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misciwriterseditors blog, Uncategorized

The neuroscientific study of consciousness: How did we get here?

Written by: Rachel Wahlberg

Edited by: Olivia Pifer Alge, Austin Shannon, Andrés Rivera Ruiz, and Jennifer Baker 

Illustrated by: Hana Paz Harbman 

This blog post is part 1 of a multi-piece series on the neuroscientific study of consciousness. Stay tuned for parts 2 and 3 coming soon! 

If I were to walk up to you on the street and ask you if you were conscious, what would you say? My guess is you would answer with a “well, yes?” – and if you’re anything like me, with a nervous laugh added, wondering what sort of conversation you’ve just walked into.

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misciwriterseditors blog, Ecology

The Pesticide Paradox: How Modern Agriculture is Both Feeding and Poisoning the World

Written and illustrated by: Nia Johnson

Edited by: Sophie Hill, Henry Ertl, Jessica Li, and Jennifer Baker

Have you ever wondered how we are able to feed nearly 8 billion people globally? Presently, agricultural lands make up the world’s largest biome, covering over 1/3 of the ice-free land area. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, these 5 billion hectares of land produce around 550 billion tons of crops annually. This is equivalent in weight to 110,000 Empire State Buildings each year! Agriculture is not only a major source of income for 40% of the world’s population, but it also makes up 30% of GDP in low-income countries. While technological advances and agricultural expansion are projected to keep up with the rising pressures of human population growth (about 10 billion people by 2050), the unintended impacts of modern agriculture have advocacy groups and scientists alike concerned about the long-term consequences.

Continue reading “The Pesticide Paradox: How Modern Agriculture is Both Feeding and Poisoning the World” →
misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Center for RNA Biomedicine holds 7th annual symposium

Written by: Zoe Yeoh

Editors: Stephanie Palmer and Jennifer Baker

The University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine hosted its 7th annual RNA symposium on March 23rd, 2023. The theme of this year’s symposium was “From Molecules to Medicines,” and it featured an impressive lineup of RNA experts who shared fascinating research on a wide range of RNA topics.

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misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Joseph Wedekind: Redefining Riboswitches

Live blogger: Varsha Shankar

Editors: Sadie Gugel and Jennifer Baker

This piece was written live during the 7th annual RNA Symposium, “From Molecules to Medicines,” hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

You may recall learning in high school biology that ribosomes are the smallest organelle. Despite their miniscule size, these organelles are one of the most critical – that’s why they, unlike some organelles, are present in both eukaryotes and prokaryotes. The site of protein synthesis in the cell, ribosomes are responsible for building proteins that dictate our bodily metabolic activity, and ultimately, who we are. 

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misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Amy Gladfelter: Encoding temperature sensitivity in biomolecular condensates

Live blogger: Sadie Gugel 

Editors: Varsha Shankar and Jennifer Baker

This piece was written live during the 7th annual RNA Symposium, “From Molecules to Medicines,” hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

The nucleus, the endoplasmic reticulum, and the mitochondria are organelles likely familiar to many of us from biology class. These structures are separated from the rest of the cell by membranes and are used by eukaryotic cells to compartmentalize and organize molecules that support specific cell functions. While these organelles are certainly important, Dr. Amy Gladfelter and her group are interested in a different kind of cellular organization: biomolecular condensates. 

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misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Geraldine Seydoux: Regulation of biomolecular condensates by interfacial protein clusters

Live blogger: Paul Dylag

Editor: Jennifer Baker

This piece was written live during the 7th annual RNA Symposium, “From Molecules to Medicines,” hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

Biomolecular condensates are found throughout plant and animal cells in various organelles that lack membranes, such as the nucleolus and RNA granules. Normally, membraneless organelles would be an issue, as mixing their components with cytoplasm or extracellular fluid may result in mutations. However, there must be some chemical agents that prevent this, as otherwise life would not have evolved to such complex levels. Researchers are still investigating what prevents these issues from occurring, but one category of molecules called pickering agents have been determined to play a key role in this process.  

Continue reading “Geraldine Seydoux: Regulation of biomolecular condensates by interfacial protein clusters” →
misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Jody Puglisi: The Choreography of Translation Initiation

Live Blogger: Jennifer Baker 

Editor: Eilidh McClain

This piece was written live during the 7th annual RNA Symposium, “From Molecules to Medicines,” hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

image source

The “central dogma” of biology – that DNA is transcribed into RNA is translated into proteins – is a scientific tenet that haunts many American 10th graders during high school biology class. You might recall seeing diagrams like this one of an mRNA molecule sandwiched between the two halves of a ribosome as a new strand of amino acids unfurls from the exit site. 

However, it’s likely that your teacher didn’t spend much time on the how and why of this process – why does the ribosome bind to the mRNA? How does it find the start codon, the location on the mRNA that marks the spot where the ribosome starts translating? 

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misciwriterseditors blog, RNA2023

Steve Henikoff: Genome-Wide Mapping of Protein-DNA Interaction Dynamics

Live blogger: Eilidh McClain

Editors: Paul Dylag and Jennifer Baker

This piece was written live during the 7th annual RNA Symposium: From Molecules to Medicines, hosted by the University of Michigan’s Center for RNA Biomedicine. Follow MiSciWriters’ coverage of this event on Twitter with the hashtag #umichrna.

In response to multiple external factors, chromatin in chromosomes is able to dynamically shift in order to facilitate gene regulation. Gene expression is altered in part by the use of RNA-protein interactions within the chromatin. However, study of these interactions features many experimental requirements that are not optimized for studying chromatin dynamics as a whole and its role in gene regulation. Dr. Steve Henikoff and coworkers at the Basic Sciences Division of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center have tackled this RNA-protein interaction problem by developing new and powerful tools for studying those interactions. Now that these tools have been developed, they can provide interesting insights to the role of chromatin dynamics in regulation of gene expression and silencing with relative ease compared with previous methodology.

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misciwriterseditors blog

Genetics: What Jurassic Park doesn’t tell you

Written & illustrated by: Mallika Venkatramani

Edited by: Chloe Rybicki-Kler, Sheila Marte, Madison Fitzgerald, and Jennifer Baker

“Why don’t you use your genetics knowledge and do something crazy with our plants?”

A friend asked me this question while volunteering at a community garden a few months ago. When they found out I study genetics, they immediately got inquisitive. Did they think my genetics background meant I could create some sort of plant monster? Coolly, I replied that plant genetics is not my area of expertise.

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misciwriterseditors blog, Spanish

Mejor sin Sal

Escrito en inglés por: Daniela Tapia Pitzzu

Editado en inglés por: Sarah Bassiouni, Olivia Alge, Peijin Han y Madeline Barron

Traducido al español por: Daniela Tapia Pitzzu

Editado en español por: Valeria Tapia Pitzzu, Neikelyn Burgos Tirado y Andrés Rivera Ruiz

Ilustrado por: Devon Hucek

Durante una clase de química de escuela secundaria, mi maestro le entregó a la clase un documento que describía los  peligros del monóxido de dihidrógeno (DHMO, por sus siglas en inglés). Había reportes de que si el DHMO se inhalaba, causaba asfixia. Esta parodia sobre el agua (cuyo nombre molecular es monóxido de dihidrógeno) se hizo para abogar por el alfabetismo científico. Sin embargo, había otro mensaje: incluso uno de los compuestos químicos más inofensivos puede ser peligroso si es utilizado inadecuadamente.

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