Dr. Michael Smith accepting the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1993. In 1976, a couple of biochemists brainstormed over coffee at a University of Cambridge cafeteria. Dr. Michael Smith thought out loud, ideas sparking from his 20 years of experience studying the chemical synthesis of oligonucleotides, the elementary units of DNA and RNA. Smith was spending a sabbatical year in…
Creamy white spheres, roughly the size of peas, immersed in a swirling pink solution. To the untrained eye, cerebral organoids are deceptively unimpressive. However, the immense potential they hold for unlocking the secrets of the human brain is, indeed, nothing to be balked at. These self-assembled, laboratory-grown tissues are continually pushing the boundaries of neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative research. Recent advancements…
The Catecholaminergic Polymorphic Ventricular Tachycardia (CPVT) Registry and Biobank is an international multi-centre study led by Dr Shubhayan Sanatani at the Children’s Heart Centre at BC Children’s Hospital (BCCH). CPVT is a rare (1:10,000) genetic heart condition characterized by an abnormal heart rhythm triggered by emotional stress or exercise. This abnormal rhythm may lead to cardiac arrest and/or death in…
The humble peanut butter and jelly sandwich, once a common lunchbox favourite, now features on the ban list in many Canadian schools. The seemingly innocuous peanut has potentially lethal consequences for the 2 out of every 100 Canadian children who suffer from allergies (1). Peanuts are at the top of the most reaction-causing foods, among tree nuts, cow’s milk, eggs,…
Success is such an arbitrary measure. “My main advice is to create your own definition of success”, recommends Grace Lee, a transition expert. “Very often we let everyone else define what it means to be successful: a great career, a family… In our field, articles became the currency of success, but that is not what defines you”. Grace metamorphosed a…
Given the difficulties associated with Canadian Institute for Health Research (CIHR) grant applications in the past year, scientists in the Vancouver area and across Canada may be looking to the United States for funding now more than ever. Per a report on Canadian health research conducted in the 2009-2010 fiscal year, over 13% of funding came from foreign sources, the…
On a drizzly mid-week evening downtown, beer glasses clink as a roomful of people sit, eyes fixed to a slideshow of complicated-looking graphs. The professor leading the presentation – on anything from prehistoric megafauna to advances in robotic engineering – speaks candidly, occasionally drawing a gasp from the awe-struck crowd. The popular science scene in Vancouver has been growing steadily…