Tag: Biology

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Is Disease in My Future? How Your Genome Might One Day Answer That Question

Many human diseases are influenced by genetics, and scientists and doctors have attempted to understand the connection between rare mutations in a person’s genome, called genetic variants, and the likelihood of a disease outcome. Some variants can have little to no effect on a person developing a particular disease, while others can have a much larger impact and are considered disease-causing, or pathogenic. Doctors often … Continue reading Is Disease in My Future? How Your Genome Might One Day Answer That Question

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Opinion–GMO: It’s easy as D-N-A!

by Jeff Bessen cartoon by Shannon McArdel Before forming an opinion on genetically modified foods, one should understand what genes are in the first place. Knowledge of the history and biological function of genes helps explain why scientists are almost unanimous in their endorsement of the safety of GMOs.   If the genome of a cell is a bestselling novel – say, Harry Potter – … Continue reading Opinion–GMO: It’s easy as D-N-A!

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A potential new weapon against heart disease: PCSK9 inhibitors

by Mary E. Gearing figures by Kristen Seim Heart disease is the number one cause of death in the United States [1]. Today, patients with a family history of heart disease or risk factors such as elevated “bad” cholesterol (low-density lipoprotein or LDL cholesterol) are commonly treated with statin drugs such as Lipitor, which decrease the amount of cholesterol a person makes. Although statins effectively … Continue reading A potential new weapon against heart disease: PCSK9 inhibitors

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Repurposing virus proteins for a positive role in the placenta

by Joseph Timpona We often think of viruses as foreign invaders– microscopic agents intent on making us sick before spreading to the next victim.  However, some viruses become enduring guests by hitchhiking a permanent ride in our genomes. In fact, scientists think that these special types of viruses, known as retroviruses, may have inadvertently allowed for the development of placental mammals including humans. Retroviruses Retroviruses … Continue reading Repurposing virus proteins for a positive role in the placenta

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Inception Helps Mice Navigate

by Grigori Guitchounts figures by Brian Chow For decades, we have known that specialized neurons in the hippocampus of rodents called place cells reflect the animals’ location in space. Meanwhile, studies have also implicated the hippocampus in supporting memory formation. Could there be a link between the two seemingly detached functions? Yes! says the latest neurobiology research, showing that place cells not only encode an … Continue reading Inception Helps Mice Navigate

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Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble: A medieval drug raises cautious hope in the fight against MRSA

A 1000-year-old Anglo-Saxon recipe for eye stys in Bald’s Leechbook directs the reader to take the ingredients and “pound them well together” before letting them stew for nine days. A group from Nottingham University followed Bald’s recipe and their close attention to the medieval text paid off when they saw that the garlicky slime produced by their efforts killed 90% of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus(MRSA) on … Continue reading Double, double, toil and trouble; fire burn and cauldron bubble: A medieval drug raises cautious hope in the fight against MRSA

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Algae: Applications in Removing Arsenic and Beyond

Scientists at Zhejiang University have recently published an improved method for removing arsenic from drinking water, which relies on chemically modifying the shells of a type of algae, called diatoms, to make the shells efficient “sponges” for soaking up arsenic. Modified diatom shells are unique in that they can be widely manipulated for applications in fields as diverse as medicine and materials science. Despite their … Continue reading Algae: Applications in Removing Arsenic and Beyond

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To bee or not to bee: social dynamics impact productivity and stress response in honey bees

Watch out, honey fans – populations of the honey bee, Apis mellifera, may be in decline, and we don’t really know why. Honey bees play a vital role in natural ecosystems as pollinators; it is estimated that a single bee can visit 2000 flowers in a day [1]. Agriculturally, bees are important for much more than honey, being required for the pollination of many other … Continue reading To bee or not to bee: social dynamics impact productivity and stress response in honey bees

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A step towards the primordial soup

How did life originate? This puzzle has been studied by scientists for hundreds of years. Authors of a new paper in Nature have made significant progress towards solving this enigma by using cyanide as a starting material. While cyanide may be poisonous to us, mixing it with a specific chemical solution and heat seems to give rise to many of the molecules of life. A … Continue reading A step towards the primordial soup

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