misciwriterseditors Biology, blog, Cancer, Disease research, Public health, Research

Training T Cell Assassins

Author: John Charpentier

Editors: Zena Lapp, Theresa Mau, and David Mertz

 

t_cell_assassin
Figure 1. An encounter between a CAR-T cell and a cancer cell

 

The assassins have a description of their targets, who are hiding in plain sight among the non-combatants. The targets are guerillas who’ve infiltrated the neighborhood, overwhelming the local authorities and fomenting chaos. After only minutes on patrol, the assassins go on the attack, quickly identifying and eliminating the enemy without harming a single bystander.

This scenario may sound like the plot of a Hollywood blockbuster, but it’s also a good metaphor to describe the activity of engineered immune cells against cancer cells. The assassins are called CAR-T (Chimeric Antigen Receptor-T) cells, and they receive their elite training at the hands of physicians and scientists, who teach them to recognize particular molecules on the surface of tumors.

Continue reading “Training T Cell Assassins” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Psychology, Uncategorized

The Science of What Keeps Us Apart

Author: Kaitlin Weskamp

Editors: Shweta Ramdas, Alex Taylor, and Kevin Boehnke

“… in diversity there is beauty and there is strength.” 
             ― Maya Angelou

Over time, there has been a general trend towards acceptance and inclusivity in the civil rights laws of the United States. From the abolition of slavery in 1865, to granting women the right to vote in 1920, to the legalization of gay marriage in 2015, we are making torturously-slow-but-steady progress towards the promise that “all men [and women] are created equal.”

Today, the majority of people in the U.S. agree with Maya Angelou that diversity lends strength to our community. However, racism, sexism, and homophobia remain enormous societal issues. Is there a neurological basis for these ideas? If so, how can we combat it?

Continue reading “The Science of What Keeps Us Apart” →

misciwriterseditors Biochemistry, blog

How to Fold (and Misfold) a Protein (Part 1)

Author: Sarah Kearns

Editors: David Mertz, Zulierys Santana-Rodriguez, and Scott Barolo

Proteins do most of the work in your body: Depending on their shape, they can digest your food, fire your neurons, give color to your eyes and allow you to see colors. Proteins follow instructions encoded in your DNA to fold into their shape, but how do they “know” what shape to fold into to perform their biological functions? What happens when they fold incorrectly?

Continue reading “How to Fold (and Misfold) a Protein (Part 1)” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Physics

String Theory: Worth the Wait or Just Stringing Us Along? (Part 2)

Author: Molly Kozminsky

Editors: Theresa Mau, Jimmy Brancho, and Alisha John

In my previous post, I discussed what string theory is, how it has not been experimentally verified, and how the existence of Higgs boson was proved fifty years after it was first proposed. In this post, I will continue to discuss the lengthy process of validating the theory of gravitational waves and where we stand with string theory research.

Continue reading “String Theory: Worth the Wait or Just Stringing Us Along? (Part 2)” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Physics

String Theory: Worth the Wait or Just Stringing Us Along? (Part 1)

Author: Molly Kozminsky

Editors: Theresa Mau, Jimmy Brancho, and Alisha John

July 2016 was all about taking potshots at string theorists. First, Belle Moyers pointed out that people questioned if their field is really science. Then they showed up in the Ghostbusters reboot as the villains.

But what is it about string theory that inspires such vitriol? String theory suffers from a number of problems that inspire strong feelings and entire books. Over forty years of research have passed without yielding the promised “Theory of Everything,” with many scientists questioning whether it is even possible to confirm the theory. But before we write off string theory entirely, it might help to think about other long-shot theories such as the Higgs boson and gravity waves, and more generally about string theory itself.

So, what is string theory anyway?

Continue reading “String Theory: Worth the Wait or Just Stringing Us Along? (Part 1)” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Technology

Michigan Researchers Seek New Chemistries to Diversify Rechargeable Battery Applications

Author: Jimmy Brancho

Editors: Irene Park and David Mertz

battery-lab
Figure 1. Researchers at the University of Michigan are testing new battery materials in coin cell batteries. Locked inside one of these cells could be a breakthrough that will push energy storage forward.

Off the Danish coast in Copenhagen, Don Siegel, an associate professor in the University of Michigan’s College of Engineering, is on sabbatical. He said the ocean is speckled with tall, white windmills. At some sites, they stand in great curving rows; at others, they’re arrayed in a geometrical pattern.

“Denmark’s very windy,” he said over the phone.

He’s right. The country, according to Energinet, receives 42 percent of its electrical power from wind alone. In fact, Siegel said sometimes there are “emergency situations” where the turbines are pumping out electricity faster than it can be used.

“If we had extra energy storage, imagine what we could do with that,” he said. Continue reading “Michigan Researchers Seek New Chemistries to Diversify Rechargeable Battery Applications” →

misciwriterseditors blog, science behind the scenes

Science Behind the Scenes: Model Organisms—The Unsung Heroes of Biomedical Research

Author: Noah Steinfeld

Editors: Alex Taylor, Christina Vallianatos, and Belle Moyers

In 2001 the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was awarded to three scientists, Leland Hartwell, Tim Hunt and Paul Nurse, for their discoveries of key regulators of the cell cycle. Normally, before a cell can divide, it must undergo several phases of the cell cycle in a precise order. First, a cell grows in size, then duplicates its DNA, and finally distributes its DNA evenly between two daughter cells. The three researchers played seminal roles in identifying the mechanisms by which cells transition from one cell cycle phase to the next.

These fundamental discoveries are not only crucial to our understanding of biology, but have applications in human disease. Many types of cancer are linked to mutations that cause cells to move quickly through or even skip some parts of the cell cycle, making cell cycle regulation a hot area of biological research. Given the implications this research has for human health, it might surprise you that many cell cycle regulators were not first discovered in humans. Instead, these cell cycle regulators were identified and characterized in model organisms including yeast and sea urchins.

“But what do I have in common with the yeast I use to bake bread?” you might ask. As it turns out, a lot more than you’d think.

Continue reading “Science Behind the Scenes: Model Organisms—The Unsung Heroes of Biomedical Research” →

misciwriterseditors blog, Neuroscience, Uncategorized

Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 2)

Author: Ellyn Schinke

Editors: Whit Froehlich, Nayiri Kaissarian, and Irene Park

In my last post, I wrote about the social differences between introverts and extroverts and the misconceptions surrounding the two personalities. This post will focus on the underlying brain biology that contributes to whether a person is an extrovert or an introvert.

The more I read about these personalities, the more I wondered—are there ways in which the biology can explain the social differences? It turns out that there are several known, key differences in the brain biology between introverts and extroverts.

Continue reading “Introverts & Extroverts: It’s Not as Simple as Shy or Outgoing (Part 2)” →

misciwriterseditors Biology, blog, Microbiology, Research

Spinach and siderophores, part 2: Getting the upper hand

Author: Ada Hagan

Editors: Alisha John, Scott Barolo

As we discussed last time, bacteria that infect the human body face a major challenge: iron, which is essential for bacterial growth, is hard to obtain from human tissues.  Many pathogenic bacteria solve this problem by deploying “stealth siderophores,” which steal iron from human iron-binding proteins while evading our defenses. In the battle between humans and pathogenic bacteria, our best weapons, antibiotics, are being weakened by widespread resistance. Is there a way to use bacteria’s need for iron against them?

Continue reading “Spinach and siderophores, part 2: Getting the upper hand” →