By Vita Quintanilla, Genetics 23’
Author’s Note: My purpose in writing this piece is to educate the current safe applications of stem cell as misuse and damage due to the same is so prevalent in the US and abroad. While not detracting from the great advances being made in the field currently this piece is to take stock of the reality of this treatment.
By Tara Allison, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Spanish ‘20
Author’s Note: I wrote this document as a UWP 102B assignment to evaluate the societal health care needs of Sacramento County, focusing on an upsetting mental health phenomenon, Adverse Childhood Events (ACEs). This review encompasses an in-depth analysis that illuminates the biological basis of ACEs and their connection to chronic health conditions in adulthood. […]
By Jessie Lau, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology ‘20
Author’s Note: Since the advent of Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats-CRISPR Associated Protein 9 (CRISPR/Cas9) discovery and biotechnological breakthroughs thereafter, this revolutionary application has been primarily focused on human health, particularly fostering solutions to numerous debilitating ailments. However, the general public has offered little attention towards the use of this engineering feat in a broader ecological system […]
By Vishwanath Prathikanti, Political Science ‘23
Author’s note: The anti-vaccination movement has recently gained traction with many families across the nation and I wanted to tackle the idea of anti-vaccination and where it came from. I also wanted to see if there was any credit due to the anti-vaccinators and see if there was any truth to the idea that more vaccinations might be bad.
By Tannavee Kumar, Genetics & Genomics 20’
Author’s Note: As an undergraduate studying genetics and genomics and computer science, I wanted to interview a former professor to find out the steps he took in order to do computational research in the biological sciences. I was interested in finding out more about the growing field of computational biology and wanted to help shed light on a field to students that may be similarly interested.
By Timur Katsnelson, Neurobiology, Physiology, and Behavior ‘19
Conservation biology has always been an interesting field to me. After having previously submitted two neuroscience-related articles to the Aggie Transcript, I decided to explore a new topic. The bear-sighting on campus last spring was on my mind, mainly because I began to wonder about the status of bears in our state. Given their symbolic status in California, I imagined that their conservation would be well-documented. […]
By Roxanna Pignolet, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology 20’
Author’s Note: Since I started working on plant metabolites as an undergraduate researcher in the Shih Lab, I’ve developed a great appreciation for the power of plant genetic engineering to address a wide variety of problems. A uniquely global and increasingly relevant concern is how to continue to feed the world’s growing population in the face of climate change. I decided to write this paper to provide a snapshot of the current research being done to innovate crop species that will survive in the face of climate change. […]
By Brooke B., Computer Science/Design ’22 Author’s Note: As a computer science major, I have always been interested in the concept of an algorithm that can communicate with the brain through manufactured nerve signals. I read about this research in the news and I thought it was a great example of the marriage of biology and computer science, as well […]
By Reshma Kolala, Biochemistry & Molecular Biology ‘22 Authors Note: This past summer I was given the incredible opportunity to work in the Thurmond Lab at the City of Hope where I investigated a point mutant of the Syntaxin 4 protein on -cell function and apoptosis. The following piece reviews a publication that was fundamental to both the understanding and methodology […]
By Neha Madugala, Cognitive Science, ‘21 Author’s Note: Previous studies in neuroscience have suggested that our expectations and prior experiences impact how we perceive reality and current tasks. This idea is embedded in Bayesian integration, also referred to as multisensory integration, which essentially studies how the brain combines information obtained from sensory neurons to affect perception and create a distinct outlook […]