A significant breakthrough with a natural product was recently derived from the Amazon rainforest. This was reported by a group of researches from Case Western Reserve University’s School of Medicine in the publication, Journal of Inflammation. This natural resource is found to have rare actions that indicate a broad set of applications that answer to various diseases attacking the joints, skin, and intestines. Among these diseases are the osteoarthritis and irritable bowel syndrome.
The team reported that an extract from a rainforest tree, called Croton palanostigma, is a powerful antioxidant. The said extract was found to prevent damages to the human cartilage. Collagen is responsible for the formation of the foundation of cartilage. However, due to the effects the so-called molecular scissors, known as metalloproteinases or MMPs, collagen is sliced into tiny pieces. This results to the alteration of the framework that holds the tissues together.
The lead investigator and senior author of the study is Tariq Haqqi, who is a professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University/University Hospitals of Cleveland. Haqqi said that such discovery is exciting because it is the first time that a natural product has been displayed to directly obstruct the effects of these so-called molecular scissors. Not only that, this natural product shows potential for stimulating repair. He added that such effects of the natural product are evidences of the wound healing capabilities of such traditional medicine and the unique therapeutic opportunities that nature presents.
A wonderful way of viewing plant extracts is with the use of a stereo binocular microscope. Through the strong magnification and transmitted light of this type of microscope, cell structures of plants are made visible. Not only that, a stereo binocular microscope allows the observer a three dimensional view of the subject placed under it unlike the two-dimensional image given by a compound microscope. With the erect and upright image that a stereo binocular microscope provides, the scientist may now better observe and appreciate the plant specimen under it because the images seem to come alive.
In viewing a plant sample with the use of a stereo binocular microscope, the plant specimen must first be cut into thin sections. In the case of a plant extract, a smear of the extract is enough. The specimen must be fine because a stereo binocular microscope functions with incident light. As such, the plant sample has to be thin enough in order to allow the light to pass.
Stereo binocular microscope is not only limited to plant viewing. In fact, this type of microscope has a wide array of applications. A stereo binocular microscope may be utilized in observations of natural specimens, aside from plants, such as minerals, insects, to name a few. Furthermore, a stereo binocular microscope may be employed in technical applications. Coins, textiles, and electronic components may be placed under a stereo binocular microscope for examination. Aside from these, dissection and precision assembly can be done with the aid of a stereo binocular microscope. A biologist, a paleontologist, or a circuit board technician may use a stereo binocular microscope for dissection, fossil observation, and repair, respectively.