Science and Academia

by: Taneisha Esplin 

                The world of science intertwines with various fields of study. The impacts of biological studies are widespread in their influence in other fields. While this is true, other fields greatly influence the studies done in scientific research as well. The purpose of science is to better understand the world and make it a better place. In order to fulfill this purpose, issues in other fields must be identified to develop questions that science strives to answer. This being said, in researching brain and gut diseases there were many instances where the influence of another field impacted the research done by scientists.

            One instance of various fields impacting research is in the study of Celiac disease. Celiac disease is an autoimmune disease in which the specific protein gliadin activates gliadin reactive T cells. This autoimmune disease however has a direct link or cause that can be altered and therefore it has an external cure. If a person changes their diet to exclude all gluten, they can be free of any effects that the disease presents. Gliadin has been shown to create a stress response as well as the deterioration of enterocytes in those with celiac disease. This prevents the body from up taking proper nutrients and often results in low growth of an individual, as well as vitamin and mineral deficiencies. This is the reason that celiac disease has so many side effects such as its link to type I diabetes, as well as migraines, ataxia, hypoxia, osteoporosis, issues with fertility as well as cancer and other neurological disorders (Celiac Disease). Due to the rise in the frequency of Celiac disease, many scientific studies have been done to help those who suffer from Celiac disease or some other sensitivity to gluten that has led to a link to the world of agriculture. For thousands of years agricultural societies have been prevalent. Many agriculturalist societies grow things such as wheat, corn and beans. As many first world countries shifted their focus from being purely an agricultural society to an industrial society people began looking for ways to increase productivity of agricultural elements.

A specific example of agricultural practices changing is seen in the production of wheat. When different wheat species germinate in sexual reproduction the new organism adds to the ploidy of the new organism (Evolution 2010). This has generated polyploidy wheat species such as emmer, spelt and darum wheat. The issue with gluten intolerances lies within hexaploidy plants, specifically, darum wheat, which is the major type of wheat used in industrial foods today. This modern wheat comes from hexaploidy plants that do not produce seeds in their adult stage. They must be replanted every year. This is possible in the agricultural society, but this form will not grow in nature. This hexaploidy version is called Darum wheat. The gluten in this form of wheat is often attributed to the many instances of celiac disease in modern society. However, there are more ancient wheats that are not widely grown in today’s society that also contain gluten, but seem to not be harmful to the populace that suffers from celiac disease or other gluten intolerances. These ancient forms of wheat are spelt or emmer (Wheat). While this idea of agriculture has roots in biological engineering it is also true that these new forms of wheat play a role in modern nutrition and therefore the development of Celiac disease.

            While Celiac disease is a major disease affecting mostly first world countries, there are other diseases which affect the world. Autism is a disease that affects higher brain function. A study done by Daniel H. Geschwind M.D. Ph.D. at UCLA Center for Autism Research and Treatment found a difference in the brains of those who suffer from autism and a regularly functioning brain. In a normal brain there are about 500 genes that differ between the frontal and temporal brain. However, they found that people with autism do not have the same differentiation between frontal and temporal brain. This likely causes a variation in their ability to process information and control visual, hearing and speech portions of the brain (KIN450, 2011).

            While these impairments affect a person’s ability to function, our understanding of Autism Spectrum Disorder or ASD has evolved since the 1960’s. In those days people were considered to be unteachable and could not function in society. Many of them were placed in homes together where they lived the rest of their lives being treated as though they could not and would never be considered truly human and incorporated into society. In today’s world, those caretakers incorporate those with ASD into the ‘normal’ world to each individual’s ability.  There are many examples of people who have found success who are on the spectrum of autism. One example is Temple Grandin.

            Temple Grandin is a university professor of animal science who has autism. Temple gave a Ted talk about how she thinks of things in pictures. She mentioned that the biggest difference between the way she thinks and the way a ‘normal’ person thinks is that a person with autism pays attention to details. There are various types of this detail-oriented thinking, but autistic people are usually very good at one thing and very bad at almost everything else. Some people are better with spatial recognition and others are more pattern oriented, while still others are more visual rather than verbal learners. The stress of her speech was to make people aware of the different contributions those with autism spectrum disorder can make. She explains that many very intelligent people have autism. All of these different minds should work together in order to make the world a better place. Those children who do not have the best social skills may be very good at math or science. These students need to be placed in the best fit environment in order to succeed and harbor their unique intellectual abilities. In developmental psychology, professionals discuss the necessity to find the ‘best fit’ environment for children beginning at a young age. The necessity for this is that people who are put into a circumstance where they do not fit well they cannot not thrive. In fact they will often shy away and lose their sense of self-efficacy (Temple Grandin, 2010).

            As brain and gut diseases are taken into account, it is normal to accept the impact as a purely scientific one. Doctors and scientific researchers should be able to answer all the questions and fix all of the problems that arise with these disease, or so many believe. However, as shown above, this is not true. It is necessary for the scientific community to consider psychology, agriculture and other fields of academia in order to better understand the extent that a disease covers. Examples of people with ASD, such as Temple Grandin show that, contrary to beliefs of people in the early 1900’s, these people can make huge impacts on modern academia if proper development is nurtured. Considering economic and agricultural aspects and their effect on the development of certain gastrointestinal diseases such as Celiac disease is necessary for science to advance in a way that benefits current and future society.

References

Celiac Disease: Pathophysiology, Clinical Manifestations ... (n.d.). Retrieved October 7, 2016, from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2775561/

Evolution of Polyploid Triticum Wheats under Cultivation ... (2011, December 23). Retrieved October 24, 2016, from http://pcp.oxfordjournals.org/content/52/5/750.full

KIN450-Neurophysiology - Autism. (2011, May 25). Retrieved October 05, 2016, from https://kin450-neurophysiology.wikispaces.com/Autism

Temple Grandin: The world needs all kinds of minds | TED ... (2010, January). Retrieved October 13, 2016, from https://www.ted.com/talks/temple_grandin_the_world_needs_all_kinds_of_minds?language=en

Wheat - New World Encyclopedia. (n.d.). Retrieved October 06, 2016, from http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Wheat