by Julia Newman (’19) Despite the common conception that coffee can be unhealthy, many research studies show that drinking coffee in moderate amounts may benefit your body in the long run for reasons scientists are mostly unaware of. Coffee has been shown to greatly help in preventing type 2 diabetes, liver disorders, and even Parkinson’s disease. In addition, it tends to have no effect on … Continue reading The Health Benefits of Coffee
by Sahil Rawal (’19) Type 2 diabetes is a serious disease that has been connected with organ failures throughout the body. One example of this is kidney disease, which has been shown to develop in 35% of people with Type 2 diabetes. Current treatments for kidney disease involve glucose-controlling systems and RAAS-blocking agents, but these therapies still leave patients at a high risk for death. … Continue reading A New Drug For Kidney Disease
by Julia Newman (’19) A vaccine developed by a new technique at the University of Buffalo in New York has capabilities beyond any previously created vaccine. These new vaccines, unlike their predecessors, have both natural bacterial and man-made polymer components, which allow them to have multiple mechanisms for the delivery of antigens within the vaccine. They can now be delivered not only actively, as they … Continue reading New Vaccines Are Stronger Than Ever
by Jenna Mallon (’18) Due to their low-latitude location, Mesoamerica and the Caribbean are at particularly high risk of experiencing the effects of climate change. There are currently many global models that show the effects of climate change on a large scale, but fail to take into account the effects that topography and land use have on temperature and precipitation. This prompted Robert Oglesby, of … Continue reading Small-Scale Modeling Shows Influences on Climate Change
by Aaron Gochman (’18) CRISPR-Cas9, the most recent breakthrough in biotechnology research, allows for specific and precise gene editing. With countless applications, scientists all over the world seek to optimize it for use in treating myriad diseases. This week, a team of American and Chinese researchers used CRISPR-Cas9 to target flaviviruses, a group that includes West Nile, Zika, and Dengue. There are no current effective … Continue reading Biotechnology Breakthrough Targets Flaviviruses
by Jenna Mallon (’18) Although the dangers of tuberculosis (TB) are widely known, many people do not know that a large percent of tuberculosis patients are also HIV positive. This issue is especially prevalent in Africa, Ethiopia specifically, where TB has been a large public health issue for over fifty years. This large health epidemic prompted Mulugeta Dalbo of the Arba Minch Health Science College … Continue reading Predictors of Tuberculosis Found in HIV/AIDS Patients
by Aaron Gochman (’18) This week, scientists from the University of Texas at Austin contributed a novel idea to addiction research. Focusing on glutamatergic synaptic transmission, the primary mode of excitatory signaling in the central nervous system, the group hypothesized that social stress would lead to increased vulnerability to cocaine addiction. Specifically, the ventral tegmental area (VTA) of the brain, a prime location for dopamine … Continue reading The Role of Social Stress in Cocaine Addiction
by Jenna Mallon (’18) In recent years, cyclic peptides have emerged as leaders in therapeutic drugs due to their in vivo stability and bioavailability. A class of specific cyclic peptides known as Cyclosporins has been effective in preventing rejection and infection in the body after organ transplants. The different analogs of Cyclosporin are very structurally similar, making separation extremely difficult. For this reason Yuefei Shao, … Continue reading Chromatography Separates Cyclosporin Analogs
by Aaron Gochman (’18) A team of researchers from Harvard, Stanford, and Sogang University in South Korea made headlines this week with a discovery that captures the future of bioengineering. Living cardiac muscle cells were taken from rats and printed onto a robot shaped like a sting ray. The cells were engineered to express proteins that activate in response to light; when activated, the cells … Continue reading A Step Toward Synthetic Cognition and Artificial Organs
by Lillian Pao (’18) Sarcopenia, a stage in a person’s life during which they begin to lose muscle mass and function, commonly affects men and women above the age of 60. Muscles are often associated with strength, function, and power. However, the association amongst all of these characteristics is understudied. Dr. Ulrich Lindemann of Germany decided to investigate the association between thigh muscle volume and … Continue reading The Relationship Between Thigh Muscle Volume and Functional Performance in Older Women
by Lillian Pao (’18) Pandemics and seasonal infectious diseases, such as the influenza virus, have drastic negative health and economic consequences. One particular intervention strategy, school closures, can result in significant economic impacts because parents or guardians have to temporarily leave the workforce in order to take care of their child. School closures because of an epidemic outbreak normally last for one to two weeks, … Continue reading Computer Simulation Offers Alternative Ways to Stop Disease in Schools
by Lillian Pao (’18) Despite the contradictions science and religion have with one another, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim beliefs have recently been able influence current interpretations in biology. One of these interpretations concern the evolution of cave fauna. Several people believe that “biochemical predestination”, a higher power or strict law that governs the phenomena in nature on our earth, and possibly beyond, exists. Professor Aldemaro … Continue reading Predestination and the Influence of Religion on Science
Young Investigators Review 