Biology
Beyond Silicon: The Evolution of Biological Computing
In 1965, Gordon Moore predicted that processing power should double every eighteen months.1 Traditionally, this rapid growth has been achieved by shrinking distances between transistors and shortening the distance that information needs to pass through.1 However, the miniaturization of processors and transistors will soon reach a physical barrier.2 With this knowledge, researchers have begun searching [...]
Neuroplasticity: The Changing Brain
From memory and rationality to mood and mental stamina, the mind’s cognitive abilities are constantly being exercised. While the brain was previously considered immutable in its ability to make connections, the newest research highlights the phenomenon of neuroplasticity, the ability of the brain to rewire itself even after reaching maturity.1 With this discovery, the adage [...]
The Jurassic Park of Modern Age: Endangered Animals and Stem Cell Technology
Who likes sci-fi movies? Sci-fi movies about awesome technology, giant mutant creatures, characters with extraordinary powers? In the 21st century, one can hardly find a scenario that is more appealing to the general public than that of crazy scientists pushing too far the boundaries of science and suffering the dangerous outcomes of their messing up [...]
Print journal: Potential of Viruses in Medical Treatments
By: Elizabeth Richardson, writing for The Science in Society Review Viruses present persistent dangers to human health and they have caused many of the most terrifying and lethal diseases throughout history, from smallpox to influenza and HIV. There is no antibiotic equivalent for the virus: the only weapons we have against the spread of viral disease [...]
Print journal: Optogenetics as a medical treatment—and a barrier to metaphysics
By: Aleksandra Augustynowicz, writing for The Science in Society Review Imagine a healing pinpoint of light, fixed in the center of your forehead, radiating beams of energy throughout your body—a snippet from your local meditation class, or a clairvoyant glimpse of the future. About 121 million people worldwide suffer from depression, and in 2000, the illness [...]
Alzheimer’s Disease: Dementia without a Cure
Alzheimer’s disease has become incredibly prevalent within the media in the past decade. A neurodegenerative disease afflicting nearly five and a half million people in the United States alone, Alzheimer’s is the sixth leading cause of death in the United States, and the only top 10 cause of death that is currently untreatable. Alzheimer’s is [...]
Feral Children: The Genuine Existence of Humans Who Grow Up in the “Wild”
Last July, a woman was reunited with her family after having been separated from them for 38 years. Reportedly, the woman, Chhaidy, disappeared at the age of 4 from her village in Theiva, a small village in India bordering Myanmar. She survived on her own, living in the jungle with limited human contact. Throughout her [...]
Is Sleep for the Weak?
As a college student, you can only have two of the following: good grades, social life, and sleep. I didn’t want to have to choose; I wanted all three, which lead me to the conclusion that I would inevitably have to decrease the amount of hours I could sleep, which inevitably led to the inability [...]
The Journey Towards Creating an Environment-Friendly Textile Fiber
Recently, I wrote an article for The Triple Helix Online, titled, “From Milk to Qmilch: Creating an Environment Friendly Textile Fiber”. This article was about Qmilch, a fiber spun from the milk protein, casein, which can be used to create articles of clothing that have the consistency of silk. Qmilch is both untreated by chemicals [...]
Shifting Hormones: Consequences of Sleep Deprivation
Sleep, a process as natural to most humans as breathing, often remains unappreciated until the painful symptoms of its absence—the lethargy, impaired cognition, and increased appetite known to many—manifest themselves. Sleep’s importance was bluntly unveiled in an 1894 study that deprived dogs of sleep until they died. “In contrast to dogs dead from starvation, those [...]
Predicting Disease: How Technology in the Future Might Change Healthcare
What if disease could be predicted before it happened? No, this is not a fictional health-care version of Minority Report, but a possible end science is quickly developing towards. What began as an inquiry into how diseases are passed on to offspring has been steadily progressing towards a disease-predicting mechanism that could drive the future [...]
Regenerative Medicine: A Peek into the Future
Regenerative medicine is a growing field that offers the potential to repair and replace damaged cells, tissues, and organs by using those that are specially grown. Thus, instead of merely providing treatments to heal damaged body parts, as with transplants, doctors would be able to treat the underlying cause of the disease. Scientists and researchers [...]
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