300" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In the 70's, the efficacy of vitamin C for the prevention and treatment of cold <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/163386" target="_blank">was tested </a>on 200 volunteers. At first sight, vitamin C seemed to confer a (slight) advantage over placebo in the duration of symptoms.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">However, when - at the end of the test - volunteers were asked whether they thought they knew (by the taste of it) what they had been taking, many answered yes, and some of them could indicate correctly whether they had been treated with placebo or vitamin C.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">Those who guessed correctly they were taking vitamin C were healthier; whereas those who did not know, had no benefit from the vitamin.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">But the weirdest thing was that those who believed they had taken vitamin C (but they had not) were healthier than those on the vitamin, who thought they were taking placebo. It was therefore a pure and splendid placebo effect.<br />
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Some studies have shown that <a href="http://vir.sgmjournals.org/content/68/8/2053.long" target="_blank">introverted</a>, <a href="http://psycnet.apa.org/journals/hea/17/3/214/" target="_blank">continuously stressed </a>or <a href="http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=417085" target="_blank">antisocial persons </a>are more prone to get a cold. How this happens, we don't know. Whatever the reason, you know what to do to stay healthy: have a lot of friends, be open and relaxed, and above all... believe.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">In what? In anything!</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Verdana;">The important thing is to believe.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;"></span></b> <b><span style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt;">Sources and Further Reading</span></b> <span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.commoncold.org/index.htm" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10pt;" target="_blank">Commoncold.org</a></span> <i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span></i><br />
<i><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">scientific articles</span></i> <span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><br />
<span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"><a href="http://www.smilesnotgerms.org/wp-content/uploads/2009/10/mechanisms.pdf" target="_blank">Mechanisms of transmission of rhinovirus infections</a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 10.0pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"> </span><br />
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-418919946790931782014-12-18T02:43:00.000+01:002015-01-16T13:43:11.721+01:00L'angiogenesi in soccorso delle cellule in apnea (#biocomichexAIRC)<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Uno dei grandi vantaggi delle <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">cellule</i> umane è che ricevono a domicilio tutto quello di cui hanno bisogno per vivere. A portarglielo sono i <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">vasi sanguigni</i>, una enorme rete di gallerie nelle quali scorre il <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">sangue</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Quando uno dei vasi sanguigni si ostruisce, però, le cellule rimangono senza cibo e soprattutto senza <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ossigeno</i>. Per non morire, sono costrette a chiedere aiuto, lanciando dei segnali di soccorso, sotto forma di <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proteine-SOS</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Le proteine-SOS sono dirette principalmente alle cellule endoteliali, che formano le pareti di tutti i vasi sanguigni. Sono loro, infatti, in caso di bisogno, a occuparsi della creazione di nuovi vasi sanguigni, cioè dell’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">angiogenesi</i>. Ricevuto l’SOS, le cellule endoteliali scavano verso la zona rimasta isolata, finché non raggiungono le cellule in apnea: e portano loro sangue, cibo e ossigeno.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20574450">Nelle persone adulte, l’angiogenesi si attiva raramente</a>. Nei tumori, invece, molto più spesso.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">Le cellule tumorali, infatti, ricevono pochissimo ossigeno. La colpa è tutta loro, perché sono già troppe e continuano comunque a riprodursi; ciononostante, non si vergognano minimamente di chiedere aiuto, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK13877/#_A2822_">e fanno ricorso all’angiogenesi</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana,sans-serif;">L’angiogenesi è fondamentale per lo sviluppo dei tumori. Per questo la <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ricerca </i>ha prodotto, negli ultimi anni, parecchi <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">farmaci</i> progettati per ostacolarla.</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkziEIURZvQ_J74oBxQA8GIk2SRvHgJLFS5ZPo6cdbz4wshmgVRKz7e5GavCDNdyLz1qApQ5sCSBJ5U17NnvQgljA4e4J76zQICsVSIvR3GJst4EVvfMjuZ8issiooVilFbH3QN2VGiqu1/s1600/def.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="cancro angiogenesi AIRC vignetta Iacopo Leardini" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkziEIURZvQ_J74oBxQA8GIk2SRvHgJLFS5ZPo6cdbz4wshmgVRKz7e5GavCDNdyLz1qApQ5sCSBJ5U17NnvQgljA4e4J76zQICsVSIvR3GJst4EVvfMjuZ8issiooVilFbH3QN2VGiqu1/s1600/def.jpg" height="351" title="" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">La vignetta natalizia di Iacopo Leardini</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://scuola.airc.it/blog.asp?id=14" target="_blank">LEGGI LA VERSIONE INTEGRALE DELL’ARTICOLO SUL SITO SCUOLA.AIRC.IT!</a></span><br />
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biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8716475060000235741.post-48626812645519339712014-12-09T14:03:00.000+01:002015-01-14T16:02:15.519+01:00Il colore delle foglie d'autunno: chiome tinte, alberi snob e insetti voraci<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La natura non difetta certo di fantasia: basti pensare a quante forme e colori diversi hanno i fiori e i frutti. Eppure le <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">foglie</i>, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/23/science/how-does-a-plant-with-red-leaves-support-itself-without-green-chlorophyll.html?_r=1&">tranne in pochi casi</a>, sono sempre dello stesso colore: <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">verdi</i> – perché verde è la <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">clorofilla</i>, una molecola molto abbondante nelle foglie e fondamentale per la loro funzione.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La clorofilla deve proprio aver avuto un buon motivo per scegliere questo colore, visto che <a href="http://www.bio.ku.dk/nuf/resources/scitab/chlabs/">non ha mai pensato di cambiarlo</a>, nonostante abbia avuto miliardi di anni di evoluzione a disposizione. <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAQYpra4aUs">Quale sia questo motivo, tuttavia, non è chiaro</a>.</span></div>
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<a name='more'></a><span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Fatto sta che la clorofilla è verde, e indispensabile: l’intero mondo vegetale non può fare a meno di usarla per imbottirci le proprie foglie. Le piante, pertanto, devono rassegnarsi a sfoggiare perennemente – a dispetto delle mode, dei gusti e anche del generale senso della decenza – una chioma sfacciatamente verde.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La clorofilla funziona esattamente come un pannello solare, intercettando la luce del sole e convertendola in una forma di energia utilizzabile dalla pianta.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Da sola, però, la clorofilla non serve a niente: per funzionare, va collegata a una rete di complicati macchinari, fatti di <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">proteine</i>, che si occupano della trasformazione dell’energia.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Queste macchine proteiche – e le foglie in generale – sono piuttosto dispendiose: <a href="http://www.botany.wisc.edu/givnish/Givnish/Welcome_files/2002SF.pdf">consumano uno sproposito di acqua e di energia</a>, facendo salire la spesa per le bollette alle stelle.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Nella bella stagione questo non è un problema, perché l’energia ottenuta dal sistema è più che sufficiente a coprire le spese di produzione. D’<i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">autunno</i>, invece, molte piante <a href="http://www.botany.wisc.edu/givnish/Givnish/Welcome_files/2002SF.pdf">cominciano a farsi delle domande</a>, soprattutto se si trovano a vivere in ambienti climaticamente difficili. Il sole sbiadito (o assente), il troppo freddo, l’aridità possono finire per trasformare le foglie in qualcosa di molto somigliante a un’azienda municipalizzata: un buco nero mangia-risorse.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Le piante più sensibili, che non se la sentono di licenziare le loro foglie, le tengono in funzione anche d’inverno, magari mettendole in cassa integrazione. Quelle più ciniche, invece, non appena vedono le giornate accorciarsi e gli affari contrarsi, chiudono le centrali di produzione energetica nelle foglie, e ne ordinano lo smantellamento.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Durante questa fase, <a href="http://cdn.intechopen.com/pdfs-wm/43117.pdf">molti dei materiali contenuti nelle foglie vengono recuperati</a> e riciclati; altri, come la stessa clorofilla, sono abbandonati sul posto.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La clorofilla appartiene alla categoria dei rifiuti speciali, e <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2906697/">va smaltita secondo una apposita procedura enzimatica</a>. Quando arriva alla fine delle operazioni di detossificazione, ha ormai perso il suo caratteristico colore, ed è diventata trasparente.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La splendida chioma estiva si trasforma quindi gradualmente in un insieme di misere foglie, sempre più rinsecchite e sbiadite. Ma invece di scolorire nel grigio e poi nel bianco – come i capelli che si fanno vecchi – le foglie <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">ingialliscono</i>, mostrando qualcosa che prima era invisibile: i <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">carotenoidi</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Questi <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">pigmenti</i> giallo-arancioni, che danno colore a molti frutti e ortaggi (tra cui le carote), sono presenti nelle foglie durante tutto l’anno, ma diventano visibili solo d’autunno, quando la fitta coltre di clorofilla si dirada.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Alcune piante però non si rassegnano così passivamente al proprio declino, e provano a nascondere i segni della stagione avanzata tingendosi le chiome di <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">rosso</i>. Per ottenere questo colore, si affidano a un’altra classe di molecole coloranti: gli <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">antociani</i>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">A differenza dei carotenoidi, che sono sempre presenti nelle foglie, <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1440-1703.2003.00588.x/abstract;jsessionid=F92C79706CF273FCA77B18F97307B941.f04t01?deniedAccessCustomisedMessage=&userIsAuthenticated=false">gli antociani vengono prodotti solo durante l’autunno</a>, proprio nel periodo di generale decadenza delle foglie. Perché sprecare risorse per fabbricare qualcosa destinato comunque, di lì a poco, a essere abbandonato?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La spiegazione più semplice è che gli antociani servano a prolungare la vita delle foglie giusto il tempo necessario a salvare il salvabile, cioè a recuperare i materiali utili rimasti. Senza clorofilla, infatti, le foglie sono più esposte ai danni provocati dai raggi solari, e anche il freddo può danneggiarle: <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1469-8137.2011.03662.x/full">gli antociani le proteggerebbero</a> da <a href="http://research.haifa.ac.il/~biology/simcha/Publications/PIB17.pdf">entrambe le insidie</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691721/pdf/15306345.pdf">Ma c’è anche un’altra ipotesi.</a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">L’autunno non è solo la stagione in cui muoiono le foglie. È anche il momento in cui alcuni voraci insetti, chiamati <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">afidi</i>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1945073/figure/pbio-0050187-g002/">depongono le loro uova sugli alberi</a>. Le uova si schiuderanno in primavera, liberando piccoli mostri che divoreranno le foglioline appena nate, rovinando alle piante infestate il buon umore primaverile.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Per combattere la pestilenza, servono sistemi di difesa complicati e costosi. Qualsiasi pianta con un po’ di sale in corteccia, investirebbe le sue risorse prima di tutto nella protezione dagli afidi, e solo dopo, potendoselo permettere, nella produzione di antociani.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Le piante dotate di una fiammante (e costosa) chioma rossa, sarebbero quindi allo stesso tempo le più ricche e le più protette, in grado di schiacciare (come un insetto) qualsiasi afide osi infiltrarsi tra le loro foglie.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">La tintura rossa, secondo questa ipotesi, sarebbe un simbolo di prosperità, capace di dissuadere gli afidi dall’attaccare.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEoRX75-MHVxAetrWTRCINuMI1UWB-Eb8FX8JOxEWF8ALe1_qEXuGvRcaFlYd6b8lVL6VejOI3Yjo8HZkhSUn3oJWIZ9a5Ig0uR-rjEDduAJYf5IGEbQgxX0YWwPJVaD7GNpy_XzbgXSN/s1600/Alberi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="colore foglie autunno rosso giallo clorofilla carotenoidi antociani danilo battaglia vignetta" border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgdEoRX75-MHVxAetrWTRCINuMI1UWB-Eb8FX8JOxEWF8ALe1_qEXuGvRcaFlYd6b8lVL6VejOI3Yjo8HZkhSUn3oJWIZ9a5Ig0uR-rjEDduAJYf5IGEbQgxX0YWwPJVaD7GNpy_XzbgXSN/s1600/Alberi.jpg" height="370" title="Il colore delle foglie d'autunno (vignetta di Danilo Battaglia)" width="520" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Come farebbe biocomiche.it senza <a href="http://danilobattaglia.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">Danilo Battaglia</a>??</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Purtroppo, come spesso succede, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2373801/">la realtà non combacia con la teoria</a>. Sembra infatti che gli afidi siano – per così dire – <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">daltonici</i>: cioè <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1945073/">incapaci di distinguere il colore rosso</a>.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";">Tanto sfoggio di lusso da parte della pianta sarebbe quindi inutile. O peggio, meschino: servirebbe solo a <a href="http://research.haifa.ac.il/~biology/simcha/Publications/PIB17.pdf">nascondere le foglie agli insetti</a>. </span></div>
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<b style="mso-bidi-font-weight: normal;"><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Altre Fonti</span></b></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.sidthomas.net/pdf/paperpdfs/109.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">The Colors of Autumn Leaves as Symptoms of Cellular Recycling and Defenses Against Environmental Stresses</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif";"><a href="http://www.botany.wisc.edu/givnish/Givnish/Welcome_files/2002SF.pdf"><span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;">Adaptive Signifi cance of Evergreen vs. Deciduous Leaves: Solving the Triple Paradox</span></a></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Verdana","sans-serif"; mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"></span></div>
biocomichehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13430620485734145145noreply@blogger.com1