Killing Pain

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Pain Killers

When experiencing any kind of pain, it is not uncommon for people to pop an ibuprofen. However, this can have serious negative effects. Although ibuprofen doesn't cause a lot of side effects in many people, long term dosing can cause severe damage.

Like many people in the United States, I experience migraines. Often whenever I have a migraine my go to pain reliever is ibuprofen. My doctor recommended that I take a higher dosage of the stuff to kill a headache in its early stages because there are no migraine medications that have been approved for people under 18.

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Today, painkillers are very common. There are many different types, ranging from the prescription painkillers like morphine and fentanyl to over-the-counter aspirin and acetaminophen. Pain relievers help people through their daily lives, recover from surgery, and recover from debilitating disease.

According to health.harvard.edu, one of the first pain killers was willow bark. People would make tea out of the bark to help reduce fever and pain. The chemical in willow bark that had relieving effects was isolated by a German scientist and modified in 1956. This became aspirin.

Ibuprofen is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug and was invented in 1962. Ibuprofen and aspirin fall under this category of drugs.

How Ibuprofen Works

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Ibuprofen is absorbed into the blood stream through the lining of the intestine. From there it finds its way to the site of the pain. An enzyme called cyclooxygenase is produced when cells are damaged. The drug prevents the enzymes sending chemical pain signals to the brain.

Is it Actually Helping?

Ibuprofen lessens pain and fever. However, some scientists believe that reducing fever while sick could actually help viruses. According to Debora MacKenzie of the New Scientist periodical, viruses have difficulty replicating at temperatures above body temperature. Getting a fever is your body’s natural response to fight diseases, even if it does make you feel awful. Viruses target specific hosts so they can replicate. Human viruses function best at 37 degrees Celsius, or 98.6 degrees Fahrenheit.

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Scientists from McMaster University in Canada tested this in ferrets. Ferrets with the flu were treated in two different ways. One group was given ibuprofen. The other ferrets were shaved. The shaved ferrets got over their sickness more quickly while the group given ibuprofen helped spread the disease.

Toxicity

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Many people abuse prescription drugs, leading to terrible health issues.

It is extremely difficult to overdose on ibuprofen. You have to take a whole bottle. However long-term use can lead to severe kidney damage, kidney failure, increased risk of heart disease, and internal bleeding.

Some common side effects from taking ibuprofen are heart burn, cramps, and nausea.

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Addiction

Although ibuprofen does not cause physical addiction, some people may rely on it to function. If they are in pain on a daily basis then they may take ibuprofen daily.

These side effects only appear after serious long-term dosing. Ibuprofen is perfectly safe when used correctly. However, it’s good to be cautious. Think about how these drugs are affecting viruses in your system. Sometimes it might be beneficial to endure a little bit of pain.

We take pain relievers for convenience. Let’s all kill our kidneys together <3

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Bilateral Gender Bender

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Gender

Typically animals are either male or female. Most species have their gender determined when they are conceived. Two gametes, sex cells, are fused together when this happens. One cell comes from the mother and one from the father. In humans the sex cells can be either X or Y.  Females are XX and males are XY. Sex is determined by the father as he can donate the Y and the mother can only give an X.

In other species gender is determined by the mother. These creatures have ZZ and ZW sex cells. The mother can give a Z or W and the father can only give a Z.

We think of gender determination in these simple terms, XX for female and XY for male. Yet nature likes to screw with our classification systems. Although uncommon, organisms of some species have been found that display characteristics of both males and females.

One side completely male. The other side completely female. Right down the middle.

Gynandromorphs

Some male and female butterflies
have very different markings.
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Scientists aren’t quite sure what causes this phenomenon but several hypotheses have been presented. They call these organisms gynandromorphs. Gyn refers to female, andro refers to to male, and morph refers to structure. Literally half female and half male form.

There have only been a few species found that display this strange condition. It occurs in birds, crustaceans, butterflies, and other insects. However it could exist in other animals. Butterflies and birds that display gynandromorphism are easily recognized as males and females often have different colorations. It would be difficult to tell in species where males and female look very similar.

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Sad Little Bird

Many cardinals with this condition have been seen. Bird researchers, Brian Peer and Robert Motz of Western Illinois University, watched one particular little she-male for months. During the whole period, it was observed that s/he did not sing or interact with other cardinals. It made no attempt to court either male or female birds and stayed by itself.

Although they are remarkably beautiful, these creatures live a life of solitude.

How it Happens

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Scientists aren’t exactly sure what causes gynandromorphy. However, in a study on chickens conducted by researchers lead by Dr. Michael Clinton of the University of Edinburgh,, birds displaying the anomaly were found to have normal female and male cells on the corresponding sections of their bodies.

A female and male bird seemed to have been perfectly fused down the middle. Yay chimera!

Their hypothesis? When the birds were conceived, they were fertilized by two sperm. After fertilization the cell split and used genetic material from one sperm on one side and genetic material from the other on the other side.

Other scientists believe gynandromorphy could be caused by things like two embryos fusing in the womb or genetic errors occurred in the early stages of development. 

In ZW sex determined animals, after cells divide they are assigned a certain task and continue doing that task. They are fixed, according to the Dalton State University website, whereas in humans cells can develop to fill the needs of the body. They're "flexible."

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When ZW organisms are conceived, as with all creatures, the cells being splitting. However, the two resulting cells from the first division determine the left and right sides of the body. Scientists believe that if one of these cells experienced a genetic mutation in their sex chromosomes it could result in gynandromorphy.

The organisms display male and female characteristics. Sometimes their genitalia is not split. Although, most of the time they have half and half of both genitalia. As the birds could tell you “life sucks with half a penis.”

A gynandromorph is different from a hermaphrodite, an organism with both male and female sex organs. In gynandromorphs the whole body displays half male and half female. These creatures are usually infertile. Hermaphrodites have both organs with are fully functional. Banana slugs are one such species.

Bilateral

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Creatures that are split perfectly down the middle with a male and female half are referred to as bilateral gynandromorphs. However, smaller sections of animals have been found to have similar characteristics. A whole bird may be female and have a small patch of male cells.

Can it Occur in Humans?

Only animals with the ZW gender system seem to be affected by gynandromorphy and the condition is very rare. So even if your future baby has a genetic defect it's safe from living the life of a half male, half female hybrid. At least as far as scientists know…

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Do You Wanna Build a Human?

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3D Printing Technology

3D printing has become very well-known in recent years. The process has been around since the late 1980s and was developed at MIT. Now people are printing candy, chocolates and sugar candies, and designing items to print themselves. Websites are full of designs people can download and print for free if they have the technology. However, the realm of 3D printing isn’t constrained to the material world. Living cells are being printed into different shapes to help people.

When any item is created using a 3D printer a 3D model is required. This model can be obtained using scans of other objects or made using 3D computer software.

The hope of those experimenting with biological printing, or bioprinting, is that one day we will be able to print entire organs. With the amount of transplants needed, the wait lists, and the people who die waiting for an organ, being able to print a new organ for a patient would save lives.

The process of bioprinting.
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Do You Wanna Build a Human?

Let's make a human!
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Ears, noses, and skin made of living cells are successfully being produced. Bioprinting works similarly to regular 3D printing. According to Dr. Anthony Atala, where there is ink or plastic, there is gel full of cells. Ink jets secrete layer upon layer of cells long with supportive gel to create a 3D framework. The construction allows for the cells to take in oxygen while they grow to full the framework.

Tissues are being constructed this way with the patients’ own cells for use in skin transplants. Soon scientists hope to create bones and fully functioning organs.

One reason this technology is so incredible is that it eliminates the possibility of organ rejection. If an organ is created with a patient’s cells, then his or her body will readily accept a transplant.

 A 3D printer filling in a burn wound with skin cells.
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Technology is being developed to print skin directly onto the wounds of soldiers, according to 3dprintingindustry.com. Wounds received in combat could be more quickly treated this way.

It’ll Only Cost an Arm and Leg

Medical bioprinters are expensive. However, if organs can be made quickly and in mass quantities, the printers will pay for themselves. Bioprinting requires cells from a patient to be used to create new tissue.

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3D printers are now readily available for home use. You can actually buy a small 3D printer for less than two thousand dollars.

It Doesn’t have to be a Human

Right now only tissues have been printed. However, printing fully functioning organs is in the near future. With the way technology is advancing we may eventually be able to print organ systems and even organisms. Creating creatures in the lab is not as far-fetched as one might think. In Tokyo scientists have sustained goat fetuses in artificial wombs for three weeks, according to the New York Times. Supplementing developing children outside the womb is becoming more sophisticated. Children born as early as 22 weeks are able to survive outside their mothers thanks to improving technology.

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A time where children no longer need to develop inside their mother’s womb is approaching quickly.

The creation of life entirely from lab work is very controversial. It brings up the question of whether or not life has or requires a soul or spirit. I'm sure philosophers and theologians will debate this. I can’t really say what would be possible.

Coming Soon to a Printer Near You

In 2014, Russian Scientists announced that they would transplant a 3D printed organ into a mouse in March of 2015, according to 3ders.org: 3D Printer and 3D Printing News. The organ to be transplanted is a thyroid gland. This operation has not yet happened but hopefully we’ll hear about it soon. Russian scientists also plan to transplant the first 3D printed kidney in 2018.

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