Monthly Archives: April 2014

Body at War – the immune system

Leave a reply

Sir Gustav Nossal at GTAC

Sir Gustav Nossal at the Gene Technology Access Centre

On Tuesday 29th April, eight VCE Biology students attended the “Body at War” program for World Immunology Day at the Gene Technology Access Centre. The students joined with about eighty other students from government and independent schools to learn about the history, discovery and use of vaccinations against diseases such as smallpox and polio.

Students were welcomed by Prof. Phil Hodgkin, who spoke about the long history of immunology, including the famous scientists who have discovered how diseases can be prevented using vaccination. They then had the great privilege of hearing Sir Gustav Nossal, scientist and former Australian of the Year, speak about the progress of eradicating infectious diseases from across the world over the past two decades. They then rotated through three different workshops; learning about the bodies immune response through a computer game, identifying diseased mouse tissue using staining and microscopy and then simulating a Streptococcus pneumoniae diagnosis.

Students have been very fortunate to be invited to this special program, as only up to 10 students from selected schools were able to attend this free event. They also had the opportunity to work with working scientists in small groups and hear from three young scientists about their journey into research and career prospects for scientists.

Prior to attending the session, it was useful to know about pathogens, or disease causing agents. These range in size from the smallest sub-microscopic particles (prions) to multicellular organisms.

  • Prions  (BSE or mad-cow disease)
  • Viruses (influenza, herpes, chicken-pox)
  • Bacteria (tuberculosis, tetanus, Staphylococcus, Salmonella)
  • Protozoans (malaria, amoebas)
  • Fungus (athlete’s foot, Candida)
  • Worms (tapeworm, nematodes)
  • Ticks and mites

You can find out more about pathogens and the immune system here:

It will also be useful to watch the “Life on Us” program at 8.30pm Sunday night on SBS One. This two-part series has powerful imagery showing various microscopic pathogens that inhabit the human body – you can watch a short promotional video here.

Homeostasis – maintaining a stable internal environment

Leave a reply

brain copy 2

In Unit 3: Area of Study 2 – Detecting and Responding – a key concept is homeostasis, the process of maintaining a stable internal environment, either within a cell or inside an organism, despite changes in the external environment of that cell or organism. The changes can be temperature, pH, concentrations of various ions, hydration, blood pressure or glucose levels in the blood. Access the first two resources to find out more about homeostasis.

Connecting with GTAC to learn about Diabetes

Leave a reply

GTAC_polycom

 

On Monday, our students had the opportunity to connect with Maria and Fran at GTAC to learn about signaling molecules, insulin disorders and diabetes. Fran presented information about how molecules transmit signals across the cell membrane to allow glucose (and other substances) to be absorbed at a greater rate. Students modelled this process using paper cut-outs, showing how the message is passed from the insulin receptor, to the transmission molecules, to the effector molecules (vesicles with GLUT4 glucose transporter molecules attached), which allow more protein channels to be situated in the cell membrane. The normal response is that more glucose is absorbed by the cell, but several disorders can result in glucose not being absorbed, such as Type I and Type II diabetes. Students observed diagnostics on blood samples to determine if test patients are diabetic. They then applied the stimulus response model to learn the effect of insulin on glucose homeostasis and explore the role of insulin in cell signaling.