Volume VI Biological Sciences
The Future of Diabetes Treatment: Stem Cell Therapy's Promising Role
How stem cell therapy is advancing diabetes treatment
Written by: Janessa Techathamawong | Edited by: Vivian Zhang | Graphic Design by: Jude Awadallah
Diabetes is a chronic condition affecting millions worldwide, characterized by the body's inability to produce or effectively use insulin, which helps to decrease glucose levels in our blood. Traditional treatments, such as insulin injections and oral medications, help manage symptoms but do not cure the disease. In recent years, stem cell therapy has emerged as a groundbreaking approach with the potential to reverse diabetes by restoring the body's natural insulin production.
Heartbreak and Magnetic Pulses
The Future of Love and Loss in Neuroscience
Written by: Bernadette Mukeba | Edited by: Vivian Zhang | Graphic Design by: Vivian Zhang
Heartbreak can unravel us. Sometimes the unraveling is quiet, and other times violent. If your heartbreak could be solved in a certain number of clinical sessions, would you sign up?
The RNA Molecule at the Helm of Destruction
Why women are more likely to be diagnosed with Autoimmune Diseases
Written by: Miranda Huang | Edited by: Amy Yao | Graphic Design by: Dora Meiwes
However, these latter two systems—the innate and adaptive responses—are also responsible for autoimmune diseases, in which cells that are usually considered "self" are recognized as “foreign," triggering an immune response. In effect, immune cells may destroy one's tissues or organs. Interestingly, biological females, who have two X chromosomes, are more likely to develop autoimmune disease than biological males, who have an X and a Y chromosome. However, the underlying mechanisms driving this phenomenon are unclear, and many studies point to a number of different variables.
Quenching the Burning Memories
A glimmer of hope for Alzheimer's patients
Written by: Amy Yao | Edited by: Miranda Huang | Graphic Design by: Dora Meiwes
It is estimated that more than 6 million people in the US have Alzheimer’s disease, the most common form of dementia. Given its prevalence, it's likely that many of us have family members who have been affected by it, or at least heard of someone who has. So what exactly is this disease, and what does recent research reveal about it?
Why You Should Eat Your Neighbors (if You’re a Stem Cell)
Phagocytosis doesn’t just occur in your immune system, stem cells do it too
Written by: Charli Lu | Edited by: Andre Hsieh | Photo by: Juan Carlos Fonseca Mata
Do you like eating your dead neighbors? Well, if you do, you are one step closer to being like a hair follicle stem cell.
Billions of cells in our bodies die each day, making way for fresh replacements to maintain our healthy tissues. But how do our bodies handle this flood of cellular corpses without causing chaos? Surprisingly, the stem cells in your hair follicle take matters into their own hands by consuming their dying neighbors.
How to Catch That Fly Every Time
Understanding fly behavior and perception to efficiently rid your room of the pest.
Written by: YJ Si | Edited by: Miranda Huang | Graphic Design by: Gina Phu
While a housefly may not see fine details as sharply as we do, these multiple lenses enable it to detect motion from almost any angle. Even the smallest shift in light or shadow can trigger the housefly’s alarm response, prompting it to take off before a predator can land a hit.
Stem Cell Therapy: How it works, if it works
How the controversial field of medicine embodies the future of healthcare
Written by: James Liu | Edited by: Ziona Somy | Graphic Design by: Ethan Kung
Stem cell therapy has gained significant attention in recent years. Advertisements that claim such therapies could cure cancer, reverse organ failure, or even slow down aging are all over the internet and in newspapers. Yet, due to the fact that stem cell therapy is such a new concept, it has become subject to ill-intentioned organizations trying to scam people who are unfamiliar with the mechanisms of stem cell therapy.