In January 2010, Dr. Cheryl Wellington and her team of researchers at the University of British Columbia made great strides by determining a potential treatment to relieve the loss of brain function caused by Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is the most common form of dementia. It is an incurable disease that progressively deteriorates mental […]

Can you imagine working on something that is neither a plant nor an animal? Dr. Rosemary Redfield makes it her mission to study bacteria. Too small to see with the naked eyes, bacteria are unicellular microorganisms that do not have organelles or a nucleus. Some bacteria can be harmful to humans, whereas others can be […]

Orlistat. Sibutramine. Rimonabant. Metformin. Exenatide. Pramlintide. These are the six main anti-obesity drugs that are prescribed to patients suffering from morbid obesity. The reason these names are not better known is because of the side of effects that each of these drugs possess. Only in a last ditch effort, are these drugs prescribed, where the […]

    There was Fukushima Daiichi nuclear disaster on March 15th 2011 which released radioactive materials due to equipment failures and nuclear meltdown. Concern remains over the potential effect on human health from radiation leaks at the stricken Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant.   What is radiation?    Radiation is a process in which energetic particles or waves travel […]

Are snakes one of your favourite animals or are they your least? Although some may adore them, I am among the people who are terribly afraid of them, or what people call an ophidiophobia. Who would have known that, “pythons’ big heart [could] hold clues for human health[?]” (The Associated Press). Scientists now learned that when […]

Everyone has adjusted their watches, clocks, phones and laptops an hour earlier on November 6th. It may be that we all got “25” hours on the day, but let’s face it and allow me to ask, what have we done with the extra hour? With all the assignments and projects from different courses, social events […]

Aspirin in our lives After a long hard day, you come home and you are ready to relax. But beforehand, you want to alleviate you headache first. Naturally you pop up an aspirin. Aspirin is also known as acetylsalicylic acid and it is commonly used as a painkiller, anti-flammatory drug and antipyretic to reduce fever. […]

On October 28, 2011, Dr. John Hepburn, (Vice President, Research and International) sent an email to the UBC community on the subject of animal research.  He outlined the university’s plans to increase transparency on its animal research by releasing details on the number of animals and categories of species being used. According to www.animalresearch.ubc.ca, 211,764 […]

Have you ever heard of the Hendra virus?  What about the Nipah virus?   Living in the western hemisphere means you have most likely never heard of either of these viruses.  However, you probably heard of the movie “Contagion”, a movie that was released early September of this year.  The featured virus of the movie, MEV-1, […]

Warning: Blog Post contains graphic images and video which may offend or disturb some viewers. Blogger does not take responsibility for any sudden onsets of nausea. Viewer discretion is advised. What Is It? Flesh-eating disease, or Necrotizing fasciitis as it is formally known, is actually a bacterial infection caused by several types of bacteria but […]