Dr. Mary-Pat Stein

Always nice to have a helper during meetings.

New finding in COVID-19 research: vaccinated individuals who do get infected (remember, the vaccine can only protect you 95%), show lower viral loads. This translates to being able to infect fewer people. So this is another reason to get vaccinated:

1. To protect yourself (95%)

2. Protect others from getting infected! ❤️❤️

One patient was infected with Covid-19 continuously for 5 months...not reinfected, but infected. Viruses may use this strategy to allow for formation of variants that can escape the immune response!

Extraordinary Patient Offers Surprising Clues To Origins Of Coronavirus Variants Scientists are looking at a possible link between the mutations in the U.K. and South Africa — and those in a patient in Boston who had living, growing virus in his body for five months.

So to kick this off.

News Flash:
No COVID-19 vaccine can prevent you from getting infected with COVID-19. And, you will still be able to infect others (albeit for a shorter time).

So WE ALL need to KEEP WEARING OUR MASKS, even after getting vaccinated.

Haven’t really had time for this for quite a while. Science is fun and sharing the fun is what I LIKE to do. So, look for interesting tidbits here now and again.

This year, funded by the Juvenile Diabetes Foundation, the lab is working on a better enzyme to monitor glucose levels using implantable devices.

The importance of being able to communicate science cannot be overlooked. http://www.patheos.com/blogs/friendlyatheist/2017/03/05/watch-a-scientist-brilliantly-explain-a-difficult-concept-to-everyone-from-a-child-to-a-fellow-ph-d/

Watch a Scientist Brilliantly Explain a Difficult Concept to Everyone from a Child to a Fellow Ph.D. If you can't master this, do you really know your subject?

New app that will revolutionize testing for diabetes!
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2015/10/151031083535.htm

Detecting diabetes in a saliva sample with a smart phone

My gene is LEPR.
LEPR is associated with type 2 diabetes and obesity.
There are about 118 candidate genes that are associated with obesity; Two of the many genes involved in causing obesity are the genes encoding leptin (LEP) and leptin receptor (LEPR).
LEPR maps in humans to the 1p31 chromosome and has at least five isoforms.
The structure of the leptin receptor is similar to that of the helical cytokine receptor.
Studies performed on mice showed that LEPR1 is important for transmitting the leptin signal to the cells and is located predominantly in the hypothalamus and not in any other tissues.
Inactive mutations of the leptin receptor (LEPR) result in the production of extreme obeseity in laboratory studies. A small number of humans are extremely obese due to the inactive mutations of LEPR.

LEPR has 7 domains:
Domain: The cytoplasmic domain may be essential for intracellular signal transduction by activation of JAK
tyrosine kinase and STATs
Domain: The WSXWS motif appears to be necessary for proper protein folding and thereby efficient intracellular
transport and cell-surface receptor binding
Domain: The box 1 motif is required for JAK interaction and/or activation
Similarity: Belongs to the type I cytokine receptor family. Type 2 subfamily
Similarity: Contains 4 fibronectin type-III domains
Similarity: Contains 1 Ig-like (immunoglobulin-like) domain

The translation sequence:
MICQKFCVVLLHWEFIYVITAFNLSYPITPWRFKLSCMPPNSTYDYFLLPAGLSKNTSNSNGHYETAVEPKFNSSGTHFSNLSKTTFHCCFRSEQDRNCSLCADNIEGKTFVSTVNSLVFQQIDANWNIQCWLKGDLKLF
ICYVESLFKNLFRNYNYKVHLLYVLPEVLEDSPLVPQKGSFQMVHCNCSVHECCECLVPVPTAKLNDTLLMCLKITSGGVIFQSPLMSVQPINMVKPDPPLGLHMEITDDGNLKISWSSPPLVPFPLQYQVKYSENSTTV
IREADKIVSATSLLVDSILPGSSYEVQVRGKRLDGPGIWSDWSTPRVFTTQDVIYFPPKILTSVGSNVSFHCIYKKENKIVPSKEIVWWMNLAEKIPQSQYDVVSDHVSKVTFFNLNETKPRGKFTYDAVYCCNEHECHH
RYAELYVIDVNINISCETDGYLTKMTCRWSTSTIQSLAESTLQLRYHRSSLYCSDIPSIHPISEPKDCYLQSDGFYECIFQPIFLLSGYTMWIRINHSLGSLDSPPTCVLPDSVVKPLPPSSVKAEITINIGLLKISWEKPVFPENNLQFQIRYGLSGKEVQWKMYEVYDAKSKSVSLPVPDLCAVYAVQVRCKRLDGLGYWSNWSNPAYTVVMDIKVPMRGPEFWRIINGDTMKKEKNVTLLWKPLMKNDSLCSVQRYVINHHTSCNGTWSEDVGNHTKFTFLWTEQAHTVTVLAINSIGASVANFNLTFSWPMSKVNIVQSLSAYPLNSSCVIVSWILSPSDYKLMYFIIEWKNLNEDGEIKWLRISSSVKKYYIHDHFIPIEKYQFSLYPIFMEGVGKPKIINSFTQDDIEKHQSDAGLYVIVPVIISSSILLLGTLLISHQRMKKLFWEDVPNPKNCSWAQGLNFQKMLEGSMFVKSHHHSLISSTQGHKHCGRPQGPLHRKTRDLCSLVYLLTLPPLLSYDPAKSPSVRNTQE

Kyte Doolittle Plot:

Long-term effects of Thanksgiving eating???

Science of Overeating: Does the occasional holiday binge have long-term effects? - Gate House Thanksgiving is a national holiday established in part for reflecting on the bounty of the past year’s harvest. Over the past few decades, it has also become synonymous with stuffing as much of that harvest into one’s self as possible.