Scientists recently analyzed the blood of a woman who lived a healthy life up to the age of 115. They were surprised to discover that 64% of her blood cells were descended from only two different blood stem cells. Is this the key to longevity? There’s reason to be cautious with these conclusions: 36% of this patient’s blood came from a much larger, diverse group … Continue reading Stem cells: The key to longevity?
Presented by Laura Klein Many of us are familiar with milk as a food in our supermarket aisles, whether as a beverage that pairs well with cookies, or as the starting ingredient for cheese and yogurt. But milk is also part of what makes us mammals, a class of animals that produces milk as the first food for our young. Our lecture will begin with … Continue reading More Than Food: Exploring human milk as medicine
This artistic representation of the artist’s love for his home country was made by spreading a single-celled photosynthetic bacterium called Synechococcus elongatus on a plate containing just water and some salt. These bacteria, belonging to a larger phylum of bacteria called cyanobacteria, grow by photosynthesis using little more than sunlight and CO2 and some researchers hope they can be used to produce biofuels and other … Continue reading Photosynthesizing the Netherlands
While there’s been much debate in the media about the causes and effects of climate change, many scientists agree that changes in climate will impact our lives. However, demonstrating such impact is scientifically challenging because of the many different factors that are involved and the difficulty of making predictions about the future, as well as politically charged because of the implications any findings will have … Continue reading Malaria in a warming world: How high will it go?
As the daylight hours lengthen and the first signs of spring abound, farmers markets are popping up from coast to coast. With so many tasty edibles ranging from fresh produce to baked goods, it’s no wonder people flock to their local farmers market to spend the afternoon strolling among the displays. It can be easy to set out for a few veggies and to come … Continue reading Farmers Market Finds: Do you really know what’s in your basket?
The UN has released a report reiterating that sufficient data exists to conclude that not only is climate change occurring, but that human use of coal, oil, and natural gas is the primary cause. This report highlights the stark fact that poorer populations disproportionally live in regions most vulnerable to climate change. Developed areas will be affected too. New York City, in the wake of Hurricane Sandy, is already focusing on “climate-proofing” its electrical system. Read on to learn more! Continue reading UN reaffirms man-made climate change. What’s next?
This is a 9 day old zebrafish embryo stained with a dye called Alcian blue that binds to cartilage. The embryo is a mutant called nacre, which produces eye pigment (very dark blobs on either side of the skeleton-like cartilage) but lacks pigment elsewhere, making the staining easier to see. Stains like this are useful for monitoring how cartilage develops. For a look at how … Continue reading Blue fish that’s not a Bluefish
This image shows mouse neurons (mouse brain cells) that have been grown in a dish. http://arnold.usapowerlifting.com/indian-pharmacy-viagra/ Under the growth conditions in the dish, these neurons from beautiful outgrowths (green) called neurites that are reminiscent of the “wiring” between cells in the brain. The blue shows the neurons’ nuclei while the red highlights a protein (PQBP1) which is important in causing this neurite growth and is … Continue reading Mousy Wiring
This image shows two cells, outlined in blue, which have produced a protein that aggregates to form the red blobs seen here. This protein, Ataxin-1, is associated with neurological disorder. These cells and this protein are not naturally blue and red, but have had fluorescent proteins attached to them making them appear these colors. This common visualization technique results in stunning pictures of life at … Continue reading Beauty in Disease
How can we create a fully synthetic organism? One promising way to begin would be to take an existing organism and engineer a new set of chromosomes from that organism’s genome. Scientists at NYU have created a fully synthetic chromosome for Saccharomyces Cerevisiae, the yeast that’s used in bread and beer. By stripping out ‘junk DNA’ and adding in new genes that make future genome … Continue reading Engineering a minimal yeast chromosome: a small, but significant step forward