Beginning of the End of the Pandemic Era?
HIV, SARS, Swine flu, Ebola, Zika — what’s next? After being the world’s worst pandemics, these viruses have now become household names. Their deadly outbreaks have had devastating effects on...
Scientists at War: Overview of the CRISPR Patent Debate
Imagine, if you will, the archetypal example of a scientist. Clad in a stained lab coat or surrounded by dusty chalk boards, they spend long hours uncovering knowledge, unconcerned with profit or fame. This...
CRISPR-based Diagnostic Detective may Save Countless Lives
The importance of accurate and efficient diagnoses for dealing with illness is apparent to anyone who has struggled against an unidentified ailment, making it no surprise that diagnostic tools occupy the front...
The Thyroid Wants What it Wants
In 2007, the World Health Organization estimated that almost 2 billion people worldwide were not getting enough iodine in their diet. This iodine deficiency has damaging physical and economic consequences on...
Humanized Mice Models for Studying Hepatitis C
Thanks to vaccines, we’ve been able to reduce the global impact of measles, smallpox, and other infectious diseases. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared smallpox eradicated in 1980 after a global...
Hypertension: The Silent Killer
Imagine being given a clean bill of health at your routine physical examination, only to find out the next day that you have a dangerous long-term medical condition. This reality is currently hitting millions...
Epigenetics: We Are Not Just Our DNA
Without you even knowing, the environment is getting under your skin. Every food choice you make, every all-nighter you pull, every stressful situation in your life works to change who you are, one...
Fields United: Bridging the Gap Between Biology and Physics
In high school, your science education most likely consisted of sharply segmented classes such as biology and physics with no overlap. But what if the real world doesn’t work this way? Within...
Cancer’s Cheat Meal: Lactate
CANCER! Media buzzword, devastating disease, hot research topic. The scientific research community is constantly churning out new discoveries in an effort to revolutionize our means of attack against cancer,...
Off With His Head
Sixteen-month-old Jaxon Taylor of New South Wales, Australia was recently internally decapitated after a major car accident severed his upper vertebrae. Upon airlift to a Brisbane hospital where spinal surgeon...