The immune system is one of the most complicated but important systems in the human body. Without it, we wouldn’t be able to stay healthy! The immune system is made up of many different organs and specialized cells all working together to fight off infections from things like bacteria, viruses, parasites and other germs (or […]
How Our Immune System Keeps Us Healthy Read More »
Oh no! The Grinch and his South Pole Elves (pathogens) have decided they want to ruin the holidays for the world by stealing the holiday spirit! But worry not, everyone at the North Pole (bone marrow/immune system) is not going to let that happen! Nutcrackers (neutrophils) and Santa Claus (monocyte) arrive right away and flash
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Currently, there are close to two hundred coronavirus vaccine candidates in development, 42 of which have entered clinical trials. Out of these 42 candidates, one is unique: it is the only one to be produced in a plant. The Quebec City-based biopharmaceutical company, Medicago, has harnessed the speed and efficiency of plants to produce a
A Virus-Like COVID-19 Vaccine is Being Grown in Tobacco Plants Read More »
The story of fungal mind control Did you know that zombies exist in real life? It all starts with an ant living happily in a rainforest. The ant goes about its daily life but what it doesn’t know is that a fungus has found its way into the ant’s body. This fungus is no ordinary
Beneficial bacteria lower soil pH by releasing gluconic acid to suppress host plant immune responses Plant roots are constantly interacting with various species of microbes which have varying degrees of impact on plant growth. The rhizosphere, known as the zone immediately surrounding plant roots is mostly home to harmless microbes, but some are pathogenic and
Dropping Acid: A Bacterial Tactic to Evade Detection and Boost Plant Growth Read More »
Ten billion people by 2050. It’s a statistic nearly everyone has heard. Coupled with the impending climate crisis, it seems nearly impossible humanity will be able to produce enough food to nourish such a massive global population. But there is one emerging ‘superfood’ that embodies every sense of the term: microalgae. As a photosynthetic microorganism
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If you’ve been following the news recently, you’ve probably heard that a second patient has been ‘cured’ of HIV. Not even a week ago, an unedited manuscript describing HIV remission in a patient after a stem cell transplant was published in the journal Nature, replicating the outcomes of a study produced a decade ago. Sounds
Understanding the ‘Cure’ for HIV Read More »