Researchers from Oxitec, a British biotechnology company, have developed genetically-altered mosquitoes in an effort to quell mosquito populations and prevent the spread of diseases. Now, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is considering releasing these genetically modified mosquitoes in the Florida Keys.
The structure and functions of the brain are highly complex, and in turn, the way it reacts to injury and insults can be perplexing. In fact, it is arguably the most complex and least understood structure in nature. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine have recently published some interesting and startling findings on the pathological effects observed in the brains of soldiers exposed to improvised explosive devices (IEDs).
Like many college students, freshman Maggie Koo always gets her flu shot, and this year was no exception.
The performance of daily activities such as grocery shopping, daily household cleaning and meal preparation could be affected by breathing problems during sleep. A new study suggests that older women with sleep apnea are at a high risk for declining ability to perform such activities.
With recent advances in nanotechnology, computers and microchips have gotten exponentially smaller and more powerful over the past few decades. In fact, this phenomenon is so well known that it’s been given a name: Moore’s Law, after the scientist who first described it. Many may be doubtful that this trend will continue forever, due to the physical limits of technological materials, but as it turns out, our bodies already contain tiny, natural computing agents — the bacteria Escherichia coli. Recently, scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have come up with a way to store information in this common bacterium.
For a very long time, the idea that the adult mammalian brain could make new neurons was regarded as a ludicrous idea. The then-pervading dogma in the field posited that we have as many neurons in the brain as we are born with.
Individuals faced with the prospect of choosing a new doctor consider a variety of factors when making their decision. Experience, recommendations from friends and family, specialized training, location, convenience and quality of medical education are just a few of the factors that may run through patients’ minds after receiving a diagnosis. Given that choosing a physician and a treatment are among the most important choices that cancer patients will make, researchers recently looked into how patients make these decisions.
This past decade has seen significant advancements in the efficacy of medical procedures, and research on the genetics of type 2 diabetes is one area that has greatly expanded in recent years. As of now, type 2 diabetes is known to be influenced by more than 50 genetic variants, some of which have been studied for their effect on responses to treatment.
Parents of premature infants are already concerned about their baby’s health, and they may now have another worry. Bloomberg School of Public Health researchers discovered that plastics used to treat premature babies, or preemies, contain levels of a chemical called DEHP up to 160,000 times the safe amount. The finding means doctors might need to find alternative products to save our littlest patients.
With great power comes great responsibility.
Depression has long been a misunderstood disorder. Even its classification remains tenuous: It has been characterized as a disease, an emotional disorder and a dysfunction of the brain, among many other labels. And the affliction itself continues to resist understanding.
Nov. 6 is definitely a date that will go down in our history books. Ten years of speculations and calculations finally became reality when Rosetta successfully landed its probe, Philae, onto the Comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko.
Warm fuzzy feelings are not the only things being shared when you kiss someone — a study published in science journal Microbiome reveals that a single, 10-second kiss can transfer as many as 80 million bacteria. The study also discovered that couples who kiss each other more than nine times a day share similar communities of oral bacteria.
The inability of central nervous system (CNS) neurons to regenerate constitutes the greatest challenge to the development of therapies for nervous system disorders and injuries. Unlike muscle or skin tissue, neurons in the brain and the spinal cord suffer from a severe regenerative failure. This lack of regenerative ability explains why neurodegenerative disorders and traumatic injuries to the CNS are so devastating. For example, there are 200,000 people currently living in the United States with Spinal Cord Injury, accumulating a lifetime cost of up to $3 million. Neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s, comprise a significant economic and social burden to individuals and society.
Flashing back to the third grade, you’re surrounded by the bright vibrancy that encompassed the welcoming elementary school walls. It’s Tuesday, and the weekly spelling quiz is about to begin. You studied, but not enough; your mother got you a new paint set, and you spent the majority of last evening mixing colors and painting. Your palms are clammy and then quickly escalate to moist as your teacher instructs the class to spell the first word. The unthinkable has happened, and you are faced with the impending doom that tricky inflected endings bring. Your neighbor, with a champion smile on her face, frantically spells the word. You hear an eraser being rubbed against paper to your left, and swift as a feather, your neighbor’s answer sheet has been flown to the ground. Do you dart your eyes and look to your left? Or do you hold up to your honest upbringing and ignore the paper on the floor, even if it could save your test? Would you really resort to cheating? Being exposed to situations like this in life is inevitable, but do we act? Being the creative individual you are, the answer is yes.
A mosquito is smaller than a paperclip, but it can potentially take down a human with just a bite. Recently, a scientist has found a strain of bacteria that, if ingested by a mosquito, may kill it as well as prevent it from passing on two serious diseases, malaria and dengue. Although this research is still in its infancy, it could someday be used to end the threat of malaria.
The first lifeforms that appeared on earth were composed of single-celled organisms, and after millions of years, they evolved into multicellular entities. Cells cooperate to form organs, and systems of organs combine to form beings, from trees to whales. Though many aspects of organismal evolution are well-understood, scientists have struggled to discover the exact process by which single cells developed into multicellular organisms. Recently, a research team from New Zealand Institute and the Max Planck Institute have found a possible theory for the development of multicellular life.
Countries often aim to present the best version of themselves to the world when hosting major international events. Some countries have taken drastic measures to ensure that visitors see as much of the nation’s good side and as little of its bad side as possible.
Scientists are constantly finding ways to better understand the intricacies of human DNA. A recent study has investigated the presence of endogenous retroviruses present in the human genome.
Usually you might find my name next to yet another Ebola article naming the umpteenth person to be infected by the deadly virus, or perhaps relaying Hopkins students’ cynicism toward the request of Americans to U.S. President Barack Obama to ban all air travel to high prevalence countries, but for this issue of The News-Letter, I have prepared something different. I have decided to address the anti-climactic underlying question that serves as the backbone for the DNA of this section, and as a dedicated reader, I ask you to push yourself to answer it as well.
