Archive: Jul 2014

The current Ebola outbreak in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone has received a lot of media attention, with terrifying headlines such as “Deadliest Ever Outbreak of Ebola” appearing in papers across the globe [1]. And this is…

The current Ebola outbreak in the West African nations of Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone has received a lot of media attention, with terrifying news headlines such as “Deadliest Ever Outbreak of Ebola” appearing across the globe [1]. And this is…

Have you heard? A revolution has seized the scientific community. Within only a few years, research labs worldwide have adopted a new technology that facilitates making specific changes in the DNA of humans, other animals, and plants. Compared to…

bacteria that might be able to subsist on electricity is a tantalizing one and in fact is an idea that has been around for some time

In all animals, the mother fills the egg with all the proteins and mRNAs necessary for early development. In Drosophila melanogaster (fruit flies), when one of these genes is missing, it can lead to severe malformations in the larval exoskeleton. The top…

Cane Toad on Grass. Image from SamFraser-Smith, National Wildlife Federation, www.nwf.orgA recent publication from Harvard scientists outlines the potential of a cutting-edge technology, CRISPR, to improve on an old technology called Gene Drives in order…

 Let’s consider a virus like Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV). If we want to study it in a lab setting, we need an animal model, that is a living entity that we can infect and observe for a certain period of time. We cannot infect humans for obvious…

Mashed potatoes are Uncle Mike’s favorite food; at family dinners he would spoon mound after mound of them onto his plate long after everyone else was done eating. Many people seem to feel the same way about these creamy mountains of starch, but is it…

Image credit: Wikipedia Commons, http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File%3AClassic_roll.jpg A study published last month suggests that the potential value of cinnamon may go far beyond tickling our taste buds. The research group reports that cinnamon was…

The human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) has been detected in a baby girl from Mississippi born with HIV and believed cured after very early treatment, disappointing the families involved and researchers. Millions of people have died of AIDS and millions…