1001 Bites: The road to a successful malaria vaccine

The public health world has been abuzz recently with the results of the Phase I clinical trial of a malaria vaccine that proved 100% effective in protecting vaccinated people against Plasmodium falciparum infection when they were bitten by infected mosquitoes [1, 2]. P. falciparum is the species of malaria parasite that causes the most severe cases of disease – multiplying quickly in the blood and … Continue reading 1001 Bites: The road to a successful malaria vaccine

The Potential of Nanotechnology for Diabetes Management

Diabetes is a growing worldwide issue. In the United States alone, there are 25.8 million affected patients []. The annual cost of medical treatment (e.g. management and monitoring) and indirect expenses (such as disability and unemployment benefits) are $174 billion []. While there are several means for patients with diabetes mellitus to manage their condition, none of them are perfect. official pharmacy canada The Biological … Continue reading The Potential of Nanotechnology for Diabetes Management

Computational Chemistry Shines Light on Solar Energy Storage in Plants

Figure 1. Electron flow in Photosystem II. Plants take electrons from water to store energy from the sun. Whether it is the oxygen that we breathe or animals that we eat, our lives are made possible by photosynthesis.  Photosynthesis is the process that plants have used for billions of years to convert energy from the sun, water, and carbon dioxide into the life-sustaining biomolecules and oxygen … Continue reading Computational Chemistry Shines Light on Solar Energy Storage in Plants

Gut Microbes and the Origin of Species

The basis for the origin of new species is thought to be well-known: new species emerge when two or more subpopulations of (what was formerly) the same species become sufficiently dissimilar in their genetic makeup that they can no longer breed with each other to produce fertile offspring. According to this narrative, changes in the genetic material of an individual organism, encoded in its DNA, … Continue reading Gut Microbes and the Origin of Species

Prions: Friend or foe?

In 1996, the British government announced that ten suspected cases of Creutzfeld-Jacob disease (CJD), a degenerative brain disorder, were caused by the consumption of beef products that harbor mad cow disease [1]. This news not only prompted the EU and Japan to institute a ban on British beef products, but also redirected the attention of the scientific community to the bizarre infectious agent responsible for … Continue reading Prions: Friend or foe?

Mommy 1 and Mommy 2: Could science end the age of Mom and Dad?

Whether we realize it or not, humans, like all organisms, are genetically programmed to reproduce, but today we have many more reproductive choices than our ancestors. Birth control, for example, prevents procreation by those who might otherwise have many children. On the other hand, advances in fertility treatments allow people to produce offspring even though, in the past, they might not have been able to … Continue reading Mommy 1 and Mommy 2: Could science end the age of Mom and Dad?

One Man on Mars: An interview with Dr. Andrew Knoll

Harvard University Professor Dr. Andrew Knoll speaks on the scientific intrigue of Mars, his involvement with the Mars Exploration Rover Opportunity, and the future of Mars investigation Mars. The Red Planet, the fourth from our sun. Named after the Roman god of war, Mars has intrigued humans for thousands of years. The peoples of ancient China, Egypt, and Babylonia studied it in detail, using only … Continue reading One Man on Mars: An interview with Dr. Andrew Knoll

The James Webb Space Telescope: Studying the formation of the first galaxies

In 2018, NASA plans to launch the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) [] to replace the Hubble Space Telescope, which has been in orbit since 1990 []. The Hubble has taken images of galaxies in all stages pay someone to write my paper of evolution, helped establish a better estimate of the age of the universe and contributed to the discovery of dark energy. Like … Continue reading The James Webb Space Telescope: Studying the formation of the first galaxies

The human body in space: Distinguishing fact from fiction

Since the first two-hour excursion into space by Yuri Gagarin in 1961, the lure of manned space travel has proved irresistible to scientists, entrepreneurs, and entertainers alike. Today, as technology becomes more capable of enabling manned travel to Mars and Hollywood’s imagination runs wild with notions of humanity’s spaceflight-steeped future (with recent blockbusters like Star Trek, Prometheus, Star Wars, and even Wall-E), many fallacies about … Continue reading The human body in space: Distinguishing fact from fiction