Jillian Troth Staff Writer, University of Pennsylvania Envelope Writer Bio I am an undergraduate student at the University of Pennsylvania studying neuroscience. In particular, I am passionate about psychology and microbiome research. If you’re interested in learning more, check out the Gut-Brain Axis Group articles and the Mastering the Microbiome Newsletter– we publish serial editions …
Figure: Bacteria are essential for gut health because they help break down key dietary nutrients. But when one’s diet changes– the gut microbiome can be driven out of sorts. Scientists now understand that the gut microbiome is altered by a calorie-restricted diet in such a way that it prevent dieters from keeping weight off. Future …
Figure: A person scrolling through news articles on their smartphone. FoMO has been largely studied in the context of social media and smartphone usage (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Japanexperterna.se). Fear of missing out, or FoMO, is a feeling of apprehension that others are having positive or rewarding experiences where one is not present (Przybylski et al., …
Mind Missing Out? Fear of Missing Out and the Brain Read More »
A photo of a Pfizer facility in Italy. (Image Source: Dr. János Korom, Wikimedia Commons) On November 5th, 2021, Pfizer announced that it would seek FDA approval for its new drug, called Paxlovid. It is given to those with an active case of COVID-19 and has been shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and …
The Biochemistry and Broad Utility of Pfizer’s New COVID-19 Drug: Paxlovid Read More »
Julia Gainski Staff Writer, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign Linkedin Writer Bio I am in the class of 2022 at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign and I am studying Integrative Biology with a minor in German. Beyond the classroom, I am a writer and the Public Relations Chair for the student-run, university-published neuroscience journal, …
Cover Image: A rural Metro ambulance in Memphis, Tennessee. Rural Metro is a fire protection and emergency medical service company originally founded due to lack of emergency response outside Phoenix, Arizona city limits. (Source: Wikimedia Commons, Thomas Machnitzki) Over one sixth of the United States population lives in rural areas, but rural patients often have …
Investigating the Quality of Healthcare in Rural Areas Read More »
Cover Image: This image displays the differences between a normal brain and the brain of someone with Alzheimer’s disease on a PET scan. (Source: Wikimedia Commons, NIH) Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the most prevalent degenerative neurological diseases within the human population. It is one of the most common causes of dementia and involves a …
Figure: A fluorescent protein is expressed in human epithelial cells of the Henrietta Lacks (HeLa) strain. Scientists have long used reporter genes coding for fluorescent proteins to visualize the expression of genes of interest. Now, the development of acoustic reporter genes allows the same sort of local visualization to be achieved by sound. (Source: Wikimedia …
Acoustic Reporter Genes: The Newest Breakthrough in Cell Visualization Read More »
Figure: Two cheetahs lie side by side. As the fastest land animal, the cheetah was of particular interest in a recent study that produced a mathematical model predicting the maximum running speed of any given animal. (Source: Wikimedia Commons, safaritravelplus) Cheetahs, sloths, humans — whatever the animal, a new study proposed a mathematical model to …
Figure: The image above, created by the National Institutes of Health, helps demonstrate how important a role junk DNA can play. The picture displays a stem cell culture, within which green dots represent viral envelope proteins resulting from the transcription and subsequent translation of junk DNA. When these proteins interact with certain immune cell proteins, …
Rethinking ‘Junk’ DNA: The Vital Role DNA Repeats Play in Cancer and Aging Read More »