Category: blog

Author: Ruiqi Tang

Edited by: William Dean, Sophie Hill, and Noah Steinfeld

Less than 35% of the 2.3 million people with opioid misuse in the United States receive treatment. Opioids are a class of drugs that mask pain by interacting with opioid receptors in the brain, producing pleasurable sensations. These “euphoric” feelings can lead to addiction when patients begin taking opioids for non-medical use. Despite the growing crises of opioid addiction, there is a dire shortage of physicians approved to prescribe a medication approved by the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) for treating opioid addiction: buprenorphine. Buprenorphine works by binding to opioid receptors in the brain, but unlike opioids, its sedating effects are relatively lower and it is frequently co-formulated with another drug (naloxone) to prevent overdose. Despite its safety advantages in suppressing withdrawal symptoms, physicians must undergo additional training to obtain a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA)-issued waiver in order to prescribe buprenorphine for opioid addiction–a restriction that does not exist for opioid medications like oxycodone that have a greater risk of adverse outcomes.

Continue reading “Curbing Addiction: Buprenorphine and the Opioid Epidemic” →

Author: Zechariah Pfaffenberger

Editors: William Dean, Alyse Krausz, and Sarah Kearns

The next-generation of astronomy and astrophysics might happen near the beautiful, sandy shores of Hawaii, but for astronomers, reaching this dream is no day at the beach. A battle is being waged in Hawaii’s tropical paradise, drawing in people from scientists to celebrities. On one side of this battle are the kānaka (native Hawaiians) and on the other, a partnership of astronomers from governments and universities. The cause of their disagreement is a thirty-meter telescope (TMT) and a sacred mountain. Although we might be disappointed by any delay in scientific progress, the story of the TMT teaches scientists about the current state of science communication practices and how we might do better. 

Continue reading “Science Communication through the Lens of the Thirty-Meter Telescope Controversy” →

Author: Lily Johns 

Edited by: Lihan Xie, Genesis Rodriguez, Kristina Lenn, and Sarah Kearns

The Restorative Effects of Nature

“People in all walks of life, in sickness and in health, in good times and in bad times, find in nature something that comforts and restores” (Kaplans, 1995, pg. 175). 

University of Michigan faculty members Rachel Kaplan and the late Stephen Kaplan pioneered much of the research on the role of natural environments in benefitting well-being that exists today. With a multitude of publications, their research encompasses a variety of topics surrounding human cognition and the environment, notably the restorative effect that nature can have on the mind. According to the Kaplans, the restorative effect of nature is traced back to its role in preventing and ameliorating “directed attention fatigue”. Stephen Kaplan outlines the theory and importance of “directed attention”, which “plays a central role in achieving focus…and controls distraction.” This ‘directed attention’ is “susceptible to fatigue,” which often occurs due to a limited ability to direct their attention and leads to impulsivity, irritability, and distraction (Kaplan, 1995, pg. 17)

Continue reading “Outdoor Journaling in Nichols Arboretum: A Study in Mental Health and the Power of Green Spaces” →

Author: Vinita Yadav, Ph.D.

Editors: Callie Corsa, Zena Lapp, and Noah Steinfeld

Molds or fungi are generally known for their pathogenic properties, but they are also used in the food and pharmaceutical industries. We can find several examples of uses in our daily lives including yeast used in brewing and baking, Aspergillus species used in making Soy sauce, and Penicillium species used in cheese industries. Penicillium species also make antibiotics like Penicillin.

During my thesis, my project was to search for fungi which produce alpha-L-Rhamnosidase, an enzyme that cuts the terminal L-rhamnose from several glycosylated compounds: compounds that have sugar attached. L-rhamnose is sweet in taste but not found in nature in its free form. It is always attached to several other biomolecules from lipid/fat molecules to proteins to other metabolites like flavonoids, steroids, or terpenoids (Figure 1).

Continue reading “Microbial α-L-Rhamnosidase: an important enzyme for the pharmaceutical and food industries” →

Author: Becca Dzombak

Edited by: Zuleirys Santana-Rodriguez, Emily Glass, and Whit Froehlich

In Lake Huron, off the coast of Michigan, lies a window to an ancient world. An underwater sinkhole holds water that’s chemically more similar to the ocean than to the rest of the Great Lakes. Microorganisms (microbes) thought to be very similar to those that thrived on Earth billions of years ago live at the bottom, moving around to chase the light and their preferred water chemistry. Geobiologists and biogeochemists are fascinated by this spot, called Middle Island Sinkhole, and the opportunity it presents to understand how ancient lakes may have supported oxygen-generating microbial communities, contributing to the rise of oxygen in our atmosphere. Using environments like Middle Island Sinkhole can help us understand the conditions in which life evolved on Earth (maybe even giving us hints for what to look for in our search for extraterrestrial life) and predict how carbon cycling in lakes might respond under climate change.

Continue reading “A Window to Ancient Earth Lies at the Bottom of Lake Huron” →