Tag: biology
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Skin Pigmentation Bias in Pulse Oximetry Measurements
Pulse oximeters have revolutionized modern medicine, enabling continuous, accurate, and non-invasive monitoring of functional oxygen saturation of hemoglobin (SpO₂) (Chan et al. 2013). Taken as a fifth vital sign, the device’s use is routine in emergency care, general ward, intermediate/intensive care unit, the operating room, and in general practices (Bosch et al. 2024). However, with…
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The Emergence of Allergic Diseases in Immigrants: A Probiotic Solution
First-generation immigrants face numerous challenges when adapting to new cultures: language barriers, discrimination, invalid credential recognition, and growing mental health concerns. While some of these challenges may be temporary, a long-term issue that remains unresolved within the immigrant population is the growing prevalence of allergic diseases (Lombardi, Passalaqua, and Walter Canonica 2009). Surprisingly, a potential…
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Love: A Social Construct or Just Science?
Despite the ridicule behind Love is Blind and The Bachelorette, the complex bridge that connects the realm of human emotions with the scientific understanding of our bodies does exist, in the form of love. From a scientific perspective, the early stages of falling in love behave similarly to the consumption of cocaine, with both processes triggering…
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Botulinum Toxin: A Toxin Of All Trades
Before its cosmetic applications were discovered, Botulinum toxin (BoNT) known as Botox, was one of the most lethal biological weapons. Utilized throughout World War II, the number of casualties caused by its inhalation made it an effective military tool for attack (Tatu, 2021). Once infected with Botulism, the body experiences progressive weakness until full-body paralysis occurs.…
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DNA Data Storage
Within the next 50 years, present-day optical and magnetic storage methods will reach their limit, necessitating novel and economically-viable forms of long-term data storage as current mediums can not sustain our rapid accumulation of information. One alternative established by Harvard University geneticist George Church (2012) has proven most promising in the search for a definitive…
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Your Ears Are Whispering
Your eyes do not produce light, nor does your tongue have a flavour, but your ears do make sounds! In 1978, acoustician David Kemp inserted a miniature microphone into a human ear canal and, for the first time, recorded nearly inaudible sounds originating from the inner ear (Kemp, 1978). These sounds have since been called…
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Adaptive Biological Networks
Transport networks are vital to the infrastructure of our current industrial society, enabling the efficient travel of resources, people, and data. In spite of their significance, the conception of these networks lacks a guiding methodology, with a majority being limited by the most pressing concerns at the time of their construction. Previously, the notion of…
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Mini Brains: Coming Soon
In 2011, a biologist named Madeline Lancaster was working on growing 2D neural rosettes. Neural rosettes are columnar cells that form a radial structure and express proteins that are also expressed in neuroepithelial cells of a neural tube (Wilson & Stice, 2006). In an interesting turn of events, the cells instead started growing into a…
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Neurological Effects of the Gut Microbiome
The human microbiome is perhaps one of the most subtle and unfamiliar aspects of modern medicine. Though some bacteria have been shown to be beneficial to human health, not much is known about microbiome-host interactions. It remains a keen topic of research. Numbering in 100 trillion cells, the human microbiome is comprised of 10 times…
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Non-invasive, Transdermal Techniques in the Detection of Malaria
Of all the infectious diseases currently plaguing humankind, there are perhaps only a few more difficult to diagnose than malaria. Caused by the parasitic protist Plasmodium , malaria infects over 200 million people each year in Sub-Saharan Africa, Asia, and South America (Howitt et al., 2012). Malaria is transmitted through mosquito bites, in which Plasmodium…