Month: June 2015

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The “skinny” on Celastrol, a potential future anti-obesity drug

by Mary E. Gearing  figures by Shannon McArdel 35% of the adult population is obese, a condition which puts one at a high risk for many diseases, namely heart disease, high blood pressure and diabetes. Unfortunately, the treatments available for obesity are limited. Lifestyle modifications, including a healthy diet and exercise, can help reduce weight, but many individuals have trouble adhering to these changes over … Continue reading The “skinny” on Celastrol, a potential future anti-obesity drug

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Biomedical research funding gains bipartisan support, but support for other sciences is still lacking

The funding of biomedical research, through the National Institute of Health (NIH), has been receiving bipartisan support as of late.  The Senate has put forward a bill that would increase NIH funding by $2 billion, and the House has put forward a bill that would increase funding by $1.1 billion.  Both numbers are higher than the President’s request of a $1 billion increase.  While these … Continue reading Biomedical research funding gains bipartisan support, but support for other sciences is still lacking

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Hold the Phone: Technology’s Role in Combating Infectious Disease

by Katherine Wu figures by Kristen Seim We live in an increasingly wired world: with apps for every purpose imaginable, it has become easier and easier to share information and build global communities. In the wake of the recent Ebola pandemic, we have harnessed this technology to combat infectious disease, employing technological tools for diagnosis (as in the case of the parasitic disease loiasis) and … Continue reading Hold the Phone: Technology’s Role in Combating Infectious Disease

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Public Opinion Forces Companies to Seek Safer Replacements for Safe (and Essential) Chemical

Consumer pressure – not scientific evidence – has prompted companies like Nalgene, General Mills, and Campbell’s to remove a chemical called bisphenol A (BPA) from their merchandise.  BPA is primarily used to make plastics that are found in many everyday products, such as water bottles, medical devices, toys, and liners for food cans.  As a result, BPA is ubiquitous in modern life and many people … Continue reading Public Opinion Forces Companies to Seek Safer Replacements for Safe (and Essential) Chemical

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Closing in on the origin of terrestrial water: Philae calls back home

by Tansu Daylan figures by Kaitlyn Choi As Philae just woke up, we examine one exciting question of the Rosetta mission: what is the origin of water on Earth? A hypothesis proposes that comets brought to our planet this molecule central to life. The Rosetta mission is an ambitious scientific program launched by the European Space Agency to analyze the water on the comet 67P … Continue reading Closing in on the origin of terrestrial water: Philae calls back home

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The dwindling population of bees and aluminum levels

Amid the startling find that the bee population is dropping, there are speculations into what is causing this sudden trend. Recently, work by scientists (original article here) have looked beyond pesticides and measured the content of aluminum, a pollutant, in bumblebee pupae (insect stage before it becomes an adult) and found increased amounts. This, they speculate, may be causing cognitive disruption, like Alzheimer’s disease in … Continue reading The dwindling population of bees and aluminum levels

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Didn’t the LHC restart in April?

This April, SITN Waves, along with many other news outlets, reported on the restart of the Large Hadron Collider, or the LHC. Many similar headlines were seen last week when CERN announced the machine’s official restart. So when did the LHC actually restart, and what were scientists at CERN doing in the meantime? On April 5, the LHC was powered on for the first time … Continue reading Didn’t the LHC restart in April?

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Rabbit virus sinks teeth into cancer, aids bone marrow transplants

A common treatment for blood cancers, such as leukemia, is to replace damaged, cancerous bone marrow with donated healthy marrow.  Marrow is the flexible tissue in your bones that contains stem cells that give rise to all the blood and immune cells in the body.  When marrow comes from a donor, the donor’s and the recipient’s blood and tissue types must directly match.  If not, … Continue reading Rabbit virus sinks teeth into cancer, aids bone marrow transplants

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From the kitchen to the lab: how sushi dinners may lead to new pain therapies

by Vivian Chou figures by Anna Maurer What do sushi and pain therapy have in common? The answer lies in a tiny protein in our bodies called TRPA1, nicknamed the “wasabi receptor.” For over a decade, scientists have been fascinated by the TRPA1 receptor, which allows us to taste the stinging, burning flavors of the popular Japanese condiment wasabi. This last April 2015, TRPA1 shot … Continue reading From the kitchen to the lab: how sushi dinners may lead to new pain therapies

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