Step into the world of “Orange is the New Black,” a cult favorite show where the complexities of life in an all women’s prison unfold before our eyes. While the show does a great job of combining drama, humor, and advocacy, it barely scratched the surface of the intricate healthcare issues faced by incarcerated individuals. […]
A Look Into the Mysterious “Fever Effect”: Temporarily Reducing Symptoms in Autistic Children
A remarkable list of urban myths exists regarding the alleged benefits of falling ill with a fever, with some parents believing fever episodes will even help their children grow taller. Amongst the myriad of colourful ideas, there are many that seem less credible than others despite being demonstrated multiple times over the past few decades […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Dumpster Diving for Cancer Cells Made Easy: Targeting Cancer Cells With ARS1620 Modified K-RAS (G12C)
By Crystal Chu With an estimated total of 1.9 million new cases in 2022, cancer—the second most common cause of death in the USA—is projected to cause 609,360 nationwide deaths in 2022 [1]. Thus, identifying cancer in its early stages before tumors spread to multiple organs is imperative. However, this task is easier said than […]