Imagine a world without cancer. Without Cystic Fibrosis, HIV, Herpes, or Huntington’s disease. This is the world that gene editing may bring us. With Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) and CRISPR-associated protein 9 (CRISPR-Cas9), this world may one day become reality. CRISPR-Cas9 is the cheapest, fastest, and most accurate gene editing technology to date. […]
It takes guts (to play on gut strings)!
Introduction As a violin player, I often have to change strings regularly in order to keep my instrument in tip-top shape. Nowadays, most string players use synthetic or metal strings. However, others go with the more unorthodox gut strings. Is there a significant difference between the two, and if so, how does it affect one’s […]
Can Trauma be Passed to Future Generations?
In 1966, psychologists noticed something interesting. Proportionally, more grandchildren of Holocaust survivors sought mental help in Canadian clinics compared to the rest of the population. Mounting evidence show that descendants of people who have experienced trauma like the Holocaust are at greater risk of anxiety, depression, posttraumatic stress disorder, and other conditions. But while studies […]
Is Oxygen Killing Us?
Yes, but it does so very, very slowly. Wait- how is that possible? We breathe 22,000 times per day. Every single one of those times, our blood takes oxygen from our lungs and carries it to all our cells. They use that oxygen to do their cell jobs and keep us alive. However, sometimes (around […]
The Hunt for Blue
In the Ancient Greek epic Odyssey, the author Homer famously describes the “wine-dark sea“. It’s a very peculiar colour choice, since nowadays we consider the ocean to be dark blue or green – two shades very distinct from the dark red wine we know. However, this wasn’t the only instance of unconventional colour-naming in Odyssey. […]
Crow Closure
by Lauren Tam You are driving along the road, trees to your left and acres of grazing land to your right. A dead crow is spotted off the side of the asphalt. You are careful not to roll over it; it has already had a bad day. As you drive past, you notice through your […]
Structure Building Bacteria
Across the globe, humans use concrete for everything. From pathways to buildings, you can see it everywhere; so it’s no surprise that concrete is the second most used substance humans use, the first being water. Unfortunately, like most good things, using so much concrete has some drawbacks. According to BBC, concrete alone makes up for […]
The Science behind Claustrophobia
By Japleen Aujla What is Claustrophobia? I don’t have many fears when it comes to the dark or heights. Suspension bridges or pitch-black rooms do make me nervous but not completely terrified. Even spiders don’t bother me much, if they stay out of my personal space. However, being in tight spaces for more than a couple of minutes makes me uncomfortable. Claustrophobia is the fear of closed spaces. These closed spaces can include a myriad of things and differ from person to person. Some don’t like being too close to people on public transport and don’t like being in elevators […]
When delicious becomes deadly
Allergies are very common and most people are affected by them, just to different degrees. Symptoms range from a runny nose to difficulty breathing. As a person who has never had granola bars or oatmeal due to my own allergy, I think that it is important for us to understand what allergies are. For the […]
Coral Bleaching
By Natasha Poon Introduction: I was recently shocked to discover the sunscreen that I use is killing coral reefs. With the exception of a few reef-safe sunscreens, most sunscreens have a chemical called oxybenzone which can cause a phenomenon called coral bleaching. With this in mind, I wanted to learn more about what coral bleaching […]