The Big Data Barrier
The Human Genome Project constituted one of the first large-scale research projects to generate vast amounts of biological information, what today we refer to as “Big Data”. Initiated in 1990,...
Spring 2015 Front Cover
[caption id="attachment_1796" align="aligncenter" width="622"] Our Spring 2015 cover is the second in a series of covers that meld science and art. This issue we turned to the colourful work of...
Breaking Up is Hard to Do: Post-Ebola Syndrome Offers Insight into Viral Evolution
[caption id="attachment_1708" align="alignleft" width="359"] Digitally-coloured SEM of Ebola particles budding from the cell surface. Image Credit: National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), 2014.[/caption] On October 19th, 2014, Dr....
Alumni Interview – Ann McPherson
[caption id="attachment_1675" align="aligncenter" width="526"] Dr. Ann McPherson, PhD '13, Dr. Tania Watts Laboratory[/caption] We caught up with recent Immunology PhD graduate, Ann McPherson, to discuss her career moves after graduation...
Cancer Treatment Goes Viral
From the simplest to the most complex, viruses have evolved to multiply within a host cell. By harnessing the cell’s machinery, the virus is able to propagate, often causing illness...
Quorum Sensing: A Post-Antibiotic World
One hundred years ago, tuberculosis was the most likely cause of death here in Canada. But since the discovery of streptomycin in the 1950s and its use in combination with...
Cinematic Immunology: Walking the Line of Scientific Accuracy
Introduction Science fiction (sci-fi) is a broad genre of motion pictures (movies) characterized by the depiction of scientific or technological advances that have not yet been appropriately peer-reviewed, and are...
Rapid Diagnostic Testing
[Last issue we highlighted the emergence of Clinical Apps—smartphone apps that can contribute to diagnostic testing and healthcare. This issue we follow up with an in-depth look at the inception...
A Necessary Evil: Are Parasites More Useful Than You Think?
Cleanliness is overrated In 1989, British epidemiologist David P. Strachan reported a relationship between decreasing family size and increasing incidence of allergies in industrialized countries, suggesting that early exposure to...
Not Your Ancestor’s Potato
[caption id="attachment_1716" align="alignright" width="191"] Irish Famine Memorial in Boston, MA. Photo Credit: Kieran Manion[/caption] If you were to walk around asking people what they thought about mushrooms you would likely...