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Contrasting AI and Human Hallucinations
Real or Not Real? In 2023, a man sued Avianca Airlines after a metal serving cart struck and injured his knee. His lawyer presented a case with a wide array of legal precedents in court, including Martinez v. Delta Air Lines, Zicherman v. Korean Air Lines, and Varghese v. China Southern Airlines, offering a promising…
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Arresting Alzheimer’s: CRISPR as a Cure to Neurodegenerative Diseases
The Weight of Neurodegenerative Disease In 2021, 3.4 billion people globally faced harmful neurological conditions. Recent research has identified these conditions as the largest contributor of disease burden, which accounts for both the cost of living with a disability and premature death.1 Moreover, the prevalence of this burden—especially from neurodegenerative diseases— is growing rapidly in…
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Epigenetic Editing — The Temporary Tattoo of the Genome
A Genetic Conundrum When lawyer Sonia Vallabh’s mother died suddenly from a genetically-determined dementia, she entered a race against the clock to find a cure so she would not have to suffer the same fate.1 It was discovered that the dementia stemmed from a malfunction in prions: a type of protein which has an elusive…
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Rethinking the Prisoner’s Dilemma: How Quantum Games Lead to Classical Gains
The Prisoner’s Dilemma The Prisoner’s Dilemma is a popular thought experiment in game theory where two prisoners are each given the option to confess to their crimes or remain silent. Variable jail times are associated with the four possible outcomes (Figure 1). Given that the two players cannot interact or collude with one another, each…
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How AI Has Changed the World of Healthcare Diagnoses
Introduction: The Current Issues with Medical Diagnoses Imagine experiencing excruciating symptoms for many years but receiving little to no medical support—not even a definitive diagnosis. This is a frustrating reality for many, especially those with rare diseases, where diagnoses can take anywhere from six months to two decades. A qualitative study, “Time to diagnosis for…
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Gutsy Moves: Microbes in the Fight Against Colorectal Cancer
A Bacterial Ecosystem that Lives within You: Intro to the Gut Microbiome Right now, there are upwards of 100 trillion microbial cells living in your gut.1 For reference, the average human body contains only 30 trillion human cells, meaning gut bacteria outnumber your own cells roughly three to one.2 While that may sound alarming, these…
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Fluidity of Brain States: Unihemispheric Sleep and Its Ties to Consciousness
Unihemispheric sleep is a unique behavior in which half of an animal’s brain is awake while the other half is asleep.
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Decoding Smell: The Future of Odor Mapping with AI and Molecular Chemistry
New advances in artificial intelligence, combined with growing chemical knowledge, are uncovering a more accurate way to predict smells based on molecular structure.
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A Double-Edged Sword: The Blood-Brain Barrier
In 2024, while the BBB still poses a threat to targeted drug therapies, translational scientists have found ways to harness the unique chemistry of the brain to design medicines capable of permeating the barrier.
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Mother Tree Hypothesis: The Power of a Mother’s Love or Wishful Personification?
The Mother Tree Hypothesis suggests that the largest, oldest trees — the Mother Trees — are the lifeblood of the forest, quietly ensuring the ecosystem’s survival through a network beneath our feet.
