News-Letter

Why do some people who choke down coffee dislike its taste immensely, while others don't notice the bitterness of the jolt that starts their morning? The answer may depend on the presence or lack of certain proteins in our taste buds. A team of researchers at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, using simple taste-testing methods, recently found that genetically mutated fruit flies that were missing an essential taste receptor protein were able to consume caffeine-laden sugar without noticing its taste.… Post the First Comment

Malaria is easy to overlook because it is not a pressing public health issue in the United States. Along with a slew of other infectious diseases, malaria has nearly been extinguished here. But malaria remains a leading cause of death worldwide, infecting between 300 and 500 million people annually and resulting in at least one million deaths each year.… Post the First Comment

Two of the most prestigious prizes in biology were recently awarded to Hopkins scientists. Andrew Fire shared the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his discovery of RNA interference. Carol Greider shared the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Biomedical Research, often described as the "American Nobel," for her work on the enzyme telomerase.… 1 Comment