Written by Charukesi Sivakumar
Edited by Sheila Peeples, Jeremy Chen, Kate Giffin, Kristen Schuh
Illustrated by Adriana Brown
The lights dim as we, the Life Sciences Orchestra, lift our instruments. With the wave of our conductor’s baton, the music swells across Hill auditorium and enters the audience’s ears, lighting up the brain.
Continue reading “From Synapses to Symphonies: A Connection Through Sounds”Designed and written by Mirella Hernandez Lima
Edited by Sheila Peeples and Kendall Dean
Illustrated by Mirella Hernandez Lima and Kendall Dean
El Día de Muertos es una celebración que honra la memoria de los seres queridos que han fallecido. Donde se rinde homenaje a la vida y a la muerte, porque sin vida no hay muerte.
The Day of the Dead is a celebration that honors the memory of loved ones who have passed away, paying tribute to both life and death.
Continue reading “Nematodes as Catalysts in Uniting Scientific Curiosity and Cultural Heritage”Written by Deanna Cannizzaro
Edited by Claire Shudde and Jessica Li
Illustrated by Jessica Li
Sitting down for a meal is a staple of being human. Memories and laughter are shared over food, allowing us to connect with friends and family.
For me, food is no longer a simple part of everyday life; I’m forced to think about a chronic disease each time I want, or need, to eat something. It took months of severe abdominal pain and persistent fatigue in my early twenties to realize gluten had become my biggest enemy.
Continue reading “When the Immune System Goes Against the Grain”Written by Alex Ford
Edited by Hector Mendoza and Zoe Yeoh
Illustrated by Zoe Yeoh
I. The Tower of Babel
In the beginning, there was a stone. A stone by itself is simple. Monolithic in concept and function. But introduce a second stone. Place it upon the first. Add another. A stack forms and they become more than the sum of their parts. Before there was life, there were simply stones longing for more. Patient stones that awaited the first tumble to start an avalanche.
Somewhere in the infant Earth, at the grinding edge of a sunken continental plate, magma oozes into deep water. Volcanic fires churn in the darkness and spew black clouds into the crushing depths. In this energy-rich crucible, a lone carbon finds hydrogen, finds nitrogen, and the first organic molecules begin to assemble in the deep.
Continue reading “Out of Many, One”Written and Sculpted by Emily L. Eberhardt
Edited by Kate Giffin
Amidst the global pandemic in 2020, I began to explore science through art. In my research, I studied mitochondrial proteins (mitochondria are small structures in cells that produce necessary energy), but with lab closures, my hands were idle. With a box of beads, a freshly-passed candidacy exam, and limitless time, I sat and considered the power of mitochondria. Fascinated by their complexity, I began to craft sculptures.
Continue reading “Appreciating the Intricacies of Science Through Sculpture: The Powerhouse of the Cell”Written by Kate Giffin and Kristen Schuh
Dear Readers,
In this edition of EquilibriUM, we delve into the intricate ways that science and art connect and enhance each other.
In a world that often compartmentalizes disciplines, it is necessary to bridge these gaps to discover fresh perspectives, foster innovation, and enrich our collective knowledge. Both of us work in interdisciplinary fields studying how the brain and body interact in sometimes strange and nonsensical ways – connections are one of our favorite parts about research.
Continue reading “Letter from the Editors”Cover Concept and Art: Naomi Raicu
In this piece, I explored the neural network concept by connecting it to artistic and emotional aspects of the human experience: music, group dance, and a sense of community and interconnectedness. In the real world, a cognitive “dance” of changing neural connections not only determines who we are, but also inspires innovation in science and technology.
Continue reading “Neural Network Boogie”Cover Concept and Art: Zoe Yeoh and Jessica Li
We believe that in the future, we will have an intimate understanding of what the inside of a cell looks like on a molecular – perhaps even atomic – level. This has been enabled by recent advancements in structural biology through artificial intelligence and machine learning. In combination with virtual reality technology, we envision that one day we’ll be able to “step inside” a cell to observe these molecular details, reimagined as a thriving city neighborhood. The Golgi Luxury Apartment complex features incredible amenities such as a mitochondria gym, a vacuole pool, and endoplasmic reticulum meeting rooms. Located steps away is The Nucleus, a Michelin Star establishment known for its four course dNTP mystery menu. Actin and tubulin filaments crisscross above, forming sky bridge walkways and a convenient high-speed metro line to get around the cell with ease. Neatly manicured ribosome trees dot the public park below.
Continue reading “Cytotropolis: Life at the Cellular Level”Written by Jennifer Baker and Christina Del Greco
Hi there,
Thanks for picking up a copy of EquilibriUM edition 2! We’re so excited to finally share what we’ve been working on.
Continue reading “Letter from the Editors”Written and illustrated by: Jacquelyn Roberts
Edited by: Jennifer Baker and Christina Del Greco
“Structure implies function” is a phrase often repeated by biochemists to describe how molecular machines work in the body. For a protein, structure is formed as its string of amino acids twists and folds into a globular final form. If amino acids are beads on a string, then the folded protein is the final necklace or finished work. This “final form” lends clues to the protein’s role in the cell. Often, like a lock and key, proteins and their chemical partners ft together perfectly. But for a long time, we had absolutely no idea how or why proteins reproducibly twist and fold in the same way every time to adopt a consistent final form.
Continue reading “Protein Folding In The Hands Of AI”
