A new look at the louse family tree has revealed that many lice hosted by mammals, including the human head louse, have coevolved with mammals over tens of millions of years. Continue reading Itching for a change? Some lice have evolved alongside their hosts for millions of years.
by Jeongpyo Hongfigures by Xiaomeng Hanedited by Sarah Kalinowski A little boy is in the hospital to fix his leg. His surgeon uses spinal rods developed for adults to fix the little boy’s leg as it is the only thing that really fits. Since the rod was developed for an adult spine, its clinical safety and effectiveness in the legs of children – with considerations … Continue reading Real World Evidence: A new approach to approve medical products for children
by Cheshta Bhatiafigures by Jasmin Joseph-Chazan Ubiquitous actions that we perform in our daily lives, like tying our shoelaces or playing basketball, rely on our brain’s ability to learn and execute motor skills; this ability to knit movements into a series of actions enables us to walk, dance, or play the piano. However, have you ever wondered why we can improve at these tasks with … Continue reading How do motor behaviors get better with practice?
by Misha Guptafigures by Xiaomeng Han For close to two centuries, humans have been studying the biological past using fossil records. In recent history, we have added the ability to reconstruct the sequence of our DNA to our arsenal. Furthermore, phylogenetic trees (structures that define the evolutionary relationships in the line of descent from a common ancestor) have been created for all manners of organisms, … Continue reading Viral Fossil Records: A Look into the Past! (and the Future?)
by Ariel Hairstonfigures by MacKenzie Mauger Our lives are stuffed with opportunities for excitement and stimulation. You might wake up in the morning and find yourself staring at your modest collection of succulents, or that small oil painting you bought at a flea market. The first moments of your day might be spent taking a walk around the block, the smell of tree bark hanging … Continue reading Home Decor and the Hippocampus: How environmental enrichment can enhance brain function
Scientists have characterized a component of bull ant venom that causes hypersensitivity to touch and heat in mammals Continue reading Ant Venom Holds Clues for Pain Pathways in Mammals
by Wei Li News about exciting and novel science is being published every day, whether it’s about a new technique for rejuvenating skin cells, or a new breakthrough in fighting drug resistance for cancer patients. However, when you read these news articles, how can you assess if they are trustworthy? How do you know if a new technique actually works or if the data used … Continue reading Peer Review in Science: the pains and problems
Exposure to heavy metals leads to increased antibiotic resistance within the human body. Continue reading Heavy Metal Exposure Creates Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria
by Sanjana Kulkarnifigures by Corena Loeb The bacteria Mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) has been infecting humans for thousands of years. Today, TB, which is thought to have originated in Africa and evolved alongside human hosts, is found across the globe and causes 1-2 million deaths annually, making it the second leading infectious disease killer after COVID-19. As new COVID-19 variants keep emerging, we can observe the … Continue reading The Human-Tuberculosis Arms Race
by Molly Sargen Antibiotics are drugs that kill or inhibit the growth of microbes, including bacteria and fungi. These drugs work by blocking essential processes like protein production, DNA replication, and cell division. After Alexander Fleming’s serendipitous discovery of Penicillin, antibiotics became a central feature of medical care. Today, antibiotics are used to treat a wide variety of infections and prevent new infections during invasive … Continue reading Antibiotic Persistence and Resistance