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Posts

March 27, 2013

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12:16 PM | The Legacy of Lifestyle
Kids are full of surprises, right down to the coded biological programs they inherit, which may contain subtle chemical reminders of their parents’ lifestyles. But if our parents’ lifestyles are encoded in our biology, as some scientists speculate, then the way we think about health and lifestyle will change dramatically. The general assumption is that [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science

November 26, 2012

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12:54 PM | Authenticating Cells Out of Curiosity, Not Fear
Cell lines are standard tools in biomedical research, and yet when it comes to their genetic identity, they are remarkably unstable. That volatility comes with their defining trait—immortality. Over time, cells accumulate mutations that may ultimately change the structure of chromosomes and alter cellular functions. A number of those genetic changes can be detected with [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science

July 11, 2012

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11:17 AM | Bee Brain Plasticity: Turning Back the Clock on Aging
The honeybee brain is dynamic and full of surprises. For instance, much like the human brain, its neurons not only modulate their activity in response to sensory stimuli but also alter their gene and protein expression patterns—changes that in bees are so dramatic as to essentially rewire the brain. And even more remarkable is that [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science

May 08, 2012

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12:43 PM | Machine Counterpart: Nature’s New Creatures
The translucent bell-shaped figure pumps rhythmically upward through the water, the rise and fall of its body almost identical to that of the moon jelly, Aurelia aurita. The similarity is no coincidence. The figure in the tank is a prototype of an unmanned undersea vehicle designed to run on hydrogen-powered artificial muscles. The wild A. [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science

January 16, 2012

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12:52 PM | Epigenetics: A Turning Point in our Understanding of Heredity
In a study published in late 2011 in Nature, Stanford University geneticist Anne Brunet and colleagues described a series of experiments that caused nematodes raised under the same environmental conditions to experience dramatically different lifespans. Some individuals were exceptionally long-lived, and their descendants, through three generations, also enjoyed long lives. Clearly, the longevity advantage was [...]
Scientific American - Guest Blog
General Science
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