By Patrick Yang ’20 Asthma, characterized by its iconic inhalers and abrupt episodes of coughing and wheezing, affects approximately 334 million people worldwide. The inflammatory disease is caused by the prolonged contraction of airway smooth muscles, which triggers difficulty with breathing. Despite our understanding of asthma’s symptoms, the mechanism behind asthma is still a mystery. Scientists speculate that normal airway epithelium, or cells composing the … Continue reading Airway Smooth Muscle Relaxant Finally Identified

By Patrick Yang ’20 The hospital is considered a place of treatment, but hospitalization also runs the risk of bacterial sepsis – an often fatal immune response to bacterial infection. Bacterial sepsis frequents patients who are connected to medical devices like needles and catheters, which can easily launch the bacteria into the bloodstream. That infection, compounded with an already compromised immune system, can prove to … Continue reading Hospital Sepsis Is Dependent on Toxins for Survival

Patrick Yang ‘20 Despite intensive radiotherapy and treatment, glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer, is often fatal. It is widely believed that a subgroup of glioblastoma cells, called glioblastoma stem cells, is responsible for treatment resistance because the cancer’s DNA damage response is localized in these cells. The discovery and manipulation of the mechanism for the upregulation of DNA damage response in glioblastoma stem … Continue reading Inhibition of RAD51 Repair Protein Enhances Radiotherapy

by Patrick Yang ’20   Consuming a tiny sample of peanuts can induce life-threatening anaphylaxis in a person with peanut allergies. Peanuts are the most prevalent allergens, accounting for approximately 16 percent of the allergies that Americans suffer from. Incidence rates are only rising, according to the American Academy of Allergy, Asthma, & Immunology. Although some children are able to outgrow their allergy, a decisive cure … Continue reading Wearable Patch Increases Tolerance of Peanut Allergens

by Patrick Yang ’20   Amputation or severe neural damage can trigger phantom limb pain, chronic pain felt in a limb that is no longer present. Phantom pain, which is associated with a burning or hypersensitive sensation, has a wide range of duration – it can be as short as a few minutes or as long as a couple days. According to popular theory, maladaptive plasticity … Continue reading Phantom Limb Pain Caused by Sensorimotor Cortex Plasticity