Columbia Science Review
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact

Syria: A Chemical Catastrophe in Progress

10/14/2013

0 Comments

 
Picture
By Kellie Lu

With Syria’s not-so-clandestine arsenal of chemical weapons debated over the table of the UN Security Council, chemical weapons, particularly nerve gases, have once again been thrust into the global attention. The power of these macroscopically undetectable molecules is not to be underestimated; within seconds, a mere milligram dose of sarin can kill a human being. And these gas attacks aren’t quite like Heisenburg’s (Walter White) nifty explosive chemical stunts on Breaking Bad.These unnatural, man-made chemical fiends are transparent, odorless, and colorless; they are undetectable by any of our five senses. As a hydrophilic species, nerve gases also easily mix with water, rendering their transmission through human bodies devastatingly rapid.

So how do these killers operate? Nerve gases function similarly to common insecticides, or organophosphates, when in contact with a human body. These nerve agents kill by inhibiting the acetylcholinerase enzyme in the neuromuscular junction between muscle fibers and nerve fibers. The nerve agent inhabits the serine esteric site of the acetylcholinase enzyme, where acetylcholine normally binds, breaks down into acetic acid and choline, and becomes inactive.
However, by preventing this chemical decomposition, sarin allows the acetylcholine neurotransmitters to remain in the synapse of the neuromuscular junction long after a signal has been transmitted from a nerve fiber to a muscle fiber. As a result, acetylcholine continues to trigger muscle reactions repeatedly, generating hyperstimulation of all muscles in the body. Imagine the experience as a massive seizure involving the stomach, lungs, and pretty much every smooth muscle and skeletal muscle in the body. Within minutes, victims violently convulse, fall stricken in paralysis, and perish.

So what can we make of the new rise of these deadly weapons? Over the last few weeks, the Norwegian Nobel Peace Prize committee unveiled their 2013 recipient, the Organization for the Prevention of Chemical Weapons, in an effort to encourage “progress” in the elimination of chemical weapons in Syria.

Yet while the Nobel Peace Prize and the highly publicized Syria conflict have elevated public consciousness of chemical mass weapons of destruction, complete dissolution of chemical weapons, like nuclear weapons, still remains a stagnant issue. Less publicized in mass media are the countries who clench yet-to-be-destroyed stockpiles of chemical weapons tightly in their hands behind their backs: the United States and Russia. Indeed, while the (feeble) anticipatory gesture of the Nobel Peace Prize redirected public spotlight back to the Syrian crisis, “peace” is still a long ways off.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Categories

    All
    Artificial Intelligence
    Halloween 2022
    Winter 2022-2023

    Archives

    April 2024
    January 2024
    February 2023
    November 2022
    October 2022
    June 2022
    January 2022
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    November 2019
    October 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    November 2017
    October 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    October 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    December 2013
    November 2013
    October 2013
    April 2013
    March 2013
    February 2013
    January 2013
    December 2012
    November 2012
    October 2012
    April 2011
    March 2011
    February 2011
    September 2010
    August 2010
    July 2010
    June 2010
    May 2010
    April 2010
    March 2010
    February 2010
    January 2010
    December 2009
    November 2009
    July 2009
    May 2009

Columbia Science Review
© COPYRIGHT 2022. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.
Photos from driver Photographer, BrevisPhotography, digitalbob8, Rennett Stowe, Kristine Paulus, Tony Webster, CodonAUG, Tony Webster, spurekar, europeanspaceagency, Christoph Scholz, verchmarco, rockindave1, robynmack96, Homedust, The Nutrition Insider
  • Home
  • About
    • Our Team
  • Blog
  • Events
    • 2022-2023
    • 2021-2022
    • 2020-2021
    • 2019-2020
    • 2018-2019
    • 2017-2018
    • 2016-2017
  • Publications
  • COVID-19 Public Hub
    • Interviews >
      • Biology of COVID-19
      • Public Health
      • Technology & Data
    • Frontline Stories >
      • Healthcare Workers
      • Global Health
      • Volunteer Efforts
    • Resources & Links >
      • FAQ's
      • Resource Hubs
      • Student Opportunities
      • Podcasts & Graphics
      • Mental Health Resources
      • Twitter Feeds
      • BLM Resources
    • Columbia Events >
      • Campus Events
      • CUMC COVID-19 Symposium
      • CSR Events
    • Our Team
  • Contact