Monkeys in our gardens, leopards in our fields: The role of coexistence in mitigating human-wildlife conflict
My family lives just outside New Delhi, India, and in 2008, our garden was invaded by monkeys. The monkeys quickly made themselves at home, launching themselves off of trees into the pond with shrieks of delight and wandering into the house to help themselves to toffees and aspirin. Figure 1 ~ Hanuman Langur monkeys in Udaipur, India This invasion was remarkable because we know exactly … Continue reading Monkeys in our gardens, leopards in our fields: The role of coexistence in mitigating human-wildlife conflict
Can computer simulations help design new vaccines?
Vaccines teach your immune system to recognize and destroy certain pathogens. Unfortunately, it can be tricky to get your immune system to recognize and mount attacks against some pathogens, like respiratory syncytial virus (RSV). Researchers recently used computational modeling to design a tiny protein that kind of looks like part of an RSV protein. When they injected it into monkeys, many of the monkeys’ immune … Continue reading Can computer simulations help design new vaccines?
Extreme Dieting, Gut Microbe Edition
Researchers from Harvard University and the University of California, San Francisco have found that going on a diet may be easier for your gut microbes to adjust to than it is for you. Their latest study, published in Nature in December 2013 [1], demonstrates that gut microbes can shift their populations and metabolic functions within a single day in response to changes in the human … Continue reading Extreme Dieting, Gut Microbe Edition
Making Stem Cells from Acid-Dipped Blood Cells?
Scientists created stem cells by treating white blood cells from newborn mice with acidic conditions! Continue reading Making Stem Cells from Acid-Dipped Blood Cells?
High Pressure Chemistry
From the weather to air travel, pressure plays a dramatic role in our lives. It plays especially important roles during chemical reactions. By manipulating pressure, chemists can force chemical reactions to occur and the transitions between solids, liquids, and gases to accelerate. However, these pressure manipulations are on a small scale, not differing that much from the atmospheric pressure we experience everyday. Pressures elsewhere in … Continue reading High Pressure Chemistry
Long noncoding RNAs: A new class of RNA and why you should care
Since the discovery of DNA structure in the 1950s, the central dogma of molecular biology has been widely accepted in the scientific community. Essentially, the central dogma holds that information flows from DNA to RNA to protein (Figure 1). DNA is a molecule inside the cell nucleus that stores genetic information in chemical form. This genetic information determines traits such as hair color, height or … Continue reading Long noncoding RNAs: A new class of RNA and why you should care
Hope Amidst Tragedy: Stem Cell Therapies and the Atomic Bomb
The development of the atomic bomb during World War II brought unprecedented devastation to the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki. However, this tragedy also stimulated a wave of biomedical research aimed at both understanding the effects of radiation and developing treatments for radiation exposure. This research ultimately led to the development of the bone marrow transplant, which has saved countless lives and is the … Continue reading Hope Amidst Tragedy: Stem Cell Therapies and the Atomic Bomb
Never an Easy Answer: The Ethics of Stem Cells
Figure 1. Although there have not yet been any clinical trials to prove that stem cell treatments are effective – and to demonstrate that they are safe – there are many companies offering treatments for a wide array of diseases and conditions. Unlike clinical trials, which typically do not cost the patient money beyond their normal health costs, these therapies can be highly expensive. A … Continue reading Never an Easy Answer: The Ethics of Stem Cells
Stem cells: a brief history and outlook
Stem cells have been the object of much excitement and controversy amongst both scientists and the general population. Surprisingly, though, not everybody understands the basic properties of stem cells, let alone the fact that there is more than one type of cell that falls within the “stem cell” category. Here, I’ll lay out the basic concepts of stem cell biology as a background for understanding … Continue reading Stem cells: a brief history and outlook
Do-it-yourself stem cells: the story of induced pluripotency
Biologists have long touted the promise of embryonic stem (ES) cells. These cells are pluripotent, meaning they can be coaxed to form nearly any cell type of the body. However, the enormous promise of these cells is overshadowed by moral and technical difficulties. Human ES cells are derived from very early stage embryos which otherwise have the potential to develop into a fully-grown human being, … Continue reading Do-it-yourself stem cells: the story of induced pluripotency