Engineering mechanics can provide medical researchers with invaluable insights into the diverse mechanisms contained within the human body, and the conditions that arise when they go wrong. Over a career spanning four decades, Dr Nigel Shrive at the University of Calgary has offered significant contributions to this field. His research is now helping to improve the lives of many millions of people who are currently suffering from mechanical failure within the body. Elsewhere, his work has also e...
Jan 31, 2021•13 min
Humans have a long history of developing crops with improved characteristics, benefitting consumers, and farmers alike. Selective breeding, inducing genetic mutations, and, more recently, gene editing, are all tools that are used to produce plants with beneficial traits. As with any breeding technique, gene editing can lead to unintended genetic changes, but how does the prevalence of these off-target changes compare with those arising from other breeding practices? Plant scientists from the Uni...
Nov 24, 2020•10 min
Individuals with chronic kidney disease commonly also suffer from renal anaemia. Renal anaemia, a condition in which individuals lack enough red blood cells to adequately supply oxygen to the tissue, can have many underlying causes. Treatment is based on hormones that stimulate the production of red blood cells but this has varying outcomes and it is difficult to estimate the effects treatment will have on a specific patient. Dr Doris H. Fuertinger , at Fresenius Medical Care Deutschland is usin...
Nov 24, 2020•7 min
Big data is now central to the operation of many online companies, but until now, the wealth of information it provides has remained largely untapped by manufacturers. Dr Tim Young at the University of Tennessee believes that through data science, this information could be used to significantly streamline the operations of many manufacturing industries. His work provides the widely varied parties involved in these processes with important new insights into how they should handle their data, ulti...
Nov 20, 2020•13 min
Haematopoiesis is the process through which cellular blood components are produced. It starts during embryonic development to ensure the production of blood cells such as erythrocytes (red cells), leukocytes (white cells), and platelets and continues throughout our lives. All blood cells derive from haematopoietic stem cells located in the bone marrow and, unfortunately, blood cancers may occur during this process. Whether blood cells become inefficient or grow excessively, the outcomes are usua...
Nov 20, 2020•14 min
China is home to a large number of the world’s primate species, but expanding industries and land transformations have put the country’s lorises, monkeys and apes at risk of extinction. Dr Paul Garber of the University of Illinois-Urbana and Dr Alejandro Estrada of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, along with primate scientists from China, Brazil and Australia, have examined the challenges that China faces in protecting and maintaining its biodiversity. The team also offers a set of ...
Nov 04, 2020•7 min
In today’s corporate America, rapid growth and success often comes tied to some form of controversy. Perhaps one of the best examples of this is the restaurant chain Chick-fil-A. Driven by the huge popularity of its chicken sandwiches, Chick-fil-A had propelled itself to 10 billion dollars in annual sales by 2019. However, public backlash in response to donations made on behalf of the company to groups with anti-LGBTQ views has recently slowed the momentum down, raising questions about the viabi...
Oct 09, 2020•8 min
While many people perceive diamond as a material used to make jewellery or other decorative objects, this mesmerising stone has numerous other valuable applications. In fact, its physical properties make diamond ideal for uses in various technological applications, including high performance electronics. Dr Debarati Mukherjee, Dr Luis Nero Alves and Dr Joana Catarina Mendes at the University of Aveiro in Portugal have recently outlined some exciting potential uses of diamond in technology and en...
Oct 09, 2020•8 min
As the human population continues to grow, increasing global market demands, land conversion and the unsustainable use of natural resources are having a negative impact on non-human primate survivorship. Dr Alejandro Estrada from the National Autonomous University of Mexico, Dr Paul Garber of the University of Illinois, and Dr Abhishek Chaudhary from the Indian Institute of Technology, examine the socio-economic factors that negatively impact primate populations. For conservation policies to be ...
Sep 25, 2020•8 min
Since the 2008 global financial crisis, the US and other Western powerhouses have performed a U-turn in investing in globalisation, returning to the perceived comfort of protectionism, which involves imposing tariffs on imports to prioritise domestic industries. This has had a significant effect on developing and emerging countries, suppressing their economic growth by decreasing investment in the name of caution and reduced risk. Dr Bertrand Guillotin has recently challenged the conventional wi...
Sep 25, 2020•8 min
Engineering students can benefit greatly from interacting with physical objects whose attributes mimic those of real-world systems. So far, however, objects that do this effectively have proven to be extremely difficult to create. To solve the problem, Dr Diana Bairaktarova at Virginia Tech suggests that taught engineering courses could recreate practical situations more reliably using virtual objects, or ‘vObjects’. If her approach becomes widely adopted, it could transform how engineering stud...
Sep 18, 2020•13 min
Climate change is already having devastating effects felt across the globe. Without adequate measures to counteract the human drivers behind climate change, these negative consequences are guaranteed to increase in severity in the coming decades. Esteemed biomedical scientist, Dr Charles DeLisi of Boston University, urges that a multi-disciplinary approach to mitigating climate change is vital. Using predictive modelling, he has demonstrated the potential power of genetically engineering plants ...
Sep 18, 2020•13 min
Symbiosis is the interaction between two species that offers benefits to one or both of the organisms involved. One important type of symbiosis that has been instrumental in advancing evolution is endosymbiosis, where one of the organisms lives inside the other. Endosymbiosis has typically been studied using microscopy, but Dr Toshiyuki Takahashi from the National Institute of Technology in Miyazaki, Japan, proposes that a technique called flow cytometry can offer more detailed insights into end...
Aug 07, 2020•9 min
Currency crises are a major feature of the world economy we live in, and many governments face the challenge of defending their currency’s exchange-rate. A system of currency and money needs a standard of value to be stable, but no such system has existed since the end of the US Gold Standard in 1971. Professor Patrick Collins of Azabu University in Japan and his colleagues perform detailed simulations and argue that the Grondona system of conditional currency convertibility is the only practica...
Jul 31, 2020•8 min
Climate change and land-use changes are shaping the future of the world’s forests. Initiatives to halt deforestation and forest degradation are consistently missing their targets, despite political and public support. A key reason for this lack of effectiveness may be the failure to account for human behaviour. Dr Claude Garcia and Dr Patrick Waeber from the French Agricultural Research Centre for International Development and the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology use theoretical models and ...
Jul 24, 2020•11 min
As the electricity generation landscape transforms at a breakneck pace, the techniques engineers use to maintain a high performance in the electricity grid are struggling to keep up. Through a new study, Dr Hashem Nehrir and several of his former students at Montana State University delve into a variety of potential solutions, which have been presented by global research teams over the past two decades. Through an advanced algorithm, they have now brought together the findings of these studies a...
Jul 17, 2020•9 min
‘Our audacious idea is to cure cancer.’ Dr Kenneth Pienta at the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, USA, speaks with genuine passion about his ground-breaking research. With his team, he has recently discovered that in every type of cancer, a special type of rare cancer cell – a polyaneuploid cancer cell (PACC) – exists and hides within the greater cancer cell population. The team hypothesises that ‘PACCs are a master mediator of therapy tolerance’ and thus, the critical treatment target. Now, in...
Jul 10, 2020•15 min
Poor sleep is a common difficulty issue for teenagers and young adults worldwide. Unfortunately, the impact of poor sleep is substantial with clear links to mental health difficulties. Dr Colleen Carney , an Associate Professor and the Director of the Sleep and Depression Laboratory at Ryerson University, Canada, is committed to helping people sleep better. Dr Carney has recently turned her expertise to the development of an innovative app to alleviate sleep problems in teenagers and young adult...
Jun 30, 2020•11 min
Social psychology is the scientific study of individuals in society. An immense body of work has demonstrated that social cues, such as the facial expressions and body language of others, affect our motivation. One line of research suggests that autonomy-supportive instructions enhance motivation. However, this work has primarily been conducted in Western contexts and relatively little has been established about the universality of such effects across different cultures. Dr Ritu Tripathi at the ...
Jun 30, 2020•11 min
Advancements in genetic technologies have provided new wildlife survey tools that are more efficient, less expensive, and allow scientists to detect species that are otherwise difficult to observe. Detection of environmental DNA (eDNA) shed into water or soil by wildlife, is one such tool. Through a multi-year study of Asian carp eDNA in the Chicago Area Waterway System, Dr Martin Schultz of the United States Army Corps of Engineers has been developing new methods that combine genetic techniques...
Jun 25, 2020•10 min
With ongoing climate change, land use change, and changing disturbance regimes that negatively impact Earth’s ecosystems, it is critical that educators convey the importance of safeguarding the natural environment to younger generations to prepare them to face current and future environmental challenges. Teaching Change comprises a collection of innovative programs aimed at strengthening the relationship between youth and nature in Hawaiʻi while also inspiring Hawaii’s youth to become the next g...
Jun 23, 2020•14 min
Fucoidans, which occur naturally in seaweeds, have previously been shown to have a range of possible clinical applications. In a review study, Dr Helen Fitton and her team from the biotechnology company, Marinova, discuss the breadth and depth of new fucoidan research – from their potential use in cancer treatment, to their possible effcts on microbiome. Finally, they cover new techniques for the measurement, production and delivery of fucoidans, which are supporting the transition from research...
Jun 16, 2020•9 min
Many of the plant species that we depend on for food produce toxins. The wild ancestors of these crops relied on toxins to ward off diseases and prevent them from being eaten by animals. By choosing individual plants that lack the genes necessary to produce toxins, generations of selective breeding have produced countless crop varieties that are safe to eat. In a recent review, Natalie Kaiser from Michigan State University and her co-authors review the history of developing safe crop varieties, ...
Jun 16, 2020•8 min
In developed countries, we are broadly aware of the dangers of asbestos and the risks it poses if discovered in our living or working environments. It may be shocking to learn that asbestos still causes an estimated 255,000 deaths annually worldwide, with the vast majority – 89% – from work-related exposure. Although asbestos is banned in 55 countries, it is still widely used in the developing world, and over two million tonnes are consumed annually, leading to what Dr Jukka Takala, President of...
Jun 12, 2020•11 min
We all know exercise is good for us. In addition to the renowned physical benefits, Professor Kirk Erickson in the Department of Psychology at the University of Pittsburgh is providing powerful evidence that exercise may improve cognitive faculties throughout the lifespan. Read on to discover the wide range of ways in which exercise can help us to live our lives to the fullest across the years, and how the emerging field of health neuroscience may inform public health policy for our better good....
Jun 05, 2020•12 min
To understand how human activities impact wildlife, biologists need to know which species are present within a given area. Traditional methods of surveying species are often labour intensive, time consuming, and expensive. However, recent advancements in genetic analysis may provide powerful new survey tools to complement existing methods. Through her research, Dr Katy Klymus at the US Geological Survey tests the efficacy of one such tool, environmental DNA metabarcoding, for identifying wildlif...
May 29, 2020•10 min
Any injury such as trauma , surgery or infection to the cornea in the eye may result in persistent scarring (clinically referred to as fibrosis) due to the wound healing response. Professor Steven E. Wilson at the Cole Eye Institute of the Cleveland Clinic Foundation has identified that defective epithelial basement membrane (EBM) regeneration plays a central role in the development of scar producing myofibroblast cells. Critically, Professor Wilson suggests that the pathophysiological consequen...
May 22, 2020•16 min
In the United States, there are thousands of industrial sites contaminated by the irresponsible disposal of chemical waste. The higher than expected frequency of cancer cases near these sites has caused alarm, since many of the chemical contaminants found at these sites have been linked to the development of long-term health problems, including cancer. As leaders of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Superfund Research Program, Dr Jennifer Kay (Research Scientist and Research Translation ...
May 15, 2020•16 min
Modern treatments for patients with more than one chronic condition can be highly precarious, and in many cases, simultaneous treatments for different illnesses can be detrimental to each other and ultimately, the patient. Dr Juliana Bowles at the University of St Andrews believes that this pressing issue can be solved with the help of advanced computational techniques. Her team has explored the ability of such techniques to calculate reliable outcomes within models of complex systems. Their wor...
May 01, 2020•14 min
Neurodegenerative disorders present a major cause of death and disability worldwide. Treatments are typically expensive, non-efficient, and invasive. Although scientists are committed to finding better treatment strategies, the challenge of penetrating the blood-brain barrier remains. This highly selective envelope protects our brain from harmful substances but also prevents drugs from reaching the brain when needed. Dr Shikha Nangia at Syracuse University, USA, focuses on understanding the mole...
May 01, 2020•11 min
