What is the Dengue Virus?
The dengue virus is a RNA positive flavivirus that is transmitted to humans through mosquito bites. By the definition of a flavivirus it has a protein envelope and a coccus (circular) shape while also being 40 to 60 nm in diameter. This virus' genome is composed of single-stranded positive RNA, allowing this type of virus to produce its proteins directly from the template RNA strand. The template strand for any organism's genome is the coding sector for the production of proteins in any living or nonliving (viruses) organisms. According to the CDC around 400 million people have been infected by this virus particularly affecting people at the tropical regions. The dengue virus is known to cause a severe fever, headaches, joint pain, low white blood cell counts, and bleeding manifestations around the gums, nose, bruising, and vomiting of blood. The dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF) is the key symptom that is associated with the dengue virus, where the fever lasts between two to seven days. The fever can cause blood vessels around the infected area(s) to become permeable or "leaky," which causes blood to escape these vessels and leak into the peritoneum, the membrane that surrounds\covers the abdominal cavity and the abdominal organs. Once the blood enters the peritoneum an accumulation of fluid (in this case blood) can envelop in the abdominal cavity, causing swelling of the abdominal region. Over time as the abdominal region becomes swollen up somehow the circulatory system can shut down, causing the infected organism to not be able to transport oxygen around its entire body, which ultimately leads to the organism to its death.
The dengue virus epidemic has been occurring since the 1950's, due to increased mosquito populations at the tropics. I have found that the reason why there are increased mosquito populations around the tropics is because during the 1950's there has been increased rainfall precipitation around the tropics due to rising sea level. I believe that the rising sea level is caused by global warming because throughout the 20th century the Earth's temperature has been increasing, due to the destruction of the ozone layer. The ozone layer is the section of the atmosphere that acts as a sheath, surrounding the Earth and reflects UV radiation from the sun from impacting the Earth. However due to the 20th century technological changes; the ozone layer has been getting destroyed due to the accumulation of green house gases such as methane, DDT, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and etc. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are accumulating in the world due to increase in industrialization such as the production and operation of cars, factories, generators, and so on. As the ozone layer is depleted, more radiation can enter the Earth causing the Earth to become warmer. Glaciers found in the Artic and at Antarctica are then melted from this increased heat wave, which ultimately causes the sea levels to increase.
In my project, I will be testing Nicotiana benthamiana plants to see if these plants are able to express effective antibodies that can be used to stop the dengue virus. Nicotiana benthamiana plants are common herbs that can be found at Australia and grow from 0.65-5 ft. tall. These plants are very useful in my project, because they are easy to maintain and they have minimal contamination pathways. In my project, I plan to use these plants as a "tool" for me to develop antibodies in my genetically engineered plants. I want to produce antibodies that are suitable to prevent the dengue virus from infecting mammalian cells, so that the dengue virus isn't able to reproduce. If I am able to produce these suitable antibodies, then I can test them on a petri dish filled with grown, incubated mammalian cells where I inject a dengue virus strain into the dish. If the antibodies are working, then what I should observe is a low dengue virus count. Imagine if there are antibodies that can stop every dengue virus strain. Scientists would be able to inject these modified antibodies into mammalian organisms such as humans to fight off the dengue virus. Who knows how much lives can be saved from this discovery?
The dengue virus epidemic has been occurring since the 1950's, due to increased mosquito populations at the tropics. I have found that the reason why there are increased mosquito populations around the tropics is because during the 1950's there has been increased rainfall precipitation around the tropics due to rising sea level. I believe that the rising sea level is caused by global warming because throughout the 20th century the Earth's temperature has been increasing, due to the destruction of the ozone layer. The ozone layer is the section of the atmosphere that acts as a sheath, surrounding the Earth and reflects UV radiation from the sun from impacting the Earth. However due to the 20th century technological changes; the ozone layer has been getting destroyed due to the accumulation of green house gases such as methane, DDT, nitrous oxide, carbon dioxide, and etc. Greenhouse gases such as carbon dioxide and methane are accumulating in the world due to increase in industrialization such as the production and operation of cars, factories, generators, and so on. As the ozone layer is depleted, more radiation can enter the Earth causing the Earth to become warmer. Glaciers found in the Artic and at Antarctica are then melted from this increased heat wave, which ultimately causes the sea levels to increase.
In my project, I will be testing Nicotiana benthamiana plants to see if these plants are able to express effective antibodies that can be used to stop the dengue virus. Nicotiana benthamiana plants are common herbs that can be found at Australia and grow from 0.65-5 ft. tall. These plants are very useful in my project, because they are easy to maintain and they have minimal contamination pathways. In my project, I plan to use these plants as a "tool" for me to develop antibodies in my genetically engineered plants. I want to produce antibodies that are suitable to prevent the dengue virus from infecting mammalian cells, so that the dengue virus isn't able to reproduce. If I am able to produce these suitable antibodies, then I can test them on a petri dish filled with grown, incubated mammalian cells where I inject a dengue virus strain into the dish. If the antibodies are working, then what I should observe is a low dengue virus count. Imagine if there are antibodies that can stop every dengue virus strain. Scientists would be able to inject these modified antibodies into mammalian organisms such as humans to fight off the dengue virus. Who knows how much lives can be saved from this discovery?
Hi Armando, this sounds very intricate! Where are you going to be conducting your internship?
ReplyDeleteOh yeah, I completely forgot to say that I am conducting my internship at the ASU Biodesign Institute
DeleteWow! It is hard to believe that Dengue virus has been around so long! I have only heard of it in the last 10 years or so, since the number of people infected has skyrocketed. Hopefully, your research can be a stepping stone in coming closer to prevention.
ReplyDelete