Daily Positivity

Taking AP psychology in my senior year was beneficial as it introduced a new question to me. I guarantee that many of us have heard this comment that our behavior is like our parents. My father keeps saying that my thought process is similar to his. Thus, the question of whether or not we inherit behaviors arises? Or is it based on the environment?             Many scientists believe that genetics and the environment equally influence our behavior. In a classical twin study, the influence of environment and genetics was studied. It is believed that the monozygotic 1 twins share more similarities with each other than dizygotic 2 twins. The twins participating in the study were adopted by different families and were tested for their IQ results. The IQ test results of the monozygotic twins varied by just .04 in spite of the different environmental factors. This study, therefore, suggested the important role of genetics on behavior rather than the environment.              Twins th

Abstract: The newly developed technique, CRISPR, or Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats, is based on the bacterial “immune system”. CRISPR-Cas9 system was discovered in the 1970s in the E.Coli bacteria. This system is naturally found in the bacteria as an anti-infection mechanism. If an analogy is to be drawn, the CRISPR-Cas9 system can be compared to the antibodies in humans. When the bacteria sense a viral invasion, it targets the viral DNA and creates strands of this targeted DNA. These fragments are known as the “CRISPR fragments” and are stored as a memory when there is an invasion by the same virus. If there is an invasion by the same virus, the CRISPR fragments produce RNA which later targets the viral DNA. The Cas9 enzyme functions to destroy the viral DNA. Similarly, in the lab, a biologist can target a specific sequence of the gene and use the CRISPR “scissors” to cut the DNA at a specific site. Scientists aim to apply this technique for cancer

With the increasing number of patients enlisted in the transplant list, the supply of healthy organs is quite limited. This is demonstrated in the graph below: Image credits: https://biolife4d.com/ripple-effects-transplant-waiting-lists/ The graph signifies that the number of patients enlisted on the transplant waitlist far surpasses the donors. This is alarming as there are so many patients whose life depends upon a new and healthy organ but organs are not available to them.              However, a new and growing branch of science which is known as tissue engineering is developing to propose a solution to this problem. With the help of various techniques implemented in tissue engineering, patients can receive temporary grafts until a healthy organ is available to them.              The various techniques and material implemented in tissue engineering to synthesize new grafts include: ·          Stem cells or reg

Have you ever been in a situation where you had enough ice cream but still crave for more? I have been in this situation while on a beach. Beach is a nice place to relax and welcome the summer vacation. Going to a beach with friends is already very exciting and packing for the beach is more exciting. We had packed a lot of food to enjoy on the beach. There were a lot of delicious chocolate chip cookies, marshmallows, pancakes, waffles, and etc. You name it, we had it. After eating all of the food we had packed, one of my friends saw an ice cream shop. Many people were full and their “sugar cravings” was satisfied. However, half of my friends wanted to eat ice cream, including myself. This provoked a thought that why some people crave for sugar more than others? Do the genes have something to do with it?  Do we inherit the cravings we feel to eat sugar? To investigate whether there are genes involved in the sugar cravings, an international team studied the genes of more than 6

Last night, I was dreaming about a chocolate river and peppermint grass surrounding me. I was having the time of my life consuming these wonderful flavors. I was in the middle of this chocolate dream and alas the alarm went off. Then, I realized it was all because of the movie I watched the previous night, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory Dreams. Now for those who are not aware of this movie, it is an adaptation of Roald Dahl’s novel, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, where a poor boy Charlie Bucket gets an opportunity to visit Willie Wonka’s famous chocolate factory and all these wonders relating to chocolate. Dreams are an interesting component of anyone’s sleep because they seem so unreal. It is common for people to wake up suddenly after encountering a nightmare or it is possible that many people wish to stay in their perfect dreams. There are instances where people have reported that they have seen dreams which are not closely related to their real-life. How and why do we see

We execute numerous numbers of functions every day. Some are voluntary like reading, exercising, writing or learning and involuntary like breathing, digesting or maintaining homeostasis or in other words maintaining the normal balance of the body.             Long story short: we need our brains to breathe, eat, study, exercise and even dream! Our brains are comprised of trillion cells. The two types of brain cells-neurons and glial cells- are crucial for brain functioning. Neurons basically transmit the electrical signals throughout the body. The glial cells just provide insulation to these neurons to prevent damage to these precious brain cells which basically guide us to do everything we do every day. That is why glial cells are extremely important. But, still how does the body determine what cells become neurons and what becomes glial cells? Probably, this question motivated the scientists at SISSA to research about these brain cells and their origins.             During resea