QUEST Community Science Blog Author: Cat

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Living in Limbo: the Zombie-like Qualities of Prions

October 28th, 2009 by Cat

Prion diseases are neurodegenerative, attacking the brain. Could they be responsible for the recent wave of Zombie attacks across the globe? Original photo: digitalsextant. I’m a sucker for zombie movies; I’ve watched dozens of them. I am especially fond of the Resident Evil Trilogy, where the T-Viruses effectively restructure mortality and create a world of zombies. There is something incredibly satisfying with the zombie movie plot – a virus outbreak devastates a planet but a group of people are immune and fight to save humankind. Having the ultimate evil as a virus also makes it seem more plausible and compelling. Yet viruses and bacteria do not live in limbo. They are alive and under the right conditions can be killed. Which is bad news for Zombies.

But what if there existed a substance that acted like a virus or bacteria but wasn’t living? Medicine made a revolutionary leap during the time of Louis Pasteur in the mid 1800's. The inventor of food pasteurization and one of the founding fathers of microbiology – he was able to prove germ theory. Food spoiled and organisms got sick because of the growth of bacteria and viruses within them. Within sterile environments, viruses and bacteria could be killed off and food could be preserved or organisms could recover from illness or infection. Sterilization works on living micro-organisms. Prions, however, are not living organisms.

Prions are infectious proteins. For unknown reasons, these proteins refold abnormally and cause a domino effect in surrounding proteins which in turn mutate into stable structures. Prions will then cause tissue damage and cell death to surrounding areas. Prion diseases are neurodegenerative, attacking the brain and are characterized by "holes" in the tissue. The incubation time for Prion diseases is quite long. They usually surface later in life but after they surface, the diseases are rapid and fatal. Such examples of Prion diseases include Mad Cow Disease in cattle, Scrapie in sheep and Fatal Familial Insomnia in humans. FFI is a disease that literally takes away the ability to sleep and in a few months leads to death. The Book “The Family That Couldn’t Sleep” by journalist D.T. Max follows a family in Italy that passes this disease from one generation to the next over subsequent centuries.

Prions have been and still are a medical mystery. What causes them to mutate and aggressively eat away at the brain? How can they be stopped? Because they are not living they are highly resistant to sterilization methods. While viruses and bacteria can be eradicated on equipment through heat, radiation or chemical reagents, Prions are strongly immune. Maybe Zombies are not so far off after all – lurking in the shadow of medicine has been a mutation that is resistant, brain-eating and neither alive or dead. It has some serious similarities to the zombies I have watched over and over again on the big screen.

If you want to learn more about Prions and their history, check out Down to a Science’s next reading group which is focusing on the book The Family that Couldn’t Sleep or check out the book Deadly Feasts: The "Prion" Controversy and the Public's Health by Richard Rhodes. And one more thing – Happy Halloween!




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Posted in Biology, Events, KQED, Partners | 1 Comment

Under Our Skin—A Look at Lyme Disease

September 16th, 2009 by Cat

Lyme disease, carried by ticks, has become a politically and medically controversial disease. Image source:

John Carleton / CC BY-NC-SA 2.0

In early September, I received an email from one of my friends, with the following message:

Let's pack the theaters!! I'll be volunteering there all weekend!

Under our Skin is finally hitting the big screen right here in our city 9/18-9/24.  You won't be disappointed… This is a film that everyone needs to see.  It says more than I could in a lifetime, and way more eloquently. The number of people diagnosed has gone up 77% from 2006-2008.

It's not about me, it's about opening your eyes to the complexity and horrid reality of chronic Lyme and how you can prevent it! You will be glad you took the 104 minutes to see this film! It could save your life or of a person you love. Turn the Corner (TTC) is the official Outreach Partner for the documentary Under Our Skin and will receive proceeds from the film. 

Please respond …  and invite everyone you know!

The message was from my friend Gayle who is living with chronic Lyme disease.  It was a call to arms to all her friends to see Under Our Skin at the Kabuki Theater.

Lyme disease has become a politically and medically controversial disease. Antibiotics are used in the early stages of treatment and usually cure early localized infection.  However, fewer than half the people that contract Lyme recall a tick bite and of those fewer than 50% get the bulls eye rash.  Many cases go untreated for months or years.  In more than half of the cases that go untreated, antibiotics will no longer cure the disease.  It is one of the fastest growing infectious diseases in the United State making it more prevalent than AIDS, yet is it also one of the most widely misdiagnosed.   Those suffering from Lyme disease are often misdiagnosed with maladies ranging from chronic fatigue syndrome to multiple sclerosis to Lou Gehrig's Disease.

Most often those with Lyme are mistreated and still suffer.  This documentary goes into the nuances of Lyme; how devastating it has been to those suffering it and how our healthcare system has only put on a bandaid on a severely debilitating disease.  A recent article in the San Francisco Chronicle features the film’s director and revives the discussion about Lyme Disease.

Many people only learn more about diseases when it touches someone they love.  My friend Gayle, has been a light and an inspiration in this sense to family and friends.  Her symptoms for a long time have been misdiagnosed. She was bit once when she was in her early teens.  Her doctor and her believe her disease worsened when she was bit again a few years ago while camping in California and suffered co-infection. This past year, she was finally diagnosed correctly and has been undergoing intensive treatment.  Her background is as an RN, and true to form she has been using her own experience to advocate and treat others.  Most people with chronic Lyme show little improvement with a course of antibiotics.  However, in the past few years, Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy (HBOT) has been showing steady improvement in many chronic cases.  She now works at a Hyperbaric clinic in the city.  Most days, she gets up, receives her treatment and then spends the rest of the day treating others.

So for Gayle, this is my attempt to pack the theaters.  The proceeds from this movie will go to The Corner Foundation for grants and research to support those suffering this disease and prevent more from doing so.  It is a worthy cause worth writing about and a movie I will be attending.




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Posted in Health, Partners | 8 Comments

Anti-bacterial Soap: is the Medicine Worse Than the Cure?

September 2nd, 2009 by Cat

Often at the California Academy of Sciences, you will see docents out on the floor of the museum with an example from our live animal collection.The Academy offers chances to get up and personal with a variety of reptiles, including Skinks and Ball Pythons. Docents follow up these close encounters by offering antimicrobial soap to guests to clean their hands– not because the animals are slimy or grimy, but as a precaution against transmitting Salmonella bacteria from animals to people.

You've probably heard of this bacteria before, as an unpleasant bug that sometimes finds its way into high-protein foods such as meat, fish, and eggs. It is also naturally found on and in many reptiles, and does not usually make the animals sick, but if passed to humans– particularly young children, the elderly and infirm — it can cause a serious infection called Salmonellosis.

But selecting the right anti-microbial was not as easy a choice as we thought it would be.

Food and Drug Administration published reports question the use of antibacterial soap and hand sanitizers, saying that it found no medical studies that showed a link between a specific consumer antibacterial product and a decline in infection rates. Plus, regular soap kills 90% of bacteria and leaves little impact on the environment.

Additionally, anti-bacterial products like Purell use synthetic polymers known as Triclocarban and triclosan to kill off bacteria. Triclosan is known to promote the growth of resistant bacteria, including E. coli, and both pose environmental toxicity risks; after washing your hands or washing the dishes they can get into the waste water system. Because they do not break down or get filtered out during waste water treatment, up to 75 percent of the original amount gets into the Bay. Once in the environment, these products have been known to disrupt the health of marine life and other wildlife.

So Academy scientists went in search of an alternative product that does not contain the above 2 agents, and has recommended Vionex Antimicrobial Soap for our public programs. Commonly used in the medical, dental, and law enforcement industries, Vionex uses a different antimicrobial agent called PCMX, or parachlorometaxylenol, which is considered significantly less toxic to humans and other mammals that Triclocarban and Triclosan.

What you can do at home

Even if you are not handling reptiles daily like we are, you can take action to reduce exposure to toxic anti-microbials. Whenever possible avoid products that are labeled “anti-bacterial.” Products that are likely to be anti-bacterial are most hand-sanitizers, hand wipes, cleaning products, and dishwasher detergent. If you must use hand-sanitizers, consider natural ones such as Hand-Sanz (found at Whole Food or Bristol Farms).




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Posted in Environment, Health, KQED, Partners | 1 Comment

My Favorite Beneath-the-Sea Firework

August 19th, 2009 by Cat

Monterey Bay Aquarium's giant octopus

Okay, I’m biased. I definitely have my favorite animal in the Steinhart Aquarium and I visit him often. The first time I saw him come out and swim around was magical. It was just before we opened to the public and it had been a long day. I was taking a break in the Aquarium and after strolling for a spell; I sat down by his tank. He was hiding just out of sight in the bottom of the tank squeezed between the glass and the rocky outcroppings. I saw a tentacle, red and furtive and then another one. His face poked up and then dipped down quickly. His tentacles stilled roamed, creating a beautiful line against the glass. He got braver and would peek at me for longer and then dip down yet again. Of course I would be biased –- considering I was able to play peek-a-boo with a red octopus!

That was almost a year ago and I still visit regularly. I can count on two hands the amount of time that I’ve visited his tank to find him out and exploring. Most often he is hiding within one of the corners of the tank. But I catch him out — hunting a crab or opening a jar the biologist gave him to play with. His elusive nature makes the times I get a glimpse that much more special. He has grown quite a bit over the course of the year and now when he comes, he spreads out and takes up much of the span of the tank. His red coloring, mottled skin and white suckers make him look like a dancing underwater firework.

I am in great awe of his shape and the intelligence he shows in manipulating his form. On the Red Octopus, the only hard substance on its entire body is its beak. These species are invertebrate cephalopods; most species lack either an internal or external structure. Most often them can squeeze into spaces no bigger around then their beak. Which explains why he can fit into such a small corner despite his large size.

Astro-turf is also carpeting the rim of his tank. It is a deterrent against him crawling out of his tank into another tank to feed. A previous octopus on display in the old Steinhart Aquarium did just that, much to the chagrin of the biologists caring for the tanks. There is also a weight on top of the octopus tanks at the tidepool. This is to insure they do not get out and eat the residents of the tidepool. The weight is a couple of pounds, and without it the small octopus could easily open its jewel tank.

Octopus species are considered the most intelligent invertebrates in the ocean. In captivity, they have shown play, problem solving and short and long term memory. In the wild, their intelligence, flexibility, camouflage, and problem solving makes them a formidable predator. They have even been known to prey on sharks! The best time to see an octopus “on the hunt” is at night. They are nocturnal and the octopus at the Academy is no different. The majority of the time I have seen him out is after 5pm. So if you visit during the extended hours in August, stop by the Octopus tank. The glimpse of red and dance of tentacles is well worth the visit.






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Posted in KQED | 2 Comments

Good night, sleep tight, don't let the bed bugs bite!

July 22nd, 2009 by Cat

Bed bugs are small, but not invisible. (photo credit)
Before this past week, I really did believe this was a nursery rhyme. Bed bugs were a mere fluff equivalent to Miss Muppet and her tuppet and the eensy weensy spider climbing up the water spout. I was re-introduced to bed bugs recently by my neighbor who had his whole studio infested. He had dark circles under his eyes and a somber face when he warned me about the little bugs.

So I closed my door and did what I always do when faced with something I don’t know about, I Googled it. There is a species known as the Cimex lectularius that makes humans their host of choice. All Bed Bugs feed on blood and come out at night, as they are often averse to sunlight. Their most preferred feeding time is an hour before dawn when most hosts are in their deepest sleep. They are attracted by exhaled carbon dioxide as well as the heat a human body gives off. When biting, they inject two hollow tubes. One tube injects saliva into the host which is full of anticoagulants and anesthetics while the other tube withdraws the blood. This allows the blood to thin and flow freely without disturbing the host. Most often it is several minutes or hours later when a person will feel a bed bug bite, usually because of intense itching caused by a reaction to the agents injected.

Though itchy, Bed Bug bites do not appear to carry any pathogens or diseases. Bed bugs prefer to come out and eat every five to ten days but can go up to a year without feeding. Well fed bed bugs will live up to nine months but those that go dormant due to lack of food can live upwards of eighteen months.

Many people think bed bugs are not visible. They're just small: 1/8 to 3/16th of an inch long, about the size of a lentil. They are also wingless, flat, oval and reddish brown in color. After feeding, they take on a more intense red color due to the blood they just injested. Newly hatched nymphs are translucent and only take on the brownish-red color when they begin molting.

Bed bugs are also very well traveled and fare well in large cities. Chicago and New York have seen a great deal of infestations, in part due to international travel. The New York Times recently posted an article about best ways to deal with bed bugs. Locales of choice include mattresses, couches, and furniture near their hosts, often found in hotels, motels, hostels and apartment buildings. Given their small size, they can hide easily in seams, cracks and folds – even in a picture frame or a battery compartment of a clock! If a suitcase is laid on an infested bed in a hotel, it is easy for bedbugs to hitch a ride. The best prevention to take is to check furniture in hotels and put luggage up on luggage racks and check everything upon returning home.

As it turns out, infestations can also be caused by second-hand furniture. My apartment building got its bed bugs when a tenant brought in furniture he found on the street. To my great relief, after three sleepless nights, a great deal of laundry and bagging up clothes and pillows, my apartment was inspected and found to be clean. But I have definitely changed my routine. I have been bagging storage items in plastic and I put white sheets on the bed to be able to see bed bugs if they come in. I am also buying a mattress bag to protect my mattress.

In cities like San Francisco, international guests now include bed bugs. And they prove to be a hard visitor to get rid of!






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The Corpse Smells of Chocolate?

July 3rd, 2009 by Cat

Titan Arum, or Corpse FlowerI first heard of the Corpse flower when I ran smack into a line awaiting entrance into the US National Arboretum in DC.  One was inside blooming away and emitting a rancid odor.  I was unable to view that particular specimen.  But I was able to see one – in the flesh – last Wednesday at the SF State botanical greenhouse.

This particular specimen was unfortunately not yet in bloom.  The Corpse Flower also known as the Titan Arum is best known for the smell it emits when in bloom.  It only blooms for 24 to 48 hours and it emits a smell that can range from rotting garbage to a dead corpse.  When I viewed it on Wednesday, the petals known as the spathe were wrapped around a very large hollow stem known as a spadix.  On the outside the spathe were green and you could just see the deep burgundy fray of the interior portion of the spathe.  The corpse flower not only emits a rotting meat fragrance when the spathe finally opens.  The flower's deep red or burgundy color and texture mimic the texture and appearance of rotting meat.  Moreover, during bloom the spadix heats up to the about 98 degrees Farenheit, which helps the perfume permeate the air and further seals the illusion of rotting meat.  All these attributes during bloom will then attract carrion-eating beetles and Flesh Flies that it turn pollinate the Corpse Flower in its native tropical forest clime in Sumatra.

After viewing the almost three foot Corpse flower personally, I have been following the daily blog about its progress on the Friend of the Greenhouse at  www.fotgh.com.  The blog has been updated faithfully by the Greenhouse Manager, Martin Marhoot.  Early last week the flower debunked experts by staying closed on the day they had predicted for it to open.  It is further being perplexing by given not a rancid odor but one quite sweet and familiar – that of chocolate!  This morning, which is Friday, July 3^rd as I write this, It started to emit this odor.  The spadix also increased in girth and it looks now like the spathes will relax and open just in time for fourth of July  What kind of scent will waft through Greenhouse is now up for debate.




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Posted in Biology, KQED, Partners | Please Comment

The Megalodon's Descendants

June 24th, 2009 by Cat

Artist's depiction of a megalodon chasing two blue whales (image credit: Karen Carr, the Virginia Museum of Natural History)
Often I am drawn back to one place at the California Academy of Sciences, staring down at the dancing forms in the Lagoon's shallow water. Rays and sharks glide easily just above the tropical sand. Eventually, I see the lagoon’s shyer inhabitant, the guitarfish, whose body markings and shape resemble an upside down guitar. Sharks, ray, and guitarfish all belong to the subclass Elasmobranchii within the cartilaginous fish class Chondrichthyes. The Elasmobranchii also includes the infamous megalodon, thought to be the largest carnivorous fish ever to have existed. The megalodon was famed to reach lengths between 45 and 90 feet, dwarfing even today's most fearsome Great Whites.

What I find most interesting about this subclass is the body make-up these creatures share. They do not have a bony skeleton like humans; their skeleton is made up of cartilage—a dense connective tissue that is tough yet elastic. Their grace, speed, and great success as predators come from the fluidity of their movement.

This also makes it difficult for Ichthyologists to agree on taxonomy within this class as fossilized remains of cartilaginous fish are often poor. The oldest fossil on record of a megalodon, 18 million years old, is the only bone in the skeleton: a tooth. From the tooth, several researchers have tried to reconstruct the jaw and piece together what the body would look like. The tooth also suggests what this massive prehistoric shark preyed upon: There are bite marks on whales, dolphins, porpoises and sea turtles.

As the sharks, rays, and guitarfish pass by in the lagoon, I imagine the shadow of their giant cousin, the megalodon.




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The Farallones Caught on Camera

June 10th, 2009 by Cat

The Farallones consist of a group of rocky islands that are 28 miles North of San Francisco Bay.A national wildlife refuge just outside the San Francisco Bay is now under surveillance! The California Academy of Sciences in partnership with U.S. Fish and Wildlife and PRBO Conservation Science has installed a web camera on the Farallon Islands.

The Northern Farallones were originally granted protection by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1909. However, these islands were not always protected. Human consumption decimated many populations, some never to return. The demand for fur, oil and meat devastated the elephant and fur seal population. By 1900, the robust Common Murre population dwindled down to a few thousand because of the demand for Murre eggs.

Today, the Islands are further protected under the Marine Life Protection Act and the Farallones are also deemed a state marine conservation area. The majority of visitors of the human persuasion are not allowed access to the islands as they would upset the balance of the largest seabird breeding colony in the United States. Those humans that do frequent the island include wildlife biologists and land managers who are conducting wildlife research.

PRBO Conversation Science has been a local on the island day and night conducting research and monitoring the natives. The webcam helps their cause by collecting scientific data from a remote location. The camera enables biologists to observe without disturbing wildlife or incurring adverse environmental impact.

The water surrounding the islands makes this an ideal stomping ground for marine life and seabirds alike. Coastal upwelling takes place in the spring around the islands. The Coriolis Effect along the coast drives surface waters away from the coast; this water is then replaced with the denser waters from below. Within the deeper waters is a wealth of nutrients that are photosynthesized into dense blooms of plant plankton when exposed to the sun. This energizes the marine food chain as the plant plankton is eaten by krill. Krill is then made available to eat for fish, birds, and marine mammals. It does not only feed surrounding wildlife but growing human populations as well. The most productive fisheries in the world are supported by coastal upwelling. Given the location and the diversity of wildlife, the Farallones is well worth protecting.

The webcam not only aids research; it assuages curiosity. Anyone can pilot the camera. A panoramic view of the island is set up for the user to navigate and explore. Field guides and information on the project are also given on the site to reference observations.




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Posted in Environment, Partners | Please Comment

Being Green on the Way to Work

May 13th, 2009 by Cat

Some happy bike commuters from the 2008 Bike to Work Day
Credit: Len Gilbert

On Thursday, May 14th, expect a jump in the number of bikes on the road in San Francisco. The reason for the inflation? Bike to Work Day. This will be the 15th Annual Bike to Work Day in San Francisco and the surrounding Bay Area, and this year nine Bay Area counties will participate in the festivities. The event seeks to promote a healthy way of commuting by featuring commute convoys, energizer stations, prizes for costumes and decorated bikes and downtown bike valet parking. Many organizations like the California Academy of Sciences have put together bike-commute teams to support the event.

The Bay Area is not the only city promoting bicycle advocacy. The best known community bike program was started in the 1960s in Amsterdam. Known as a bicycle sharing system, bicycles were available on a large scale, allowing people to have ready access to these public bikes rather than owning personal ones. This allowed people to shift from transit to bicycle and back again. These programs have not only been successful in Europe but the United States as well.

One of the first community bicycle projects in the United States started in Portland, Oregon in 1994 by several civic and environmental activists. A number of bicycles were available on the streets for use. Since then many other communities have set up similar projects. One was set up at Burning Man in 2007, following the example of the Portland Yellow Bike program.

150,000 commuters are expected to forgo their car commute and bike into work on May 14th. Nationally, many more will commute by bike during the entire month of May to support National Bike Month.

There are some great perks to commuting by bike to work: Bikes are much cheaper than cars. Typically, a bike will cost around $700 per year; compare that to the cost of a car (which includes insurance, repairs and gas), around $8000 per year (according to the American Automobile Association). Not only is it cheaper, the carbon footprint of commuting by bike is drastically lower as well. A gallon of gas releases about 20 lbs of CO2 into the air; a bicycle creates no CO2 emissions. Bicycling is also a great way to stay healthy and active without having to make a trip to the gym.

All in all, Bike to Work Day is an individually and environmentally healthy way to get to and from work. For more information on Bike to Work Day, bike routes, and services offered for bicyclists visit http://btwd.bayareabikes.org/.







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Swine Flu – A Virus or a Bacteria?

April 30th, 2009 by Cat

The swine flu virus, up close (and colorized!)
Credit: C. S. Goldsmith and A. Balish, CDC

Swine Flu has been blanketing the news as of late. On April 29th, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported the first US fatality occurring in Texas. The CDC has determined that this swine influenza A(H1N1) virus is contagious and spreading from human to human. Yet at this time, they do not know how easily the virus spreads between people. At our museum, we have taken this very seriously and staff has been asked to stay home if symptoms arise.

CDC is recommending that those who come down with flu-like symptoms stay home from work in order to decrease the rate of infection. The Swine Flu is a viral infection rather than a bacterial infection, which makes it harder to treat. Much of the care for viruses is preventive; viruses are hard to treat after they have entered a living host.

Many people do not know the difference between a viral infection and a bacterial one and consider them interchangeable. Yet they are quite different. Viruses are sub-microscopic particles ranging in size from 20 to 300 nanometers (about 1000 times smaller than the width of a human hair). Viruses must have a living host to function. They remain dormant until they infect a living cell. Within a cell, they then change the genetic material of the cell to replicate the virus. AIDS and Influenza are both created by this process of taking over the normal function of a cell in order to replicate viral cells.

Bacteria do not take over cells. Bacteria are much larger than viruses, usually 10 to 100 times bigger than a virus. Their shapes include curved rods, spheres, rods and spirals. They are known as intercellular organisms because they live between cells. All viruses are harmful to the host because they alter cells, but bacteria can be beneficial (like the species that live in our guts and help us digest our food).

Harmful bacteria in the body create infections like Strep throat or Small Pox. Bacteria can grow and reproduce in both living and non-living environments. Antibiotics are used to treat harmful bacterial growth and infection in the body. Antibiotics; however, are ineffectual against treating viruses.

Because the Swine Flu is a virally spread disease, it is even more important to practice prevention. The CDC sees this disease being spread like a common flu – mainly from person to person through coughing or sneezing by people with influenza. People can also become infected by touching something with flu viruses on it and then touching their mouth or nose. Taking simple precautions like washing your hands and covering your mouth when sneezing is effective prevention. Working in a museum,we take this extra seriously considering how often we come in contact with lots of people and their germs. Many of my co-workers, myself included, have hand sanitizer at our desks, wash our hands often, and carry tissues. It is a simple way to combat an evasive illness.

For more about how to protect yourself from swine flu, check out this podcast from the CDC.







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Posted in Biology, Health | 3 Comments
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