SARS-CoV-2: the ultimate foe.

In order to defeat our enemy, we need to understand it. One of my favorite topics in college was virology. Viruses are simply packets of genes that exist solely to invade and reproduce, which sounds a lot like the dark moments in our history of colonialism or war. But while humans can also love, regret,...

Brain waves in a dish?

Brain waves – what are they anyway? This term refers to the synchronized activity of brain cells, or neurons, in a network. Rather than a room full of random and chaotic conversation, the brain is more akin to a choir. Each chorister gets their cue from the singers around them. The result is an intricate...

Battling Impostor Syndrome

It was 8pm on a Saturday. We had been sitting in the common room of Haverford University since 9am waiting for the interview committee to make a decision. We had exhausted the energy bars and chips they had provided. At that point, I think most of us had decided that we were not going to...

Slowing down: The benefits of working and living “inefficiently”

My alarm would go off at 5:45 am. That gave me about 30 minutes to eat my peanut butter and banana on toast, pack my bag, and run to the boathouse for rowing practice. Yes, there was a bus. But running was faster. I got impatient waiting for the bus. Inefficient use of time. I...

How *good* scientists plan experiments

Image: "Piled Higher and Deeper" by Jorge Cham, www.phdcomics.com Sometimes, when progress is happening slowly, it's hard to recognize growth. Comparing myself now to me two years ago, I'm honestly proud of how far I've come as a scientist. Specifically, apart from developing my hard skillset, for the first time, I feel like I'm understanding what...

Life update: I’m still using beads to make DNA 13 years later

I couldn't stop laughing when my mom sent me a picture of this DNA model from sixth grade. It appears to be constructed from wire and jewelery-making beads, each color representing a different molecular component of the DNA. If I remember correctly, I got extra credit for making the styrofoam base "spin." Today, I know...

A life without microbes: How “germ-free” research is revealing the necessity of bacteria for our brains

David Vetter was a normal boy, mostly. He grew up in Texas, and he liked Star Wars. He was also born with a genetic defect that left his immune system completely nonfunctional. As a result, he was forced to live in a sterile isolator for his twelve short years of life, earning him the nickname...

Could we grow a brain in the lab?

What if you could grow a human brain in a petri dish? Well, we're not there yet, but the rise of 3-D human brain cell culture has opened the door to some exciting possibilities. We spend a lot of time and resources studying mouse or rat brains. Ideally, though, we want to study human brains....

Our genes disagree with decades of psychiatric diagnoses.

You haven't been feeling well lately. You've been a bit down and unmotivated, anxious most of the time, and you haven't been eating or sleeping much. You go to see a psychiatrist. He or she may decide to give you one of about 300 diagnoses from the Diagnostic Statistical Manual (DSM), which is considered psychiatry's...

How inflammation in Mom predicts baby’s brain wiring

Our immune systems and our brains are inextricably linked. Inflammation (meaning the concerted attack on infection or damage by immune cells and chemical signals) is critical to our survival. Too much inflammation, however, can damage our bodies and our brains and is likely involved in psychiatric disorders, such as depression. The reverse is also true...