Author: Mandi

Blog Post 2 by Mandi Peterson

“Ice” is the eighth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series The X-Files, which aired on the Fox network on November 5, 1993.  The plot of the episode starts with special Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents Fox Mulder and Dana Scully investigating the murder suicides of an Alaskan research team.  As the episode progresses and the bodies are examined, the FBI agents deduce that the cause of the violent behavior is because the researchers were driven mad by parasitic worms.  The worm enters the brain and moves through the body, influencing the behavior of the affected individual towards stress and violence.  These parasitic worms were found lying dormant in Alaskan ice caps which were affected by a long distant meteor collision.  Upon the harvesting of ice cores to conduct scientific testing, a worm burrowed into each of the two now dead hosts.  The worms which are collected and solitarily isolated appear to be aggressive towards one another, even trying to break the glass to attack the other.  A researcher is deemed infected when the FBI team sees a worm moving around inside of his body.  In order to cure the parasitic infestation another worm is administered into the infected host.  The worms attack each other inside the host’s body and he is cured as a result.  The episode ends with the government destroying the glacial area and ruining any chance at further investigation of the ancient parasitic worm phenomenon.

Biology related science is integrated into many episodes of The X-Files, but especially into this episode.  This episode highlights scientific practices that are presently used to collect and analyze ice core data.  Tests are being run on the ice cores collected from ancient glaciers to determine the sediments and gasses that they contain.  These sediments and gasses that are being discovered are the same that were prevalent on the Earth in primordial times.  In class, we discussed the importance of collecting this data and how from this data we can learn more about the environment of the ancient Earth.  Collecting and analyzing ancient ice cores is more prevalent in science practices today than in the past because of global warming, glacial melting, and advanced technology.  Scientists can now detect ancient meteor craters deep within glaciers, not unlike the impact in this episode of The X-Files.  In Greenland, two discoveries of instances like this are being researched, with the newest discover being in 2018.  Ice cores have been collected and tested from the meteor crater of one of these glaciers, named Hiawatha Glacier. “Sifting through the sand, Adam Garde, a geologist at the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland in Copenhagen, found glass grains forged at temperatures higher than a volcanic eruption can generate. More important, he discovered shocked crystals of quartz. The crystals contained a distinctive banded pattern that can be formed only in the intense pressures of extraterrestrial impacts or nuclear weapons” (Voosen).  Minerals and gasses are the only types of matter which have been gathered from these specific meteor-glacial specimens. As of yet there is no evidence to support the episode’s claim of living extraterrestrial organisms resulting from meteor impact origin.

Although no living or previously living specimens have been gathered from glacial meteor craters, many glaciers with no ancient meteor impact have been found to contain previously living organisms.  “Small amounts of permafrost (2 g of soil) have also been shown to contain DNA sequences from various mammals, including woolly mammoth, horse and steppe bison up to 30-kyr old and plant DNA as old as 300–400 kyr” (Eske).  Since glaciers and permafrost maintain such a low temperature they make a perfectly stable environment for the preservation of mammalian tissue.  Not only do these glaciers and permafrost create a perfect environment to preserve animal tissue, but they also house viable cold-resistant microorganisms such as bacteria, Archaea, and viruses (Rogers, Starmer, Castello).  Figure 1 shows images retained from a scanning electron microscope of microorganisms found in an ice core.  Some of these microorganisms cannot be identified.

As these extremophiles enter the population of modern day microorganisms, they will likely become favored by natural selection over the less-resistant bacteria, Archaea, and viruses (Rogers, Starmer, Castello).  This type of natural selection which favors the most extreme phenotypes is called directional selection. In this situation, the directional selection is being applied to the population of all microorganisms, with the resistant extremophiles gaining selective advantage.  This concept is directly related to the mechanisms of evolution that we discussed in class.  “Ice” specifically proposes an instance of a cold-resistant parasite being revealed to the public and infecting individuals as a result.  Although bacteria, viruses, and parasites operate differently, they cause illness in the host alike.  The likelihood of harmful parasites like those seen in “Ice” infecting unvaccinated individuals is hypothesized to increase in the future.

Lastly, the extraterrestrial cold-resistant worm parasites as seen in “Ice” are not exactly corroborated by scientific findings, but there are species of nematodes and parasitic worms that can infect the human body.  Most of these infections start with larvae introduction into the host, and once infected, further growth of the parasite takes place inside of the host’s body.  This method of infection differs from the method that we see in “Ice”, where an adult nematode infects a researcher via entry at the back of the neck.  It would seem that “Ice” was purely fictional in the suggestion that worms can move around inside the human body, but this is actually true for some species upon maturation.  One such parasitic species is Loa loa, also known as the African eye worm (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention).

In summary this episode is inspired by real-life events that actually happen such as the studying of ice cores, ancient microorganisms trapped in glaciers, and parasitic worm infections in humans.  The part about the adult extraterrestrial worms surviving extreme temperatures and infecting hosts through the back of the neck cannot be confirmed as true unfortunately.  Some of the events that the episode is based upon are hypothesized to become even more frequent than in the past, such as the uncovering of resistant microorganisms and the harvesting and analysis of ice cores. Overall, this plot makes for an interesting and believable story line as it blends surreal elements into reality.

Works Cited

1. Voosen, Paul. “Massive crater under Greenland’s ice points to climate-altering impact in the time of humans.” Science Mag, Science Mag, 14 Nov. 2018. Google Scholar, sciencemag.org/news/2018/11/massive-crater-under-greenland-s-ice-points-climate-altering-impact-time-humans.
2. Eske Willerslev, Anders J. Hansen, Hendrik N. Poinar, Isolation of nucleic acids and cultures from fossil ice and permafrost, Trends in Ecology & Evolution, Volume 19, Issue 3, 2004, Pages 141-147, ISSN 0169-5347, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tree.2003.11.010.(http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0169534703003574)
3. Scott O. Rogers, William T. Starmer, John D. Castello,Recycling of pathogenic microbes through survival in ice,Medical Hypotheses,Volume 63, Issue 5,2004,Pages 773-777,ISSN 0306-9877,https://doi.org/10.1016/j.mehy.2004.04.004. (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0306987704002543)
4. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. (2019). Loiasis. Retrieved from https://www.cdc.gov/dpdx/loiasis/index.html
5. “Ice.” The X-Files, created by Chris Carter, written by Glen Morgan and James Wong, directed by David Nutter, 20^th Television, 1993.

Post 1 by Mandi Peterson

Personal Life

Emma Lucy Braun was born in Cincinnati, Ohio on April 19, 1889 to George Frederick Braun, a school principal, and Emma Moriah (Wright) Braun, a teacher in the same school (Oakes, 2007).  Emma was the younger of two daughters, as she was succeeded by her sister Annette. From a young age both Annette and Emma’s showed piqued interest in the outdoors and in the field of biology as they accompanied their parents on trips to the woods to classify wildflowers.  Emma’s interest stemmed into further work in the field which blossomed into revolutionary achievements for the field of biology.  Emma’s life was quite extraordinary not only in her achievements, but in the way she lived — working beside and collaborating with her sister Annette, as they both had studied in the field of biology.  Emma never married and instead resided with her sister Annette in a house located in suburban Cincinnati.  They maintained a “strict Victorian lifestyle” up until her passing in 1971 from congestive heart failure.  “Their home and garden, surrounded by mostly undisturbed woods, contained an area, both inside and outside, that they called the ‘science wing,’ which served as their laboratory.  Their garden was, in fact, an experimental garden, where many rare and unusual plants were grown for closer observation and study” (Stuckey, pp. 45).

Education

Emma went on to get various degrees from the University of Cincinnati with her first being a liberal arts degree (Oakes, 2007).  She pursued further with her studies and first earned a B.A. in Geology in 1910 followed by an M.A. in Geology in 1912 (Oakes, 2007).  The summer after she earned her master’s degree she studied plant ecology at the University of Chicago with Henry C. Cowles who was an expert in the field (Oakes, 2007).  She returned in the fall to embark on her studies towards a PhD in botany which she received in 1914; Emma’s sister also achieved the same academic level in botany three years before (Access Science).  Emma not only studied at the University of Cincinnati but became a professor there as well.  She spent all her 61-year career teaching or researching in some way, shape or form for this institution of knowledge (Oakes, 2007).

Work

Throughout her life Emma became well known for her work in field studies, more specifically, her work of the classification of different vegetation based on region.  She revolutionized the method that scientists use to analyze change of flora in a specific environment over time.   “Her field studies of plant distribution combined with her interests in geology also led her to consider several innovative theories in the evolution of forest communities and their survival during periods of glaciation” (Access Science).  Emma’s work is important in our everyday lives because it helps civilization better understand how we got to where we are. As we reside in this environment which supports human life, we are made aware of the importance of the role that plants maintain and how we should make efforts to conserve this relationship.  Emma Braun successfully published her book Deciduous Forests of Eastern North America in 1950. This book consists of her compiled studies over the last 30 years of the forests, concentrating on eastern North America.

Emma Braun had various methods to record and observe her work such as written field journals, dried plant specimen collection, and even photographs.  In the late 1880’s the film camera was invented and became a useful tool to accurately depict images in a cheaper and more user-friendly medium than ever before.  This was a great advancement not only for use in enjoyment, but for scientists alike.  The film camera was used by Emma Braun to document and record some of her field studies work. Figure 1 shows a picture that Braun took which is a part of an album archived at the Smithsonian.

Figure 1. A luxuriant herbaceous growth with many ferns.  “https://ids.si.edu/ids/deliveryService?id=SIA-SIA2007-0061-000001” Smithsonian Institution Archives, Record Unit 7140, Emma Lucy Braun Photograph Album

Recognition and Life Achievements

Emma Braun pioneered recognition for women in the field of botany, winning many medals, memberships and honors.  She was the first woman to become president of two different biological organizations, the Ohio Academy of Science, and the Ecological Society of America.  She was also the first woman to be recognized in the Ohio Conservation Hall of Fame when she passed (Stuckey, pp. 45).  Braun established a local Wild Flower Preservation Society as she stressed the importance of preserving natural habitats (Access Science).  When Emma passed her collection of dried flora and vegetation specimens numbered over eleven thousand and was submitted to the herbarium at the Smithsonian Institute. The collection remains there to this day

Summary and Reflection

If I could amount to even a fraction of the achievement and uniqueness that Emma Braun did I would be absolutely pleased with myself.  Emma is such a wonderful example of someone who was an innovative thinker that had genuine excitement and passion for her field.  These qualities really show through in her work.  I am so inspired and thankful to have had the pleasure of reading and learning about her life as I am also someone who is interested in ecology and botany studies.  I am pondering whether I would like to pursue further education in the subject later on in my school career, in hopes of being able to conduct field studies of my own someday.  But for now, I will continue to explore the great outdoors on my private time, taking film pictures with my camera, and preserving specimens I find for my personal enjoyment.

Works Cited

“Braun, Emma Lucy.” Access Science.

Oakes, Elizabeth H. “Braun, Emma Lucy.” Encyclopedia of World Scientists, Revised Edition, Facts On File, 2007. Science Online, online.infobase.com/Auth/Index?aid=11992&itemid=WE40&articleId=298542. Accessed 10 Oct. 2019

Stuckey, Ronald L. “Emma Lucy Braun (1889–1971).” Women in the Biological Sciences: A Biobibliographic Sourcebook (1997): 44.

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