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Science

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Science

A student’s guide to surviving Physics 11

By Essey Tesfai | May 13

Diving straight into the foundational courses at Tufts can seem very daunting as a first-year engineering student. Between Chemistry 1, Biology 13 and Physics 11, the transition from high school to college is infamously steep. Physics 11, however, is known for a quirk that has made many students intrigued and terrified over the past two fall semesters: It’s completely ungraded.

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Science

Combating childhood obesity through systemic changes

By Elliott Resnick | April 23

In 2009, ChildObesity180 was founded out of the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy at Tufts University as an initiative to combat the trend of childhood obesity in the United States. The organization was formed by current Dean of the Friedman School Christina Economos, Professor Emerita Miriam Nelson and former chair of the Tufts Board of Trustees Peter Dolan.

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Science

Meta knows what’s going on in your brain

By Hande Naz Kavas | April 23

Meta, which owns Instagram, Facebook and WhatsApp, recently released its scientific neural cognition model, TRIBEv2. Compared to a typical new Instagram update, this model represents a line of neuroscience research that scientists have been developing for decades. Meta is already well known for incorporating addictive algorithms into its social media platforms to predict users’ interests and engagement, in turn improving overall user experience. Its new model, released last month, achieves a highly accurate artificial brain model that shows which parts of the human brain activate in response to different visual, auditory and language stimuli. In simpler terms, scientists have built a copy of the human brain that can show what happens in your brain in response to what you hear, see and process.  

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Science

The patent cliff and the price of access

By Aria Chawla | April 16

The pharmaceutical industry’s looming ‘patent cliff’ is often framed as a Wall Street problem: Blockbuster drugs lose intellectual property protection, making room for generics to enter and causing company revenues to fall. But for patients, including college students who rely on family insurance, use prescription drugs themselves or are preparing to enter healthcare and biotech careers, the patent cliff is really a test of whether the healthcare system can turn the end of monopoly protection into lower costs and better access. 

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Science

From lizards to lifelines

By Hannah Merritt | April 9

Gila monsters can eat up to a third of their body weight in one sitting. Humans cannot. So what makes us different? Beyond our obvious lack of scales and a tail, humans do not have the hormone exendin-4 in our saliva. Exendin-4 allows Gila monsters to eat enormous quantities of food while maintaining a functional metabolism and stable glucose levels. This molecule is, however, analogous to GLP-1s, or glucagon-like peptides, in humans. The development of exendin-4 into the diabetes drug exenatide started the GLP-1RA, or GLP-1 receptor agonist, race.

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Science

Earthrise, again: Exploring the Artemis II mission

By Kylie Liggett | April 9

Like millions of space enthusiasts, I tuned in on Wednesday, April 1, to watch the Artemis II astronauts return to the moon on the spacecraft Integrity. The mission series, Artemis, is aptly named after the Greek goddess of the moon. Artemis is the twin sister of Apollo, reflecting how the mission will continue to build on what has already been accomplished by the Apollo series. 

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Science

Rising to the occasion: Sea level research at Tufts

By Kylie Liggett | March 26

The Kemp Lab, located in the newly renovated Bacon Hall, focuses on coastal stratigraphy and the reconstruction of sea levels over the last 2,000 years. A core facet of the lab’s work is its interdisciplinary approach, which combines oceanography, seismology, statistics, geochemistry and climate science. The lab — led by Andrew Kemp, an associate professor of earth and climate sciences — is one of the leading university research labs studying sea level rise, with some of the most highly cited work in this field. Professor Kemp’s lab relies heavily on geological data to create these reconstructions. Specifically, sediment cores from coastal wetlands and salt marshes provide a significant portion of the data the lab uses. The lab also focuses on the Gulf Stream and on documenting the prehistory of large earthquakes, which can cause the land to shift vertically. Additionally, researchers study isostasy models, which describe the geological equilibrium between Earth’s crust and mantle.

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Science

Cristian Staii: The physics of the brain

By Hande Naz Kavas | March 26

From outer space to the human brain, Tufts University’s research labs explore various fields of science to uncover new insights and develop principles to test them. Diving deep into the human brain, one such Tufts lab analyzes how neurons grow and form neural networks. Cristian Staii, an associate professor of physics and astronomy, runs a biophysics lab that operates on ex vivo brain cells, mimicking actual biological environments and utilizing atomic microscopy to analyze these cells under different conditions. By examining how neurons in neural networks function and how their mechanical properties change under different environmental conditions, the team aims to mathematically explain the brain’s complex structure. Staii devises mathematical formulas for the mechanical properties of these cells, emphasizing the importance of applying physical and mathematical knowledge to different areas. His previous work across various fields led him to his current research in neurophysics.

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Science

Tufts Biotechnology Series: Dr. Atsuko Polzin, intellectual property lawyer, neuroscience Ph.D., shares her story

By Essey Tesfai | March 12

For most science students, it can seem that there are only two paths open after one earns a Ph.D. — being a professor or working in a privately-funded lab. Regardless, this confines scientists to a laboratory. Yet, careers in science can extend to nearly any field, even the humanities. At a recent event hosted by the Tufts School of Engineering’s Biotechnology Industry Series, Dr. Atsuko Polzin (GBS’01), senior vice president and head of intellectual property at Scholar Rock, shared her path from research in neurobiology to intellectual property law which beautifully illustrates the diverse roles sciences can have in biotechnology.

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Science

Friedman School creates a twist on produce prescriptions

By Nicole Dacey | March 12

Pharmacies are cornerstones of every town and city across the U.S. — this has been the case for centuries. There’s a good reason why businesses like CVS have grown so essential: you can pop into one place for your granola bars, ADHD medications and a Valentine’s Day Snoopy toy. What could be better than that?

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Science

Dissertation Diaries: Kirsten Trinidad

By Addison Dion | March 9

This installment of Dissertation Diaries highlights Kirsten Trinidad, a fifth-year Ph.D. candidate at the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture. Before joining Tufts, Trinidad completed a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering at Rutgers University.

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Science

GUARDIAN: The newborn screening study redefining early detection for rare diseases

By Hannah Merritt | March 5

The survival rate in infants with severe combined immunodeficiency, a rare hereditary disease that prevents the body from producing immune cells, is 96% when they receive a bone marrow transplant in their first 3½ months of life. If transplantation is delayed, that number drops to 70%. Without treatment, most children die before their first birthday. This condition is rarely visible at birth and only becomes apparent after a major infection, often outside of the window of opportunity for treatment. 

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Science

Redirecting the approach to solving Alzheimer’s Disease

By Jamie Song | March 5

At least 55 million people are living with dementia worldwide. Among the various forms of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease — a neurodegenerative disorder that is caused by a loss of neurons — is the most common. Alzheimer’s progressively impairs thinking and behavior, eventually leading to serious memory loss and affecting a person’s ability to do everyday tasks. It may begin with mild forgetfulness, but over time, patients experience frequent memory loss and increasing confusion about everyday tasks and their surroundings.

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