Lethal Mutagenesis By Pei ChenAmidst the COVID-19 pandemic, we have been living under the shadows of viruses. While viruses have small genomes, they can compromise our health, and with it, our sanity and society. The original strain of SARS-CoV-2 was destructive, and its countless variants are even more daunting. In the past two years, we …
Giant Rodents Provide Insight into Cancer Paradox By Julia Wong Capybaras have recently taken the internet by storm. Not only are these giant guinea pig relatives undeniably cute, but they also have the personalities to match. Nicknamed the “coconut doggy” for its friendly disposition and coconut-like fur, the capybara gained traction across social media for …
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Bugs in Your Stomach By Leighton Pu Microbes—a constellation of bacteria, viruses, fungi— typically exist on the scale of micrometers. These tiny organisms are everywhere and constantly go undetected by the naked human eye.But despite their less-than-impressive size, microbes can have an incredibly profound impact on public health. Some of the most devastating diseases have been …
Actinides: Radiation for Remission By Noah Bussell Take neptunium, plutonium, and actinium—these “things” may sound fake, or perhaps it seems that they belong alongside the jargon of a Madeleine L’Engle novel. However, these are actually a few of the rare and radioactive elements known as “actinides” (sometimes referred to as f-block elements because of their location …
Self-Esteem, Narcissism, and Boulder-Pushing By Leighton Pu One Greek myth tells the story of a man named Sisyphus, who was condemned to an eternal afterlife of boulder-pushing for escaping death twice. Regardless of his efforts, he has and never will get the boulder to the top of the mountain. Anyone trying to attain high self-esteem may …
From a Plant to a Capsule By Eunice Tsang Ever wonder how pharmaceutical companies develop drugs? The drugs that we see in hospitals, clinics, and pharmacies usually come in capsules or pills, but did you know that many drugs originally derive from herbs and other ingredients found in nature? So, how do scientists turn a plant …
Gearing up with Headgear: In Soccer, headgear may not be as useful as expected in protecting against concussions By Nanda Nayak Petr Čech is a household name to soccer fans around the world. Many consider him the greatest goalkeeper to have played for Chelsea, while others consider him the greatest goalkeeper in the history of …
Bringing Light to the Coral Reef Crisis By Veronica Paul What do you picture when you think of coral reefs? A myriad of colors, an ecosystem filled with vibrantly colored sea-creatures, or maybe even the Great Barrier Reef? These depictions we are so familiar with one day will only be stories future generations will hear. …
Real Worlds: An Argument for the Many Worlds Interpretation of Quantum Mechanics By Mark Ortega The 21st century saw the rise of quantum mechanics in popular culture. The core of this trend posits that observation creates reality. Although exciting, this view is a misapprehension of the historically accepted Copenhagen Interpretation. In contrast, there exists an alternative …
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Finding Its Target: How CRISPR Cas9 “Reads” DNA By Sinead de Cleir Since its application for gene editing was discovered in 2012 by Dr. Jennifer Doudna and Dr. Emmanuel Charpentier, clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats, or CRISPR for short, has upended the scientific world. Although the use and ethical implications of CRISPR are still …