Genes and the Human Condition – From Behavior to Biotechnology : A course that I recently completed

So, recently I completed this course called Genes and the Human Condition on Coursera from the University of Maryland and boy, I gotta tell you, it was a whole new experience. Some of the given content was more at a high school level, if you had genetics in your bio syllabus and some of it … Continue reading Genes and the Human Condition – From Behavior to Biotechnology : A course that I recently completed

Why are the offspring of older mothers less fit to live long and prosper?

According to a study that was conducted, offsprings of older mothers don’t fare as well as younger mothers, both humans and other species. This has been a longstanding question upon evolutionary traits amongst scientists. Through a new study on rotifers, scientists tested the evolutionary fitness of an older mother in several real and simulated environments, … Continue reading Why are the offspring of older mothers less fit to live long and prosper?

Are Blood Types a causative factor to make us vulnerable to COVID-19?

Humans have three blood groups- A, B and O. According to previous studies, it was said that Type A blood had higher risks of catching COVID-19 and Type O blood had the least risk. Now according to a study conducted last week, the early findings and conclusions about the probability of a certain blood group … Continue reading Are Blood Types a causative factor to make us vulnerable to COVID-19?

Oxford University (UK) To Collaborate with Serum Institute (India) for COVID-19 Vaccines

Scientists at Oxford University have claimed that their experimental COVID-19 vaccines has shown in an early trial that it can prompt a protective immune response. In a recent research article published on July 20th 2020 in the journal Lancet the scientists have reported that the vaccine called AZD1222 has been administered to people aged between 15 … Continue reading Oxford University (UK) To Collaborate with Serum Institute (India) for COVID-19 Vaccines

How Small Changes In Proteins Have Adverse Affects

Researchers at the Sloan Kettering Institute have made some discoveries related to malfunctioning in and their progress points to a new approach to develop targeted drugs for cancer and other diseases, Alzheimer's. In Molecular Biology, it is known that if your chaperone proteins don't fold the way that they are supposed to, it’ll result in … Continue reading How Small Changes In Proteins Have Adverse Affects

Mystery of Tummy Bugs being so good at swimming through guts revealed

Researchers from Imperial College London, Kitakyushu University in Tokyo and the University of Texas Southwest Medical Center have found the reason as to why a species of bacteria (which is known for food poisoning) can swim faster in stickier liquids; in this case, the human gut. With this research, the potential to stop the bacteria … Continue reading Mystery of Tummy Bugs being so good at swimming through guts revealed

The Second Part of the Three Part Neuron Course is Complete!

For the first part of the course, click below: https://innovativeideals.com/2020/04/28/i-finished-the-first-part-of-a-three-part-course-on-neurons/ It took me a while to finish this part, mainly because the content seemed very vast and it required a lot of time to finish off a week in the course. As the course was self paced, all I had to do was sit down … Continue reading The Second Part of the Three Part Neuron Course is Complete!

Rare case of Brain Destroying Amoeba sighted in Florida

The Florida Department of Health has announced a confirmed case of Naegleria fowleri -- a microscopic single-celled amoeba that can infect and destroy the brain. It's usually fatal, the DOH said. Dating back to 1962, only 37 reported cases of the amoeba in Florida are known. This one was found in Hillsborough County, though the … Continue reading Rare case of Brain Destroying Amoeba sighted in Florida

Sparrow song tracked to be “viral” across Canada through a twenty year study

Most bird species are slow to change their tune, preferring to stick with tried-and-true songs, which help in attracting the females. Now, with the help of citizen scientists, researchers have tracked how one rare sparrow song went "viral" across Canada, traveling over 3,000 kilometres between 2000 and 2019 and wiping out a historic song ending … Continue reading Sparrow song tracked to be “viral” across Canada through a twenty year study

Better Methods to compare gene expression in single cells found

Quantitative Biology Researchers from Northwestern University offered new evolutionary clues into organismal design principles in the face of physical constraints with respect to gene expression. Since the genes are normally expressed through transcription, this subjects them to the burst of mutations, which have an impact on the biological processes that are carried out by the … Continue reading Better Methods to compare gene expression in single cells found