Time to update.

For anyone who doesn't know, I work on campus in the molecular biology lab in the department of biomedical and pharmaceutical science, my official title is "research assistant" which is basically a glorified lab monkey.
Anyway I thought some of the stuff we're working on might be interesting to any readers (I'm totally geeking out about it all). Right now we are working on reversing the damages caused by stroke by administering methamphetamines (yes Meth, also known as MAP) so far we've seen amazing results after exposing cells to oxygen/glucose deprivation (OGD) then administering map to those cells. the cell necrosis, or "cell death" decreases dramatically in the cells which have been treated with low doses of map. I think it is the coolest thing, it has so many practical applications if everything works out, anyone who has had oxygen deprivation, stroke, or brain injury (like sports such as boxing) could have the negative effects of cell death reversed if the map is administered relatively soon after the injury (I think within a space of hours). The air force is interested in the research because of all the uses for military purposes as well.
Currently we are performing surgery on rats where we go in, find the carotid artery, inject a blood clot that we've made the day before which will educe a stroke, then treat it with map.

Others in the lab are working on restoring the hair cells in the inner ear that allow sound to be heard. If everything works out, we might be able to find a way to bring back the hearing to anyone who has lost their inner hair cells. I don't know as much about this research because I'm not working with the researchers who are conducting the procedures. But I think it is still pretty cool.


Quotes:

"Talk sense to a fool and he calls you foolish." -Euripides

"Speech is conveniently located midway between thought and action, where it often substitutes for both." -John Andrew Holmes

"Really listening and suspending one's own judgment is necessary in order to understand other people on their own terms... This is a process that requires trust and builds trust." -Mary Field Belenky,

"The argument from intimidation is a confession of intellectual impotence." -Ayn Rand



You're comments and descustion are more than welcome, Take care everyone


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