Freezing Your Eggs: How, Why, and When?
University newspapers often feature advertisements from “happy couples looking to grow their family” looking for an egg donor with “an Ivy League degree, blonde hair, blue eyes, and athletic ability.”...
Brain? We Have a Security Breach!
Meet the human brain’s security system: the infamous blood-brain barrier (BBB). Consisting of a dynamic network of specialized endothelial cells lining brain capillaries, the BBB serves as a nearly...
Do Probiotics Work?
In recent years, biologists and nutritionists alike have been abuzz over the human microbiome: the thriving ecosystem of microorganisms colonizing the lining of our guts, the surface of our skins, and every...
Amoebas Don’t Mess Around
Using DNA Nets to Capture Organisms Why don’t you ever get sick from the same bug twice? The answer lies in the elaborate network of defenses that make up your immune system. The intimate relationship...
3D Bioprinting
Regeneration of Organs Hannah Warren was born with a missing trachea, a fatal condition with a survival rate lower than 1%. She was breathing with a tube inserted through her mouth, and wasn’t able to speak...
Does Menu Labeling Lead to Healthier Eating?
It’s almost painfully obvious now that obesity is a serious problem in the United States. Over a third of U.S. adults are obese, and obesity-related diseases such as cardiovascular disease, diabetes, and...
The Complexity of Fats and Carbohydrates
“Eat Butter.” This was the title of a controversial TIME magazine article in 2014. It suggested that saturated fats are not as harmful to cardiovascular health as was commonly believed for the past few...
Muffling Bacteria
An Alternative to Antibiotics I lay dormant. I quietly absorb nutrients from my environment, growing, growing, growing — and then I split into two. This happens over and over again, until there are...
Water Fluoridation
This past March, Mayor David Stahl of East Brunswick, NJ denounced tap water fluoridation as "mass medication of the public." An ethical labyrinth, it infringes on informed consent and individual choice, but...
Make No Misteak
What's Wrong with American Beef While on a sustainable farming trip at the picturesque Gravity Hills Farm in Titusville, New Jersey, I was intrigued by a local beef farmer's comment about the Mediterranean...