By: Nitya Sriram For thousands of years, adventurers from across the globe traveled in search of the Fountain of Youth: a spring that would supposedly grant eternal life to those who drink from it. While not quite as thrilling as a magical Fountain of Youth, researchers at UC Berkeley’s Conboy lab in the bioengineering department […]
Watch Where You Swim: Health Risks to Children Caused by Fecally-Contaminated Water
By Udaiyaa Bommudurai t’s a hot summer morning, and you are roasting in the heat, so you decide to go to the beach. The water is cool and feels amazing against your burning skin. You spend the day swimming and taking a break from the scorching sun. This is the vision many people have in […]
A Viral Twist on Current Brain Tumor Research: Associating Immunogenetics of Antigen Response with Glioma Risk and Survival
By Riya Arul In 1796, the concept of using viral antigen responses was first introduced to create vaccines that protect us from viruses such as smallpox; today, scientists at UCSF have been able to utilize the same concept to enhance our understanding of malignant brain tumors. Gliomas, or glioblastomas, are brain tumors characterized by the […]
A Pathological Achilles’ Heel: Flaws in a Revolutionary Cancer Treatment
By: Yichen Zeng One of the fundamental problems of the human immune system lies in the question: “How many lives can one claim before one begins losing their own?” That is, how aggressive can the human immune system be towards pathogens and other invasive microorganisms before it begins to destroy the very being that depends […]
A “Renaissance” in Research: Can Psychedelics be Used to Treat Chronic Pain?
By: Melina Bindra The healing powers of psychedelics have been used for centuries, from Amazonian healing to Native American ceremonies, where the ingestion of various plant preparations evokes an altered state of consciousness. But over the past two decades, the recreational and medicinal use of psychedelics within the U.S. has noticeably increased. Psychedelics could possibly […]
Dumpster Diving for Cancer Cells Made Easy: Targeting Cancer Cells With ARS1620 Modified K-RAS (G12C)
By Crystal Chu With an estimated total of 1.9 million new cases in 2022, cancer—the second most common cause of death in the USA—is projected to cause 609,360 nationwide deaths in 2022 [1]. Thus, identifying cancer in its early stages before tumors spread to multiple organs is imperative. However, this task is easier said than […]
A New Application of CRISPR
By Lily Zimmerman Bacteria: tiny organisms that do everything from causing sickness to carrying out important internal bodily functions. We often view bacteria as gross or harmful creatures, but in reality, they are absolutely essential to our survival. Bacteria, particularly the billions that populate the gut, are incredibly important; they help regulate the immune system, […]
Hitting the Brakes: Open Source Medical Data Misuse
By Niki Ebrahimnejad AI. AI. AI. This is not your average buzzword: a lot of attention has been placed on artificial intelligence given its emergence and success in the tech industry. One medical application of AI that has gained praise is image reconstruction. Building images from complex data inputs such as magnetic resonance image (MRI) […]
TRPA1 Receptor and the Future of Pain Management
By Cleo Lin A common but deleterious mistake many sushi lovers have likely made is taking ambitious serving sizes of the Japanese root wasabi with their rolls. Unfortunately, this mistake is quickly registered after the wasabi contacts our taste receptors, manifesting in tears and a minty heat filling up the mouth. This stinging, burning sensation, […]
Through the Eyes: Retinal Imaging for those with Alzheimer’s Risk Gene
By Victoria Lee What can the eyes tell us about a person? According to a study conducted by researchers at the Department of Neurology at UCSF, they can be used to tell that a person possibly has Alzheimer’s Dementia (AD). Researchers studying the Apolipoprotein E or (APOE4) ε4 gene, a risk factor for Alzheimer’s, were […]