From pages 40-44, Dr. Moalem discusses the process in which a wood frog is able to completely freeze itself in order to preserve its body during the winter. However, on pages 34-35, Dr. Moalem discusses how a similar process mocking the natural one of the wood frog's on humans failed miserably as the ice shards led to vital internal damages. It's interesting that what is a vital part of survival for one species can be lethal to another, but some people (diabetics) theoretically may be more similar to the wood frogs than the people possibly frozen in Arizona. Therefore, their bodies may react differently in response to the external change that they experience which connects with Big Idea 2 (biological systems utilize free energy and molecular building blocks to grow, reproduce, and to maintain dynamic homeostasis).
So, what exactly are the major differences in regards to how the humans frozen in Arizona differ from the wood frogs? How have the wood frogs allowed their specific internal adaptations to preserve their bodies regardless of the extreme and damaging external conditions? Do you think that diabetics are more similar in regards to the biological makeup (high blood sugar) of wood frogs, or are they completely incomparable?
If yes, do you think diabetics would fare better than normal, healthy patients if they were frozen? Regardless of yes no, how do you think the blood sugar levels of the participants being frozen were in general?
And lastly, if we were to eventually figure out how to "freeze" our bodies or at the very least, organs, what would this mean for our future medical endeavors?
Lois Kim (lokim3@students.d125.org)
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ReplyDeleteWood frogs have special nucleating proteins in their blood. As a result, the water in the blood first turns to ice, dehydrating the cells. However, at the same time, the frog's liver makes a tremendous amount of glucose. This glucose results in a sugary substance that holds up the cells in the wood frog, keeping even more water from exiting the cell. This relates to the ideas we have learned in Unit 3 (Cells, Membranes, and Transport). The cells have a greater concentration of glucose than the surrounding environment. Therefore, the environment is hypotonic. Although the frogs may seem dead, their cells are still intact and turgid, not flaccid. This adaptation in the wood frogs relates to Big Idea #4 (Biological systems interact, and the systems and their interactions posses complex properties) because various hormones and cell functions work together to create this amazing outcome. The frogs are able to survive through freezing winters and fluctuating temperatures, an extremely useful adaptation. This is in contrast to humans. When we are frozen, our cells collapse, with no turning back. However, diabetics can be seen as comparable to the wood frogs in a way. Patients with diabetes have hyperglycemia, or elevated levels of glucose in the body due to problems with insulin production in their pancreas. Therefore, diabetics have greater concentrations of sugar in the blood compared to other humans.
ReplyDeleteAs a result, I think that diabetics would fare better than "healthier" patients if frozen. However, the amount of sugar released by the wood frogs is much more extreme than the hyperglycemia suffered by diabetics. Because of this, I don't think diabetes is the answer to freezing our bodies. Although, the extra glucose may help humans just enough to prevent death if the body was on the brink of freezing. The blood sugar levels of the participants being frozen were likely close to the normal levels of those without diabetes.
If we were able to freeze our bodies in the future, this would mean a great deal to the future of science. Essentially bodies could be frozen and reanimated in the future. For example, a patient with an illness yet to be cured could be frozen, and then thawed in the future when a cure is discovered. More impactful, however, is what freezing can do for organ donation. Currently, the demand for organs is much greater than the supply. Part of this problem are the organs' inability to be frozen without damage. If we could figure out a way to freeze human tissue, precious vital organs could preserved and distributed to those in need.
(http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/02/070220-frog-antifreeze.html)
- Carolyn Fan, cfan3@students.d125.org