The epigenetics behind “generational trauma” The 23 and Me craze has officially reached my family. Both of my parents were born in Poland, so the results haven’t been too surprising, but as we watched the site track generations of family history from a single spit sample, new questions came up. So when my sisters and […]
Category Archives: genetics
December
19
Genomic Imprinting: A Genetic Custody Dispute for Your Brain
posted by Joseph Herdy
During this holiday season, we would do well to reflect on what we’ve inherited from our parents. You might have your mother’s sense of humor but your father’s sense of direction. You and your Ma might share the same tastes in music, but you prefer your Pa’s tastes for ice cream. Although heavily influenced by […]
September
19
How long have we been sleeping?
posted by Joydeep De
“J’ai peur du sommeil comme on a peur d’un grand trou, Tout plein de vague horreur…” In his phenomenal ‘Les fleurs du mal’ (‘Flowers of Evil’), Baudelaire promenades through the darkness of the night and with his characteristic gloomy brush, paints sleep as ‘a great hole’ that he fears. This myth surrounding sleep as a […]
August
22
Is evolution the missing link to understanding mental health?
posted by Nicole Mlynaryk
The human brain has been shaped over hundreds of thousands of years, with evolution selecting for traits that helped our species survive and thrive. So why do we still have so many genes that make us struggle? Why did our remarkable cognitive capacity come with such a susceptibility to disorder?
May
09
Uncle Syd and His Worms
posted by Joydeep De
[En español] Anybody, who does biological research using a model organism, especially those using an invertebrate, has quite invariably come across a certain prevalent hotchpotch of disbelief, cynicism and a reasonably uncomfortable amount of derision in the minds of their peers about the tiny creatures that they use to study biology. “So, these flies really […]
April
25
Immune to pain: new insights into chronic pain treatment
posted by Seraphina Solders
[En español] Jo Cameron, a Scottish woman in her mid-60s, was seemingly happy and healthy other than a problem with her hip. Now and then, it would give way and prevent her from walking straight. She had brought it up to her doctor, but because she wasn’t in pain, the issue was dismissed. It wasn’t […]
December
20
A Pirate’s Life is NOT for Me: A Deep Dive into Motion Sickness
posted by megkirch
A few months ago, I spent three and a half anxious hours on a rickety motorboat on western Tanzania’s Lake Tanganyika. The cause of my anxiety was not the fact that we were floating over the second deepest freshwater lake in the world in a boat that had already begun to take in some water […]
August
02
Snake Eyes: The Fear That Built Your Brain
posted by James R. Howe VI
Indiana Jones is a quintessential American hero, his fedora, satchel, and whip instantly recognizable around the world. He lives a double life, a scholarly professor of anthropology in public and a globetrotting treasure hunter in private. He defeats the Nazis and always gets the girl, displaying daring and fearlessness, with one notable exception. He has […]
July
26
A Neuroscience Perspective on the Lifelong Consequences of Detaining Kids at the Border
posted by Samantha Jones, PhD
[En español] If you’ve been even partially tuned in to the news over the last few months, you’ve heard about the gut-wrenching separation of children from their parents at the United States border and the detainment centers where these children have been held. You may have seen pictures of young kids in cages, been watching when […]
May
31
The Rise and Fall and Rise of Genetic Memory
posted by James R. Howe VI
We are all products of our past, for better or for worse. At first glance, such a statement seems so obvious it hardly bears mentioning; our earlier experiences, both our successes and our failures, shape our current behavior. But dig just a bit deeper, and it becomes far murkier. What can you call your past? […]
