Guest blogger Katie Pham is a neuroscience Ph.D. student interested in visual processing and memory research. She was born in Hanoi and raised in Northern California. Outside of lab, she enjoys spending time with her cats, watching Family Guy, and reading literary fiction. Our daily decisions are shaped by our brain’s selection of the most… Read More »What Birds in Love Teach Us About How the Brain Processes Competing Motivations The post What Birds in Love Teach Us About How the Brain Processes Competing Motivations first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

What happens to us as we get older? In 1958, this deceptively simple question led Nathan Shock, then the head of gerontology at the National Institutes of Health, to create the Baltimore Longitudinal Study of Aging (BLSA). His goal was to study the process of aging by tracking volunteers over time, measuring salient changes that… Read More »Age of Enlightenment The post Age of Enlightenment first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

If you have been on social media lately, you might be aware of North Carolina’s newest celebrity: Charlotte, a stingray that miraculously became pregnant in an aquarium tank with no male stingrays present. Her story has gone viral, and has been covered by CNN, BBC, Scientific American and other major media outlets as people theorize… Read More »You Are NOT the Father – How Parthenogenesis Can Explain the Miraculous Pregnancy of a Lone Stingray The post You Are NOT the Father – How Parthenogenesis Can Explain the Miraculous Pregnancy of a Lone Stingray first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

“Michael hit me!” At 7 years old, that was the first sentence my older sister, Danielle, had ever spoken. Before, anything she said were one-word declarations of “juice” or “outside.” But now, Dani was speaking in complete sentences, and my mother was shocked, and elated. Eager to keep the words coming, Mom turned to me… Read More »Stigma on the Spectrum The post Stigma on the Spectrum first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

The incorporation of machine learning into daily living has exponentially increased in recent years after the release of ChatGPT for public use. From generating digital artwork and creating personalized playlists to predicting medical outcomes and election results, artificial intelligence (AI) has taken up an indispensable role in improving the efficiency of our recreational and professional… Read More »Disability Care and Artificial Intelligence The post Disability Care and Artificial Intelligence first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

The number of studies regarding how our genes work has been increasing exponentially since the Human Genome Project started more than 30 years ago. Researchers know that our DNA is more than just protein codes, and we also have important sections of our DNA that are just dedicated to regulating gene expression [1]. On the… Read More »GWAS, The Key to Your Health The post GWAS, The Key to Your Health first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

Let’s start with some honesty. I majored in history in college and learned many facts, dates and bits of information. I’d be lying if I said I now remember any significant fraction of them. But it's the themes, insights and arguments that I can’t seem to forget. I focused on environmental history, which gave me… Read More »Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Waterborne Disease and Climate Change The post Heads I Win, Tails You Lose: Waterborne Disease and Climate Change first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

We’ve come a long way from the humble pedometer. Today’s wearable technologies, such as fitness trackers and smartwatches, collect a wealth of biometric data that researchers are only beginning to explore for insights. As these devices become more sophisticated and widespread, they present intriguing possibilities for health research on a much broader scale than was… Read More »The Impact of Wearable Technologies on Health Research The post The Impact of Wearable Technologies on Health Research first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

Photos courtesy of the author. Diwali, the Festival of Lights, is a holiday often associated with Hinduism and the Indian subcontinent. However, it is celebrated by South Asian communities of diverse religious and nonreligious backgrounds around the world, and it marks triumphs such as good over evil, light over dark and knowledge over ignorance. The… Read More »Diwali 2023 in Baltimore The post Diwali 2023 in Baltimore first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more

The power of genetic editing as a therapeutic strategy has long been appreciated, but the risk of unintended and unknown side effects has kept it out of the clinic. With the Food and Drug Administration’s recent approval of a CRISPR-based approach for treating sickle cell anemia, wider acceptance may spark a new era in medicine.… Read More »A CRISPR Future The post A CRISPR Future first appeared on Biomedical Odyssey ..read more