Letter from the Chair – Volume 8, Issue 3
It was about eight years ago, January 2013, that the very first issue of IMMpress Magazine was published. The theme was “Evolution of the Immune System”, and since their momentous...
Blog
Diving into Immune System Development: An Interview with Dr. Jonathan Rast
Dr. Jonathan Rast is currently a senior scientist at Emory University studying immune development in lamprey and sea urchin models. Jonathan completed doctorate studies at the University of South Florida...
Embracing Emotions Across the Animal Kingdom: A Book Review of Frans de Waal’s Mama’s Last Hug
The dying chimp lies curled and motionless, refusing her keepers’ offers of food and water. Not until the old man enters the old ape’s pen does she look up, breaking...
Starving for Change: Microbiome Manipulation in the fight against Child Malnutrition
Natacha is a single mother, with three children, a farm, and a modest plot of land. It has been months since the last harvest of millet, and millet is all...
Fashion is Fur-Real! The truth about animal-based textiles
Look inside your closet. There is a pretty good chance that at least one item you own is made from an animal-based textile. Perhaps you have a leather bag, jacket,...
Advancing the development of microneedles by probing the mosquito proboscis
Mosquitoes are known to cause millions of deaths worldwide annually due to their transmission of pathogens, such as malaria, when feeding on hosts. Mosquitoes use a combination of numbing agents,...
Picking Apart Peto’s Paradox
If every cell has the potential to accumulate DNA mutations, then statistically speaking, larger animals should have an increased risk of cancer. So how does an elephant with trillions of...
Small Antibodies from Not So Small Organisms: Harnessing the Unique Immune System of Llamas, Camels, Sharks, and Lampreys
Antibodies are proteins produced by our immune systems in response to antigens, bits and pieces of foreign and harmful substances, including pathogens such as viruses and bacteria. The primary function...
The Fossil that Bleeds Blue
The horseshoe crab has carved its way into a unique niche of species. Despite what its name might lead on, it is neither a crab nor a crustacean by definition,...