Author: Bethan Ritchie

Science Writing Competition 2022 – joint 3rd Place

by Teodora Rînciog, MSc Student, Centre for Environmental Policy

Hyenas – misunderstood villains?

Hideous creatures with a demon-like laugh, hyenas definitely meet all the criteria for a classic cartoon villain. I certainly thought so when I was a child, as did all of my childhood friends. None of us even thought twice about this judgement, even into our adulthoods. But, was this fair?


Why do we hate hyenas?

 Since the premiere of the exceeding-popular cartoon “The Lion King” in 1994, hyenas were globally established as the silly enemies of the noble lion. Considering the unpleasant appearance of hyenas, the young audience didn’t find this hard to believe. However, this influenced adults too. The New Scientists magazine had hyenas in their cartoon confess: “We’re scavengers, we’re ugly and we smell bad, if we didn’t laugh, we’d crack.” Ernest Hemingway, the world-renowned author, wasn’t a fan of hyenas either. He created many hyena myths in his writing that continued to degrade their reputation (3).


People are easily influenced by the graceful appearance of the lion and thus typically hold positive opinions on the lion’s role in nature. But, looks aren’t everything. The fragile balance of the ecosystem depends on hyenas’ “dirty work” as the garbagemen of nature (4). Fittingly, garbagemen also have negative reputations in competitive human societies, but are an equally crucial part of it. As carnivores and scavengers, hyenas’ main diet consists of corpses of all kinds. These corpses can become a source of microbes that can reach humans and spread like wildfire. Thus, they have the potential to cause serious diseases. Luckily for all of us, hyenas eat these ticking biological timebombs before they can hurt us (4).

Losing the main scavenger is devastating for an ecosystem and also catastrophic for us. For instance, in India, vultures were hunted intensely due to their negative reputation among farmers. The suppression of this central scavenger led to a dramatic increase in infections that transmit from animals to humans (5).

Their cruel destiny

Despite hyena-and-human co-existence for thousands of years, farmers have been poisoning hyenas because they claim hyenas attack their livestock. But hyenas actually target old or ill animals, and are often just caught eating animals that have died from another cause. Hyena’s have been poisoned at an industrial scale with the arrival of European settlers, leading to the extinction of hyenas in South Africa (4). According to The Red List, the population of the most numerous hyena species, the spotted hyena, is estimated at 27,000– 47,000 individuals worldwide, yet it is in in continuous decline. Along with lack of data, this could put the spotted hyena on course to becoming vulnerable to extinction (6).

Hyenas are a crucial link in the food chain and maintain the delicate balance of nature. Sometimes, fairy tales, like the Lion King, can’t show us the true heroes. Heroes can have messy fur instead of red capes. We need to see past our prejudices and take action so that nature does not pay for our mistakes again.

 

Disclaimer: All the illustrations except the photography (2) and the lion silhouette are created by me using Inkscape software as a tool (3); the thought bubble (cloud) is generated using Microsoft Office shapes. The lion is generated using Microsoft Office Word’s icons.

Science Writing Competition – People’s Choice Award Winner

by Soteroulla Ellina, PhD Student, Department of Brain Sciences

Lab grown heart cells: Keeping the beat up

– Sorry, I am running late at the lab so I will have to raincheck today’s meeting…

This is probably something I have said more times than I wanted… Sometimes in confidence that the other person would understand and sometimes- especially with someone that I haven’t known for long, in a more apologetic way, hoping that they would not judge me. Good for me, this time, my friend belonged in the first category- he has known me for more than 15 years- so we quickly rescheduled.

A few days later, we finally met. After apologising once more for cancelling, I started talking about how unpredictable the lab can be, and how time flies once you are in your lab coat. That was when he looked at me puzzled asking:

– So, what is your PhD about…? Seeing the distress in my face when I realized that one of my best friends did not know what I had dedicated my life for the past 3 years, he tried to calm me down adding:

I know it has to do with Genetics and you are using cells that you take care of everyday. But why?

In his defence, he knew the basics and he was genuinely asking for more information. How could I be mad at him? So, for the first time, I started explaining the science- rather than the practical difficulties and the stress that come with it.

– As you said, I am interested in Genetics, the way that the information about all our traits is transmitted from one generation to the other. More specifically, I am working on an inherited disease- Friedreich’s ataxia- which is incurable and frequently devastating. It usually starts in childhood and mainly affects the nerves causing loss of balance, slurred speech, while the patients die early due to heart failure…

I could see he was stunned… so I quickly switched to the bright side.

– Our aim is to cure the disease. To achieve that, we need to understand the exact mechanism that leads to it. Previous research has shown that the problem within the gene is that its code has 3 letters that are repeated too many times – GAA. This GAA repeat, in patients, switches off the gene when it should be on. The gene is switched off by triggering an ancient defence system which packages the DNA making it inaccessible. Understanding how to overcome this trigger leads to the possibility of switching the gene back on using enzymes that mark the affected gene as ‘active’. That is why I am using these demanding stem cells. They have the capacity to turn to the affected cell type- heart cells- so we can study the disease in a system that resembles the heart, without using the actual organ! Let me show you a video of the beating cells.

– That explains the long hours – he whispered – you keep up the hope along with the beat!

Motivation boosted instantly.

Science Writing Competition – Joint 2nd Place

by Adwoa Sarfo-Bonsu, MSc student, Department of Metabolism, Digestion & Reproduction

The more, the merrier: Cells have social lives too

There are certain processes that occur inside us that can only happen effectively when our cells are in close contact with each other. Our cells are ALWAYS communicating. Sometimes they check in on each other to make sure everyone is alright (tissue homeostasis), other times they might even team up together to fight an infection (immune response), and sometimes cells come together to make a whole new embryo (fertilisation).

To achieve all these things and many more, cells need to be able to constantly send and receive messages and instructions to each other. This communication is crucial to the healthy maintenance of our cells and our bodies. If cell communication goes wrong, this can lead to many diseases including dysregulated cell growth (cancer).

Growing human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) in the lab has helped us understand many mechanisms in the processes that happen inside us. Using hESCs we can model some of the events that happen during human embryonic development.

During development, BMP4 is a growth factor that has a role in generating the cells (mesendoderm cells) that will become our future lungs, liver and heart, amongst other organs [1]. We can model and monitor this period in the lab by treating hESCs with BMP4. When treated with BMP4, hESCs which are grown in cell clusters develop mesendoderm cells. However, when grown as single cells, hESCs do not develop mesendoderm cells.

My project was to find out more about why these differences occur and how cell-to-cell contact plays a role in the early stage of embryonic development.

From the difference between the responses to BMP4 in cell clusters and single cells, we know that how cells contact each other affects how they develop. For hESCs to develop into mesendoderm cells, they need to communicate with each other, and we believe that the further away cells are from each other, the less likely they can hear and respond to instructions.

What we don’t know is if the number of cells plated in a dish together can affect how strongly the cells contact each other, and in turn, how that influences cell communication. Finding this out could help us understand more about how cells interact in our bodies.

My experiment consists of plating both low and high numbers of hESCs into dishes and measuring the amount of connecting proteins they present with their neighbouring cells. The more connecting proteins, the stronger the cells are connected. The less connecting proteins, the weaker the cells are connected.

I think the more cells put in a dish together, the more connecting proteins they will have and the more strongly connected they will be. This in turn allows hESCs to communicate better and respond to instructions (such as BMP4) appropriately.

Overall, my project highlights the link between cell-to-cell contact and cell communication. It might be easy to overlook something like how many cells to put in a dish, but let’s be honest, cells have social lives too.

Science Writing Competition 2022 – Joint 2nd Place

by Nicola Robson, MSc student, Department of Life Sciences

The Fossil Gallery

My life in this museum may
Seem rather dull to you,
100 years stuck on a wall
Sounds tiring, it’s true.

But if you knew my story, you
Would soon begin to see
That epochs pass like seconds
When you’re as old as me.

I watch you humans flit about
Like ants, from my display,
And I confess, I do enjoy
To people-watch all day.

And so I’m quite content here, in
The Fossil Gallery – yet
I often reminisce about
My old life in the sea.

My ancestors were lizards
Slinking through the sun-kissed sand,
‘Till one day they decided
They were not content on land.

A major mass extinction meant
All sea creatures were killed;
The ocean was an empty niche
Waiting to be filled.

This drove their evolution,
And scales turned into skin,
Their fingers became flippers
And tail turned into fin.

And so my kind invaded
Any ocean that they pleased.
The ichthyosaurs were reigning
Every corner of the seas.

The Mesozoic Era
Was when I lived and died.
When reptiles ruled the oceans,
Land, rivers, seas and skies.

As powerful as any tide,
My tail swept to and fro,
Wide eyes made for the darkness, so
Into the deep, I’d go.

But I was made for swimming –
Chasing prey in open sea.
You wouldn’t find another who could
Swim as fast as me.

But then there came a time when I
Could chase my prey no more,
I knew my time was over
And sank gently to the floor.

I lay there for millennia,
Upon the ocean bed,
As sediment, like sands of time
Built up upon my head.

And as the heaviness above
Pressed down upon my bone,
Rock soon replaced my body,
And turned me into stone.

The continents all shifted –
Either merged or broke apart.
New species rose and fell, just like
The beating of a heart.

And all the while I stayed there
‘Till my rocky tomb unfurled –
And I gazed upon the landscape of
An unfamiliar world.

You dug me up and hung me on
The wall for all to see.
No living soul had seen a stranger
Animal than me.

A funny fish, or crocodile,
Were both bandied about.
Sea-dragon, dolphin, dinosaur,
You couldn’t work me out.

But science has progressed, and so
You know me now, it’s true.
But just think, I’ve had lots of time
To get to know you, too.

Your climate’s getting warmer, you’re
Held captive by your phones,
Will you only stop to see it
When all that’s left of you is bones?

So as the day comes to a close here
In the Fossil Gallery,
I watch you down below me, and
You look, but do not see.

So I look on with interest
Because stay on this wall I must –
Until you come to join me
Or I crumble into dust.

Science Writing Competition 2022 – 1st Place

by Thea Mainprize, PhD Student, Department of Life Sciences

The Trial of the Red Gazelle

The thylacine, aurochs and countless more, What is another knocking at Heaven’s door? One more quietly met their maker,
The red gazelle (Eudorcas rufina).
Bright rufous pelts – such beauty, such grace! But all we know about are skin and face,
No genetic studies, no records in the wild, Only two specimens worldwide on file.

Three, there once were, shot 19th century, Allegedly Algerian – though this is speculatory, Upon inspection, an imposter! Begone!
One red-fronted gazelle (Eudorcas rufifrons). With the IUCN denouncing its legitimacy1, The red gazelle faded into obscurity,
A true species, or all imposters? Court in session to settle the matter.

“Last expert, please!” The judge demands, I swear my oath and begin at the stand,
“Ringed horns, large pocket for scent glands, Undeniably Eudorcas, no doubt about that”. “It is slightly similar”, remarked I,
“To Thomson’s gazelle (Eudorcas thomsonii), But most features and short, straight horns,
It completely resembles Eudorcas rufifrons.”

But what of its real affinity? Distinct, rufifrons or thomsonii?
Measurements done, the analysis complete, The jury reached a verdict, drum roll please. Several points clustered together,
Eudorcas rufifrons and Eudorcas rufina, Also grouped in the evolutionary tree, Unanimous decision – defendant guilty.

The defence lawyer rumbles, suddenly erupts, “Explain yourself!” The judge interrupts, “Objection, your honour!” Cried he,
“This trial is based only on morphology!
I beg you, your honour, you must reconsider, Else my client be condemned forever,
To the vast depths of purgatory, Remaining anonymous to humanity.”

The judge ponders, slowly speaks, “A trial with DNA is what you seek?”
“Yes, your honour, for anatomy can lie – Birds and bats – unrelated – but both fly.” The judge, moved by impassioned plea, Adjourns the court immediately,
This creature, thought I, imposter or not, Should not be one Father Time forgot.

At time of writing, I patiently await,
DNA results – species or not will they state? The judge arrives, bangs the gavel,
“Order! Order!” The plot unravels, Prosecution ready, the accused tense Defence determined, courtroom suspense, Soon, once again, I take to the stand,
The red gazelle’s fate rests in my hands.

(1) From left to right: The skulls of Thomson’s gazelle (E. thomsonii), red gazelle (E. rufina) and red-fronted gazelle (E. rufifrons). Note the prominent horn rings and large, deep dip in front of the eyes. This is called the pre-orbital fossa and houses important scent glands. These features are hallmarks of the Eudorcas gazelles.

(2) A plot constructed from measurement data taken from skulls of Eudorcas gazelles. This type of cluster analysis, called ‘principal component analysis’ is often used in morphological studies, and when points group together it can be indicative of the same species – as can be seen for the red gazelle (E. rufina) which is nestled within the E. rufifrons group. The two were also grouped in my evolutionary tree based on morphological features.

1. International Union for the Conservation of Nature (2008). Eudorcas rufina (Red Gazelle). Available at: https://www.iucnredlist.org/species/8974/12944313#assessment-information