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ALCOHOL vs. BRAIN

ALCOHOL vs. BRAIN. DRUNKENNESS PREVENTION. PURPOSE. Impaired memory and judgment. Why is drunkenness prevention important?. Drunk driving accidents. Crime. What will my design do to address this problem?. How does alcohol affect our brains?. Inhibit excitatory activity.

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ALCOHOL vs. BRAIN

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  1. ALCOHOL vs. BRAIN DRUNKENNESS PREVENTION

  2. PURPOSE Impaired memory and judgment Why is drunkenness prevention important? Drunk driving accidents Crime

  3. What will my design do to address this problem? How does alcohol affect our brains? Inhibit excitatory activity Ethanol molecule- Uncompetitive antagonist Glutamate NMDA- Ionotropic glutamate receptor Synaptic plasticity- Learning and memory Ca2+

  4. How is alcohol metabolized in the brain? Acetyl-CoA Acetyl-CoA synthase-2 CO2 Water

  5. Basic idea of my design • Prevent ethanol from blocking the NMDA receptor for too long • Alphaproteobacteria • Quorum sensing • Control alcohol concentration • Produce enzymes invovled in alcohol metabolism • Results: euphoria, but not too drunk

  6. COMPETING TECHNOLOGIES 1. UCLA – dihydromyricetin (DHM) • Ancient herbal remedy- Hoveniadulcis • Rats seem sober within 15 minutes • Dealing with hangover anxiety • Never become addicted- stop rats wanting to drink 2. Yale- iomanzenil • Negate alcohol’s effect on the brain when taken before drinking • “stay sober” pill, slowly wean heavy drinkers off of alcohol Problems? • Take pleasure out of drinking • Encourage people to drink more, damaging body tissues

  7. THE DESIGN Quorum Sensing: Bacteria communication/ gene regulation • Signal molecule: AHL • Two genes: LuxI and LuxR • Luxl: • AHL synthase: combine AdoMet and fatty acyl ACP-> AHL • LuxR: • Transcriptional regulatory protein • Activated when bind with AHL Therefore, the more AHL is produced, the more chance that R protein can bind to an AHL molecule. When a specific concentration threshold is reached, the R protein is activated and so is the transcription.

  8. Simple model of the Quorum Sensing process:

  9. Genetic Devices: • Receptor protein that only bind to ethanol- Lush protein • Transcription factor activated by lush protein and controls the transcription of LuxI and LuxR protein • A promoter site/ activator binding site • RNA polymerase • Terminator • Gene sequences • LuxI • LuxR • CAT (catalase) • ALDH2 (aldehydedehydrogenase) • ACSS1 (acetyl CoA synthase-2)

  10. A complicated model of my design:

  11. EXPECTED RESULTS • Concentration threshold: 0.04% • < 0.04% : nothing, enjoy the euphoria  • > 0.04 % enzymes are produced for alcohol detoxification, keeping alcohol concentration at 0.04%

  12. ADVANTAGES Why is this better than the existing technologies? • allows you to still enjoy the pleasure of drinking • no memory loss or impairment in judgment • safer way to have fun What benefits does it bring to the society? • Less alcohol crimes (40%) • Prevent alcoholism

  13. POTENTIAL PROBLEMS What are the potential problems with your system? • No danger to environment, lab safety, or the security of the public • Mutation • Increased amount of alcohol consumption– harmful to other body parts Are their inefficiencies or shortcomings of your design as compared to the existing technologies? • Permanent effect • Involves complicated process to insert the bacteria into the brain Are the rewards worth the risks? • Remove unnecessary genes • Improve ethanol metabolism in other organs • Less alcohol-induced tragedy and more fun!

  14. TESTING • Rats • Control and experimental group • BAC 0.04%15 bottled beer • “heat shock” transformation • Human brain cells in vitro • Bacteriophages • Add ethanol molecules till > 0.04% • Human in vivo • Bacteriophages • Drink till 0.04% • Driving simulator • Drink till 0.08%

  15. - THE END -THANK YOU!

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