Human Biology

The human gut is host to 100 trillion bacteria. To put this number into perspective, bacteria outnumber our cells by more than 10 to 1. These microbial tenants, however, are not just free loaders taking advantage of our generosity. In fact, the majority…

Presented by Radhika Mathur, Ilana Kelsey, and Matt Schwartz DNA contains the information your cells need to perform their functions but if every cell in your body contains identical DNA, how can one cell become a blood cell, another a muscle cell, and…

NOVAMOXIN antibiotic from Bmramon at en.wikipediaScientists offer an alternative method to fight bacteria in an effort to combat antibiotic resistance. They generated liposomes, or very small particles that look much like cell membranes. Because of this…

Presented by Michael Schultz, Tyler Huycke, and Ryoji Amamato Imagine a future where you can take a pill that halts the aging process, and if your organs do wear down, they can be replaced like car parts; a future where you can expect to stay healthy…

Nutrition plays an important role in the prevention of chronic illnesses such as diabetes and heart disease. The Seven Countries Study, one of the earliest and most influential epidemiological studies, spanned the second half of the last century and…

Presented by Jernej Godec, Ezana Demissie, and Vikram Juneja The immune system has evolved to recognize foreign invaders into our bodies, such as bacteria and viruses. In a similar fashion, it is able to recognize when healthy cells transform into cancer…

More than 10 million women in the United States (almost 20% of women between the ages of 15 and 44) take birth control pills as a means of contraception []. In 2013, more than 2.9 million American women were living with breast cancer, almost 300,000…

 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…

How did groups of modern humans inhabiting high-altitude environments adapt to live in such low oxygen levels? Some, such as the Andeans, cope with these conditions by increasing their capacity for oxygen. Tibetans have adapted by doing the opposite but…