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...
Pushing the Boundaries of the Art-Science Interface
[caption id="attachment_1855" align="aligncenter" width="539"] The Action Potential Lab. Image credit: Justin Easton Media.[/caption] A CENTURY AGO, the red-brick house on the corner of Christie and Davenport was a pharmacy. Now,...
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...
Summer 2015 Front Cover
[caption id="attachment_1882" align="alignleft" width="1275"] Continuing with our mission to merge art and science, this issue’s cover was inspired by Art Nouveau. Though it had a brief life, Art Nouveau reflected...
The Great (un)Changing (un)Scientific Debate on Childhood Vaccines
Without question, the most controversial, rumour-driven health debate of the past 15 years regards the safety and efficacy of vaccines. At face value, skepticism about vaccines makes sense. Why inject...
Driven By Discovery: Alumni Interview with Brad Jones
Despite decades of research on HIV/AIDS, genuine cures for the widespread disease remain elusive. This challenge has not dissuaded University of Toronto Department of Immunology graduate R. Brad Jones, who...
“Peer Review is Broken”
Since beginning my exploration of peer review last year, those four dirty little words have constantly occupied my computer screen. They seem to be everywhere, popping up in news articles...
CSI Goes to the Prairies
[caption id="attachment_1938" align="alignright" width="300"] Photo credit: Angela Zhou.[/caption] The 28th annual Canadian Society for Immunology (CSI) conference took place this year from June 4th to June 7th at the luxurious...
“Ay-pop-toh-sis”
When I was still an undergraduate student at the University of British Columbia, I attended a Department of Microbiology & Immunology seminar on the mechanisms of cell death. The speaker insisted that...
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