Archive: 2016

The brain is made of up billions of neurons and even more connections between neurons. We can get an idea of how neurons are connected across the human brain using a type of brain scan called diffusion-weighted magnetic resonance imaging (dMRI). How…

by Katie Dagon figures by Utsarga Adhikary Heat waves and droughts are staples of summer weather in America. This summer has proven to be no different! Much of the central and eastern U.S. endured a strong heat wave in mid-July. While the “heat…

by Katherine J. Wu figures by Daniel Utter Let’s talk about sex. Seriously. Not intercourse, though – more about how genetic sex is programmed during development. Sexual identity has been in the news often lately, and unsurprisingly so: the past few…

In deciphering the mysteries of human health, mice have been one of our greatest allies. They have demonstrated the antibacterial properties of penicillin and served as a model for exploring obesity. Now they are helping researchers understand the…

by JohnMark Taylor figures by Youngeun Kaitlyn Choi What about the human brain allows a person to perform such feats as learning guitar through imitation, empathizing with anothers’s pain, or intuiting where a fencer will strike next? Nearly twenty-five…

by Eryn Blass figures by Michael Gerhardt Microbes are everywhere – in our environment, on our skin, and even within our bodies. Microbes, short for microorganisms, are living things so tiny that they can only be seen with a microscope. Microbes…

Image of a T cell, a critical part of the human immune system, taken with a high-resolution electron microscope. [‘Healthy Human T Cell’ from NIAID]Bringing a new medical therapy to market is rarely a straightforward task, as a biotech…

The first clinical trial using the gene editing technique CRISPR was given the go-ahead by panel from the US National Institutes of Health (NIH). The trial is aimed at determining if the technique is safe for use on human subjects. As there is much we…

Image contributed by Yu Wang, a third year graduate student at Harvard Medical School. Glial cells support the proper function of neuronal cell types and are also responsible for cleaning up cell debris such as leftover neurotransmitter molecules (what…

How a 300-million-year-old mystery fossil is reshaping our understanding of what it means to be a vertebrate. by Kelsey Lucas figures by Brad Wierbowski Through murky water you spot it – a creature with a cylindrical body, tapering at each end like a…