Here's a valid question: if it's a human condition or disease we're interested in, why do we study flies, plants or bacteria? It's a question that researchers often have to answer: whether it be for grant funding or to their in-laws over Thanksgiving dinner. Certainly, no one wants to hear—or vote for— tax dollars aimlessly
Tattoos, the artistic insertion of pigment into the skin as a form of body modification, has been around for quite a while, with the earliest preserved example from around 3300 BC. These tattoos comes from Ötzi the Iceman, a preserved human found in the Alps between Austria and Italy in 1991. The tattoos were of
Life on Earth is full of dynamic and complex interactions between organisms. Some of these interactions are mutualistic, where all parties benefit from the relationship. Others are commensalistic, where one organism benefits and the other isn't really affected. Then there are the parasites, organisms that live and prey on others causing them harm. Parasites are
In 2015, Zika virus resulted in a global public health emergency. The epidemic caused severe brain defects in thousands of Brazilian newborns after the virus was transmitted to pregnant mothers via infected mosquitoes. The rapid emergence of disease caught everyone by surprise, and with little understanding of the virus pathogenesis it left scientists unprepared to
The “salt wars” have been raging for decades, with medical science still embroiled over whether there is a direct link between sodium consumption and heart disease. Last year, a group of researchers published an editorial in an American Heart Association journal proposing a way to finally get to the bottom of this; in the process,
On February 4th, we celebrated World Cancer Day to remember those affected by cancer, standing by them in their fight against it. Known as the big “C,†cancer is a dreaded disease. There were 18.1 million new cases worldwide in 2018, of which 9.6 million were fatal. Being a leading cause of mortality, it has
On my walk home from work, I almost always encounter what I affectionately call “trash creaturesâ€: squirrels that pop out of dumpsters carrying slices of pizza or crows pulling apart garbage bags to get at the tasty morsels inside. While undoubtedly amusing, these incidents may have more cryptic, and sinister, consequences to the health of
Medicine has been important to humans since our earliest days, but for the majority of our history, we've had very little idea of how medicine works. We used to attribute medicinal effects to magic or to balancing the fluids of the body (bloodletting, anyone?), but thankfully we've come a long way since then. With the
Recently, I was in the lab doing some routine work with cells. In order to start growing my own stock of cells I took a small vial out of a tank of liquid nitrogen, where it is stored at around -150°C (-238°F). Then I quickly thawed it to body temperature (37°C, or 98.6°F) and transferred
Disease alters lives in permanent and often heartbreaking ways. Most people have a story about how they have been affected by disease, either firsthand, through a family member, or looking from the outside in on another person's life. In a world where tragedy is at the forefront of our personal lives via news stories, gofundme
Better posture. Better sex. Better poop? If these happen to be part of your New Year's resolutions (and if they aren't, they should be), did you realize that working on your pelvic floor can help improve all three of these areas? If your answer is no, or if you're wondering what the heck is my
Algae happen to be one of the most important organisms on our planet, producing about 70-80% of the oxygen we breathe. They are mostly aquatic photosynthetic organisms which grow in all sizes, from microscopic phytoplankton floating in the water, to the giant kelp which can be as large as a tree! More often you can
