Our Spring 2018 issue is now available online! Articles are posted individually as blog posts (the articles are linked below), a PDF version is currently displayed on our Archives page, and print issues will be available around Harvard’s campus starting Fall 2018. We hope you enjoy browsing through this issue as much as we enjoyed putting it together! A big … Continue reading Spring 2018: Can Science Save Us?
Opioid abuse is responsible for billions of dollars of additional healthcare expenditure, and more importantly, about 90 deaths every day in the US alone (1). In the treatment of addiction and eradication of the current opioid crisis, vaccination against street drugs has become a potential therapeutic option. Scientists from the Janda lab (Skaggs Institute) have developed … Continue reading Vaccines against Opioids: A Solution or a Problem?
“Did the Bitcoin Bubble Just Burst?”1 This latest news headline and many others immediately and frequently catch our attention with key terms such as Bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and blockchain. We’ve all heard of the cryptocurrency or digital asset Bitcoin, but few understand it. More importantly, even fewer understand the technology that underlies it: blockchain. Although Bitcoin … Continue reading Can Blockchain Save our Healthcare System?
Introduction At the start of the new year, during a time usually associated with resolution and new promises, two major pharmaceutical companies, Pfizer and Axovant, both announced the discontinuation of their campaigns to uncover drugs to treat Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease, two progressive and debilitating neurodegenerative diseases that stunt cognitive function and deprive individuals … Continue reading Aging and Debilitation: The Grave Reality, and Hopeful Future, of Treating Neurodegenerative Disease
The computer is one of the most revolutionary devices ever invented, and it distinctively marks the landscape of the digital era. We use it to work, learn, teach, read, write, speak, share information, access the government, power hospitals, run businesses, automate industry, perform research, make purchases, secure data, watch movies, drive cars, fly planes, and … Continue reading The Race to Quantum Supremacy
INTRODUCTION The invisible world of microbes is a scary place. For nearly the entirety of humanity’s existence, infectious diseases have been the leading cause of death. It wasn’t until recently that developments such as antiseptic chemicals, vaccinations, and pasteurization (to name a few) were developed to combat lethal pathogens. Because of those advances, life expectancy … Continue reading No More Penicillin: A Future Without Antibiotics?
On February 23, 2018 amidst a worst-in-a-decade flu season, the Japanese pharmaceutical Shionogi & Co. attained approval to sell a new influenza drug in Japan.1 Xofluza (or baloxavir marboxil) works unlike any antiviral previously developed. Instead of preventing infected cells from releasing viral particles, as the established Tamiflu medication does, Xofluza stops the flu from … Continue reading One Dose, One Day: The Magic of Xofluza
Space biology –– even the name of the field sounds like an oxymoron. Little research has been done in space biology, simply because of how difficult (and expensive) it is to get specimens up in space. Moreover, whatever research that does come from such experiments is not easily replicable and thus, often inconclusive. Yet space … Continue reading Space Biology and the Future of the Human Race
Alzheimer’s disease, a highly debilitating neurodegenerative disorder, is the most common form of dementia worldwide.1 Those afflicted struggle with issues with memory, thinking, and behavior; the slow, progressive onset of this cognitive decline2 makes it an insidious and emotionally painful illness for patients—nearly 44 million people worldwide3—and their families. More agonizing still: there is currently … Continue reading A Shocking Revelation: Deep Brain Stimulation as a Treatment for Alzheimer’s Disease
By: Hanson Tam Stand under the sun on a sweltering summer day, and your skin becomes sticky with sweat. We take perspiration for granted, often dismissing it as an annoying bodily function. Yet it is profoundly important for mammalian thermoregulation. Sweating allows you to evaporate off excess heat and maintain a steady temperature in the … Continue reading Channeling Out The Heat
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