Mt Rainier

Mt Rainier
Mt Rainier

Sunday, May 31, 2015

Bacillus Anthracis Issues



The CDC is investigating an unintentional release of anthrax  from the Department of Defense (DOD) to multiple labs in multiple states.  An article from Voice of America indicates 24 labs in 11 states and 2 countries (South Korea and Australia) have received "suspect samples" of concern.

Anthrax has quite a history, both in its naturally occuring state and as a biological weapon, as documented by the Center for Disease Control (CDC).  There have been a number of anthrax "releases" over time,  Recently, in 2014 there was a release at CDC's Roybal Campus .  The year 2001 saw a wave of anthrax attacks.  A CDC review discusses the 2001 attacks in some detail as well as discussing epidemiological findings. and provides a history of anthrax., both in a naturally occurring state and as a biological weapon.

One interesting development has been the appearance of bacillus anthracis in heroin used by European drug users.  The strain involved originated in Turkey, raising a question as to how bacillus anthracis would get into the heroin supply.

The CDC provides basic information on Bacillus Anthracis.  The bacteria Bacillus Anthracis exists in a dormant, sporulated state in nature, can enter the body by a variety of routes (e.g. cutaneous or inhalation pathways), become activated, spread throughout the body, multiply and produce toxins.

These incidents all represent an interesting pattern in the release of bacillus anthracis into the biosphere, taking into consideration emerging environmental issues regarding climate change.  The question is to what extent the environment adapts or reacts to environmental challenges thrown its way.

As this CDC case investigation indicates, it is difficult to investigate individual cases of anthrax when they occur.  Human cases of anthrax are rare, despite the fact that Bacillus Anthracis can be found naturally in the soil and commonly infects domestic and wild animals throughout the world.  There may be a number of reasons for this apparent paradox, which is under investigation.

My blog article "Panspermia and Evolution" discusses Bacillus Anthracis and the distribution of life in the context of extreme environments.  These are the types of situations involving low probability, high impact events.

Bacillus Anthracis is mentioned in a few of my blog articles, "Evolution of Adaptive Immunity" and in an article on "Ebola".

Bacillus Anthracis needs oxygen in order to sporulate.. This is a very interesting characteristic that may provide clues to it's activity, especially in the human body. Iron is a key element in the human body, intimately associated with a number of metabolic processes, including its role in hemoglobin and the delivery of oxygen throughout the body.

Indeed, Bacillus Anthracis uptakes iron when exposed to superoxide stress.   Bacillus anthracis experiences rapid sporulation in a high iron, glucose free environment.  Apparently, Bacillus Anthracis may operate as a signaling mechanism triggering iron accumulation when exposed to environmental stresses, impacting the iron catalyst of the  Fenton reaction.

Transferrin blocks growth of Bacillus Anthracis via iron deprivation, an effect that is differentially expressed in cutaneous anthrax vs inhalational anthrax. This difference, in the latter case, is due to phagocytosis by macrophages, a process which occurs upon inhalation, allowing the inhaled spores to germinate intracellularly, multiply and cause infection.

It is apparent that Bacillus Anthracis forms the heart of a mystery, a challenge, as we seek to better understand the manner in which it expresses, affecting a number of medical processes in the human body. At the same time, we examine other issues impacting society on a global level, issues of climate change, global warming and their interactions with the changing environment in which we live.  These issues will be discussed in further blog articles.

Center for Disease Control (CDC):
  CDC Investigating unintentional DoD shipment of anthrax
  Anthrax
  A History of Anthrax
  CDC Director Releases After-Action Report on Recent Anthrax Incident
  CDC Responds to Anthrax - 2001
  Review of Fall 2001 Anthrax Bioattacks
  Injectional Anthrax in Heroin Users - 2000 -2012
  Anthrax - Basics
  Investigation of Inhalational Anthrax Case - United States

Voice of America -"Carter Vows to Find Those Responsible for Anthrax Shipment"

American Veterinary Medical Association (AVMA) - Anthrax FAQ

marilyndunstan.blogspot.com
   Panspermia and Evolution
   Evolution of Adaptive Immunity
   Ebola

Medical Microbiology - Bacillus
Journal of Bacteriology - Cellular Iron Distribution in Bacillus Anthracis
Journal of Microbiological Methods - Rapid Sporulation of Bacillus Anthracis in a high iron-glucose free media
Journal Biological Chemistry - Human Transferrin Confers Serum Resistance Against Bacillus anthracis

IUPAC - Gold Book - Fenton Reaction

Wikipedia:
  Oxidative Stress
  Phagocytosis
  Macrophage






Saturday, May 30, 2015

Global Warming and Climate Change - "Polar Pioneer" and Arctic Drilling








The visit of the Royal Dutch Shell's Polar Pioneer Oil Drilling Rig to the Port of Seattle's Terminal 5 in May, 2015 sparked demonstrations against drilling for petroleum products in Alaska's Chukchi Sea, and helped to focus attention on environmental issues, the use of energy resources, externalities and systemic risk.

Energy resources include petroleum products, nuclear energy and alternative energy sources such as solar, wind power, biodiesel, ethanol, hydro and other emerging energy sources.  The Polar Pioneer and other Arctic drilling operations are concerned with the development of petroleum resources as the planet deals with exploration for additional sources of petroleum.

Alaska's Chukchi Sea,  high in the Arctic, above the Alaska Archipelago, is a marginal sea that sits between Russia and Alaska and is navigable only four months out of the year.

There are many risks involved in drilling in the Arctic.  Past oil spills, such as the Exxon Valdez oil spill in March, 1989  highlight the risks involved with drilling in such a hostile environment where repairs, mitigation and cleanup are much more difficult.  Storms, ice, extremes of light and darkness and other climatological issues present challenges.  The opening up of Arctic areas for shipping also presents a long term challenge in a number of ways; this risk includes not simply the risk posed by the oil drilling activities themselves but ancillary activities that support these activities as well as other commercial activities.

There is the risk that sea lanes could interrupt the ability of sea ice to reform.  Sea ice, with a high albedo (reflectivity index between 0 and 1) , helps to counteract planetary warming. As anyone who has tried to bake an egg on a hot black asphalt knows, black surfaces absorb heat and white surfaces reflect it, and a decrease in sea ice is associated with positive feedback mechanisms that increase global warming.  Preserving the Arctic ice in the face of increased commercial traffic is a very important element in ensuring planetary balance.

Is it possible that the planet is finding its own way towards an equilibrium, as we sit and ponder our options?

In 2012 a phytoplankton bloom was discovered floating in the Chukchi Sea between Wainwright and Barrow, Alaska.

Set in the context of climate change, involving long term planetary forcing mechanisms such as the Milankovitch Cycle  and global warming, population growth, globalization, and development of emerging economies, the use of energy resources is an important topic.

Could this bloom be a mechanism for mitigating the increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide?   Phytoplankton account for "half of photosynthetic activity on Earth", according to NOAA.  The presence of extensive blooms of the fern Azolla in the Arctic Ocean are associated with the emergence of an ice age in the middle Eocene epoch (Azolla Event) 49 million years ago, which transformed the Earth from a "greenhouse" to an "icehouse".   Blooms have varying ability to sequester carbon dioxide, as indicated by the Azolla foundation.

The appearance of algal blooms in the Chukchi Sea may be an early indicator of planetary compensatory mechanisms to deal with the increase in carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases (including methane and water vapor ) in the atmosphere, and rising temperatures.

The issue of drilling in the Arctic's Chukchi Sea is thus an important issue that doesn't simply entail the issues of how to drill in such a hostile environment without disturbing it, but also is set in the context of a bifurcation point with regards to issues of planetary balance.


Past articles from my blog on environmental issues and the issues of externalities incude:

Externalities and Risk - The Seattle-Tacoma International Airport
Climate Change and Carbon
Seattle-Tacoma International Airport - Environmental Issues (one of a series on the airport)
Climate Change and the Thermohaline Circulation

Marilyn Dunstan Photography