It’s the spooky season and we’re all anticipating monsters crawling out from under our bed, but did you know that there are monsters living inside our very cells! Every living thing has DNA in its cells. It provides the “blue print†for what that living thing is going to be. There can't be any monsters
You look down at the ramen in front of you. The aroma is enticing, smelling of cinnamon, turmeric, and chilies. As the sauce enters your mouth, your eyes start to water, your nose runs, and your whole mouth is on fire, but you love it. Why? People around the world use chili peppers to enhance
Sore throat? Stuffy nose? Influenza, or flu, is a nuisance for many every year, causing unwelcome respiratory discomfort that goes away after a few days for most. In some, it can cause more severe disease and even death. Every year, we can get a seasonal flu vaccine to protect ourselves against the virus. But there
On an otherwise entirely forgettable late-summer morning during the height of pandemic-induced self-isolation, I stepped out onto my front porch and saw the biggest spider I had ever seen in my life suspended above my hedges, hanging in the middle of an elaborate web. My new neighbor was as big as my palm, bright yellow
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The remote, obscure high Hills of Nepal have their fair share of remarkable things. While the existence of some of the beings said to be living in the Himalayas is controversial, such as the Yeti, there are others whose existence will hit you like a brick wall should you ever come across it. Believe it
Before becoming a graduate student, I knew little to nothing about the neglected microscopic parasite, Toxoplasma gondii. Once I began my studies, I quickly realized that unless you were a healthcare worker, vet, or pregnant, the awareness of Toxoplasma was close to nonexistent. Despite prevalence among one-third of the world's population, infected immunocompetent individuals remain
Imagine my frustration while trying to bottle-feed breast milk to my 4-week-old baby. The little guy was not happy taking his nature-made meal from a bottle, even if they had different-styled nipples. He would only take the breast milk directly from his mom. As a result, I wasted no time raising this concern with his
Bullying in academia Bullying continues to be a problem in academia. A recent global survey showed that 59% and 84% of participants either witnessed or experienced abusive supervision behaviors, respectively. Bullying in academia is difficult to address because a power differential exists within the mentor-mentee relationship. Graduate students and postdoctoral researchers (both referred to as
It is springtime! As spring prevails, all things in nature are suddenly adorned by myriads of colors. These myriads of colors inspire myriads of feelings. No other thing affects living beings' psyche as powerfully as colors. May that be love or war, spirituality or science, ascetism or fashion, poems or technology, colors seem to touch
I grew up on Ferngully, Dr. Seuss' The Lorax, the Wild Thornberrys, Studio Ghibli movies, and Avatar the Last Airbender. The theme of the interconnectedness of humans, animals, and the environment has been entrenched in me for most of my life. Furthermore, it is the foundation of One Health, an approach emphasizing collaboration between human
