PKU (Phenylketonuria)

PAH is the enzyme that is most commonly defective in people with PKU.

PKU is hereditary and is carried as follows:

A person can accumulate dangerously high phenylalanine levels in the brain, poisoning the neurons, and causing mental retardation and epilepsy if not treated correctly.

A baby with PKU may have a smaller than normal head, epilepsy(seizures), and mental retardation. A musty odor may occur. Also, the deficiency in tyrosine leads to a lighter skin and hair color on the baby.

The lack of tyrosine and the buildup of phenylalanine levels cause the symptoms of PKU.

The commonality of PKU is as follows:
     1 in 143,000 Japanese babies will be born with PKU.
     1 in 10,000 Caucasian and East Asian babies will be born with PKU.
     1 in 2,600 Turks babies will be born with PKU.
     1 in 4,500 Irish babies will be born with PKU.

PKU can be treated by giving the baby a low protein diet for as long as possible. Even after they get out of the toddler and childhood years, a limited protein diet will help with the symptoms of PKU.

I've never known about this disease until now, and I think it's pretty interesting. I think testing newborn babies for this disease is wise so that the parents can learn quickly how to treat their children and allow them to grow up with a semi-normal life. This is sad, and hopefully some day we can come up with a quick cure for this disease so that less children will have to deal with it throughout their lifetimes.

Diffusion and Osmosis Lab!

Lab day woo! We started out by filling a cup with distilled water, then added about 4mL of IKI(iodine) and tested the brownish solution with an indicator strip, coming up with a green result meaning there is no glucose. Then we took a dialysis tube, tied one end of it, and filled it with about 15mL of 15% glucose/1% starch solution. The glucose/starch solution was clear in color but tested positive for glucose(obviously). We took the tube and tied the other end of it and placed it in the IKI solution.
I wasn't here for the second day, so I didn't get to see the results sadly...
This lab was a lot of fun because we got to feel like scientists(:

Microscopes!

Today!!!! ....and yesterday we played with the microscopes. We looked at pond water, foam, fruit loops, mandarin orange juice, plant leaves, and most exciting..... SOAP!!! Yes, that's right, soap! Hand-pumped, school soap! Here's a picture:

This activity was pretty cool because we got practice learning how to use the microscope like focusing it, playing with the magnification for each different substance, and learning not to put your eye up to the hole and then turning the light on (it can blind you.)

I really liked this activity because we got to use our imaginations on what to look at, but still got useful practice in using the microscopes.

Our Poster!

I was in a group with Gena, Kandace, and Shawn, where we made a poster of a diagram of a fluid mosaic membrane structure. This structure is particularly interesting. The structure has an outer layer of phospholipids, which are hydrophilic. The phospholipids surround the fatty acids, which are hydrophobic. Intertwined with the phospholipids and fatty acids, is a rather large proportionally transmembrane protein.The transmembrane protein is a protein that goes all the way across the structure. There is a glycoprotein. Coming off of the glycoprotein are carbohydrate side chains. And there is an integral protein.  Put together in the right structure, you can form a fluid mosaic membrane structure. (Here is a not-so-great picture of our wonderful creation) ------>