What’s That Red Liquid Under Your Steak?
Have you ever ordered a steak done medium — or even well — and then reeled from shock when it came back with red liquid pooling underneath it? Surprise — contrary to popular belief, this liquid is not...
Stem Cells
The Key to Regenerative Medicine There are more than 123,000 people waiting to receive an organ transplant in the United States. In fact, the lack of available donors and organs for organ transplantations is...
A World Within Us
The Human Microbiome On almost every surface of the human body, both inside and out, are thriving ecosystems of microorganisms: bacteria, fungi and archaea. In fact, there are so many of them that they...
To Edit or not to Edit
The Ethics of Gene Manipulation The concept of gene editing (adding, disrupting or changing the sequence of a specific gene) has been a staple of science fantasy for several decades. From Aldous Huxley’s...
Insulin at the Touch of Your iPhone
What if you no longer had to go to the doctor’s office for your appointments? What if all of your lab tests could be done at home, on your own time? What if you had continuous access to all of your vital...
Too Much Emphasis on Procedures and Pills?
When Secondary Prevention is Harmful The current philosophy in our healthcare system maintains that the best way to keep people healthy is to constantly check if they have signs or symptoms of disease. But...
Slippery Surfaces Promise to Make Hospitals’ Infection Rates Fall to the Ground
A team at Harvard’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering developed a new material with the potential to prevent some of the 721,800 infections estimated to develop annually in U.S....
One New Liver, Please
The Advent of 3D Bioprinting Patients in desperate need of organ transplant certainly do not have the odds in their favor. Of the 123,000 patients currently awaiting a life-saving donation, less than...
Freedom from the Ghosts of Our Past
Just as dogs learn to recognize that the sound of a can opening means dinner, we too make emotional connections with sights, sounds, smells and other sensory experiences. Though sometimes pleasant, as with the...
Extending Exercise to Cancer Prevention
Exercise: a simple word commonly associated with fitness and health. Whether it is First Lady Michelle Obama promoting a nationwide movement to exercise and eat healthy or individuals setting aside a part of...