Month: February 2015

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Peanut Allergy Prevention: Promising Results But More Work Needed

A response to Feeding infants peanut products could prevent allergies, study suggests Peanut allergies are a fact of life for many children and adults, but a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine claims to have a clue to preventing peanut allergies before they start. The above New York Times article summarizes the study’s finding: infants fed small amounts of peanut proteins … Continue reading Peanut Allergy Prevention: Promising Results But More Work Needed

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Human brain. Image courtesy of Holdentrils (Pixabay).
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Protein Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease?

Alzheimer’s disease (AD), a neurodegenerative disorder in which symptoms of dementia worsen over time, is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States. Although there is currently no cure, one study recently claimed that manipulating levels of a protein involved in brain cell communication can slow memory loss and may improve the quality of life for those affected. Researchers reported that increasing expression … Continue reading Protein Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease?

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Can we send a message to the future with DNA?

Ever wonder how we can relay messages to future populations? So do scientists. Recent news suggests DNA embedded in glass might be the answer to efficiently storing information for millions of years! Yet, storing large amounts of information is still limited by the price of DNA synthesis. And who knows what infrastructure we’ll have to read DNA millions of years from now? DNA is currently … Continue reading Can we send a message to the future with DNA?

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A “dirty” trick to discover new drugs

Overprescription of antibiotics pressures bacteria to evolve resistance. The rise of antibiotic-resistant “superbugs” – harmful bacteria that cannot be treated with antibiotics – is an often overlooked threat to public health. The World Health Organization, however, recognizes bacterial antibiotic resistance as a “major threat,” and the problem is gaining media attention including a recent Science in the News article [1,2]. Recently, a research team from … Continue reading A “dirty” trick to discover new drugs

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Patenting our genes, killing our startups.

Interest in entrepreneurship and start-up culture seem to be at an all-time high, especially when it comes to the tech industry. But why do so many of the best young graduates choose to work on the next sexting app rather than on an app-based algorithm for clinical patient support? It’s a question that demands an answer, and soon. A key problem seems to be that … Continue reading Patenting our genes, killing our startups.

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Lessons learned from sharing poop: gut microbiota matter

Poop sharing has gotten a lot of (medical) attention in the past few years. Fecal microbiota (or stool) transplants are emerging as the most promising treatment for Clostridium difficile infections, a bacteria that causes large intestine inflammation and is at fault for the majority of chronic indigestion and diarrhea cases worldwide. Hopes for fecal transplantation are so high, and the need for chronic colitis treatment so … Continue reading Lessons learned from sharing poop: gut microbiota matter

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Progress, but no breakthrough for Circadian Rhythms

From The ability to reset the circadian clock, which controls when animals are awake or asleep, could help people suffering from a variety of sleep and mood disorders. Authors of a new study in Nature Neuroscience claim to have made significant progress towards this goal, with clear applications to human health. Unfortunately, the above popular press article exaggerates the findings of the study. Like all … Continue reading Progress, but no breakthrough for Circadian Rhythms

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The Human Microbiome and Media Confusion

Science journalism is an essential medium for keeping the general public well informed about ground breaking and exciting science. But in the process of translating complex research into attractive material for general consumption important details and subtleties are often lost. Unfortunately these losses can result in misleading representations of science, communicating preliminary and correlative data as nearly proven fact. Separating truth from hype isn’t easy … Continue reading The Human Microbiome and Media Confusion

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What the heck do you do with a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences?

I am currently a fifth year graduate student well on my way to earning my Ph.D. in biological and biomedical sciences (knock on wood). Every year around the holidays I’m bombarded with the same question from friends and family: what exactly are you doing? In the past I’ve answered this question by attempting to explain my thesis research on biofuels production in bacteria (see previous … Continue reading What the heck do you do with a Ph.D. in the biomedical sciences?

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