Help me “photophoretic-trap volumetric displays.” You’re our only hope.
Anyone who has seen Star Wars envisions the future of visual displays as “holograms,” where 3D objects materialize out of light in thin air. However, anyone who has looked at a true hologram will likely have been disappointed at the reality. Not only does the image not pop out in its full glorious 3-dimensions in front of you, but the object is typically only visible … Continue reading Help me “photophoretic-trap volumetric displays.” You’re our only hope.
Monkey see, monkey do: scientists have created the first cloned primates
No, we won’t be seeing designer babies anytime soon. But scientists have successfully cloned monkeys for the first time, establishing a technique that could be used to create better disease models using primates, the closest animals to humans. These cloned monkeys, Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua, are alive and well in China. They were created using the same technology (somatic cell nuclear transfer) used to … Continue reading Monkey see, monkey do: scientists have created the first cloned primates
Fighting Fire with Fire: Killing bacteria with virus
by Veerasak “Jeep” Srisuknimit figures by Jovana Andrejevic Our time with antibiotics is running out. In 2016, a woman in Nevada died from a bacterial infection caused by Klebsiella pneumoniae that was resistant to all available antibiotics. Bacteria that is resistant to colistin, an antibiotic of last resort, has been discovered on pig farms in China. Bacteria have been evolving to resist antibiotics faster than … Continue reading Fighting Fire with Fire: Killing bacteria with virus
Colonies 4
To get around, Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterium use a number of motility strategies, such as twitching and gliding. In this image, we see a special kind of bacterial motility behavior known as swarming, where a mass of bacteria moves collectively across a surface. This is an example of singled celled bacterial species acting in a multicellular way. For a group of cells to swarm, the bacterium … Continue reading Colonies 4
Can We Treat Heroin Addiction and HIV with a Single Vaccine?
by Fernanda Ferreira figures by Brad Wierbowski Every day 140 Americans die from an opioid overdose. To confront the crisis, not only must opioid addiction treatment become more readily available, but new and improved forms of treatment must also be developed. Dr. Carl Alving, whose life work has been to develop an HIV vaccine, never planned on investigating novel systems for treating opioid addiction. But … Continue reading Can We Treat Heroin Addiction and HIV with a Single Vaccine?
Fish skin “bandages” rapidly heal burned bears and a mountain lion
Two bears and a mountain lion suffered extreme burns to their paws during the California wildfires in December. Treating the animals with the traditional procedures was proving difficult, so vets turned to an experimental treatment: fish skin bandages. Amazingly, the bears and lion healed in a fraction of the time it would have taken otherwise and have already been released.
Continue reading Fish skin “bandages” rapidly heal burned bears and a mountain lion
Oldest human fossil found outside of Africa throws popular theory into doubt
The closest ancestors of modern-day humans (Homo sapiens) and other subspecies of the genus Homo are thought to have originated in Eastern Africa around 2.85 million years ago. Archaeologists interested in the link between the earliest members of the genus Homo and modern humans often study the migration patterns of Homo sapiens and their closest relatives to refine our evolutionary tree. The earliest record of … Continue reading Oldest human fossil found outside of Africa throws popular theory into doubt
Remote Brain Stimulation: A new treatment for Parkinson’s disease?
by Anqi Zhang figures by Daniel Utter What do you think of the idea of inserting a long metal wire into your brain? That’s what doctors have done to ease the symptoms of Parkinson’s disease over the past 20 years. Sound scary? A new technique called temporal interference stimulation is exploring the possibility of achieving the same effects by attaching electrical stimulators to the outside of … Continue reading Remote Brain Stimulation: A new treatment for Parkinson’s disease?
A major obstacle to CRISPR/Cas9 – preexisting immunity
The discovery of CRISPR/Cas9 is one of the biggest scientific breakthroughs in recent memory. This technology, first discovered in microbes, enables the cleaving of DNA in order to remove or replace existing genes. For a crash course into the history of CRISPR/Cas9 discovery and development with primary sources please refer to the footnote*. This technology will enable us cure many genetic diseases. Work is currently … Continue reading A major obstacle to CRISPR/Cas9 – preexisting immunity
Colonies 3
It may be hard to believe, but this sea of shiny, donut-shaped colonies are Pseudomonas aeruginosa colonies. These Pseudomonas colonies have a genetic mutation that causes many of the bacteria’s genes to be shut off. The donut-shape of these colonies may indicate a two-step growth phase where the younger cells on the outside edge of the colony grow towards more nutrients while the older cells in … Continue reading Colonies 3