Lankan in a lab

Be responsible!

Be a responsible human being

▪️Cilia are microscopic hair-like structures on certain cell surfaces to help the smooth functioning of our body.
▪️One such surface which contains cilia is the passageway into the lungs.
▪️The presence of cilia in our airway passage is a mechanism to trap the pathogenic particles entering the lung.

▪️The latest research has found out that Corona Virus causing COVID-19 has the ability to damage the cilia, which results in disruption in the protective function of cilia.
▪️In the absence of cilia’s function viral particles can enter the lung effortlessly.

▪️Coronavirus is not the only pathogen that has the ability to damage cilia. Some pathogens only damage cilia while others, such as Influenza can kill ciliated cells.

Reference
Original research article - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-021-24521-x

Image and additional information
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-cell-cilia-invade-lungs-covid-pandemic

Copied from Prof. Neelika Malavige

Our data on the Sinopharm vaccine. We have investigated, SARS-CoV-2 antibodies, ACE2 receptor blocking antibodies, antibodies to the receptor binding domain (RBD) of the wild type (WT), B.1.1.7, B.1.351 and B.1.617.2, ex vivo and cultured IFNγ ELISpot assays, intracellular cytokine secretion assays and B cell ELISpot assays were carried out in a sub cohort of the vaccinees at 4 weeks and at 6 weeks (2 weeks after the second dose).
Conclusions: Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV appeared to induce high seroconversion rates and induce a similar level of antibody responses against ACE2 receptor, B.1.617.2 and B.1.351 as seen following natural infection.
Funding was by: World Health Organization, UK Medical Research Council and the Foreign and Commonwealth Office and the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences (CAMS) Innovation Fund for Medical Science (CIFMS), China.

Antibody and T cell responses to Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV in naive and previously infected individuals in Sri Lanka Background: As there are limited data of the immunogenicity of the Sinopharm/BBIBP-CorV in different populations, antibody responses against different SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern and T cell responses, we investigated the immunogenicity of the vaccine, in individuals in Sri Lanka. Methods: SARS-Co...

✴️Delta variant ✴️

▪️It has been one and half years since COVID-19 started and, it continues to be a global pandemic.

▪️Currently, the dominant variant of COVID-19 is the Delta variant.

▪️It was first reported from India and currently present in 80+ countries.

▪️Even though both vaccinated and unvaccinated people could be affected by the delta variant, unvaccinated people are identified as the high-risk group.

▪️Earlier, the alpha variant was recognized as the most contagious COVID-19 variant as it showed 50% more contagious than other COVID-19 variants.
▪️However, the Delta variant has now been reported as 60% more contingency than the alpha variant.
Therefore it spreads much faster than any COVID-19 variant previously known.

▪️The adaptable nature of the COVID-19 virus suggests that the pandemic will not come to an end any time soon.

🔸It's our study as responsible humans to stop the spreading in any way we can.
🔸Get vaccinated, keep the masks on, and practice social distancing.
🔸Make sure even if you are vaccinated, you are still adhering to the protocols and doing your duty as a responsible global citizen.

Source
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/coronavirus-covid-delta-variant-transmission-vaccines

✴️Effectiveness of masks in preventing COVID-19😷✴️

▪️COVID-19 is transmitted in different ways.

🔹Surface transmission – touching a surface that contains the viral particles.
Touching your eyes, nose, or mouth after touching a contaminated surface. The surface can get contaminated if an infected person sneezes/coughs on it.

🔹Airborne transmission – the virus can stay alive in the air for up to 3 hours.
Breathing this contaminated air will transmit the virus directly into your lungs.

🔹Droplets or aerosols - most common transmission.
When an infected person coughs/sneeze, the virus will enter into the person next to him/her through their nose or mouth.

▪️The preventive measures would be social distancing and wearing masks.

✴️The scientist wanted to test the effectiveness of wearing a mask.
▪️Surgical masks will protect you against an environment with less viral contamination.
▪️A more advanced mask (N95/filtered masks) and other protective gear (shield) are required to protect you in a virus-rich environment
▪️The study also found that wearing a mask and additional preventive measures such as ventilation and social distancing will increase the effectiveness.

Figure 1 and 2 illustrates the transmission of the virus to a person wearing a mask and not wearing a mask,
🔹Figure 1 –in an environment with high viral quantity.
🔹Figure 2 –in an environment with low viral quantity.
🔹Figure 3 – Correct way to wear the mask

✴️Stay safe and follow the correct protocols to save your selves and your community✴️

Reference:
https://science.sciencemag.org/content/early/2021/05/19/science.abg6296

Do your part to stop the pandemic!
https://lankaninalab.wordpress.com/2021/05/19/covid-19-vaccines-in-sri-lanka/

COVID-19 vaccines in Sri Lanka Globally, as of 4:08pm CEST, 18 May 2021, there have been 163,312,429confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 3,386,825deaths, reported to WHO. As of 18 May 2021, a total of&…

✴️We aren't the only humans who ate carbs✴️

▪️Early humans were hunter-gatherers who consumed the meat and other food sources such as roots, tubers, nuts, and seeds.
▪️The early human brain size was enlarged by twice between the period of 2,000,000,000 (2 billion) to 700,000 years.
▪️Glucose is an energy-dense food that is important in the development of the brain, which is not obtained from meat but possibly by the consumption of starchy plant parts.

🔹How did scientists find clues about glucose in early humans?
▪️Scientists looked into oral bacteria present on a tooth of a Neanderthal individual who lived 100,000 years ago, modern humans who lived 10,000 years ago before the agricultural period, and few other hominin-related species who feed on non-starchy plant sources.
▪️A unique group of Streptococcus bacteria was extracted from Neanderthal and prehistoric modern humans but not from Chimps.
▪️The extracted unique strep bacteria can bind to the enzyme amylase present in the human saliva.
▪️Amylase digest carbohydrates by breaking the glycosidic bonds in complex carbohydrates, and convert them into simple sugars.

✴️The evidence of starch digesting amylase through the presence of strep bacteria in Neanderthal tooth reveals that early humans were consuming starchy food sources around 600,000 years ago.✴️

Source
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/05/neanderthals-carb-loaded-helping-grow-their-big-brains?fbclid=IwAR1MDilAX8PB6gLETrpqwadDkvPv4Hh26Ager2HjwN78Xpk-uTFNhzhc0ss

https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2021/05/study-explains-early-humans-ate-starch-and-why-it-matters/?fbclid=IwAR1_OFmV_YbYUXrFB1YwsH9QkjYgalskU2FIsdsiCLsMbfPk0SDlQBeAg3l

Hesitation for vaccine

https://www.sciencenews.org/article/vaccine-hesitancy-history-damage-anti-vaccination/amp?__twitter_impression=true

Vaccine hesitancy is nothing new. Here’s the damage it’s done over centuries Pockets of people have railed against vaccines as long as the preventives have existed.

👏👏👏

Prof. Neelika Malavige Among Oxford Team Who Developed Portable COVID Antibody Test | Pulse Sri Lanka’s very own Professor Neelika Malavige is one of several distinguished scientists making notable strides in research in the fight against COVID-19. She holds a PhD in Immunology from the University of Oxford and presently serves as the Head of the Department of Immunology and Molecular Sc...

✴️Fish and humans have major similarities in vision. 🐟👁️🚶‍♂️✴️

🔸Humans and primates have a bilateral vision.
🔸Each eye is connected to both sides of the brain through nerves.
🔸Hence some of the nerves will carry information from the eyeball to the opposite side of the brain (contralateral), and few other nerves will connect the eyeball to the same side of the brain (ipsilateral).
🔸The combination of contralateral and ipsilateral is known as the bilateral visual pathway.

🔹Evolutionary scientists believed that ‘bilateral visual’ in humans was a feature that developed after the transition of the organisms such as fish from water to land.

🔹With the latest research findings, scientists have concluded that ancient fish had bilateral vision similar to humans.
🔹To find this, they used 11 species of fish using fluorescent tracers to study their visual system.


Source
https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/04/ancient-fish-share-key-feature-human-vision

Reference for the Bilateral Visual pathway diagram
https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/rewriting-the-textbook-on-bilateral-vision-a3173c81aad2

✴️Have you ever wondered why dogs can understand humans more than other animals?🐕✴️

🔸Dogs have been following humans and being their companions for more than 26,000 years.

🔸Is it because dogs have the social interaction skill in their genetics, or is it because they learn the skill as they grow up?

🔸A team of researchers carried out 3 experiments using 375 8-week old Labrador puppies to test the theory.
▪️The pointing experiment where one cup pointing at the second cup with treats.
▪️Their reaction (eye contact) to puppy talk
▪️Finding food hidden in a sealed container

🔸By the end of the study, researchers were able to conclude that approximately 43% of dog’s social skills are resulting from their genetics.

Source - https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2021/03/these-adorable-puppies-may-help-explain-why-dogs-understand-our-body-language?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2021-03-19&et_rid=698803259&et_cid=3706246

✴️The oldest ancient DNA to date, is from a million-year-old mammoth tooth excavated from Eastern Siberia in the 1970s. 🦣🧬✴️

▪️Scientists were able to recover
🔸9 million base pairs of DNA from the oldest sample which, is dated as 1.65 million years,
🔸884 million base pairs from the 1.3 million-year-old sample, and finally
🔸3.7 billion base pairs from the genome of the 600,000-year-old sample.

▪️All three samples were tooth samples belonging to two different mammoth species.

✴️The oldest Homo ancient DNA presently belongs to the Neanderthal genes extracted from 430,000-year-old remains found in a Spanish cave.

Research Paper - https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-021-03224-9.

Picture credit - Beth Zaiken/Centre for Palaeogenetics
#

▪️According to the theory of evolution, the first form of life was aquatic which, later evolves into a terrestrial form.
▪️Researchers now have found that aquatic animals had the genes that facilitated life on land.

🔸How is this possible?
▪️Scientists used zebrafish to study the activity of Hox11 protein.
▪️Hox11 is a regulatory protein that involves in the forearm bones formation in mammals.
▪️The activity of Hox11 is naturally suppressed by other proteins present in the fish.
▪️However, when the two genes (vav2 and was) responsible for producing Hox11 are mutated, it results in an unhindered activity of Hox11.

🔸What else did they find?
▪️Scientists also compared the fish families that later diverged into terrestrial forms and which did not.
▪️During this comparison, they observed that all fish families had the genes that facilitate life on land.
▪️Genes such as, the ones responsible for the limbs and joint formation and the development of lungs for breathing.

🔸Therefore, evolutionary scientists now believe that during the transition from aquatic life to terrestrial form, the existing genes adapted to facilitate the new territory rather than developing entire new sets of genes.

DOI: 10.1126/science.371.6530.658

✴️How COVID19 tests work 👩‍🔬✴️

There are three types of tests.

1. Nucleic acid-based test- more commonly known as PCR test detects the presence of viral genome.

2. Antigen test – detects the proteins present on the viral surface.

3. Antibody test – Detects the antibodies produced against the virus.

Reference
https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-00332-4?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=0da5e44231-briefing-dy-20210209&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_c9dfd39373-0da5e44231-45467538

▪️Our earliest ancestors were lactose intolerant as adults.

▪️Humans have an ability to digest milk as an infant. However, this status changes once they become an adult.

🔸Milk contains lactose which, is a disaccharide.
🔸The lactase enzyme split the Lactose molecule into its monosaccharides, Glucose, and Galactose.
🔸Activation of a gene controls the production of lactase.

▪️According to ancient DNA studies, the gene producing the lactase enzyme is not present in the ancient human genome.
▪️The gene observed in the modern population has resulted due to a mutation.
▪️There are only a limited number of mutations that enables the digestion of milk.
▪️The oldest record of milk consumption dates back to 6,000 years before the present from ancestors of modern populations from Kenya and Sudan.

✴️Scientists now believe that our ancestors consumed dairy products even before they inherited the gene.✴️

✴️Life was first formed on water bodies on land but not the ocean⁉️🧬🌍💧✴️

▪️All our life, we were taught that life was first formed on the water, which was the ocean and then moved to land.

▪️Despite water being essential for survival, water also has the ability to denature DNA and protein molecules by breaking the bonds.

▪️The puzzling question was how did biomolecules (DNA and protein) stabilize in seawater to form life.

▪️Even though chemists were able to produce primary cellular components in water that was subjected to chemically treated UV radiation and cycles of wet and dry periods, they were unable to form basic cell structures in water conditioned similar to seawater.

▪️Therefore, scientists now believe that life was first formed was on water bodies on the land but not the ocean.

▪️For the reason that, for life to be formed, the basic chemicals forming cells should be dissolved in water and exposed to UV radiation.
▪️These two essential conditions are not achieved in a deep ocean but in a smaller water body where sunlight exposure is abundant to the total depth of water.

✴️Scientists have discovered a list of genes responsible for the severity of COVID-19🧬👩‍🔬🦠.✴️

🔹TYK2 and CCR2 - responsible for inflammation.
Inflammation is an immune response triggered due to injection, toxin, or injury.
However, increased inflammation is harmful to the body. COVID-19 causes increased production of TYK2 and CCR2, which increases inflammation that causes lung damage.

🔹DPP9 - activates inflammation. Increased levels of DPP9 are reported among COVID-19 patients.

🔹OAS - blocks the viral replication and stop the viral spreading. Populations with low expression of this gene were observed to have a severe response to COVID-19.
This gene is inherited from us by our ancestral relatives, Neanderthals.

🔹IFNAR2 - responsible for producing and releasing interferons. Interferons are proteins that defend the body against viral infections.
IFNAR2 is expressed in low levels in COVID-19 patients.

✴️Why is it important to discover the genes responsible for the severity of COVID-19?
▪️Activation/deactivation of these potential genes results in a cascade of events in the molecular pathway, which finally results in a severe condition of COVID-19.
▪️Therefore, studying and understanding the gene and their pathway will help to identify potential drug targets for treatments.

✴️Can we replace PCR tests with dogs to test COVID-19? ⁣🐕‍🦺🧪✴️
⁣
▪️Dogs belong to the family of Canine, which includes other animals such as wolves and coyotes.⁣
▪️Canines are known for their high level of ability to sense a smell.⁣
▪️Humans have only 5-6 million scent receptors compared to dogs have 300 million. ⁣
▪️Simply, for every human scent receptor, a dog has 50.⁣
▪️Dogs are widely used to track down explosives/drugs/firearms because of their sensitive ability in being able to identify smells. ⁣
⁣
▪️In terms of human illness/diseases, the human body releases a specific pattern of volatile organic compounds. ⁣
▪️Previous studies on cancer, malaria, and viral infections have shown that dogs can recognize the scent that creates from these compounds. ⁣
🔹The dogs were trained to sniff sweat samples from the airport passengers, and unpublished data from the United Arab Emirates, Finland, and Lebanon shows that dogs were able to identify the positive cases even before it has detected from PCR tests. ⁣
🔹This means the dogs can detect the virus even before the symptoms appear. ⁣

✴️If this method is developed, it definitely could be a cheaper solution, especially for low-income countries. ⁣
⁣
⁉️Will you do a PCR test or let a dog sniff your sweat? 🐕‍🦺🧪

✴️How to survive online lectures 💻🤓✴️

▪️Thanks to COVID-19, you now have the luxury of attending the lectures from your home.

✴️Here are some tips that will help to keep you focused,
🔹Have a separate study space away from your comfort zones (bed and tv).
🔹Freshen up, get out of your PJs, eat your meal, and get ready for your class.
🔹Keep a water bottle or a hot beverage next to you.
🔹Keep a notebook to write down important points.
🔹Whenever you have doubts or questions, engage with your lecturer, and clear them out.
🔹Use your laptop/pc to log in to the class. Do not use your phone to log in to your lectures. When you are using the phone, you tend to get more distracted by checking your social media and replying to messages or calls.

Lecturers too find it difficult to stay focus during online lectures. Lecturers have to stare at a screen that does not provide any clue if the students are following the lesson or not. So the engagement of the students is highly appreciated.


It's hard to stay focused during an online lecture.
Nevertheless, look at the bright side.
You are saving yourself time to dress up and travel.
So please make sure you take the maximum out of it. ✌️

✴️Ever thought why social distancing is so hard to practice?⁣🤗🤝😙✴️
⁣
▪️You can blame it on evolution. ⁣
⁣
▪️Animals who live in groups co-habituating the space with other species in a natural environment are referred to as social animals. ⁣
▪️The social species engage in various social behavior practices which help them to either survive or reproduce.⁣
⁣
▪️The most popular social practices among us humans are handshakes, hugs, and kisses. ⁣
▪️Unfortunately, with COVID-19, we have to practice social distance, and for that, we need to stop practicing these gestures. ⁣
⁣
▪️The reason why a lot of us find it very difficult to stay away from these is that biologically we are meant to be one of the highly social species. ⁣
⁣
▪️Nevertheless, we have also blessed with the ability to self-discipline ourselves. ⁣
⁣
‼️Therefore, let’s be more responsible and less selfish and keep practicing social distancing to reduce the spread of COVID-19. ✌️

✴️How does a drug/vaccine get approved⁉️💉💊✅✴️⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
▪️The entire process usually takes about ten years. ⁣⁣⁣
▪️However, COVID-19 is a global pandemic that requires immediate treatments. ⁣⁣
▪️Therefore, many research teams around the world are working towards it and doing their best to accelerate the process. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
1️⃣ Pre-clinical trials⁣⁣⁣
🔹Laboratory tests followed by optimization of the protocols carried out initially to design a drug/vaccine with the highest effectiveness. ⁣⁣⁣
🔹The potential drug is then tested on animals (in-vivo) or cell cultures (in-vitro).⁣⁣⁣
🔹Furthermore, bioinformatics (in-silico) is used to understand the interaction between the drug and the target. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
2️⃣ Clinical trials⁣⁣⁣
🔹Phase I is carried out among 20-100 healthy volunteers to assess the correct dosage.⁣⁣⁣
🔹Phase II will test the beneficial and adverse effects of the treatment by administrating the drug/vaccines to >100 diagnosed patients. ⁣⁣⁣
🔹Phase III compares the new drug with standard treatment in different populations around the world involving >1000 diagnosed patients. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
3️⃣ Final data analysis⁣⁣⁣
🔹Data received from the clinical trials are statistically analyzed to understand the effectiveness of the drug in different populations. ⁣⁣⁣
⁣⁣⁣
4️⃣ Follow up⁣⁣⁣
🔹The final stage of the entire process is getting approval from authorities (FDA) and continuous assessment of the treatment to ensure the effectiveness and safety of the drug.⁣⁣
⁣⁣
✴️Currently the leading vaccines for COVID-19 are the phase III clinical trials.✴️⁣⁣
🙏Let's hope these potential vaccines show a high success rate globally.🙏

✴️Water on the moon💧🌒😱✴️

▪️Scientists believed that there is water (H2O) on the moon but, with recent observations from the spacecraft, 𝐢𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐛𝐞𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐚 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐭.

▪️Water ice on the shadowed crater and water molecules in the regions visible by the sunlight was earlier observations made from the spacecraft.

▪️More recently, In August 2018, SOFIA (telescope operated by NASA and German Aerospace Center) was able to 𝐜𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐞 𝐚 𝟔 µ𝐦 𝐢𝐧𝐟𝐫𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐮𝐬 𝐜𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐒𝐨𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐫𝐞𝐠𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧.
▪️Scientists were able to confirm that this 𝐰𝐚𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐭𝐡 𝐰𝐚𝐬 𝐞𝐦𝐚𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐬𝐮𝐧𝐥𝐢𝐠𝐡𝐭 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬.

▪️The concentration of water was calculated by using the brightness of the wavelength of the sunlight water molecule.
▪️The researcher now believes the region near the Clavius crater has less than ½ 𝐋 𝐨𝐟 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐨𝐟 𝟏𝟎𝟎𝟎 𝐤𝐠 𝐨𝐟 𝐬𝐨𝐢𝐥 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧.

▪️The scientists also claim 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐬𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐟𝐫𝐨𝐳𝐞𝐧 𝐧𝐨𝐫 𝐥𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐢𝐝 𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐞.
▪️The water molecules 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐨𝐠𝐞𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐛𝐲 𝐚𝐧𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐦𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐥 found on the surface of the moon.

‼️𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘱𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘸𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘧𝘳𝘰𝘮 𝘌𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘩 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘢𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘯𝘢𝘶𝘵𝘴 𝘪𝘴 𝘦𝘹𝘱𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘪𝘷𝘦.
✴️This is exciting news for the 𝐚𝐬𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐬 𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐢𝐬𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐨𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟒.
A trip that is the first step towards a permanent outpost and finally a journey to Mars.🚀🧑🏻‍🚀🌒✴️

Ever wondered why people in some regions experience COVID-19 more severely while others have a mild experience?⁣

https://lankaninalab.wordpress.com/2020/11/06/neanderthals-is-responsible-for-the-severity-of-covid-19/

Neanderthals is responsible for the severity of COVID-19??? Ever wondered why people in some regions experience COVID-19 more severely while others have a mild experience?⁣ People in different regions have genetic differences that differentiate them from ot…

✴️Say bye to so-called 'traditional' gender-specific roles!⁣⁣🙅🏻‍♀️🙅🏻‍♂️✴️
⁣⁣
▪️The gender roles of prehistoric people were males are hunters and females are gathers.⁣⁣
▪️Until recently, the oldest evidence for a hunter in America was a male individual. ⁣⁣
▪️The gender roles of prehistoric people were males are hunters and females are gathers.⁣⁣
▪️However, in recent research on the same materials with results from a protein present in the tooth enamel, scientists were able to identify that the individual is biologically a female. ⁣⁣
▪️This finding tells us that even at a time when people were hunters, gender-specific roles were not practiced.
▪️They identified an individual as a human and not by their biological s*x. ⁣⁣
⁣⁣
✴️It is a good example and something modern people can learn.✌️✴️

✴️Genetics of our pet dogs giving us clues about our ancestral movements around the world.⁣✴️👣🌍🐾
⁣
▪️The first animal companion of humans was the wolf. Later on, wolves were replaced by dogs.⁣
▪️The close relationship between humans and dogs dates back to ancient pre-historical time.⁣
▪️Therefore, tracing the inheritance of dogs would be additional information providing insight into human migration.⁣
⁣
✴️Check out the new blog post to read about the interesting findings from the present study.✴️

✴️Isn't it amazing how out let dogs can help us trace our ancestral movements around the globe ⁉️🌍👣🐾

https://lankaninalab.wordpress.com/2020/10/31/genetics-of-our-pet-dogs-giving-us-clues-about-our-ancestral-movements-around-the-world-%e2%81%a3/

Genetics of our pet dogs giving us clues about our ancestral movements around the world.⁣ The first animal companion of humans was the wolf. Later on, wolves were replaced by dogs.⁣ The close relationship between humans and dogs dates back to ancient pre-historical time.⁣ Therefore, tra…

✴️Did you ever wonder what influenced the change of technology from stone to iron?🗿✴️
⁣
🔹The current study focuses on the archeological evidence found from the Olorgesailie Basin region of Kenya.⁣
🔹The earliest use of stone tools dates back to 1.2million years ago. ⁣
🔹The most basic stone technology, known as the Acheulean industry, existed for approximately 700,000 years. ⁣
🔹The earliest humans in the region were living in a stable environment structured with freshwater lakes, large grasslands, and habitat for larger animals. ⁣
🔹However, the stability of the environment has been disturbed periodically after 500,000 years. ⁣
🔹The large landmass was destructed, due to volcanic eruptions, and as a result, small basins were created, which were subjected to drought and flood. ⁣
🔹𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐩𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐭𝐨𝐨𝐥𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐩𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐯𝐢𝐯𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐚𝐧 𝐮𝐧𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭, which allowed them to hunt small body-sized kill.⁣
⁣
✴️If our early human ancestors had a stable environmental condition, we probably would be using stone technology. ⁣
⁣
✴️𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐚𝐦𝐚𝐳𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐫𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐞𝐧𝐯𝐢𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐚 𝐯𝐚𝐬𝐭 𝐢𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐨𝐧 𝐛𝐨𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐲𝐥𝐞𝐬⁉️

▪️The body has three sets of major salivary glands. ⁣
▪️The locations of the glands are one under the tongue, another below the jaw, and lastly, near the ears.⁣
▪️𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐞𝐰 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐛𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐮𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫 𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐨𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐝 𝐚𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐧𝐚𝐬𝐚𝐥 𝐜𝐚𝐯𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐜𝐨𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐭.⁣
▪️More research in-depth needs to be carried out to confirm these structures as to whether they are newly discovered is a new set of major salivary gland or a more commonly found minor salivary gland.⁣
▪️It has been 300 years since the last discovery of salivary glands.

🤕 𝐌𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞 ⁣🤕
▪️A neurological disorder that is more common in women than men that affect 14% of the global population.⁣
▪️Migraine is a pulsing pain either on one or both sides of the head which, can last for 4-72 hours. ⁣
▪️Headache is associated with nausea, vomiting, and sensitivity to sound, light, smell, and touch. ⁣
▪️A small percentage also experience visual disturbances known as an aura.⁣
⁣
𝗪𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐜𝐚𝐮𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐢𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞?⁣
▪️It is triggered by the nerve network that links the blood vessels in the head, known as the trigeminovascular system.⁣
🔸Calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) is a neuropeptide that helps the neurons to communicate.
1️⃣Neural fibers located in the membranous covering of the brain, referred to as meninges, release CGRP as a response to stimuli of the hypothalamus.⁣
2️⃣The pain signals are then sent to the trigeminal ganglion. ⁣
🔸The role of trigeminal ganglion is transmitting impulses from sense organs to nerve centers of the frontal region of the head.⁣
3️⃣The signal is then passed to different parts of the brain (brain stem, thalamus, hypothalamus, and basal ganglia).⁣
𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧⁣
🔸𝘉𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘮 – 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘳𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘨, 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘵 𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘦, 𝘣𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦⁣
🔸𝘛𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴 - 𝘛𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘴𝘧𝘦𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘴𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘢𝘭𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘳𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘦𝘳𝘵𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘤𝘪𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘯𝘦𝘴𝘴.⁣
🔸𝘏𝘺𝘱𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘮𝘶𝘴 – 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦𝘰𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘴𝘪𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘰𝘥𝘺⁣
🔸𝘉𝘢𝘴𝘢𝘭 𝘨𝘢𝘯𝘨𝘭𝘪𝘢 – 𝘙𝘦𝘨𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘯𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘰𝘵𝘰𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘰𝘭.⁣
4️⃣The functions of these regions are hindered due to the pain signal and result in the symptoms of migraine.⁣
⁣
𝐏𝐡𝐚𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐜𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲 ⁣
▪️There are three main types of drugs used to treat migraine patients. ⁣
▪️They are Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, opioids, and monoclonal antibodies. ⁣
▪️Monoclonal antibody therapy the most recent discovery. ⁣
▪️The binding of the antibody to CGRP or its receptor prevents the release of pain signals along the pathway. In addition, it inhibits the dilation of the blood vessel and increased inflammation in the meninges.⁣

Diagram -. https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-02861-w