Christine Marizzi
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Posts by Christine Marizzi
The Couch Potato Gene
Feb 23rd
Next to the rarely true excuse, “Of course I´m not too heavy… I just have heavy bones,” the couch potato gene could be the perfect excuse for those who find exercise something of a chore. It may not be an attitude problem: ‘I’m not lazy, it’s my genes!’
In investigating couch potatoes scientists have discovered why some of us have fun working out for hours while others lack energy and can barely summon the get-up-and-go to reach for the TV remote.
They believe they have identified the genes that produce an enzyme in our muscles during work outs called AMP kinase More >
Catching the Flu: Between Complacency and Fear
Jan 25th
It is “flu season” again and people are being vaccinated against the seasonal flu. But how do these vaccines work and why do we have to get a new one every year?
And how does this relate to the issue of scientific publishing and biosecurity? Read on…
Flu – or influenza – is a serious respiratory illness (not to be confused with common cold) caused by the influenza A and B viruses. Influenza claims a death toll of about 250,000 to 500,000 people worldwide every year. Medical advances have helped understand and combat one of history’s worst killers. From 1918 to 2012 More >
How a Virus Creates Zombie Insects
Jan 4th
Photograph courtesy of the USDA Forest Service via Wikimedia Commons.
Kelli Hoover and her research team from the Penn State have found out how a virus can change the behavior of a host organism. The result is destructive for the gypsy moth but excellent for the virus.
Gypsy moths are an invasive species. In its larval stage caterpillars damage roughly a million acres of forest in the U.S. each year by feeding on tree leaves. But the damage would be greater if it weren’t for a pathogen called baculovirus that infects these caterpillars and causes them effectively to engage in suicidal More >
