misciwriterseditors Outreach, Spanish

Girls Who Code Emprenden la Semana de Educación en Ciencias Computacionales

Autora: Brooke Wolford
Editores: Zena Lapp y Whit Froehlich
Traducción: Irene Vargas-Salazar, editado por Neykelin Burgos Tirado

Aunque no sea aparente, ¡Una gran parte de programación computacional está trabajando tras bastidores para ayudarte a leer este artículo! De hecho, este tipo de código ocurre frecuentemente en el mundo moderno. Los empleos en computación y matemáticas se encuentran en el número seis entre los 22 grupos ocupacionales de mayor crecimiento en E.U.A. Además, se han proyectado alrededor de 4.3 millones de trabajos para americanos en estas áreas para el 2020.

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misciwriterseditors Biochemistry, blog, Ecology, evolution, Uncategorized

Semen’s Lesser-known Roles in Reproduction

Author: Brooke Wolford

Editors: Andrew McAllister, Molly Kozminsky, and Whit Froehlich

tinder_sperm
Image by Sierra Nishizaki

If you’re a millennial who thinks dating in the age of Tinder is difficult, you may find parallels between your dating life and the complexities of reproduction. The process of a sperm meeting an egg to create a cell that successfully implants in the uterine wall and subsequently creates a human is incredibly intricate. Similar to the world of dating, two have to meet, decide they like each other, and then invest time and energy to grow together as a couple. From finding a mate to the biological processes behind pregnancy, reproduction may seem downright impossible. Luckily mother nature has devised sneaky and fascinating ways to improve the chances of a successful pregnancy. Evolution favors those who pass their DNA on to as many offspring as possible, and natural selection has worked for years to optimize reproduction. If only Tinder were that good at getting you a date!

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misciwriters Public health, Research

How Your Electronic Health Records Could Help Biomedical Research

Author: Brooke Wolford

Editors: Jimmy Brancho, Shweta Ramdas, Bryan Moyers

Think back to the last time you visited your primary care physician. Was the health care provider using a laptop or tablet to take notes and update your health information? In many doctors’ offices across the country your health records have gone digital. In addition to their exciting potential to help doctors’ offices reduce human error and better serve patients, electronic health records (EHRs) also make available a new source of “big data” for researchers.

EHRs are patient-specific digital records your health care provider maintains. The information in your EHR helps your doctor efficiently track your health over time and helps researchers learn more about diseases, which ultimately improves the clinical care your doctor provides to you and other patients. Believe it or not, EHRs from patients like you and me have already helped researchers make discoveries that improve health care for everyone!

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misciwriters evolution, genetics, Research

Interpreting ancient DNA: Not so easy a caveman could do it

Author: Brooke Wolford

Editors: Alex Taylor, Jimmy Brancho, Bryan Moyers

Imagine the year is 1856 and you are toiling in a quarry in the Neander Valley, a few kilometers from Düsseldorf, Germany. Strangely, something is abruptly sticking out of the landscape. You dig around and find ribs, a skull, and other bones—your best guess is that you have stumbled upon the final resting place of a bear. However, what you have actually found are the first identifiable remains of ancient hominins, later named Homo neanderthalensis.

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