Oral contraceptive pills are currently only available for women. Recently, a compound purified from a Chinese herb is found to have the ideal properties of a male contraceptive drug: efficient, reversible and non-toxic. Could a male birth control pill…
by Wei Lifigures by Rebecca Senft
If you’ve ever taken an organic chemistry class, you may know that making chemical compounds can be a long and painful process. Bacteria, however, face no such struggles. After millions of years, these tiny microbes…
Scientists discovered that a family of proteins known as Sestrins can actually mimic the beneficial effects of exercise. This could potentially be useful for maintaining the health of people who have difficulty moving and exercising.
A group of scientists uncovered a commensal gut bacteria, Akkermansia muciniphila, that can significantly ameliorate ALS symptoms in mice, and also prolong their lifespan. Their results highlight the potential of modulating the gut microbiome to treat…
The Nucleus Accumbens (NAc) is an area of the brain that is part of the Basal Ganglia system. It is divided into two subregions: the core and the shell. As you can imagine, the core region is nested within the shell. The NAc is primarily composed of…
The placebo effect is a puzzling phenomenon. Placebos (sugar pills or saline solutions secretly substituted for actual drugs) are commonly used in clinical trials to set a baseline against which to measure the effects of a drug. However, people in the…
Approximately 12% of Americans experience migraines. For some people, the attacks are so frequent and painful that episodes can be incapacitating. Historically, doctors have tried a variety of approaches to treating the condition, including drugs that…