All experiments were used adult zebrafish (wild-type WIK strain) with the age of 6-18 months. Zebrafishs were immersed in 0.04% tricaine (Sigma, USA) and immobilized the ventral upwards of zebrafish into a foam holder on a Petri dish. A forceps was used to tear the tissue through the body wall and pericardium. The heart was exposed by gently squeezing the abdomen. A ~1.5 cm length and ~250 mm diameter copper filament was immersed in liquid nitrogen for 5 min and placed on the heart surface for 10 sec. The sample, which was PBS, 2.5×106 cells in PBS with or without plasmids, and 2.5×106 cells in PUG1 or PUG2 with or without 150 g/ml plasmids, was placed in a syringe with 32 G needle (90 m inner diameter) and injected to the heart ventricle.
The Zebra Mussel (Dreissena polymorpha), is a small freshwater mollusk that is an invasive species. It has slowly been making its way into the United States. It has done this by showing up in lakes and in rivers. The mussels get their name due to the striped pattern on their shells. They are a relatively small species, only growing to the size of a human finger nail but there have been cases of larger (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 2). Mussels live a short life span of 4-5 years and most do not make into adulthood. They live in freshwater at depths of 6 to 24 feet. The female produces 30,000 to 1,000,000 eggs per year starting at the age of two. Zebra Mussels are free moving and can move with an external organ called the byssus (“Zebra Mussels,” 2013, para. 3). But they can be moved around by currents and other objects too. Zebra Mussels are a threat to ecosystems. They damage the natural habitat of lakes and rivers and cause negative effects to the native aquatic life. They multiply in vast majority casing a lake of food and space for other animals. And also the U.S. has spent millions on the removal of these pests from our water (“Zebra Mussels,” 2014, para. 8). The Zebra Mussel has now made its way into Colorado. Just a few has been found in the waters of Colorado but a few is enough to cause a big stir. Extreme precautions have now been put into effect to make sure that the threat of Zebra Mussels is under control.
The use of model organisms in pre clinical trial is relied upon for the collection of safety and efficacy data prior to first in human clinical studies. The crustacean Daphnia magna is one model organism, whose heart rate is reported to react similarly to the human heart rate, when exposed to identical compounds (3).
Zebra mussels have now found there way to the United States originating from the Caspian Sea and sought habitation, originally, in Lake St. Claire when ballast water brought them in. From there, zebra mussels have spread and have caused havoc to the environments and its biodiversity, specifically, Presque Isle. Zebra mussels are filter feeders of zooplankton and phytoplanktons, making the water appear clearer, but not cleaner. They have negatively impacted the existence of clams, walleye and several other organisms. In order to preserve the biodiversity of Presque Isle, zebra mussels must be culled and controlled. Several methods that can be utilized to achieve this goal is by chlorination, poison, scraping, etc.
Blackfish is a 2013 documentary directed and written by Gabriela Cowperthwaite. The film regards the effects that captivity has on killer whales, with a focus on a SeaWorld orca named Tilikum. Born in 1981, Tilikum was captured at the age of two off the coast of Iceland and taken to Sealand of the Pacific in British Columbia, Canada. 8 years later, Keltie Byrnes, a marine biology student and part time Sealand trainer, slipped into the pool containing Tilikum and two female whales. The three orcas submerged and dragged Byrnes around the pool, resulting in her death. Shortly thereafter, Tilikum was moved to SeaWorld in Orlando, Florida, where he killed two more people. Charles P. Dukes was found dead, draped over Tilikum’s back, in 1999 after evading security and entering the orca tank. Dawn Brancheau, a veteran trainer, was killed during a post-show routine when Tilikum pulled her into the
The development of the artificial heart began in the early 1950’s. The initial prototype, developed in 1970’s by the artificial developmental staff at the University of Utah, allowed 50 hours of sustained life in a sheep. Although this was called a success, the implantation of the artificial heart left the sheep in a weakened state. It wasn’t until late 1970’s and the early 1980’s where the improvement of the artificial heart actually received attention as a possible alternative to a heart transplant. The remodeled product of the early 1970’s did more than just the 50 hours of sustained life; it enabled the cow to live longer and to live a relatively normal life, with the exception of a machine attached to the animal.
The science and history of the heart can be traced back as far as the fourth century B.C. Greek philosopher, Aristotle, declared the heart to be the most vital organ in the body based on observations of chick embryos. In the second century A.D, similar ideas were later reestablished in a piece written by Galen called On the Usefulness of the Parts of the Body. Galen’s thesis was that the heart was the source of the body’s essential heat and most closely related to the soul. Galen made careful observations of the physical properties of the heart as well. He said “The heart is a hard flesh, not easily injured. In hardness, tension, in general strength, and resistance to injury, the fibers of the heart far surpasses all others, for no other instrument performs such continues, hard work as the heart”(Galen, Volume 1).
The purpose of this lab report is to see if the upsurges and the diminutions on the invasive species populace along with the inferences that modifications of the ecosystem as one.
STATEMENT OF USE: “Although many key questions can still only be answered by animal studies, non-animal methods now account for 90% of medical research and include mathematical and computer models, advanced tissue and cell cultures, and scanning technology.” This information will take a great stance in my paper once more research is done about it. Animals do not need to be used to understand biomedical medicine and knowledge. They are not models for anything society taunts them to be. (76
...ape formation, movement of cardiac progenitor cells, heart tube, and heart function. A novel development of more specific assays, advance genetic screen efforts will provide new knowledge on cardiac development in the following years. Additionally, because of the zebrafish distinct features and its similarities to vertebrae, the zebrafish might become many researchers preferred model organism to study many mammal organs. Recently, the zebrafish has been used to study mechanisms that cause human cardiac and liver diseases and to model human hereditary and developed cardiac diseases. Due to the increase in sequencing efforts, the developing interest to study human liver and cardiac diseases. Also, the increase of resource and the more availability of the zebrafish model used in clinical and basic researchers involved in studying the liver, as well as cardiac diseases
The zebra fish is commonly used for studies involving human diseases. (7). The zebra fish, has a very common genome in relation to humans and serves as a great tool of research for many human diseases. 300 million years separate the zebra fish and the humans last known common ancestor. Shockingly enough their genome is still a great resource for cancer research and many other genetic diseases due to their vast genomic similarities (1). The zebra fish is a model organism in many disease studies such as, cancer, human genetic diseases, neurological disease, Alzheimer’s and many more(8).
The next stage in myocardial infarction is the formation of thrombus. Exposure of the subendothelial matrix of the plaque to blood due to superficial abrasion generates platelet activation and aggregation. Clotting factors on the platelet membrane carry out reaction which release prothrombin activator, this activator then converts prothrombin to enzyme thrombin. The transformation of fibrinogen to fibrin is then catalysed by thrombin. During proteolysis (the breaks down of protein), fibrinogen is converted to fibrin strands which stabilize the final blood clot. Complete occlusion of coronary artery by thrombus disrupts blood flow and causes ischemia due to atherosclerotic coronary artery steno...
The second part of this lab was a computer simulation program to illustrate a frog’s electrocardiogram using various drugs in an isolated setting. The computer program entitled “Effects of Drugs on the Frog Heart” allowed experimental conditions to be set for specific drugs. The different drugs used were calcium, digitalis, pilocarpine, atropine, potassium, epinephrine, caffeine, and nicotine. Each of these drugs caused a different electrocardiogram and beats per minute reading. The calcium-magnesium ration affects “the permeability of the cell membrane”(Fox). When calcium is placed directly on the heart it results in three physiological functions. The force of the heart increases while the cardiac rate decreases. It also causes the appearance of “ectopic pacemakers in the ventricles, producing abnormal rhythms” (Fox). Digitalis’ affect on the heart is very similar to that of calcium. It inhibits the sodium-potassium pump activated by ATP that promotes the uptake of extracellular calcium by the heart. This in return strengthens myocardial contraction (Springhouse). Pilocarpine on the other hand
In Blackfish, Director, Gabriela Cowperthwaite, addresses the accidents that occurred at SeaWorld involving trainers and whales. Cowperthwaite’s purpose is to educate the audience on the cruel treatment and rough conditions of whales that occur in SeaWorld. The film maintains a shocking tone in order to persuade the audience and appeal to feelings of sadness and anger.
One should not think that because zebrafish (Danio rerio) are fishes that they are in some ways less than any mammalian species. They certainly are not. Zebrafish are small shoaling cyprinids, named after the prominent black and white stripes patterns of the adults. Native to the Indian subcontinent, those laterally compressed organisms are widely distributed in slow moving streams and stagnant habitats. Where existent, zebrafish are typically the most abundant species (McClure, et al., 2006, p. 562). They also have a short generation time which allows large numbers to hatch in a short period of time. The species has become popular among enthusiasts due to its hardiness, cold resistance, and facility of breeding. Over the years, selective breeding have created numerous different strands.
It was placed on a slide, a couple drops of water was placed on the slide to keep it moisturized. Next, we used a microscope to observe the heart beating in the transparent animal. According to the lab report on page 98 the normal heartbeats are about 350 per minute. By using a pencil and paper, we made a small dash for every heartbeat over a 15 second interval. Than we continued to repeat the observation of the heartbeats 3 more times for a total of 4 observations. We than totaled up the number of dashes and calculated the average of the four 15 second observations, this was labeled “Normal Heart Rate” on Table 1. Next we added 1 drop of an “unknown” solution that was assigned, we made sure to determine the average normal heart rate before doing do. The same procedure outlined above was conducted. The records were than placed in table 1. We than used water in replace of the unknown solution. The same procedure was conducted, we analyzed whether the Daphnia had recovered or not. Lastly our records were compared among our