By Dylan Feldstein Unethical. Overhyped. Polarizing. Indeed, there is great controversy surrounding stem cell therapies, particularly pertaining to human embryonic stem cells. With the advancements in science and technology, a new type of stem cell called induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), generated by reprogramming adult somatic cells, eliminates the reliance on human embryos to harvest […]
A New Hope for AADC Deficiency: Gene Therapy’s Power in a New Environment
By Ashvin Irrinki 135. That’s the number of children in this world who are missing just one particular enzyme. For many of us, this enzyme is merely another protein that fits somewhere in a biochemical pathway that helps us without our knowledge- and it ends there. For these 135 individuals, however, this enzyme, and more […]
The ‘GrimAge’ Reaper: Accelerated mortality linked to major depressive disorder
by: Annika Pohlo In addition to the most commonly known symptoms of major depressive disorder (MDD), this condition is also a risk factor for a number of issues associated with aging, such as cardiovascular disease and Alzheimer’s disease. Present in over 16.1 million Americans, MDD is a mood disorder tied to emotional and even physical […]
Call an Ambulance, Call an Ambulance! … but Not for Me: Why E-Cigs Aren’t It
by: Kaavya Thanigaivelan Nearly all students across the US have sat through a seminar or two learning about the harms of drugs and their impacts on our health. Smoking cigarettes causes lung cancers, they taught us, and don’t drink and drive. Yet, the use of these substances is still a prominent and somewhat normalized part […]
Medical Mysteries: Uncovering How a New Medical Algorithm Can Reduce Racial Disparities in Healthcare
by: Lavanya Sankaran Every day, technology is becoming more and more like its creators—us! Within medical fields, deep learning through artificial intelligence (AI) algorithms has already been proven to match expert-level human performance in medical imaging tasks like early cancer detection and eye disease diagnosis. Medical advances such as these celebrate the fact that technology […]
Health Disparities: Genetic Misdiagnoses Among Minority Patients With Cystic Fibrosis and Barriers to Receiving Life-Saving Drugs
by: Valerie Lobato Throughout this country’s history, the principles that define American democracy are the recognition of fundamental worth, dignity, and the importance of treating others with equality. With the coronavirus pandemic continuing to plague the nation, becoming health conscious has become an important aspect of everyday life, especially with children being more susceptible to […]
The Ruling Repercussions of Redlining: Examining the Role of Historical Redlining Maps in Adverse Birth Outcomes Today
by: Lavanya Sankaran Since the 1930s, redlining maps (which evaluated neighborhood mortgage-lending risk) have played a key role in upholding racial disparities across the United States. Now, nearly 100 years later, the long-term health impacts of redlining are just being revealed. A recent study conducted at the University of California, Berkeley found that unfavorable birth […]
The Mystery of Multiple Sclerosis: What Does the Immune System Have to Do With It?
by: Katie Foulger Affecting one million Americans per year, of an unknown cause, with no treatment plans in place — the disease Multiple Sclerosis (MS) truly is an enigma. MS is an autoimmune disease that directly affects the central nervous system (CNS), consisting of the brain and spinal cord. The immune system malfunctions and begins […]
Lung Cancer Screening Saves Lives: What if We Started Using Blood Plasma?
by: Hiba Elkhatib “Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related death in the US and around the world. Almost everyone is going to know someone with lung cancer at some point. So, the goal is to try to diagnosis lung cancer as early as possible when patients have that possibility of a cure.” […]
Identifying Amyloid Deposits Using PET to Detect Earlier Stages of Memory Decline
by: Catherine Kim Recent studies reported that late intervention resulted in memory decline in cognitively normal (CN) individuals who tested negative for β-amyloid (Aβ). Researchers found that therapeutic interventions typically occur when individuals test positive for Aβ, which may be too late. Exactly how to identify those Aβ negative (Aβ-) individuals with cognitive decline using […]