by Sangrag Ganguli and Uche C. Ezeh figures by Rebecca Clements Every year, thousands of people are rushed into hospitals with crushing chest pain and shortness of breath. While some recognize these signs of a heart attack in time to receive proper treatment, over half a million others are not so fortunate. To combat these fatalities, doctors often warn patients about the common risk factors of … Continue reading CHIP-ping Away at the Heart
by Aparna Nathan figures by Jovana Andrejevic When the internet was born, it was just a pair of connected computers that transmitted data back and forth. Now, it’s a place where you can make purchases, connect (or reconnect) with friends, run a business, and pay bills without ever leaving your home. The internet has brought the whole world within reach with just a few keystrokes—but … Continue reading From ZIP Codes to Paywalls: The internet as a new frontier of inequality
by Fernanda Ferreira figures by Abagail Burrus In one of the lower-level exhibition rooms of the Museum of Fine Arts (MFA) in Boston is a large red and blue mantle from Peru made of camelid wool. Stylized faces embroidered in yellow, blue, green, and red smile back at you from behind the thick glass, while blue and red bands alternate across the mantle, giving it … Continue reading Stopping Time: The science of textile conservation
by Zhen Dai figures by Sean Wilson and Zhen Dai A deep ripple It was a typical lab day earlier this year. I planned to install an equipment component that had just arrived in the mail. I unpacked the component and proceeded to recycle the packaging. As I searched through the lab, though, I noticed that our blue recycling bins were nowhere to be found. … Continue reading The Disappearing Recycling Bins: Recent disruption of the US recycling industry and the path ahead
by Julian Segert figures by Aparna Nathan In Mountain View, California, near the headquarters of Facebook and Google, lies 23andMe, a company that set out to make genetic testing approachable and affordable for the general public. The company started with the goal of providing risk assessments for genetic diseases, but has recently gained more popularity by offering insights into geographical ancestry. 23andMe is unique among … Continue reading Understanding Ownership and Privacy of Genetic Data
by Jordan Wilkerson figures by Rebecca Senft The blue, glimmering Pacific Ocean. On his 1997 trip from Hawaii back to the US mainland, Captain Charles Moore expected captivating views of its pristine waters. After all, he’d be sailing across one of the most remote regions of the ocean, one of Earth’s few oases untouched by industrialization. But the waters weren’t pristine. Instead, the captain and … Continue reading The Plastic in our Oceans
A unique partnership between academic laboratories, the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (UN FAO), and Mars, Incorporated hopes to leverage the power of crowdsourced science to develop new protein structures that can degrade the aflatoxin poison. Aflatoxin, produced by certain fungi, is a potent cancer-causing poison estimated to contribute to up to 28% of liver cancer cases globally. This toxin can contaminate crops in the … Continue reading Gamers and scientists work together to conquer a cancer-causing menace
In each human gut, a community of trillions of bacteria help digest food and make certain nutrients. Some of these bacteria are associated with disease such as diabetes and Crohn’s, while some prevent disease. The composition of bacteria varies from one person to another, with diet and geographical location contributing to the diversity. In modern times, where millions of people migrate around the globe, their … Continue reading Refugees’ Gut Bacteria Become Westernized After Moving to the US
When you read a research article, what you see is a finished product. Behind that finished product are countless hours, weeks, months, and likely years of time and effort that went into making that published article. Not only do the experiments take time, but so does setting up and troubleshooting all of the techniques that were used. In science, things rarely work the first time … Continue reading Just Keep Swimming
by Luli Zou figures by Olivia Foster Who benefits from medical research? We would like to think that everyone, regardless of background, has access to new discoveries and therapies. In reality, much of our knowledge about disease and treatment originates from research that does not reflect the diversity of all individuals with the disease. This imbalance stems from a variety of factors, including the same … Continue reading Expanding Scientific Research to “All of Us”