Cell death: the unsung hero of life
Anything related to the word ‘death’ generally has a negative connotation. However, in the context of cell death, is death really bad? Cell death is in fact, an essential and...
Make it make cents: the inadequacies of research funding in Canada
“In 2005 about 31% of CIHR applicants were awarded grants, yet by 2018 less than 15 of applicants received funding.” Regardless of what Copernicus says, our world revolves around money;...
Vaccines, the immune memory trick
“With the exception of safe water, no other modality… has had such a major effect on mortality reduction and population growth.” – Susan and Stanley Plotkin, Vaccine 5th ed (2008).1...
Big Pharma 2.0: Open Source Drug Discovery
In the age of “Big Data”, hypothetical coding sequences and poorly characterized proteins are common. Transcriptomic and proteomic datasets regularly result in disappointment, as the top hit is often some...
Mom’s Microbes Know Best
More than 100 years ago, French pediatrician Henry Tissier declared that babies were bacteria-free in the womb. Colonization, he claimed, began during the birthing process, not before. While bacterial transmission...
Marsupial Mommas: Maternal Immunity In Those Other Mammals
What does the term “maternal immunology” mean to you? As a mammal yourself, you probably consider things like microbial colonization during live birth, or the transfer of maternal antibodies through...
Are We Prepared? A Student Review of the Graduate Professional Development (GPD) Course
[caption id="attachment_1315" align="alignnone" width="500"] Career fair. Image credit: Penn State (flickr: pennstatelive)[/caption] My involvement with the GPD began in 2012, when under the auspices of the Immunology Graduate Students Association...
It’s Not All About T cells: Dendritic Cell Development in the Thymus
[caption id="attachment_154" align="alignright" width="320"] Amanda Moore is studying the development of dendritic cells in the laboratory of Dr. Michele Anderson.[/caption] Among the vast T cell population in the thymus are...
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