"Your Heart Won't Heal Right if You Keep Tearing Out the Sutures..."

[psalm_onethirtyone]

I am declaring my major on Wednesday, assuming I can get all the necessary paperwork signed by then--I still need advisor signatures, but I have classes with both my advisors before Wednesday, so my evil plan is to corner them after said classes and flail at them until they sign. It should work.

I'm writing a paper about red clover and cancer, but every single scientific article on red clover and cancer is written in language so aggressively scientific that I have absolutely no idea what they are trying to say, please see this (wtf) and this (wtf wtf) and this (derp derp derp). Last week I was researching gynaecology in rural India and the articles made more sense than this. Good Christ.

Fourteen people failed this third O.chem II exam; I don't know whether I'm one of them or whether my magic (last year I got 74, or a B-, on every single exam, and this year so far I've gotten 71 on every exam) is still protecting me. I won't find out for a while yet.

I'm not exactly happy right now but I'm not depressed. It's sort of a neutral in-between zone. I feel like someone who is working and getting by. I think that's accurate. The lady in my icon has always kind of reminded me of someone who works and gets by, and since my hair is the same colour as hers right now I'm willing to go with that.

Also, Mama brought me my cross on a new chain when she visited. I haven't worn it for three months because it was at the jeweller's. It feels so good to have it back again.

Comments

[rhombal.livejournal.com]

I typed up summaries of what I think those articles mean, thanks to some grad school classes in the field - but I realized that you may not be asking for help and you might just be posting about them just for the sake of posting! I do that sometimes. Do you think summaries from me would help at all?

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

...Yes, please? All the technical terms just make my eyes hurt and I can't read any of the actual meanings (unlike, say, this (http://www.jci.org/articles/view/18385/version/1) article, which I am using in the same paper, which made perfect sense).

[rhombal.livejournal.com]

Okay! These are just general summaries.

The first article states that isoflavones (an organic compound in legumes; anti-oxidants, to be specific) found in red clover can inhibit enzymes that cause destruction of DNA in cells, which inhibits cancer because the destruction of DNA is what causes cancerous mutations. "reverse transcription–polymerase chain reaction and xenobiotic response element (XRE)–luciferase reporter assays" are just two different kinds of test methods and MCF-7 is a particular breast cancer cell line.

The second article really just says that an increase in a growth hormone (IGF) is the main cause of colorectal cancer and that the presence of isoflavones doesn't do anything to change this, at all.

And the third article says that they also used isoflavones in a test with the same cell line from the first article. I have no idea why they're trying to prove that these chemicals stimulate estrogen-related tumor growth, though? That's got me confused, I have to admit, so you might have to look into this a little more. In any case, both chemicals stimulated tumor growth when they were only tested on cells in the laboratory (AKA in vitro). On the other hand, when they were tested on mice, only daidzein caused a stimulatory effect - which means that something else is going on with tumor growth in vivo aside from these two chemicals.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

O_o okay. Science is weird. The first two articles make sense, but I don't know why you would go about trying to create cancer in things. I guess the first article was saying "Yay take isoflavones they cure cancer!" and the third one is saying "No maybe they cause it!" except that they proved themselves mostly wrong? idk.

Thank you so much!

[rhombal.livejournal.com]

Oh, wait, does the fact that the mice are "ovariectomized" change anything? Apparently, that method is the best way of representing estrogen-deficient osteoporosis in a laboratory setting. I don't know. Otherwise it doesn't make sense at all.

My head hurts now, but no problem! I actually find read about this stuff pretty fun ...unless I have to do it for homework.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

oh science. idek.

♥

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

I don't know why you would go about trying to create cancer in things.

To understand the causes of cancer so they can look at preventing it (e.g. if red clover causes cancer, they can tell people not to eat it or whatever).

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

...well when you put it that way it makes perfect sense.

[holyschist.livejournal.com]

There may be other SKIENCE! reasons that I do not know.

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

No, I think you're right.

[reconditarmonia.livejournal.com]

Oooooh exciting! (re: major-declaring)

[rainbowjehan.livejournal.com]

I will be declaring pre-seminary. I'm excited and nervous.