Opinions

Stem cell treatments: Miracle cures or dangerous experiments?

Stem cell treatments: Miracle cures or dangerous experiments?

When I was applying to graduate school in 2012, it felt like stem cells were about to revolutionize medicine. Stem cells have the ability to renew themselves, and mature into specialized cells like heart or brain cells. This allows them to multiply and repair damage.

Social Media 101: Tips for Scientists

Social Media 101: Tips for Scientists

Dear scientists, did you know you can amplify your passion for research and convey its results using social media? And the best part? It’s simple and free. You can post your newly published paper online to increase the number of views and even number of citations.

A Plug for the Leaky Pipeline

A Plug for the Leaky Pipeline

Prof. Strickland was awarded the Nobel Prize for her Doctoral thesis work on chirped pulse amplification, a methodology now used in corrective eye surgery and medical imaging.

Marketing Your Published-To-Be Paper

Marketing Your Published-To-Be Paper

Finally conquered that PhD?  Your paper just got accepted? Is your manuscript weeks away from being published? Now what?

Creating Platelets 2.0: Stronger, Faster, and with Twice the Life-saving Power

Creating Platelets 2.0: Stronger, Faster, and with Twice the Life-saving Power

The ability to genetically modify a cell is a powerful tool. Genetically modified cells have advanced our understanding of how the body works and how diseases develop.

GMOs: Scientific or Social Uncertainty?

GMOs: Scientific or Social Uncertainty?

Genetic engineering is the process of altering the blueprints of an organism in order to effect some desired change. Since its discovery in the 1970s, this technology has been used to advance research, industry, medicine, and agriculture.

Open Access and Open Science: The Call for More Transparency in Science

Open Access and Open Science: The Call for More Transparency in Science

In May of this year, a group of Swedish universities made the decision not to renew their contracts with publishing giant Elsevier. To researchers who rely on these journals for their day-to-day work this may seem like a drastic move, but this new stand-off is part of a movement toward an open-access model in publishing research.

The First Targeted Gene Therapy Approved in North America: Luxturna

The First Targeted Gene Therapy Approved in North America: Luxturna

RPE65-mediated inherited retinal dystrophy leads to severe deterioration of vision and complete blindness in early adulthood. A small subgroup of patients, approximately 1000 people in the United States, have mutations in both paternal and maternal copies of the RPE65 gene that encodes retinoid isomerohydrolase.

mental health

Building Resilience in Graduate School

When I started graduate school at UBC in 2012, I thought I was prepared. I had excellent marks, publications from research done as an undergraduate student, and even an NSERC award.

CBS box

The Box

At the Centre for Blood Research, my research typically embraces out-of-the-box thinking, addressing biological problems from an open-minded standpoint to gain novel insights. However, recently, I was forced to focus on what’s inside the box, namely the Canadian Blood Services box for transporting human blood products.