Coffee Consumption and Depression
Oct 9th
I love coffee. My family loves coffee. At any time of the day I have access to 5 ways to quickly make a cup. Is this unusual? According to many statistic counts- not really. Americans love their coffee. Over 80% of Americans consume coffee- that’s over 400 million cups a day! Caffeine is our favorite stimulant. Interesting enough, men and women consume coffee for different reasons. Men drink coffee in order to get the job done and complete tasks. Women, on the other hand, use coffee to relax. For me, nothing’s better than a nice cup of coffee. Today there’s More >
Glow Kitties for Disease Resistance
Oct 5th
Who would have known that a little glowing jellyfish would come to mean so much? In the 60’s and 70’s a Japanese scientist named Osamu Shimomura isolated a protein from the pacific jellyfish (Aequorea Victoria) that allowed the jellyfish to glow. This cylinder-shaped protein is now called Green Fluorescent Protein or “GFP.” Shimomura also uncovered the part of the GFP molecule that was responsible for its fluorescence. After this initial discovery, other researchers began to show an interest in the little glowing molecule, especially, Martin Chalfie and Roger Tsien.
Martin Chalfie began attaching GFP to gene promoters, hoping that GFP would More >
A Prize and a Passing
Oct 3rd
As some of you may have noticed, I have blogged about pancreatic cancer in the past because it is such a nasty type of cancer. Now, pancreatic cancer is in the news because, sadly, Ralph M. Steinman, who was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his ground-breaking work on the immune system, died before he could receive the Award. Dr. Steinman primarily worked on immune cells, but his work also touched on cancer. The immune system monitors the body for both foreign invaders, like bacterial infections, and rogue cells that might become cancerous. The immune system is More >
IQ Tests as a Measure of Intelligence
Sep 28th
Many of the old theories relating to eugenics were tied deeply to intelligence levels as predicted by IQ tests. As a matter of fact, popular IQ tests that are still in use today have their roots in the eugenics community. But just how well does an IQ test fare as a measure of intelligence?
Before we can measure something, intelligence in this case, we must define it. This presents a challenge on its own. How do we define intelligence? Merriam-Webster defines intelligence as:
- the ability to learn or understand or to deal with new or trying situations. also: the skilled use of More >
Will insulin come to the rescue of AD patients?
Sep 27th
Alzheimer disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease of the brain that is divided into early- and late-onset groups. AD is characterized by the build up of amyloid plaques, neurofibrillary tangles and the loss of connections between neurons. It is the most common type of dementia especially in the elderly. The exact causes of AD are elusive at the moment but are most likely the result of genetics and other factors. Scientist have been working hard to identify individual and or groups of genes responsible for the disease. Although the scientific community has identified may genes involved in early and late More >
Different sides of the same coin; twins and epigenetics
Sep 23rd
Most people are aware that monozygotic (identical) twins share the exactly the same DNA, but it might be surprising to know that traits and diseases with genetic components can vary between these twins. In the case of some psychiatric disorders with strong genetic components, there are many pairs of identical twins in which only one twin actually develops the disease. In bipolar disorder for example a monozygotic twin has only a 40%-70% chance of also having bipolar disorder if their twin has been diagnosed. If bipolar disorder really has a strong genetic component, then why isn’t this number 100%?
Of course, we More >
Can I Teach That?
Sep 21st
Recently I worked with a group of graduate students who volunteered to be science mentors for students in New York City. They were being trained in a small set of hands-on labs designed to introduce genetics in an engaging, informal environment. At some point during the training, we touched upon genetic mutations and variation. I mentioned that it was a perfect segway into discussion of natural selection and evolution. One participant raised her hand and asked, “Are we allowed to teach that?” My initial response was surprise. I said, “Of course!” It is unfortunate though, that as science educators we should even More >
Brain tumors snack on cholesterol
Sep 19th
We all know cholesterol can be bad for us, and we need to watch our intake of eggs, cream and butter. But scientists have just discovered that some brain cancer cells love to snack on cholesterol too.
Researchers at the University of California Los Angeles and Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center are investigating a new treatment for glioblastoma, the deadliest form of brain cancer. Their paper, out this week in Cancer Discovery, shows how blocking a mechanism involved in cell metabolism and triggered by a cancer gene can reduce brain tumors.
Glioblastoma affects about 18,500 Americans each year, with less than More >
How Many Species are on Earth?
Sep 16th
For several years scientists have tried to estimate the number of species living on Earth. This is not an easy question to answer and multiple approaches have been developed to calculate how large Earth’s biodiversity is. All of the estimates obtained so far have a large prediction range, hundreds of thousands or even millions of species from the smallest estimates to the largest ones. On top of this shaming ignorance, our planet’s biodiversity is highly threatened. Solid evidence indicates that we are facing a massive extinction event, driven unfortunately by our own activities. The most recent evidence indicates that a More >
