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THE OFFICIAL WEB SITE OF THE MADISON TIMES WEEKLY NEWSPAPER |
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931 E. Main St., Suite 7, Madison, Wisconsin 53703 Phone: (608) 256-2122; (608) 256-2185; Fax: (608) 256-2215; E-mail: news@madtimes.com (Editorial) ; sales@madtimes.com (Advertising) |
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July 30 - August 5, 2004 • Vol. 13 No. 31 • www.madtimes.com • Free |
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Asha Collins Researches the Cause of Disease Probing the Microscopic World by Jonathan Gramling Part 2 of 2
And she has a lot of respect for living organisms, both seen and unseen. "We aren't at the top of any chain," Collins emphasized during an interview with The Madison Times. "We are all living together, with bacteria, with viruses, with other animals, with everything that is living. I don't think we can disrespect anything. We have to respect our own selves and we have to respect other living and quasi-living organisms." While lay people often look upon viruses and bacteria as something to be feared and always bad, Collins takes a more benign view. "Viruses and bacteria are our friends," Collins said with a laugh. "Absolutely! If you didn't have a ton of bacteria on your hands, think of all of the other things that could be on them and hurt you. These bacteria are protecting you from everything else. We're not meant to be alone." Indeed, a lot of our bodily functions are dependent upon viruses and bacteria. In essence, we have a symbiotic relationship with them and have a certain level of interdependency. Through the course of our evolution from simple cells, we have a history with viruses. We don't necessarily know what that history was. But that history is evident within our genome. "We have a lot of viral elements in our DNA already," Collins said. "We live with a lot of viral elements already. It's not so scary to look at in that regard. A lot of our genomes are composed of previous viral elements. We have like pieces of virus, genomes, pieces of viral DNA, which are inserted in our genome. It's interesting." The problem arises when the viruses don't cohabitate with our bodies and immune systems. "A virus can come in and sort of attach itself to a host or another being so it can simply continue to live," Collins said. "And how this virus can either allow the host it's attached to to live or the host will eradicate the virus or a lot of times a virus will subjugate the host to their own will. Evolution shows humans at the top, yet these things that aren't even self-propagating, can turn this whole thing upside down. Influenza is one of the viruses that almost completely wiped out whole populations. And then we have HIV that is doing the same thing, wiping out populations. The thing isn't even alive, yet is can make huge, multicellular organisms just disappear. That's simply amazing to me." Collins looks at viruses as smart organisms because they evolve and change so quickly. "Let's say you have a mouse, you feed it cheese, and it gets trapped," Collins said. "You can do that over and over and over. With viruses, you stop it from growing, especially with HIV, it will change and become something else so it's harder to get at. They just evolve so quickly. I think that's the problem too. That's the problem with finding something to just quiet it because you still have it around. That's why people argue against that. It's not like herpes. It's not like diabetes. It's not something you would be able to keep quiet because it has the ability to change so quickly. It mutates." Viruses need a host to replicate and often become intertwined with the host's cellular structure. "To replicate its DNA or its RNA, it uses the cell's machinery," Collins said about viruses. "It can't do that by itself. Sometimes, its DNA or its RNA becomes intertwined with its host. Sometimes, it's separate. HIV integrates and becomes one with the host. So, to get rid of HIV, you have to get rid of the host cell as well. For the most part, that's how viruses work too, which is why it is really hard. That's why it is easy to get rid of bacterial infections because bacteria can replicate by themselves. So, you have bacterial replication machinery to which you can target drugs to so they kill can that. They can kill the bacteria without killing the cell. But the virus makes itself dependent on the cell. It uses the cell. It co-opts the living machine of the cell. So, you have to kill the cell in order to kill the virus because the virus interlinks itself. It basically holds the cell hostage." And due to the intertwining nature of viruses, they can remain hidden within us. "We don't really know where all of the reservoirs are of HIV in the body," Collins said. "When people have HIV, but they don't have AIDS, at some point you can't really detect the virus at very high levels. If you don't know where the virus is, you can't attack it. It's a lot more difficult to attack in order to eradicate it and cure a person. One of the big questions do we need to be looking for that or should we also be looking for something let people live with HIV like they live with Herpes or live with diabetes. Is that something we are willing to live with?" Collins looks upon HIV as a smart virus because it doesn't kill the host unlike Ebola, which destroys the host and creates large lesions in the victim in order to make the spread of the virus more rapid. Nonetheless, while HIV tends to coexist with the host, it triggers mechanisms that eventually lead to the death of the host. "What happens is the body tries to fight it off," Collins said. "In trying to fight it off, the body kills itself. Say you have a war and you keep sending people over and the people keep dying. That's like the T-cells going over, they keep dying, and you run out of them. Then, you have all of these opportunistic infections that don't normally kill people, but now they do." In her research, Collins is looking at the viral causes of cervical cancer. "I study the HPV virus, which causes cervical cancer," she said. "I study how the virus replicates. There are a couple of cancer-causing genes in the virus. One is called E-6 and the other is called E-7. I study E-7. We know that to get cancer, you have to have this E-7. But we don't really understand how E-7 allows the cancer to evolve. I'm looking at E-7 with different cellular proteins. I check to see if they are necessary. Basically what happens is if I were a viral protein and you threw me in a room with a whole bunch of people - the cellular protein - you would see which ones I stick to and which ones I have a greater affinity to. That's what people have done. They've taken certain cellular proteins and think they are interactives that may help HVP cause cancer or disrupt the cell's normal functions. We look to see which ones are important for the viral lifecycle." Collins is concerned that people, in general, feel that we have a cure for HIV/AIDS when the current medications mainly quiet the HIV virus and allow it to co-exist with the host. She respects viruses and understands that they are constantly evolving to survive and grow. "I remember even about two and half years ago when I was at the American Red Cross for a training on HIV and we received all of this literature about people who basically thought there was a cure," Collins said. "People don't understand how much these drugs cost. People don't understand they can't lead normal lives even though they are taking all of these drugs. We're definitely having a backlash of people who don't listen to prevention messages because they think there is a cure out there. HIV infections are on the rise from where they were five years ago." The HIV virus is always evolving. While Collins is concerned about the impact of certain viruses on our health, she is equally concerned with the measures that human beings take - or don't take - to enjoy healthy lives. Her first concern is the choices that individuals make about their health. "A lot of times, people don't get medical attention when they need to," Collins emphasized. "People who are disenfranchised are more at risk of any health disease. We need to make sure that everyone we know and everyone in our families are going for check-ups and getting pap smears. We need to get medical attention. We need to know our medical histories. And we need to get check-ups. We need to be safe. The key is prevention and that includes taking care of ourselves in terms of eating right, exercising, and fully protecting ourselves in sexual activities and not using drugs." Her second concern is that although a lot of goodwill and public tax money goes into finding cures, not everyone is able to avail themselves of the fruit of that effort. "One of the things that is refreshing about doing science is that people get into it because they want to help people or they want to find a cure or they want to improve human welfare in terms of health," Collins reflected. "But at the end of the day, if the United States says that all of these drugs being made are generics and they aren't going to help increase the U.S.-based pharmaceutical companies, then these people can't have them, then what was the point of all that research? The whole point is all of that research was based off of U.S. tax dollars. Many of the drugs were developed on our tax dollars. So, we should have access to those discoveries." Collins' final concern is the inadequate funding for HIV/AIDS education programs and what that might hold for the future. "The budgets for a lot of our HIV/AIDS education awareness programs have been absolutely cut," Collins emphasized. "That means a lot of people aren't getting the help they need. A lot of people aren't getting the drugs that they need. A lot of people aren't getting the day-to-day support they need. When people try to reach out for health benefits, they aren't going to be there. There is the AIDS Walk coming up on September 18 at Brittingham Park. It starts at 11 a.m. We need to be at those things, not just for awareness sake, but also to help fill the need that's been created by all of these budget cuts. All of the increases in HIV infection are happening in minority populations. The highest increases are happening with African American and Latino women. We need to promote awareness in our communities on how to prevent this and on protecting ourselves. Even if you aren't doing it for you, you need to do it for your children." Collins is slated to receive her Ph.D. in December 2005. While she would like to teach, she also wants to impact public policy. An advocate for the people.
Roadside News
African Americans and Motor Crashes In the African American community, seatbelt use remains lower than for the U.S. population as a whole. According to National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), the African American population is expected to increase 15 percent nationally by 2010, which will significantly increase their exposure to traffic crashes and fatalities. Motor vehicle crashes are the leading cause of death for African American children up to age 14. It is the second leading cause of death for African Americans 15 to 24 years of age. Young African Americans are less likely to be buckled up than Whites or Hispanics. Seatbelts save lives! If you are in a crash, wearing your seatbelt (and having your children in a car seat or booster seat) reduces the likelihood of being killed or getting a serious injury. Unbelted occupants account for 86 percent of impaired driving fatalities in Wisconsin. In 2003, Madison had 15 fatalities. Five of those individuals were not wearing a seatbelt. Seat Belt Law There are two types of safety belt laws: primary and secondary. A primary law allows a police officer to write a ticket if he or she observes an unbelted driver or passenger. Primary laws are very effective in increasing safety belt use. In 2003, belt use in states with primary laws was 83 percent, compared with 75 percent in states without primary laws. Wisconsin has a secondary enforcement law, which means an officer can’t ticket anyone for a safety belt violation unless the driver is stopped for another violation. All passengers must be belted. Children under the age of 4 must be restrained by an approved safety restraint system and children 4 to 8 must be restrained by a car seat (booster) or seatbelt. The driver of the vehicle is responsible for ensuring that occupants age 4 to 16 are belted. The driver will be fined for the violations. Individuals 17 and older will be cited if not belted. The fine for not wearing a safety belt is currently $10. The fines are $75.20 if the unrestrained person is a child under 4 and $54.40 if the child is between 4 and 8. A second conviction within 3 years has a higher fine. The driver will not have points assessed against his or her driving record. Location Matters Infants and children should ride in the back seat of vehicles. Riding in other areas of a vehicle or riding in the back without proper restraints increases the chance that the child will be killed or seriously injured if the driver is involved in a crash. Children need to be restrained and ride in the back of a vehicle to be fully protected. Within the next few weeks the Madison Police Department will join other law-enforcement agencies statewide in the “Summer Traffic Speed Enforcement,” “Busted, Over the Legal Limit,” and the “You Drink & Drive, You Lose” mobilizations. These coordinated traffic enforcement plans are aimed at making our roads safer and saving lives. Law-enforcement officers in Dane County will work together to conduct cooperative traffic efforts to crack down on impaired drivers, speeders, and unbelted motorists. Sometimes the fear of getting a ticket is the only reason that someone will wear a safety belt. Officers would rather write someone a ticket than find that same person dead or critically injured because he or she wasn’t restrained in a crash. Wear your safety belt on every trip and encourage your family and friends to do the same!
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IN MEMORY OF |
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Web Design By: Dennis Alfred M. Pascual
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While
a lay person may take a stroll in the park on a perfect summer
day and reflect on the idyllic setting, Asha Collins, in her
mind's eye, probably sees a whole different dynamic going on.
Collins is currently conducting research at the University of
Wisconsin's McArdle Lab for Cancer Research toward a Ph.D. in
cancer biology. Within her worldview, there is a lot going on
invisible to the naked eye.
In
a continuing effort to reduce fatalities, injuries, and property
damage in the City of Madison and surrounding areas, Roadside
News will address issues related to traffic safety. The column,
to be published monthly, will be written by members of the Madison
Police Department Traffic and Support Section. Questions on
particular topics can be e-mailed to Lt. Stephanie Bradley Wilson,
sbradleywilson@cityof madison.com, or mailed to her at 211 S.
Carroll St, GR 21, Madison, WI 53703.
