Author: bmj
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PERC: A Geneticist’s Cocktail for CRISPR Ribonucleoprotein (RNP) Delivery
There are three elements that make up a cocktail: the core (base spirit), the balance (sugar), and seasoning (bitters). In the relentless pursuit of a multiplex delivery method that deems possible many cell therapy features at once, the research led by Ross Wilson, Assistant Adjunct Professor of Molecular and Cell Biology at the University of…
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Cancer’s Identity Crisis: Becoming the Unlikely Heroes of the Body
Imagine a world where cancer cells, once harbingers of fear and despair, are ingeniously transformed into allies in the battle for life. This vision finds its roots in the groundbreaking concept of cancer vaccination, a paradigm-shifting approach that stands at the forefront of modern medicine. Just as a traditional vaccine empowers the immune system to…
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59 Years and Counting
By Maia Beaulieu “True peace is not merely the absence of tension; it is the presence of justice.” -Martin Luther King Jr. After decades of fighting, The Civil Rights Act of 1964 ended segregation and granted rights to African Americans, yet nearly 60 years later, we still see explicit and implicit injustice embedded in our political,…
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A “Renaissance” in Research: Can Psychedelics be Used to Treat Chronic Pain?
By: Melina Bindra The healing powers of psychedelics have been used for centuries, from Amazonian healing to Native American ceremonies, where the ingestion of various plant preparations evokes an altered state of consciousness. But over the past two decades, the recreational and medicinal use of psychedelics within the U.S. has noticeably increased. Psychedelics could possibly…
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A Pathological Achilles’ Heel: Flaws in a Revolutionary Cancer Treatment
By: Yichen Zeng One of the fundamental problems of the human immune system lies in the question: “How many lives can one claim before one begins losing their own?” That is, how aggressive can the human immune system be towards pathogens and other invasive microorganisms before it begins to destroy the very being that depends…
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A Viral Twist on Current Brain Tumor Research: Associating Immunogenetics of Antigen Response with Glioma Risk and Survival
By Riya Arul In 1796, the concept of using viral antigen responses was first introduced to create vaccines that protect us from viruses such as smallpox; today, scientists at UCSF have been able to utilize the same concept to enhance our understanding of malignant brain tumors. Gliomas, or glioblastomas, are brain tumors characterized by the…
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Watch Where You Swim: Health Risks to Children Caused by Fecally-Contaminated Water
By Udaiyaa Bommudurai t’s a hot summer morning, and you are roasting in the heat, so you decide to go to the beach. The water is cool and feels amazing against your burning skin. You spend the day swimming and taking a break from the scorching sun. This is the vision many people have in…
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Have We Found the Fountain of Youth?: New Research into Blood Dilution Proves Promising for Rejuvenation Therapies
By: Nitya Sriram For thousands of years, adventurers from across the globe traveled in search of the Fountain of Youth: a spring that would supposedly grant eternal life to those who drink from it. While not quite as thrilling as a magical Fountain of Youth, researchers at UC Berkeley’s Conboy lab in the bioengineering department…
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Is Chemotherapy Right for Everyone?: Cancer Cell Markers as Predictors of Chemotherapy Efficacy
By Daniel Voronel Chemotherapy is one of the most common ways of treating cancer but is not always a foolproof method to help patients gain remission. Oftentimes, it is difficult to tell if chemotherapy will actually eliminate cancerous cells or fail to take effect. A recent paper written by Hanbing Song and Simon Bucher et…
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Pregnancy Risks in a Post-Roe America
By Harleen Dhillon How free is America when laws regulate and harm the state of healthcare for women? With the overturning of Roe v. Wade, many women with pregnancy-related cancers will be unable to terminate their pregnancies, which can lead to health risks—even death. Jordyn Silverstein and Katherine Van Loon, two researchers at UCSF, discuss…