It is estimated that there are approximately 100 trillion cells in the human body. They fulfill their duties harmoniously with all the systems, organs, and tissues manifesting innumerable signs of wonder and wisdom. If a disruption occurs to the working of cells or the coordination among cells, the process leading to cancer starts to develop in the body’s tissue.

The recent increase in cancer occurrences has led researchers to look into its development. The phrase “cellular anarchy” is sometimes used to refer to cancer’s development. Indeed, when we examine the mechanism of cancer development, we see that cells engage in irregular – anarchic – activities in addition to regular ones.

Abnormalities emerge in cancerous cells during cell division and differentiation (when they transform into specialized cells according to different tissues). Cancer cells divide uncontrollably. Under normal circumstances, numerous genes are active in cell division. In cancerous cells, however, failures occur in the mechanisms that control division. Moreover, due to differentiation flaws in cancerous cells, undifferentiated cells, which fail to acquire features that enable them to function in a tissue or organ, form groups of cells that constrain and damage other cells because of the space they occupy.

Checkpoints in cell division and tumor suppressing genes

How is cell division controlled in a normal cell?

Our cells go through numerous stages as they divide. The beginning of each stage is called a “checkpoint” because it is where errors in cell divisions are checked. At each checkpoint (called G1, S and G2) are proteins with certain duties. One of these proteins, P53, suppresses development of cancer. In other words, P53’s job is to prevent failures during cell division, hence blocking the path to cancer’s development in the cell. Whether there is a flaw in the DNA it is checked over and over again at each checkpoint. If no error is identified, the next stage proceeds. In this way, it is ensured that there is not any genetic error in the cells formed as a result of division. If there is an error, cell division is stopped. First an attempt is made to correct this genetic error. If it can be corrected, cell division is resumed. If the error is too big to be corrected, then the cell is scheduled to die; this is called apoptosis. It is worth remembering at this point that proteins that are too minute to be observed even by microscopes are tasked to perform these stupendous mechanisms. It is remarkable that they were designed to work so effectively.

Because these systems are disrupted during the development of cancer, genetically flawed cells form and multiply. Proteins produced with the genetic codes of the flawed cells are also flawed, and these flawed proteins cause a failure of the mechanisms that constrain cell division. Unconstrained cells have an abnormal capacity for division and they divide continuously, which is why cancerous cells have a greater ability to divide than normal cells.

Proto-oncogenes and oncogenes

It is essential that the parts of our body that grow, develop, or get damaged be repaired. In such cases, our cells synthesize certain “signal” molecules which are responsible for carrying to the nucleus the information that our cells should divide. As a result of the incoming information, some DNA regions called proto-oncogenes are stimulated and cell division gets underway. Proto-oncogenes are genes responsible for checking the start of cell division. When the human body encounters various cancer-making elements, damages occur in proto-oncogenes, which transform into oncogenes, or genes with the potential to cause cancer. Oncogenes lead a cell to develop cancer because cell division does not stop where it should and continues endlessly in the absence of healthy proto-oncogenes. Underlying abnormal tissue growth and spread to other organs is the fact that the control over cell division is lost.

Genetic treatment of cancer

It became apparent that age-old treatment methods proved wrong once it was discovered that the biological foundations of cancer stemmed from genetic disruptions. Despite its increase in the last century, cancer has in fact been seen throughout the history of mankind; even ancient Egyptian papyri talked about it. Because there was not a definite treatment for cancer, radical treatments were used, such as burning or cauterizing the tumor. In the first half of the twentieth century, only surgical methods were implemented in cancer treatments. Desired results could not be obtained by surgical procedures, which ended up with the excision of entire organs.

Research studies were launched in the second half of the twentieth century into whether it was possible to treat cancer using drugs. These studies revealed that cancer stemmed from genetic flaws (like the ones in oncogenes and tumor suppressing genes), which led to questions about types of treatment. Treatments of flaws at the genetic level are based on genes themselves. These treatments use such methods as stopping genes that work abnormally, eliminating the products of these genes, and killing cancer cells by making use of their genetic mechanisms.

New incidents of cancer are likely to continue to develop, for people are exposed to factors that cause disruptions of the makeup of genes. To prevent cancer, it is critically important that one should have a conscious, natural, and balanced lifestyle. People should be well-informed about the effects of smoking, genetically modified food, radiation, stress, and chemicals, so that they can lessen exposure to such risk factors. Moreover, more frequent implementation of screening tests will make early diagnosis easier. More effective methods with fewer adverse effects should also be developed for higher success rates in cancer treatment. Genetic treatment of cancer is a relatively new field but an increasing number of studies focus on it. These studies aim to kill only cancerous cells and spare healthy ones. It can be expected that research into this field will produce promising outcomes in coming years.

Factors underlying variable DNA methylation in a human community cohort. L.L. Lam et al. PNAS October 16, 2012 vol. 109

The effect of environment on genes can be very profound. Our surroundings may not directly change our DNA sequence but it can surely dictate how our genes are transcribed. Epigenetics studies heritable changes in gene expression caused by non-genetic mechanisms, i.e. mechanisms other than the changes in the DNA sequence itself. DNA methylation is one of the major epigenetic modifications to regulate the gene expression. The addition of methyl groups on DNA sequence acts like a dimmer on a light bulb switch, which will turn certain genes on or off. A recent study showed that a person’s early life experiences shape their DNA methylation patterns. The research team discovered that childhood poverty (not socioeconomic status as an adult) is highly correlated to distinct methylation marks left on genes. Although children in rich and poor households have identical sets of genes, the degree of adversity or stress at home determines which combinations of those genes are activated or silenced through differential DNA methylation. One can imagine that such epigenetic changes might cause some alterations in the gene expression program of blind people to certain environmental signals or make them even more sensitive. Perhaps such changes could make some people more adaptive to harsher life conditions, hence enhance their survival. These findings suggest that environmental conditions early in life shape our epigenomes permanently thereby influence our life experiences, health and probably many other things that we are not yet aware of.

An alien planet next door

An Earth-mass planet orbiting α Centauri B. X.Dumusque et al. Published online 17 October 2012, Nature

Astronomers have just discovered an earth-size alien planet right next to our solar system. A new earthlike planet, named Alpha Centauri, is just 4.4 light-years away. That’s 40 trillion km away from earth! Although this rocky planet’s mass is similar to Earth’s, it orbits much closer (25 times closer than the Earth) to host star Alpha Centauri B. As a result, a year lasts 3236 days and the surface temperature of the planet reaches around to 1200 °C, which makes the planet incapable of supporting any life form we know. However, solar systems with a rocky world are usually predicted to have multiple planets. One possibility is that that Alpha Centauri A, the bigger sibling of Alpha Centauri B, might host some yet to be discovered unknown planets with more habitable zones. Although this recent discovery has sparked people’s dreams to travel to another star system outside of our planetary system, such an exploration mission unfortunately seems impractical in the near future. Even a cell phone-sized probe that is accelerated to 10% of the speed of light would need to travel non-stop for 40 years to reach the target. So, what is the next best thing to do? Will it be taking photos or dropping probes on the planet’s surface to study a potentially modified atmosphere? It seems like while astronomers work hard on the identification and characterization of this new star system, scientists should focus on developing super-fast propulsion systems, which will perhaps include new concepts like nuclear rockets and antimatter fusion drives.

Bad memories, substitute or suppress

Opposing Mechanisms Support the Voluntary Forgetting of Unwanted Memories
Benolt RG et al., Neuron, Volume 76, Issue 2, 450-460, 18 October 2012

For the nervous system, forgetting a memory is almost as complicated as creating one. A recent study probed the mechanism of how the brain allows us to voluntarily forget unwanted memories. Researchers utilized functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) to examine the brain activity of participants who had learned associations between pairs of words and subsequently attempted to forget these memories by either blocking them out or recalling substitute memories. The fMRI results showed that two separate forgetting strategies looked equally effective yet they seemed to use different neuronal circuits in different parts of the brain. For memory suppression, dorsolateral prefrontal cortex inhibits neural activity in the hippocampus which is a critical region for recalling past memories. On the other hand, memory substitution specifically activates caudal prefrontal cortex and midventrolateral prefrontal cortex that are known to bring specific memories into awareness in the presence of distracting memories. These findings can help us to better understand the mechanisms of memory disorders such as posttraumatic stress disorder, and may ultimately help to develop effective treatments. At a more personal level, this study may direct us to explore how we deal with our unpleasant or unwanted memories. We might be surprised to realize that one approach might be working much better for us than another one. In other words, neuronal wiring in our brain might simply favor one approach over another.

Hierarchy of hematopoietic stem cells

The blood system, also known as hematopoietic system, has enormous regenerative capacity to maintain functional mature blood cells that arise from highly proliferative but short-lived progenitor cells. Those progenitors in turn are generated from very rare blood stem cells called hematopoietic stem cells (HSCs). HSCs are one of the most studied stem cells in our body which has greatly shaped our thinking on the features of adult stem cells. These stem cells are kept at the bone marrow in close proximity to bone cells and other supporting cells forming the specialized home known as niche. In several aspects, a niche resembles a cellular stronghold that a queen lives in a safe and protected environment.

The interaction of stem cells with the niche is crucial as this prevents exhaustion of stem cells from uncontrolled cellular divisions and proliferation. While active progenitors account for the generation of mature blood cells, hematopoietic stem cells function as a reserved cell population. Interestingly, we observe the importance of the balance between those two cell populations in the aging process. Although the number of HSCs increases in aged animals, there is a decline in self-renewal of HSCs.

Other protective mechanisms include the low proliferation rates of HSCs in a relatively quiescent state, residing in a low oxygen environment [3], a relatively low degree of metabolism and preferential use of glycolysis as energy source, and additional protection mechanism against oxidative stress.

Low in oxygen but a good place to be!

Stem cells as the cell bank of the body are protected against internal and external insults by a number of mechanisms. Stem cell niche not only provides an environment that they can survive but also poses the lesser degree of internal and external insults. Those possible stresses on cells include, but not limited to, UV exposure, radiation, toxic chemicals, and free oxygen species that cause various damages in the cell including mutations in DNA (Fig. 3). Cells respond to those external and internal issues by various ways such as senescence (loss of stem cell activity), cell death or DNA repair. For example, blood stem cells mainly house in the bone marrow next to osteoblastic lining (blood-forming cells) and endothelial cells where they form the hypoxic (low oxygen tension) endosteal region. This hypoxic niche of HSCs provides lower levels of oxygen so that there are lower levels of free oxygen radicals that mainly arise from electrons leaking from mitochondria during oxidative phosphorylation. In addition, it has been shown that HSC express higher levels of hypoxia inducible factor-1α, a master regulator at low oxygen tension with hundreds of downstream targets regulating various aspects of metabolism including defense against oxidative stress and survival at low oxygen environment. It has also been shown that hypoxia increases self-renewal abilities of HSCs, thus keeps them healthy and functional for longer periods.

Protection from detrimental effects of reactive oxygen species (ROS)

Excess amounts of reactive oxygen species are detrimental to cells. ROS are found to cause hematopoietic stem cell defects as shown in mouse lacking FoxO and Atm genes. In those mutant mice, the hematopoietic defects could be rescued by the use of an antioxidant N-acetyl-cysteine. Anti-oxidants are one of the scavengers that diminish unwanted effects of reactive oxygen species. A number of fruits and vegetables such as beans, blueberry, strawberry, and apple are known with their high content of anti-oxidants. It is amazing to observe anti-oxidants being placed into our sustenance just as much as in some special genes (such as SOD2 and Hypoxia Inducible factor-2α) that provide additional protection for cells. Amazingly, stem cells show high levels of ROS scavenger genes.

Low metabolism provide protection for stem cells

Recent studies demonstrate that hematopoietic stem cells have lower rates metabolism as measured by lower oxygen consumption, lower ATP content and higher lactate production (an end product of cytoplasmic glycolysis) [4]. This means that stem cells produce and consume lesser energy (ATP) compared to more differentiated cells and the by-products of the energy production are kept lower. As higher energy demand brings higher rates of internal insults like production of ROS which is associated with aging and cellular damages, HSCs are granted with another protective mechanism by preferential use of glycolysis (anaerobic) instead of oxidative phosphorylation (aerobic).

Hematopoietic stem cells are quiescent

Another defense mechanism is the quiescence of stem cells which is associated with slow cell-cycle progression. Quiescence of stem cells means that they are kept at a resting, inactive state thus sustaining a self-renewing HSC compartment for life. Because when cell divides, they have to undergo thousands of chemical reactions including making a copy of the three billion letter long DNA, which puts cells at risk to get mutations. Thus, they don’t undergo division unless there is a stimulus. In addition, it has been found that HSCs divide only once every 145 days on average.

There are a number of studies indicating that there are signals in the niche that keeps HSCs in a quiescent state. Tie2/Ang-1 signaling, for instance, has been demonstrated to contribute to the maintenance of HSCs by inducing quiescence. While Ang-1 is expressed in the mesenchymal/stromal cells of niche, its receptor Tie2 is expressed at HSCs. In addition, it has been shown that Ang-1 can inhibit HSC division in culture and promote quiescence of HSCs in the bone marrow [5].

It is also reported that the cell adhesion molecules that allow physical interaction between stem cells and their niche components may participate in regulation of stem cell quiescence through a process called contact dependent inhibition of proliferation. For instance, it has been found that cell adhesion molecules such as N-cadherin, β1-integrin, and osteopontin might be involved in the regulation of cell cycle status of HSCs [6].

One advantage of quiescence of HSC comes from the lower susceptibility of slowly proliferating cells to radiation than other cells due to the expression of cell cycle inhibitors like p21 and anti-apoptotic (controlled cell death) machinery like ATM in HSCs. In addition, studies in p21 (a cell cycle inhibitor gene) knockout mice suggest that maintaining cell cycle quiescence is directly linked to self-renewal of HSCs [7].

Toxics are exported from hematopoietic stem cells

There are other issues concerning external insults against toxics and unwanted chemicals. An HSC population described as side population has been equipped with a number of transporters such as ATP Binding Cassette (ABC) transporters, P-glycoprotein (P-gp/ABCB1) and Breast Cancer Resistance Protein (BCRP/ABCG2) on their membrane providing high efflux ability [8]. They play an important role in the excretion of drugs and endogenous compounds. Those transporters work actively when there is an entrance or excess of such chemicals thus keeping damage minimal.

HSCs are placed in such an environment that even minimum damages by internal and external insults are prevented by different defense mechanisms including residing HSCs in the hypoxic niche, expression of ROS scavenger genes, preferential use of glycolytic metabolism, quiescence nature of HSCs, and removal of toxins by ABC transporters. It is very wise to home such an important cell in a place where it can prosper with a carefully balanced rate of cell division and metabolism. Hypoxic niche seems key to the protection of hematopoietic stem cells by supporting self-renewal and preservation of hematopoietic functions both at the same time. The presence of these protective systems that are graciously placed in our cells with perfect measurements provides an elusive mechanism to ensure healthy life-long reservoir of HSCs.

Ali Fethi Toprak is a PhD candidate at Southwestern Medical Center, Texas University.

Selected References

1. Kobayashi, C.I. and T. Suda, Regulation of reactive oxygen species in stem cells and cancer stem cells. J Cell Physiol, 2012. 227(2): p. 421-30.

2. Li, L. and H. Clevers, Coexistence of quiescent and active adult stem cells in mammals. Science, 2010. 327(5965): p. 542-5.

3. Eliasson, P. and J.I. Jonsson, The hematopoietic stem cell niche: low in oxygen but a nice place to be. J Cell Physiol. 222(1): p. 17-22.

4. Simsek, T., et al., The Distinct Metabolic Profile of Hematopoietic Stem Cells Reflects Their Location in a Hypoxic Niche. Cell Stem Cell, 2010. 7(3): p. 380-390.

5. Arai, F., et al., Tie2/angiopoietin-1 signaling regulates hematopoietic stem cell quiescence in the bone marrow niche. Cell, 2004. 118(2): p. 149-61.

6. Yamashita, Y.M., D.L. Jones, and M.T. Fuller, Orientation of asymmetric stem cell division by the APC tumor suppressor and centrosome. Science, 2003. 301(5639): p. 1547-50.

7. Cheng, T., et al., Hematopoietic stem cell quiescence maintained by p21cip1/waf1. Science, 2000. 287(5459): p. 1804-8.

8. Huls, M., F.G. Russel, and R. Masereeuw, The role of ATP binding cassette transporters in tissue defense and organ regeneration. J Pharmacol Exp Ther, 2009. 328(1): p. 3-9.

9. Antioxidant Riches Found in Unexpected Foods. Retrieved from http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/news/20040617/antioxidants-found-unexpected-foods, January 31, 2012.

At the beginning, I really did not pay much attention to him. He was very small, almost invisible and harmless-looking. However, he started to reproduce all of a sudden. Now, there were billions of his copies on one of my leaves. Everything was happening so quickly. They were taking me over. Something had to be done urgently.

As plants, we cope with such environmental stresses everyday. If the stress factors affecting us are living organisms, such as bacteria, harmful insects, and weeds, we call those as biotic stresses (1). On the other hand, if we are exposed to drought, salinity, heat, cold, and deficiency or excess of a chemical in soil, those are abiotic stresses for us. Both biotic and abiotic stresses impair our growth and even lead to our death sometimes. Therefore, stress response mechanisms are very important for us. Unfortunately in the United States alone, crop losses due to plant pathogens amount to billions of dollars (2). As we are the main food resource for the humans and assigned for so many other important functions on earth by God, our health and productivity is taken very seriously by scientists. So, it is of great interest to them to find out how our defense responses against microbes work. If scientists learn what is going on when a plant is infected by pathogens thoroughly, they can introduce better resistance mechanisms into economically important crop plants via genetic engineering.

Oh “NO,” I am stressed!

Unlike animals, we are firmly attached to the ground so we can not escape from stress factors. However, thanks to God, we have fascinating defense mechanisms against environmental challenges. First of all, I need to know who this infectious agent (pathogen) is so that I can trigger a stress response mechanism against it. The interactions between me and these microbes are controlled by my receptor proteins and Pathogen-associated molecular patterns, or PAMPs, delivered by the pathogen. PAMPs help pathogen growth by suppressing my defenses and manipulating my metabolism (3).When I recognize a PAMP by my receptors, I activate a set of defense mechanisms known as the hypersensitive response (HR) to arrest and terminate pathogen growth before it terminates me (4). Just before or in conjunction with HR, I increase synthesis of several families of pathogenesis-related (PR) proteins in my infected part (5).

Do you want to know what I do after I identify a pathogen? I bet you do, so I am going to tell you about the other components of my signal transduction cascade that is activated upon brutal attack of microbes (Fig. 1). One of the early steps in this signaling cascade is the elevation of cellular calcium (Ca (2+)) levels mediated by my plasma membrane and channels such as cyclic nucleotide gated channels (CNGCs). After the initial Ca(2+) increase, I activate some of my calcium-binding proteins (calmodulin or CaM) and protein kinases, which modify other proteins by chemically adding phosphate groups to them, and ultimately I generate nitric oxide (NO) and reactive oxygen species (ROS) (6). ROS function as signaling molecules that coordinate a wide range of diverse plant processes, such as growth, development, stress adaptation, and cell self-destruction (programmed cell death) (7). However, the real reason I produce ROS under attack is to use them as local toxins to form unfavorable conditions for pathogen growth and reproduction. NO plays a key role in our immunity in synergy with ROS regulating responses that include defense gene expression and programmed cell death (8). As a result, I utilize both ROS and NO to say “NO” to the pathogens. Other important signaling molecules I utilize are salicylic acid and jasmonic acid. These essential plant hormones are chemical messengers that enable me to respond to my environment. Salicylic acid, SA, which is chemically similar to but not identical to the active component of aspirin (acetylsalicylic acid), is involved in the defense against pathogens that feed and reproduce on live host cells and activates signaling processes providing systemic acquired resistance, protecting the plant from further infection after an initial pathogen attack (9) (Fig. 2). On the other hand, jasmonic acid (JA) induces defense against pathogens that kill host cells for nutrition and reproduction (10). Another hormone in the complex cross talk of signaling pathways regulating my defense responses to microbial attack is ethylene, ET (11).

Although, I have not even told you all the details, I bet you have started to think that all these signaling cascades, regulators, hormones, molecular patterns, and receptors are highly complicated. Do not worry; I am not planning to tell you all the molecular mechanism(s) and relevant pathways I execute during biotic stress responses. If I do, then what will the plant scientists who are interested in plant pathogen interactions do for the rest of their lives? Instead I am going to briefly describe to you what strategies I use to prevent the spread of infection that the small microbe started.

Initially, I build physical barriers around the infection by increasing my cuticle, a protective waxy covering, and cell wall thickness, and then I release antimicrobial compounds, such as phenolics and phytoalexins to the sites of invasion (11). However, this effort is usually not enough to stop the microbes. Therefore, most of the time, the cells in the local region surrounding the infection decide to commit suicide to limit the growth of the pathogen through programmed cell death, which is a highly coordinated and sophisticated phenomenon. This resembles to the firefighters’ strategy to put down a forest fire. Firefighters control flames by cutting down trees, clearing brush away from the existing edge of the fire. This way they can form borders to mitigate the forest fire.

While I am fighting the infection, I also try to confer a long-lasting protection against this pathogen. I send mobile signals like salicylic acid to activate defense responses in distal tissues in case a secondary pathogen attack might occur there (12). Salicylic acid also induces numerous genes that encode PR proteins with antimicrobial properties (13).

I have done all those things I have told you here and a lot more that are still undisclosed to humans in a really short time because it was a matter of “to be, or not to be.” After all that stress, I have won the battle against the microbe at least for now. I have gained a life experience and will defend myself better in the future. I am recovering, but unfortunately my leaf, where all that fighting happened, has a big lesion, an abnormal tissue, which was formed when my poor cells died during the attack (Figure3).

As you can tell from my story, plants get stressed out too. However, we are not stressed due to problems at home, school, or work or spending time stuck in traffic. We deal with salinity, heavy metals, temperature, drought, lack of nutrition, herbivores (insects, mammals, etc.), and pathogens. Thanks to God that He gave us astonishingly complicated response mechanisms to resist all sorts of stresses to some extent, especially biotic stress. Otherwise, we might have become extinct. Can you imagine a world without us? You would have no more oxygen in the air, no more food for animals and humans, no more papers or books, no more clothes, no more furniture, no more blooming beautiful gardens, no more roses for your loved ones, and no more trees, which hold the soil in place so that wind and rain don’t cause severe erosion and destruction of homes for so many species. In addition, there will be fewer resources for drugs and dyes. Oh my God, you are the Most Gracious and the Most Merciful. Thank you that You created us, shaped us and gave us smell, taste, color, and resistance to stresses.

Safiye Arslan is a research fellow in the area of biological chemistry and lives in Nevada.

References

1. Holopainen JK, Gershenzon J. 2010. “Multiple stress factors and the emission of plant VOCs.” Trends Plant Sci. 15,176–184.

2. http://www.apsnet.org/online/feature/biotechnology/

3. Wulff BB, Chakrabarti A, Jones DA. 2009. “Recognitional specificity and evolution in the tomato-Cladosporium fulvum pathosystem.” Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 22, 1191–202.

4. Genger RK, Jurkowski GI, McDowell JM, Lu H, Jung HW, Greenberg JT, Bent AF. 2008. “Signaling pathways that regulate the enhanced disease resistance of Arabidopsis ‘defense, no death’ mutants.” Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 21, 1285–96.

5. Klessig DF, Durner J, Noad R, Navarre DA, Wendehenne D, Kumar D, Zhou JM, Shah J, Zhang S, Kachroo P, Trifa Y, Pontier D, Lam E, Silva H. 2000. “Nitric oxide and salicylic acid signaling in plant defense.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 97, 8849–8855.

6. Ma W, Berkowitz GA. 2007. “The grateful dead: calcium and cell death in plant innate immunity.” Cell Microbiol. 9, 2571–85.

7. Gechev TS, Van Breusegem F, Stone JM, Denev I, Laloi C. 2006. “Reactive oxygen species as signals that modulate plant stress responses and programmed cell death.” Bioessays. 28, 1091–101.

8. Asai S, Yoshioka H. 2009. “Nitric oxide as a partner of reactive oxygen species participates in disease resistance to nectrotophic pathogen Botryis cinerea in Nicotiana benthamiana.” Mol Plant Microbe Interact. 22, 619–29.

9. Beckers GJ, Spoel SH. 2006. “Fine-Tuning Plant Defence Signalling: Salicylate versus Jasmonate.” Plant Biol (Stuttg). 8, 1–10.

10. Spoel SH, Johnson JS, Dong X. 2007. “Regulation of tradeoffs between plant defenses against pathogens with different lifestyles.” Proc Natl Acad Sci USA. 104, 18842–7.

11. Bouchez O, Huard C, Lorrain S, Roby D, Balagué C. 2007. “Ethylene is one of the key elements for cell death and defense response control in the Arabidopsis lesion mimic mutant vad1.” Plant Physiol. 145, 465–77.

12. Ficke A, Gadoury DM, Seem RC, Godfrey D, Dry IB. 2004. “Host Barriers and Responses to Uncinula necator in Developing Grape Berries.” Phytopathology. 94, 438–45.

13. Liu PP, Bhattacharjee S, Klessig DF, Moffett P. 2010. “Systemic acquired resistance is induced by R gene-mediated responses independent of cell death.” Mol Plant Pathol. 11, 155–60.

14. Durrant WE, Dong X. 2004. “Systemic acquired resistance.” Annu Rev Phytopathol. 42, 185–209.

God burdens no soul except within its capacity… (Al-Baqarah, 2:286)

This verse is not strange to any Muslim. God has promised that He will never burden a person with difficulties beyond his or her capacity. This is supported by other verses in Surah Al-Inshirah (94:5–6), where it is said that with every hardship, comes relief and this divine statement is repeated twice in the same chapter. This clearly shows how God knows the limits of the human being’s capacity to endure challenges in life.

However, despite these beautiful statements God has made in the Qur’an, we still hear many people complaining about how tough life is, about how they cannot bear their problems anymore and asking why God gives them certain challenges other people do not have to bear. The worst thing is when suicide is contemplated as a reaction to what God has given to His servant.

These complaints, at first glance, appear to contradict these verses, since surely the people so afflicted should know their own capacity to endure tough problems. At second glance, however, it becomes clear that this is not so. Does God really test someone beyond his capacity?

In talking about the endurance of an individual, we cannot avoid the subject of coping skills. Generally, coping skills are divided into two categories, namely avoidance coping skills and approach coping skills (Soderstorm, et.al., 2000).

Avoidance coping skills are basically unhealthy ways of dealing with problems. These coping skills delay the process of recovery and emotional stability. An example of a coping skill of this type is substance abuse, where many people turn to coffee, drugs, cigarettes and other substances when they are in distress.

Another avoidance coping skill is denial, where the person refuses to believe what has happened. In some really bad cases, people go on with their lives, refusing to believe the problem they face and allowing the situation to deteriorate. Some other examples are self-harming, minimization and cognitive avoidance. These mechanisms of coping do not just delay the process of recovery, but also exacerbate the situation.

On the other hand, approach coping mechanisms promote the mental and physical well being of an individual. These mechanisms foster positive thinking and motivate problem-solving behaviors. One of the skills in this category is action taking. Rather than sitting and waiting for something to happen, a person who adopts approach coping mechanisms will plan the strategies and actions required to solve or ease the problem.

Another approach coping skill is acceptance. However, acceptance here means to admit that there is a problem and not resent to the occurrence of the problem. Acceptance which means giving up is not the same as acceptance as an approach coping skills. Positive acceptance is the opposite of denial. Therefore, acceptance is an important beginning of acting to solve or ease a problem.

Humor can also be an approach coping mechanism. By making appropriate fun of the problem, distress can be reduced, and thus more mental stability can be achieved. For example, a mother who has just experienced the loss of her child might say to herself, “At least he is enjoying as much candy as he wants in paradise.” By using appropriate humor like this, the mother can broaden her perspective, allowing her to see the brighter side of the loss she has experienced.

Religious coping is another strategy among approach coping skills. In psychological research, more and more studies suggest ways that spirituality and religiosity help in dealing with life’s problems. One of these studies (Meisenhelder and Chandler 2002) stressed that faith as the concept of spirituality was more applicable than religiosity. One of the variables investigated by these researchers, which was religious coping, correlated positively with mental health. This study is only one out of many to show a strong relation between spirituality and mental and physical well being.

Soderstorm et.al. (2000) also suggested some gender differences in coping strategies. They asserted that men tend to adopt task-oriented coping strategies or approach type and women tend to use the contrary, avoidance coping strategies. However, some other studies have suggested that women are more likely to use task-oriented coping strategies or that there are no gender differences (Holahan & Moos, 1985 as cited in Soderstorm et.al. 2000). Nevertheless, more and more researchers have found a tendency for men to focus on a problem and start taking action to overcome it.

The relation between the verse in Surah al-Baqarah at the beginning of this discussion and coping skills is clear. The question then arises: if it is true that God would never burden a soul beyond its capacity, why do some people complain of being unable to deal with a certain problem they face? If they think that God is unfair, or that they are now unable to cope, or are thinking of committing suicide, it is simply that they have adopted the wrong kind of coping strategy for their individual circumstances, or they may have adopted unhealthy avoidance coping strategies in dealing with problems.

Abi-Hashem (2007) describes how unhealthy coping skills can have negative impacts on people who live in a country with ongoing war, as in the Middle East. Such circumstances, where violence, cruelty, and harshness are an unavoidable part of life make things seem hopeless, and nothing can be done to break away from the situation. The author suggests that at this point, the best coping strategy to be employed is action taking, because worsening mental paralysis can happen to an individual in a country with war who takes no positive action. So, if a person feels as if the challenge God has given them is beyond what they can bear, they should ponder any action they have taken to adjust to the problem. They may have missed some points where, if action is taken, a great deal of worry and stress can be reduced or allayed.

Another way of looking at this is that religious coping skill correlates with mental well being. But sadly not many people realize the importance of religious coping skills in managing life’s problems. In many verses in the Qur’an (e.g. Al-An’am 6:102; Hud 11:123), God reminds us to depend on Him in all affairs, to put our trust in Him and make Him the basis of our decision making. This reflects all research findings, which tell us repeatedly of the advantages and positive outcomes of religious coping. Perhaps this is because we know that there is something we can rely on in hard times, which makes it easier for us to deal with life’s problems. Some practical ways to cope religiously are the performance of greater numbers of recommended prayers, more frequent remembrance of God, and contemplating the creation of the universe.

Sometimes we believe too much in the power of our own selves, feeling too confident that it is we who make the changes, who solve the problems. But we all know the power of togetherness. Support from other people can significantly increase the effectiveness of our coping style. We can reduce our stress by sharing what is bothering us and perhaps getting wiser advice from another person on handling the problems we are facing.

It is important to reflect on ourselves in times of stress. Do we just listen to ourselves? Do we turn to substances when we are distressed by something? Are we brave enough to accept the problem which is afflicting us? Most importantly, do we trust God enough to help us with our problems? These questions can only be answered by each individual for himself or herself.

Taufik Mohammad, PhD, is a senior lecturer in Universiti Sains Malaysia.

References

• Abi-Hashem, N. (2007). The agony, silent grief, and deep frustration of many communities in the Middle East: Challenges for coping and survival. In P. T. P. Wong and C. J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of Multicultural Perspectives on Stress and Coping, US: Springer US, pp. 457–486.
• Meisenhelder, J. B. & Chandler, E. N. (2002). Spirituality and health outcomes in the elderly. Journal of Religion and Health, 41, 243–252.
• Soderstrom, M., Dolbier, C., Leiferman, J. & Seinhardt, M. (2000). The relationship of hardiness, coping strategies, and perceived stress to symptoms of illness. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 23, 321–328.

The innovations implemented in nature have the potential to improve the way we do everything, from desalinating water, gluing things together, to streamlining cars. Where there is a design problem, there is a solution for it in nature created by nature’s Designer. We can distinguish the levels in biology that technology can be modeled after as i) mimicking the natural methods in the manufacture of chemical compounds to create new ones, and ii) imitating mechanisms found in nature. There are a few examples of biomimetic materials that are already part of our daily lives. Velcro, for instance, is a brand name of a fabric that consists of hook and loop fasteners used to connect objects. It was invented by Georges de Mestral, a Swiss engineer/inventor. The idea came to him after he took a close look at the Burdock seeds which stuck to his clothes and his dog’s fur on their daily walk in the Alps. He closely examined the hook-and-loop system that the seeds used under a microscope, and realized that the same approach could be used to join other things together. Velcro is commonly used in many different areas, such as in the automotive industry, clothing, shoe making, and for bringing rigid or soft surfaces together. The lotus, which possesses tiny wax crystals on the surface of its leaves, remains pristine and white, even in the midst of swampy, contaminant-rich conditions. For some, the lotus plant is even a symbol of cleanliness.

The lotus effect in material science is defined as the observable self-cleaning property found in the lotus plant. The characteristics of the lotus brought about a new application of biomimetics to the self-purification of surfaces, such as paints and roof tiles that maintain a clean surface like the lotus, by creating a surface that is similar to that of the lotus plants.1 The figure shows that dirt particles are unable to adhere to the paint and simply flow away with the rain. Everybody knows about the vivid colors of butterflies. But where does this color come from? One would naturally think that butterflies must use pigments, as in the paint industry. Actually, there are two fundamental mechanisms by which color is produced on butterfly wings. One leads to what we call ordinary color, and the second leads to the spectacular iridescent color. The ordinary color is due to the presence of chemical pigments, which absorb certain wavelengths and transmit or reflect others. The iridescent color is produced not by pigmentation, but by the interference of light due to multiple reflections within the physical structure of the material. The parts of a butterfly wing are shown in the Figure 3 in the following order, from left to right: Wing > Scales > Veins > Ridges. The size and periodicity of arrangement of the features on the wings causes interference with the visible light, creating color. Using this concept, structures and physical mechanisms that produce a shining color, like that found on the wings of butterflies, have been reproduced in carbon by an international team based at Allied Signal in Morristown, N.J. These highly periodically patterned novel carbon materials possess unique and potentially useful properties. 2 Another striking example that inspires design principles is the box-fish. These are rigid-bodied marine fish that live predominantly in shallow-watered, highly energetic, tropical reef environments. They are remarkably stable and agile swimmers.

They are able to maintain smooth swimming trajectories with minimal pitching, rolling, or yawing, even in highly turbulent waters. Moreover, they are capable of swimming rapidly (> 6 body lengths s-1), can spin around with a minimal turning radius, and can maintain precise control of their position and orientation.3 What applications could these types of properties be used for? In fact, one of the leading car manufacturers produced a bionic concept car that is based on the contours of the boxfish carapace and takes advantage of its drag reduction benefits. Not only the shape, but also the organizational composition of living organisms is highly advanced.

Therefore, great efforts are made to study and understand the formation of the hierarchical structures of these creatures. The shell of the abalone, for instance, is known for being exceptionally strong. It is made of microscopic calcium carbonate tiles that are stacked like bricks. Between the layers of tiles is a sticky protein substance. Even though calcium carbonate is one of the softest materials in nature, when the abalone shell is struck, the tiles slide, instead of shattering and the protein stretches to absorb the energy of the blow. Material scientists at the University of California, San Diego are studying the tiled structure for insight into stronger ceramic products, such as body armor. Researchers at Princeton, working on a grant from NASA, are analyzing the remarkable strength of abalone shells to help make impact-resistant coatings for thermal tiles. There are numerous groups that are working towards a better understanding of the structure and the governing mechanisms involved in the assembly of natural composite systems that have amazing mechanical properties. In synthetic composite structures, the hardness of the material is proportional to the inorganic/mineral content. However, there are striking examples of design in nature in which almost negligible amounts of minerals are used in a specially tailored environment, and very high levels of hardness, comparable to human dentine, can be achieved. An interesting example is sea-worms. Although mainly consisting of soft tissue, these worms have very hard jaws that have an exceptionally low amount of inorganic consistency. The jaw material is of particular interest because of its hard, lightweight and abrasive-resistant properties due to some gradient elements. The chemical surrounds and forms of these elements are not clear enough to be able to identify or mimic the arrangement/structure. These jaws, in addition to their extraordinary mechanical properties, are very good examples of natural gradient materials that have a perfect interface between the hard and soft tissues. Although many high-tech analysis techniques have been devised to understand how such a composite could be formed, particularly in highly unfavorable salty sea or ocean water, and how they have such great mechanical strength, the findings are still incomplete.

The information gathered is like the scattered pieces of a puzzle; to finish the puzzle, the missing pieces must be found with new advancements in analytical tools. What about mussels then? “If we have Batman and Spider-Man, why don’t we have any mussel super heroes?” asks Professor Herbert Waite of the University of California, Santa Barbara. Mussels may not be the biggest or the flashiest creatures in the sea, but they do one thing exceedingly well. They make a glue that lets them anchor themselves firmly to a rock and remain there-drenched by water, buffeted by the ocean’s waves. “I don’t know any other adhesive that can do that,” says Waite.6 Not only the glue, but the threads they make to attach themselves to the rocks are very significant in terms of both their composition and complexity, according to Niels Holten, who is conducting research on these systems at the University of California, Santa Barbara. These threads can elongate and relax with extraordinary mechanical flexibility under great impacts from ocean waves. The Waite group research on these thread cuticles reveals a very important aspect of material science, the significance of which has only very recently been understood: interface engineering. These threads have a very low amount, ca. 1-2 wt%, of metal ions in a polymeric matrix holding together large polymeric chains, which is possibly what gives the structure its flexibility and extensibility. Man-made structures cannot compete with the mechanical performance of these threads, especially at such a low volume of metal ion ingredients.

The ultimate goal of ongoing research is to understand the formation principles of these features so that similar structures can be made, using the same set of principles in laboratory conditions. In fact, the perfections of designs that are implemented in nature turn out to be an enormous fountain of ideas. Jewel beetles, which lay their eggs in freshly charred trees, can detect fires from miles away; the defense industry is studying these beetles for clues to design new low-cost, military-grade infrared detectors. Meanwhile, one of the leading car manufacturers is tapping the locusts’ famed ability to fly in dense swarms without colliding for a possible key to anti-collision devices in cars. And the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency is funding development of a robot that can climb vertical surfaces, using the same principle that geckos use to walk up walls and saunter upside down across ceilings. There are several examples that could be given on this matter, but, due to limited space, we can only briefly summarize some of them. However, our understanding of the mechanism in nature is very limited, and it is expected that better insight will be gained with the advancement of available analytical tools. The great diversity of product designs in nature is produced from only a few common components, whereas we use a great number of materials and components to achieve new designs. Such high control and hierarchy in design in nature can only be attributed to an artist or designer who hides the perfection of his creation in the details. It is up to us to find out, see, and appreciate these perfections. Material scientists, of course, have the duty of transferring the findings from nature for the service of humankind by turning them into applicable forms in our daily lives.

Notes

1. Lotusan Paints. (2002). Retrieved 12 Nov, 2003, from http://www.lotusan.de Translated by http:// www.google.com.
2. Anvar A. Zakhidov et. al., Science, 282, 897 (1998).
3. URL: http://www.gharib.caltech.edu/bioinspired_ design/index.html
4. http://www.daimlerchrysler.com/dccom/0-5-7154-1-503504-1-0-0-503518-0-0-135-7145-0-0- 0-0-0-0-1.html
5. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abalone#_note-0
6. Anne Underwood, “Nature’s Design Workshop,” Newsweek, U.S. Edition, September 26 (2005).

“We were thrilled to see a dome we came across in the cave after turning a few curves as we drifted along the current of the sea. What we saw in this pitch dark corner of the cave was a glorious sky adorned with thousands of stars and we felt as if on a remote planet yet unidentified. These mysterious stars would suddenly fade out as if they were frightened by each noise we made, the splash of the oars, or waves hitting the boat. They would glow back marvelously after a short while when their fear was over. It was an amazing luminousness coming out of thousands of lights.”

A scientist with infinite determination, Professor Illies says they now know who the players were who were involved in and the realities behind this enchanting show: Arachnocampa luminosa. This self-glowing fly, which is endowed with a peculiar light-radiating system, is known by different names in other parts of the world.

Mysterious light-radiating mechanisms

A microscopic organ found in the stomach of the glowworm is the source of light which creates the glow. Two chemicals are produced in two very close locations in this organ which is essential for the glowworm to continue its existence: Luciferin and Luciferase. These glowworms have no idea that they glow when these chemicals are mixed together with oxygen as the third component, which is taken in via respiration. They are neither blessed with the intellectual capacity to determine how much of these chemicals should be utilized or which stages this chemical reaction will go through; they are unaware of the nature of this glow, but they can radiate it for three consecutive hours thanks to this complex mechanism installed within.

A normal electric bulb can transform a maximum of 3-4% of the electrical energy supplied into light, whereas this output is 10% in the fluorescent bulb; the rest of the energy is released as heat, a waste in production. The ideal 100% efficiency would be to transform all energy into light with no release as heat. Today’s technology has not yet reached that level of illumination; even the most productive devices release heat to some degree. For thousands of years, however, the tiny bodies of glowworms are like power stations, yielding 100% light, a capacity which engineers have not yet achieved.

Can Darwinism explain a luminosa’s glowing mechanism?

The glowworms of the Waitomo caves are equipped with bioluminescence, a system of illumination that is the result of chemical reactions. Researchers are seeking answers to why Arachnocampa luminosa lives in the cave and radiates light. The first answer that comes to mind is that it uses this light to catch its prey. In a dark cave, the strong light attracts the prey which is caught by the sticky droplets secreted along silk threads that hang from a web. The glowworm digests its prey together with this thread. The explanations of evolutionists, based on natural causes regarding this complex bioengineering mechanism possessed by a worm, are far from satisfactory.

These explanations were confirmed (!) by behaviorist Niko Tinbergen, a Nobel-prize winner in medicine, in the introduction to his The Animal in its World (1972): “It is manifest that an animal can do stunning things and it can get accustomed to its habitat. The environment has shaped the evolution’s path, and it still does.” A hundred years after Darwin, Konrad Lorenz would state the following with additional emphasis: “The conviction that all the important details found in the structures and behavior of living things can be explained by the mechanisms discovered by Charles Darwin becomes stronger as I am getting older.” A superficial and distorted perspective on nature…

If we were to explain animal behavior according to the perception of evolutionists we would have to accept that during the evolution process of Arachnocampa the luciferin chemical came into being at a stage that was followed by the formation of lusiferase enzyme coincidentally, and thus the glowing started. Recently, it has been discovered that the larvae of glowworms also produce light. A larvae feeds on microorganisms (fungi spores) which are completely insensitive to light; this proves that the light produced is not a necessity for nutrition. Natural selection, a mechanism proposed by Darwin, cannot explain why the larvae wastes the energy obtained via nutrition under difficult circumstances by glowing. Each adult Arachnocampa goes through the larvae stage, which spoils Darwin’s “chain of development.” Coincidental mutations, natural selection, and re-combinations present nothing but contradictions.

According to an evolutionist scenario the latter stages of development witnessed one of the Arachnocampas started to produce light for no obvious reason (!). It became stronger with this new physiologic aspect; although it drew attention with this new light it did not become a prey to its enemies, but on the contrary it snared other insects more easily. It left this new hunting skill as a legacy for future generations (!). In the meantime, the remaining old-type Arachnocampas, which did not have this skill, became extinct with no trace left on earth. The glowworm thus perfected its physiology and anatomy, and there was no need for change for millions of years to come!

Evolutionists can do nothing but explain with unintelligent mechanisms the glowing that is created by a reflecting tissue at the back of the body and the fact that the light is condensed to be directed towards one course. Otherwise the light would only illuminate the roof of the cave. They further explain, with an analysis that is not based on logic, that the glowworm can detect air waves (like bats hunting by ultrasound waves), and thus can turn on and off the light, control the glow and hide from danger. It is so difficult for an evolutionist to accept creation that they adhere blindly to these theories. If one would argue how baseless these explanations were, they are likely to receive the response “a scientist should not be narrow-minded” and that “we are not at that stage to appreciate the importance of coincidence in the formation of such behaviors.” “This will change in the future when we attain the necessary information.”

Professor Ernst Mayr assures (!) us about the role of coincidence: “The variety in nature produced by mutation and re-combination takes place only by coincidence. The destiny of every being is determined by surrounding factors through selection. There are no long term decisions in nature. The existence of a thing is determined by these mechanisms for that moment.” Mayr would probably find it a silly question to ask whether the windshield wipers of his car came into being by coincidence.

“Surrounding factors determining perfection” brings along several questions. The limestone which forms the essential material of a cave is biologically dead, and it does not sound very logical to depict it as the primary factor in the occurrence of such a complex organism. There are a number of insects that live in these caves but which do not possess the characteristics of Aluminosa. Moreover, from a neo-Darwinist approach, insects living in these dark caves should have lost their vision in accordance with the theory. The natural selection mechanism argues that eyes which are of no use in these dark caves should be an unnecessary organ. These organisms could have channeled the energy they allocated for their eyes for a more functional sense, and this could avail them many advantages. On the contrary, these glowworms have perfect eyesight which they use in communication.

Science develops theories for observable objects. Under the twilight of the lack of information and blurred perspective on nature, these theories are perceived as realities. And science becomes the slave of the genie that science has released from the lamp. Joachim Illies underlines this as follows: “It is better not to disturb the sacred cows for no reason. Darwinism has become one of those sacred cows. These cows stand in the middle of the road and the traffic flows into byways so as not to disturb them.”

In the world of living things, examples of Arachnocampa luminosa are not few and they cause metaphysical headaches for the Darwinists. In the face of such pain they load the burden of keeping silent on the “Darwinist coincidence.” They silence their conscience and distort reality; their explanations do not make any sense. We wish they could turn to God Almighty for once, rather than chasing after coincidence and natural selection up so many blind alleys.

References

• Portmann, Adolf: An den Grenzen des Wissens – Vom Beitrag der Biologie zu einem neuen Weltbild; Buchclub Ex Libris Zurich 1975, S. 145 – 159.
• Darwin, Charles: Über die Entstehung der Arten durch naturliche Zuchtwahl; Parkland Verlag Koln 2002, S. 97 – 153.
• Illies, Joachim: Der Jahrhundert Irrtum; Umschau Verlag 1983 / Frankfurt am Main; 122 – 131, S. 92 – 117.
• Zimmermann, Walter: Evolution-Die Geschichte Ihrer Probleme und Erkenntnisse; Karl Alber Verlag Munchen 1953; 480 – 496.
• Thurkauf, Max: Die moderne Naturwissenschaft und Ihre soziale Heilslehre–der Marxismus; Novalis Verlag Munchen 1980, S. 190 – 217.