Comments for A Research Journey http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez The process of scientific discovery is, in effect, a continual flight from wonder. - Albert Einstein Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:10:34 -0500 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.8.1 hourly 1 Comment on Welcome by vanessa reale http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/2009/10/08/welcome/comment-page-1/#comment-5 vanessa reale Wed, 24 Feb 2010 13:10:34 +0000 http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/?p=19#comment-5 Brian - I am very impressed by your work. Your desire to pursue such a challenging and though provoking investigation is both impressive and reflective of a work ethic that will result in continued sucesses throughout your life. We all have great confidence in you Brian and are so pleased that you have taken advantage of all of the opportunities to grow and learn at East Haven High School. We are very proud of you. Continue to strive for excellence - the sky is the limit Brian. Mrs. Reale Brian – I am very impressed by your work. Your desire to pursue such a challenging and though provoking investigation is both impressive and reflective of a work ethic that will result in continued sucesses throughout your life. We all have great confidence in you Brian and are so pleased that you have taken advantage of all of the opportunities to grow and learn at East Haven High School. We are very proud of you. Continue to strive for excellence – the sky is the limit Brian. Mrs. Reale

]]> Comment on Welcome by bgomez http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/2009/10/08/welcome/comment-page-1/#comment-4 bgomez Wed, 20 Jan 2010 21:36:23 +0000 http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/?p=19#comment-4 Hi Mrs. Noonan, The reason for our bodies not rejecting the silk lies in the make up of its amino acid chain. Spider silk consists primarily of two main amino acids: alanine and glycine, both of which are found naturally in the human body, meaning it isn't foreign. When I researched this question, many sites simply stated sentences like the following: "research shows that the human body doesn't reject spider silk" or "spider silk doesn't trigger an immune response." This bugged me because like anyone interested in science related topics, I want to know the answer to questions that are essentially answerable today. My guess to answer your question would be... If you look at a situation with a recipient of an organ transplant, there is a risk of the organ being rejected because of the patient's immune system wanting to act against what is perceived as a foreign object. The reason for this deals with the fact that another person's organ contains proteins known as antigens, and regarding the patient, they would be non-self antigens. Now of course there are ways to prevent the immune system from completely destroying the transplant it will receive. There is a process of typing the tissue, I believe that's how they describe it, which enables the body to identify the antigens. The match isn't perfect, as the goal is to make sure the organ is very similar to the patient's tissues. And of course there is always the use of immunosuppresive drugs involved. But spider silk does not contain a blood supply. In other words, understanding the scenario I just explained helps because organs that have high risks of being rejected have a blood supply, which is why immune cells and antibodies will reach the organ and attack antigens. Understand that this explains why spider silk is not rejected (assuming proper tests have been performed, as sites have said), but this does not necessarily mean a post operative infection wouldn't be able to occur. Sorry for the very long reply, as I could have been more concise, but many parts of this idea need an extensive amount of explanation. Hi Mrs. Noonan,
The reason for our bodies not rejecting the silk lies in the make up of its amino acid chain. Spider silk consists primarily of two main amino acids: alanine and glycine, both of which are found naturally in the human body, meaning it isn’t foreign. When I researched this question, many sites simply stated sentences like the following: “research shows that the human body doesn’t reject spider silk” or “spider silk doesn’t trigger an immune response.” This bugged me because like anyone interested in science related topics, I want to know the answer to questions that are essentially answerable today. My guess to answer your question would be…

If you look at a situation with a recipient of an organ transplant, there is a risk of the organ being rejected because of the patient’s immune system wanting to act against what is perceived as a foreign object. The reason for this deals with the fact that another person’s organ contains proteins known as antigens, and regarding the patient, they would be non-self antigens. Now of course there are ways to prevent the immune system from completely destroying the transplant it will receive. There is a process of typing the tissue, I believe that’s how they describe it, which enables the body to identify the antigens. The match isn’t perfect, as the goal is to make sure the organ is very similar to the patient’s tissues. And of course there is always the use of immunosuppresive drugs involved. But spider silk does not contain a blood supply. In other words, understanding the scenario I just explained helps because organs that have high risks of being rejected have a blood supply, which is why immune cells and antibodies will reach the organ and attack antigens. Understand that this explains why spider silk is not rejected (assuming proper tests have been performed, as sites have said), but this does not necessarily mean a post operative infection wouldn’t be able to occur. Sorry for the very long reply, as I could have been more concise, but many parts of this idea need an extensive amount of explanation.

]]> Comment on Welcome by Marilee Noonan http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/2009/10/08/welcome/comment-page-1/#comment-3 Marilee Noonan Wed, 20 Jan 2010 18:16:34 +0000 http://wpmu.skills21schools.org/bgomez/?p=19#comment-3 OK Brian...I've explored more of your site and can see that various spider silks are protein in nature...but why don't we reject it? Mrs. N OK Brian…I’ve explored more of your site and can see that various spider silks are protein in nature…but why don’t we reject it?
Mrs. N

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