Volume 3 — Issue 2
The SSC’s Official Science Newspaper
thecurrent@westernssc.ca
BIOLOGY
A factor of life or death
Maternal and fetal blood types determine if childbirth will be successful Steven Robillard Editor-In-Chief
Circulating through our enclosed system of vessels is the thick ironcontaining substance we call blood. ‘Blood,’ however, is a crude term which fails to do justice to the many micro and macromolecular components that constitute it. Composed mainly of erythrocytes (red blood cells), leukocytes (white blood cells) and platelets present in a liquid medium known as plasma, our blood is responsible for the transport of oxygen to bodily tissue, the removal of carbon dioxide waste products, phagocytosis and digestion of foreign molecules, clotting at sites of injury – I could go on all day. That being said, most of us are aware we have a ‘blood type,’ a specific classification of our blood constituting if it is compatible or not with other blood types. This blood type is defined by the presence or absence of antigens on the surface of erythrocytes, and the corresponding presence or absence of antibodies to those antigens in the blood plasma. Basically, if a red blood cell has an
antigen on its surface, the plasma DOES NOT have that antibody (proteins of the immune systems tagging molecules for destruction). So if an RBC has antigen A on its surface, but is lacking antigen B, the plasma will have antibodies to antigen B but not to A – easy enough to understand. However, a problem arises during pregancy that can place the life of the child at risk, called Hemolytic Disease of the Newborn (HDN). The Rh factor is simply another antigen that can be present on the surface of red blood cells. Therefore if a woman is Rh+, she has the antigen but NOT the antibody, and vice versa if she is Rh-. When a woman who is Rh- mates, does the no-pants dance, becomes the beast with 2 backs (whatever you want call it) with a male who is Rh+, it can give rise to an Rh+ fetus. Thus, the mother has the antibody to the Rh factor (because she is Rh-) and the fetus has the antigen of the Rh factor (because it is Rh+). Now you can see where this is going, right? In a typical pregnancy, maternal and fetal blood do not mix, so the health of the fetus is never in jeopardy. However, during childbirth, such phenomena as a fetomaternal hemorrhage may occur, which causes a mixing of blood
INSIDE THIS ISSUE, YOU’RE GOING TO FIND...
Science is the shit. Pop quiz: Use the knowledge of blood types presented above to select the blood type of a universal recipient (someone who can receive blood from anyone). ‘O’ means no A or B antigen and + and – denotes presence or absence of Rh factor. A) A+ B) AB+ C) OD) ABCourtesy ofSingularity Hub
DISCOVERY
One young traveler’s analysis of the differences between shamanic and traditional medicine. Page 3
How to drill deep........into the ocean.
between the child and the mother. Subsequently, the mother’s Rhantibodies develop and are capable of attacking the Rh+ fetus, which would cause an autoimmune response, and ultimately, its death. As well, the mother’s antibodies now pose danger to every succeeding Rh+ child they may have. Fortunately, an intramuscular injection of a solution of Rho(D) immune globin, which contains anti-RhD antibodies is successful in suppressing the immune system of the mother as to minimize the interaction between her antibodies and the fetal antigens.
Page 4
The removal of reproductive organs in animal can be a good thing? What?? Page 5 The meshworm - an interesting innovation in the world of robotics. Page 6 The effects of smoking upon short-term memory and recall. Page 7
Simple ideas
(and Western Science)
are usually the best Billy Silverstein
Current Contributor Frederick Banting. Nobel Prize Winner for Physiology or Medicine for the discovery of insulin. Professor at the University of Toronto, and professor at the University of Western Ontario. That is right, Frederick Banting, one of the co-discoverers of insulin, worked on the very grounds you are perusing today. Now, the story of how Banting discovered insulin is really quite remarkable, and it probably could have happened to any one of you! To begin, Banting was a little
known surgeon who just held a Bachelor’s degree in medicine (BMSc students, does that seem familiar?), and he had an idea about how the model of diabetes worked. He postulated that pancreatic digestive juices could be harmful to the anti-diabetic secretion of the pancreas. Then, based on some nifty reasoning, he felt that if you were to close off the pancreatic ducts and stop the flow of the food to the pancreas for the digestive juices to get it, you would cause the pancreas to degenerate. The cells that produced this antidiabetic secretion could be isolated from the pancreas without being harmed. It was a simple idea, but as is
...CONTINUED ON PAGE 7
The sole responsibility for the content of this publication lies with the authors. Its contents do not reflect the opinion of the University Students’ Council of the University of Western Ontario (“USC”). The USC assumes no responsibility or liability for any error, inaccuracy, omission or comment contained in this publication or for any use that may be made of such information by the reader.