Curiosity Delivers
While the world was in quarantine, many people picked up new hobbies. For some, it was working out; for others, it was watching movie marathons; and for many, baking became a new favourite pastime. On social media, people shared their experiences trying their hand at making bread and pastries in […]
A team of biologists at McGill are changing the way scientists think about the subcellular organization of bacteria. The research group, led by Dr. Stephanie Weber, Assistant Professor of Biology at McGill, examines the spatial organization of living systems using E. coli, a species of bacteria commonly used in laboratory […]
There are thousands of different bacterial species living inside our intestines. This environment, called the gut microbiome, provides the body with key vitamins and ensures a healthy immune system. The composition of the gut microbiome is key: Dysbiosis, a condition that occurs when ‘bad’ bacteria take over the gut, is […]
Historically impassable, the ice cover of the Northwest Passage along Canada’s Arctic coast has thinned over the past few years, piquing the interest of the shipping and luxury cruise industries. This thinning, along with Arctic drilling, makes the legendary frozen passage particularly susceptible to oil and fuel spills. To combat […]
CRISPR offers the potential to cure presently untreatable cancers and diseases. Moreover, it could revive an extinct organism, such as the mammoth, using tiny bits of genomic information that scientists have collected through their serendipitous discoveries. “CRISPR is a gene editing technique that allows investigators to alter the gene sequence […]
In 1945, Alexander Fleming, made famous for his discovery of penicillin, warned that excessive antibiotic use would likely result in bacteria developing resistance. The term is often in the headlines, but what exactly is antibiotic resistance? It is generally defined as microorganisms developing the ability to somehow prevent the intended […]
Physicists transport marbles with optical tractor beam The tractor beam—a long-distance invisible attraction beam—is a legendary staple in science fiction. In real life, moving objects using only light seems absurd, if not impossible. However, in a paper published in Nature Photonics, a team of Australian and American physicists successfully transferred […]
