Next Generation
The Spring 2018 semester theme is Next Generation. This futuristic issue covers a variety of topics including personal genetics, cyber security, the #MeToo movement, and life on Mars.
Featured Posts
Will Artificial Intelligence Make Doctors Obsolete?
by Sharon Binoy When many of us think of artificial intelligence in healthcare, an image of a distant Black Mirror-esque dystopia comes to mind. However, it is soon becoming a positive presence in many aspects of the medical profession. Artificial Intelligence (AI) is dramatically changing the future landscape of medicine,…
Detecting Gravitational Waves, Was it Worth it?
by Susana Torres-Londono If you’re a scientist who hopes to dedicate the rest of your life to developing and proving a revolutionary scientific theory, there’s a good chance you’ll never get to see your work’s eventual success. We all know of Rosalind Franklin, the female powerhouse who helped unravel the…
Curing Mortality
by Isabelle Boatright Despite popular science fiction, we still can’t transport instantly, travel back in time, or do anything beyond slowing down the process of ageing. Modern medicine can do more than we ever imagined just a century ago and it’s constantly improving. As we learn more about human biology…
Catch of the day? PLASTIC!
By Vicky Fong Seafood consumers are advised of the risks of mercury intake, but recent studies show that they should also be aware that their meals might come with a side order of plastic. So how does plastic end up in the oceans, get eaten by the fish, and make…
The Truth About Cell Phones and Cancer
By Andrea He Cell phones are now a constant fixture in our lives that we cannot live without. However, the ways that cell phone radiation could harm our bodies are still not solidified, but new evidence from the National Institute of Health (NIH) and the recent announcement from the California…
The Minimalist Cell
As scientists, we like to assign function to structure. With the human genome, however, this association becomes difficult. The human genome is 3 billion base pairs long, but only 1.5% of the genome actually codes for protein. Some unknown part of the noncoding 98.5% of the human genome is involved…
The Periodic Table of Berkeley
Whether you’re a dewy-eyed freshman, or a tenured professor, we all know UC Berkeley has been a world center of scientific innovation and discovery for decades—and we’re DARN proud of it. But in case you need a couple more reasons to take pride in being a Golden Bear, here…
The Impacts of Soylent on the Human Gut Microbiome: Berkeley’s New Student Organization “Mycrobes” Launches a Research Study
Typically, we judge how “healthy” a food product is by looking at the nutritional label. However, the chemical composition of food (e.g. amount of fat, salt, or sugar) and its caloric content alone do not provide a complete picture of its dietary effects. Recent research [1] indicates that diet can…
The Bone Splint System: a Revolutionary Treatment for Osteogenesis Imperfecta
Osteogenesis imperfecta (OI) is a group of genetic disorders that mainly affect the bones. Characterized as “a hidden autosomal inheritance disorder,” this condition can lead to imperfect formation of the whole skeletal system. Some outcomes of having this disorder include – but are not limited to – fragile bones, short…
Increasing the Human Brain Memory Capacity: Drugs that Enhance Norepinephrine and Dopamine Functionality in the Prefrontal Cortex
The human brain is the single most complex structure known to man in the entire universe. Humans have surpassed all other life forms on Earth owing to the power of the human brain. However, there is always the constant drive to reach even greater heights. Questions such as “What is…