In biomedical research, sometimes the topic being studied does not matter so much. Rather, what matters is the experimental design – what underlying questions are asked, what methods are used to answer those questions, and what are the positive/negative controls that are employed to differentiate what is real from what is not real. We then [...]
RNA is not new, and we have known for decades that sugars can decorate proteins and lipids (this is known as the field of glycobiology). Here, researchers from Stanford and Harvard have discovered that RNA can also be decorated with sugars (glycol-RNA), and that glycol-RNA is fairly abundant both in cultured cells and in animals. [...]
Not surprisingly, early childhood trauma predisposes people for depression later in life, and other problems (sexual and physical abuse, crime, poverty and poor health) often emanate from this condition. Unfortunately, the children of these people are often destined for the same fate. We all understand this innately and recognize it as an unfortunate but inevitable [...]
Congratulations to the 2021 Regeneron Science Talent Search finalists, including one finalist who has attended two Rosetta Institute workshops. Great work! Regeneron Finalists
Here is a series of three related papers published by researchers at Johns Hopkins University, led by legendary cancer researcher Bert Vogelstein. It is a significant body of work that is difficult to succinctly summarize, but the linked write-up is a start. Engineering the immune system to attack tumor cells (immunotherapy) is so effective that [...]
Social media is flooded with news about how important it is to maintain healthy gut bacteria (also known as the microbiome). Not surprisingly, most of this “news” is also aimed at consumers, with the goal of selling probiotics and prebiotics (some of which are quite expensive) to alleviate or cure a whole variety of maladies. [...]
Why do some people have asymptomatic Covid-19, while others suffer from severe or life-threatening disease? Many risk factors for severe Covid have been identified – age, obesity, sex, smoking status, etc. - but this does not fully account for the observed heterogeneity. One possibility is that lifetime exposure to other coronaviruses – which can cause [...]
We have fully scheduled our winter/spring and summer workshops on molecular medicine, and applications are now being accepted! Our workshops are designed for high-achieving high school and middle school students who are interesting in pursuing careers in medicine, biomedical research, pharmacy, or other careers within the health sciences. Our instructors are PhD-level scientists who are [...]
Biological systems are stunningly complex, and the complexity extends down to the single protein level. Proteins are made up of a string of amino acids, which then fold up into structures that determine their function. Many Nobel Prizes have been awarded for determining protein structures, most recently the 2013 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for computer [...]
Antibodies are proteins produced by your immune system that fight viruses and other microbes. The cells that produce these antibodies can persist for years after an infection, and generating these cells is the basis for vaccination. It has been clear for some time that Covid-19 patients generated a strong antibody response – at least initially [...]