Cranberries as a Cure?

We’ve all heard the age-old saying, “an apple a day keeps the doctor away.” When I was younger, I remember my mom frantically stuffing an apple into my backpack as I left for school every morning. Recent studies, however, have proven that cranberries may just be more effective than apples in serving as natural medication. Although they may not be people’s general go-to fruit, the benefits of using cranberries for medicinal purposes have been unmistakable, dating back to several hundred years ago. The Native Americans made ample use of this valuable healing fruit. They specifically used them to heal wounds, urinary tract infections and bladder diseases—demonstrating their antibacterial property. Cranberries are also a gold mine of vitamin C—as the Pilgrims discovered while looking for nutritional food sources in the New World. In fact, they are known to protect against certain cancers, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, pathogenic fungal infection, Alzheimer’s disease, Parikinson’s disease, and strokes (all carried out by a berry the size of a marble!) Is it possible to pinpoint what exactly makes cranberries so “healthy”? What is the chemistry behind this miraculous, mysterious fruit?

 A study conducted by Catherine Neto and her collegues at the University of Massechussetts Dartmouth addressed this question. Cranberries contain over 150 phytochemicals (naturally occurring chemical compounds)—the behaviors of which could help to expain the details of the cranberry’s antioxidant, anticancer and antimicrobial properties. Neto partnered up with Terri Camesano at Worcester Polytechnic Institute to investigate the antibacterial characteristics of cranberries. In order to infect cells, bacteria must first fix themselves to the surfaces, and subsequently proliferate to form a colony. Neto and Camesano found that certain molecules within cranberries prevent the adhesion of bacteria to cells. This explains the usage of cranberries by the Native Americans!

Shown above is a single phenol, which means a benzene ring + hydoxyl group.The chelation of iron (process of making iron soluble) is necessary to prevent the build-up of iron, causing many diseases. Too much iron can also lead to the formation of hydroxyl radicals, which can cause excessive oxidative stress (not enough/fluctuating oxygen levels) in the body. Cranberries carry out effective chelation of iron due to the prevalence of polyphenols in their phytochemicals. The polyphenols can bind to and remove excess iron. 

The phenolic ‘ingredients’ in cranberries, such as quercetin and prothanocyadin (gives them their red color), largely give them their healthy reputation. As Neto found in 2001, Quercetin and proanthocyadin are two examples of compounds in cranberries that inhibit the growth of cancer cells—promoting cancer cell death and reducing oxidative stress.


Look at the number of phenol groups in these two 
compounds!
















I find it somewhat odd that there is a relatively low demand for such a prized fruit. Despite their sour taste, it would be extremely beneficial to incorporate more cranberries in our diets. I came across some recipes of certain dishes prepared with cranberries that I thought sounded delicious. One was for cranberry chutney and the other for cranberry bread (my grandmother makes a lot of chutney for Indian cooking at home so I’ll definitely run this recipe by her!). And, of course, there’s always cranberry juice. So, next time you are tempted to devour an apple, just remember: “a cranberry a day keeps the doctor away!

_________________________________________________________________________________

Hi! I’m Meera, and I’m currently a senior at Detroit Country Day School. I enjoy swimming, music, playing the piano, Harry Potter, and of course, organic chemistry!

Consequences of Caffeine

 Every morning people wake up to a nice and hot cup of coffee, including me, and every morning I am reminded of 17 years ago, when I would sit on my great-grandfather’s lap sipping his coffee and dunking delicious vanilla wafers in his coffee. With school in full swing, it seems that after each passing day it gets a little harder to wake up, so we all drink coffee. But why? Why has coffee become the go-to picker-upper in the mornings? Obviously this is a rhetorical question because everybody knows that the one ingredient, the one “miracle-worker” for the morning blues, is caffeine.

An article by Discovery Fit and Health adequately describes the mechanical process of how caffeine keeps you awake. In short, caffeine tricks the brain into accepting it by looking and acting like another molecule, adenosine. A natural build up in adenosine leads to drowsiness, but caffeine fools the brain into accepting it instead of adenosine, slowing down the brains reaction to sleepiness. Sounds complicated! What I found interesting about this was the process of “tricking” the brain. To me, fooling your body into thinking something else doesn’t seem natural, and as my gut told me, it truly is unnatural.

Initially, coffee was identified with adults because young children seem to already have enough energy to go around. But with the advent of more “exotic” or “special” types of coffee produced by corporate chains, caffeine has been spreading to younger and younger people. In a recent study by the Swiss National Science Foundation some possible side effects of caffeine for young adults have been identified. The study was based on the fact that, in both humans and rats, the greatest maturation of the brain occurs during childhood and is highest during puberty. Thus the group studied the effects of caffeine on rats during their growth period. In conclusion, they found that the rats that were given caffeine begin a deep sleep period, which is characteristic of puberty, much later than the control group (given water). Overall, the addition of caffeine to the diet of the rats during their pubescent period greatly delayed the development of their brains. The caffeine that is supposed to wake you up actually slowed the growth period down, not good!

 Now rats are far from human, so don’t freak out! I mean we have all heard the comparison, “are you a man or a mouse?” Although on the other hand, rats do have several biological similarities to humans, so there is slight cause to be worried. They may be small and they may be less developed, but their biological processes and organs all have several similarities. Take what you will out of the information; caffeine has NOT been proven to be absolutely harmful to humans, yet. And so I and every other dreary individual will continue the morning routine, summing it up with a steaming cup of coffee, for now.

________________________________________________________________________

My name is Charlie, and I am a senior at Detroit Country Day. I play Football and Hockey and I am a world record holding Powerlifter.

Hello World!

If you love chemistry as much as we do, you’re in the right place. If you don’t, you’re still in the right place. This blog is a pathway to learning something new, something fascinating. You can choose to take my word for it or not, but this is going to be an exciting journey. Yes, more exciting than that Twitter page, Flappy Bird, or YouTube puppet show you have open in the next tab.

Let me start by admitting that it’s a little late at night, and I can feel the strength of my grandmother’s fragrant chai dwindling as I tackle the pressure of filling the page. I’m stressed (as usual), but it’s okay. This is my life at Country Day. I can’t say I don’t love it. I mean I really do; I’ve even been feeling a little nostalgic as graduation draws closer. I’ll miss the friendly faces I see more than my own parents—their laughter and support most of all.

Country Day is a family filled with admiration and inspiration. As we launch her project, I want to share how much we all admire Mrs. Winter. She’s the spirited chemistry teacher, runner, and businesswoman with energy twice as great as that of her students combined. Not only does she really know chemistry, but more importantly she knows how to deal with the angsty teenagers we can all be. She created a project that clicked with us (and I don’t just mean by boosting our low grades). Most of us don’t know what’s coming next. A school day can be bumpy and confusing, just another hilly lap of a four-year cross-country track. But everyday we get to explore, and in that very idea rests the beauty of the “What’s UR Rxn?” project.

For this assignment, we weren’t asked to draw another mechanism or make an ester, but we were instead asked to write about anything, anything at all. It was a chance to talk about what we like, what’s important to us, and to use those one-liners we’ve been saving up. And yes, we all certainly needed a break from the exhausting frenzy of AP Physics, SAT’s, and college applications.

The first step was picking a topic that somehow related to chemistry. Some chose controversial topics, others something more lighthearted: “I chose Umami because I love to watch Food Network.” Rachel Ray, anyone?

Many of us then struggled to express a personal connection with something scientific. Some blog drafts were quite frankly boring—mine included. But we didn’t lose hope. As Jake from Cartoon Network’s “Adventure Time” would say, “Dude, suckin’ at something is the first step to being sorta good at something.” It took some time, but soon enough we found our muses. We’re soccer players, guitarists, pizza-lovers and sports fans. And this is our chance to share a part of ourselves with the world.

Finally, I got to use some creativity and help design the blog page. One of the best parts of this project, and of being a Country Day student, is working with my incredibly talented peers. Helena Chen, designer of our adorable DCDS Chemistry Bee, is one such individual. She is both an exceptional student and inspiring artist. We’re proud to be the Yellowjackets, and hope you like the bee as much as we do.  

As eager as I am to graduate, I still crave these simple opportunities to explore what I love and discover new interests before I find myself drowning as an undecided college freshman. I think that’s what sets us apart. We have a curiosity you can’t find just anywhere. We always want to know a little more—a little more about muscle growth, Gatorade, mosquitoes, and naked mole rats. If you’re as curious as we are, a little nerdy at heart, and want to see into the evolving minds of high school students, stay tuned.  

What's UR Rxn?

_________________________________________________________________________________

I’m Neha, a senior at Detroit Country Day. I may be soft-spoken, but I have a lot to say. I’m still discovering my passions, but I know I love music, travelling, and of course, chemistry. 

Chilly Beauty

I woke up to the sun brighter than ever. Looking outside my window, all I could see was white. The sun had reflected off of the ground and directly hit my eyes. Eight inches of snow had fallen overnight. The first thought that popped into my head was "Oh no, it must be freezing outside." Instantly, I could not help but shift my focus from the cold weather to the shimmering view in my front yard. I wondered why my eye was so attached to this particular scene. After pondering for a few seconds, I came up with my own answer to this question: snowflakes.  

Making snowflakes was my favorite project in kindergarten because I could never mess up. My teacher always told me, "No two snowflakes will ever look the same" or "there is no 'right' snowflake." Snowflakes are just pieces of frozen dust in the sky that, by process, became ice crystals. Water vapor freezes onto these ice crystals, as they get closer to the ground. These snowflakes are always symmetrical and six-sided. Each snowflake is ultimately different because they form in different atmospheric conditions and in different temperatures.

I know it is hard to believe, but snowflakes seriously affect every single person. Snowflakes not only brighten your day, but also they help determine the weather forecast. For example, if a certain snowflake changes size and shape as it falls down, it stimulates a change in the weather; the interaction of snowflakes with the radar helps, but this is not enough. Because of mistakes in the size and description of a snowflake, there are countless errors in the forecasting snowfall amount. In other words, you could be promised a snow day, but instead suffer disappointment because the weatherman was studying the wrong snowflake or recorded the wrong data. But there is a solution to this problem: the Triple Camera.

The Triple Camera, developed by Garrett and Cale Fallgatter, from the University of Utah's Technology Commercialization Office, was recently created to speed up and increase the accuracy of snowflake pictures. Today, the weather models do not do a good job at recognizing rain or snow because all of this depends on the sizes and shapes of the snowflakes. This Multi-Angle Snowflake Camera is made up of three cameras that only take black and white images. Thanks to its extremely fast exposure time of 40,000th of a second, it captures all the fast-moving snowflakes without making them blurry. The creation of this camera is not only a great new discovery, but it will also help expand our knowledge on the delicate topic of snowflakes. You can directly watch a live feed of snowflakes falling in the Alta Ski Resort in Utah taken by the Multi- Angle Snowflake Camera.

Now, the next time you look at a snowflake, do not just recognize it for its simple beauty because it plays a much bigger role than that. Snowflakes are not only a sense of happiness, but they also greatly influence our weather forecasts.  

What's UR Rxn?

______________________________________________________________________

 I am a high school student who loves to travel and explore new places. When I explore new places, I explore new ideas. I like looking at simple concepts and finding a deeper meaning in these concepts; this meaning may be a connection or a self-realization. I love playing outside and spending time with my family. If I could live on the beach my whole life, I would.

Instagram: @NADINETAYEB

Why the Naked Mole Rat is Probably Better than You

The naked mole rat. Native to parts of East Africa, it is also known as the desert mole rat, the sand puppy, Heterocephalus glaber, and, to me, the most hardcore mammal on earth. This cold blooded, never-aging demi-god of a mammal lives blind in oxygen-starved caves, fighting off snakes and scouting for potatoes. However, what probably makes the naked mole rat better than you is their invulnerability to pain and resistance to cancer.

Dispersed in the brain, spinal cord, and the peripheral nervous system are eleven amino acids that make up Substance P (C₆₃H₉₈N₁₈O₁₃S). This neuropeptide serves as a neurotransmitter specifically in transferring signals from the pain receptors.

Unlike humans, the naked mole rat lacks this chemical. Even when injected with acid equivalent to the acidity of lemon juice and active ingredients in chili peppers, the naked mole rat showed no pain. How did the naked mole rat evolve to lack any Substance P that many mammals have come to own? The answer is actually in the air around us. Normally, humans breathe in carbon dioxide levels of less than .1%, therefore any exposure to solutions with a small percentage of carbon dioxide will stimulate pain. However, naked mole rats live in environments up to 10% carbon dioxide levels. By exhaling higher levels of carbon dioxide, due to their small living spaces, the sand puppies become more acidic. Mole rats feel no pain from acid because they actually became more acidic! This insensitivity causes the naked mole rat to not develop any Substance P. It’s like living in Michigan for so long that you are desensitized from the cold (not really).

More recently, it was discovered that the naked mole harbors the resistance to cancer, specifically thanks to HMW-HA, high molecular weight hyaluronan.

HMW-HA, a long sugar polymer, prevents cells from overcrowding and forming tumors by filling in gaps between our cells. Actually, this sugar is common in all mammals. Apparently naked mole rats are HMW-HA producing gods as the HMW-HA they create is five times larger than any other animals’ HMW-HA. This abnormal HMW-HA production in the naked mole rat’s tissues is due to the protein HAS2 and perhaps several amino acid changes.  These changes may have increased the naked mole rat’s affinity for HAS2, which is in charge of HMW-HA synthesis. So how did these mole rats evolve to produce larger HMW-HA? Well given their underground life, they have developed higher concentrations of HMW-HA to provide the elasticity (the rubbery squishiness) in their skin in order to easily traverse their underground home. With this knowledge on the naked mole rat’s immunity to cancer, more avenues are open for cancer prevention in human medicines.

                                      If there were to be any real super heroes in the world…

                                                   the naked mole rat would top the list!

________________________________________________________________________

Derek 

Student at Detroit Country Day, varsity policy debater, spring sailor, and a film junkie. Likes to think critically, travel to new places, and dogs.