With each new piece of information or sensory experiences, our dynamic and malleable brain alters its connections which leads to long-lasting changes in neural pathways. While the misconception of the inert brain has mostly subsided, the underlying molecular mechanisms resulting in structural changes in neurons are still under much scrutiny in neuroscience.
Popular culture and media have long toyed with how humans might wrestle with knowing the exact date they were going to die.
2014 saw the deadliest and most widespread Ebola epidemic in history. It was the first to occur in West Africa as well as the first and only Ebola outbreak ever to reach epidemic proportions. The epidemic began in Guinea in December 2013 and soon spread to neighboring Liberia and Sierra Leone, as well as to other West African nations. As of Feb. 3, a total of 9,019 deaths due to this epidemic of Ebola have occurred with Guinea, Sierra Leone and Liberia bearing the overwhelming majority of the disease’s burden.
Clotho, one of the three Fates in Ancient Greek mythology, was accorded the responsibility of spinning the threads of human lives. She was tasked with controlling not only the birth of each individual, but also the timing of each individual’s death. Named after this Greek spinner of life, the klotho protein, which was discovered in 1997, has been associated with longevity. Recently, a variant of the KLOTHO gene that codes for the klotho protein was linked to better cognitive abilities in humans.
The next time you lay out on the Beach studying and an inquisitive bee comes along, thank him. Why? Because our health and the health of people worldwide depend on this creature that weighs one-tenth of a gram. Scientists have recently linked human health in a new way to the important role that bees play in pollination of agricultural crops.
Depression is a chronic psychiatric disorder that affects 25 percent of women and 12 percent of men in the United States, and it cost the U.S. $83 billion in 2000.
The big chemistry test is tomorrow. You’ve been up pouring through and highlighting your textbook, consolidating your notes into one dense study sheet, and cramming all the information about alkanes, aromatic molecules and reaction mechanisms that you can in one night. Your brain is sated, and it’s time for a celebratory cup of coffee to cement those facts.
The recent outbreak of measles in the United States has raised flags in the public health world.
Nutrition is key to looking and feeling well, but what about thinking well?
Millions of Americans sat in front of the television last Sunday, mesmerized by the skill and speed of football players in Super Bowl XLIX. The bone-crunching impacts both horrified and delighted the spectators.
At some point or another, everyone has wondered how long he or she will live. Although obtaining a completely definite and reliable answer is essentially impossible, a recent study shows that your close friends may be able to provide a fairly accurate assessment of your life expectancy.
Last month the New Horizons spacecraft from NASA woke from hibernation about 135 million miles away from its destination — the dwarf planet Pluto.
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) spark numerous debates regarding human safety and the efficient use of resources. Some advocate GMOs as a way through which humans can battle hunger and disease. The flood of cheap and beautiful genetically modified crops in supermarkets and the success of genetically modified mosquitoes in wiping out their disease-carrying counterparts seem to support this view. However, opponents of GMOs cite the potential dangers to human health if genetically modified foods are consumed and the possibility of mutations in genetically modified organisms. Recently a research team at Harvard has discovered a method of biocontainment, built-in mechanisms that prevent GMOs from surviving in unintended places.
The body’s fight or flight response is all too familiar to many of us, even if we’ve never been confronted with a life or death situation before. As college students, we may have to give a presentation in front of a large class, drink several cups of coffee in order to finish an essay or even just ask our romantic interest out on a date — situations which can induce a variety of responses from the human cardiovascular system. These symptoms include stomach “butterflies” and an accelerated heart rate. However, some people may experience these symptoms without any sort of external stimulus. Medical and psychological conditions, such as heart disease and schizophrenia, can cause the heart to race uncontrollably and unpredictably, and in some cases it can be deadly.
IPads are really fun to use, with functionality ranging from watching Netflix to playing Angry Birds. Even beyond evening entertainment, light-emitting electronic devices are entering the realm of education through waves of e-books and applications that promote learning, and their utility explains their ubiquity in our lives. However, have we really fully considered the implication of such technologies beyond their use in work and play? This question has been raised many times before. Some say that technologies make us lazier and more dependent on electronics. Others say they take away from interpersonal relationships as people glue their eyes to the small screen of their mobile phones, fingers rapidly firing away text messages.
Nisu Patel, a 19-year-old junior, has spent his time outside class working in a research lab on Homewood Campus. He tells us how he thinks computational sciences are the key to understanding and treating diseases in the future.
Organ donation is typically a difficult process: Recipients must wait on organ donation waiting lists for indefinite periods of time, and the families of donors are forced to make an extremely hard decision during a time already marred by painful and recent loss.
According to the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, an average of 18 people die each day while waiting for an organ transplant. Instead of relying solely on people to donate organs to recipients, imagine if scientists could construct the necessary organs using readily available materials. Fortunately, this science fiction fantasy may soon become a viable reality for patients who require heart transplants.
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).
