By: Habiba Abdelhalim Picture an ant trapped in the sand, pinned down and unable to move. A nestmate approaches, and although it could easily walk away and keep foraging, it stops to help. Digging out a trapped comrade takes time, burns energy, and offers no immediate reward, and yet the ant starts to dig, biting … Continue reading No Ant Left Behind: The Science of Insect Altruism
science
Moving beyond COVID: mRNA Steps into CAR T cell therapy for Myasthenia Gravis
By: Paige Bond Movement requires communication between both muscles and nerves. At the neuromuscular junction (Figure 1), nerves release a chemical messenger, acetylcholine, which binds to specific receptors on muscle cells to trigger muscle contraction. Disrupting the activity of the acetylcholine receptors can lead to muscle weakness or the inability to voluntarily contract muscles at … Continue reading Moving beyond COVID: mRNA Steps into CAR T cell therapy for Myasthenia Gravis
Reprogramming your defenses— autoimmune disease and a “small” potential therapy
By Niesha Savory Think for a moment and see if you recognize any of the disorders listed here: type 1 diabetes, lupus (SLE), Rheumatoid Arthritis, Multiple Sclerosis (MS) and Crohn’s Disease. Perhaps you heard of them through classes, readings, or a drug commercial as the jolliest people ever dance behind the catalog of brutal side … Continue reading Reprogramming your defenses— autoimmune disease and a “small” potential therapy
“Legally Blind”: What it Actually Means, and What Researchers Are Doing About It
By Allison Krebs “I’m legally blind without my glasses.” Although often used hyperbolically to describe poor eyesight, this phrase is usually inaccurate. Legal blindness is a specific clinical and legal classification with precise criteria defined not by inconvenience, dependency on glasses, or difficulty spotting road signs at night. Rather, it is based on standardized measurements … Continue reading “Legally Blind”: What it Actually Means, and What Researchers Are Doing About It
The Purr-suit of Knowledge: A New Era of Cat Research
By: Sydney Callender Cats are one of the most popular pets, with 49 million US households owning a cat (Figure 1). These furry felines are full of quirky behaviors, like waking up their owners at the crack of dawn every day, vanishing from sight at the first sign of an impending trip to the vet … Continue reading The Purr-suit of Knowledge: A New Era of Cat Research
Not a Death Wish – An Immune Response: How Ants Fight Disease
By: Habiba Abdelhalim In many animal societies – including humans! – illness can affect more than just the individual that becomes sick. Diseases can spread rapidly amongst members of a group, especially when animals live closely together. Humans regularly implement strategies to mitigate this spread: we stay home when contagious, avoid sick people, and sometimes … Continue reading Not a Death Wish – An Immune Response: How Ants Fight Disease
Slowly at first, then all at once
By Seth Kabonick Ernest Hemingway describes the rising of the morning sun as something that happens slowly at first, then all at once. This quote has been used to illustrate everything from financial markets to drunkenness, but I believe it also applies to recent challenges plaguing the scientific community. It has been a long and … Continue reading Slowly at first, then all at once
The Search for a Universal Snake Antivenom
By Arrienne Butic In 2001, avid snake collector Tim Friede embarked on a mission that was equal parts bold and dangerous – in a bid to obtain immunological protection from his venomous reptilian charges, he began dosing himself with snake venom. Over a 17-year period, Friede injected himself with venom more than 850 times and … Continue reading The Search for a Universal Snake Antivenom
Houston, we have a problem: can we solve the reproducibility crisis in science?
By: Jenny Lausch Public trust in our work as scientists is of the utmost importance. While some scientists receive funds from private companies and individuals, most science in the United States is funded and made possible by tax dollars that are allocated by the government through the National Institute of Health (NIH) and National Science … Continue reading Houston, we have a problem: can we solve the reproducibility crisis in science?
Ocean, Going Dark: Diving into the Darkening of the Global Ocean
By: Natale Hall When you hear the words “ocean” and “climate change” together in a sentence, your mind probably jumps to the flashy – and therefore commonly reported climate concerns – like the melting polar ice caps, rising sea levels, more frequent algal blooms, and maybe even coral bleaching. But there’s another, less familiar shift … Continue reading Ocean, Going Dark: Diving into the Darkening of the Global Ocean
