In 1907, Dr. Alois Alzheimer published the first case study on a patient with what is now known as Alzheimer’s disease. Shakespeare almost beat him to it in the “All the World’s a Stage…” monologue from As You Like It, describing the last “scene” of a 7 part life ending in “second childishness and mere oblivion/Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.” The Canada Study on Health and aging estimated that 8% of the Canadian population over 65 years of age had a form of dementia and that 5.1% had Alzheimer’s disease (1). Alzheimer’s dementia has a devastating impact…

Nutritionists and vegetarians have claimed for years that soy provides a wide range of health benefits, such as lowering rates of heart attack, reducing blood cholesterol levels, relieving menopausal symptoms in postmenopausal women, and in the general enhancement of the immune system. In fact, in 1999, the Food and Drug Administration even permitted food manufacturers to put label on products with high soy protein contents, with the indication that the corresponding food product may be able to reduce heart disease risks (Henkel 2000). Consequently, ever since these claims were announced, attention and examination of the impact of soy on human…

Mycobacterium tuberculosis is one of the most virulent pathogens, infecting one third of the world’s total population (1). Tuberculosis (TB), of which M. tuberculosis is the causative agent, has become a frightening epidemic, killing almost two million people annually (1). The development of the Mycobacterium bovis bacilli Calmette-Géurin (BCG) vaccine in 1921 and its subsequent routine use in infants in developed countries has succeeded in reducing the incidence of TB (2). The effectiveness of BCG varies greatly though with geographic location – ranging from 0-80%. The failure of BCG is of particular importance in the developing world where rates of…

Most of our lives are spent obtaining food, preparing food, cooking food, and taking the time to savor food. Food is colourful, flavorful and simply delightful. The only drawback is wondering what our next meal is going to be. A simple solution for most working class people in the world: eating out. With such an abundance of neighborhood fast-food restaurants or take-out place at competing prices, eating out has become the latest trend in filling the stomach of many. In fact, the idea of purchasing pre-cooked meals has become such a widely accessible concept that people choose this alternative over…

The Scientists base their research on a principle hypothesis that complex systems can be understood by seeking out its most fundamental constituents. In other words, the complex problems are resolved by dividing them into smaller, simpler and more tractable units. Hence, physicists search for the basic particles and forces; chemists seek to understand chemical bonds; and biologists explore DNA sequences and molecular structures focusing on a particular gene or a protein in their efforts to understand organisms. This approach of “divide and conquer” is termed reductionism (Williams, 1997; Ahn et al, 2006a). The Biologists Reductionism approach is a science of…

“Home sweet home,” you say to yourself as you step into your apartment. You are pretty soaked from the walk home in the rain. Who knew it was going to be sunny in the morning, suddenly snowing at noon, and raining by the afternoon? “Damn Raincouver,” you mumble, as you take off your shoes and jacket and grab a towel to dry yourself off. You’re glad to be home, because it was just one of those laborious and stressful days in the lab when nothing seemed to work. Maybe the ELISA didn’t work; maybe the bands you were looking for…

Obesity in our world The prevalence of obesity has increased in epidemic proportions in the last 30 years (1). The World Heath Organization estimates that there are at least 1.6 billion overweight adults globally, of which 400 million are obese (2). An overweight adult is roughly defined as one who exceeds the maximum desired weight for his/her height for normal physiological functions. Obesity is when the individual weighs 20% or more above this desired weight (3). Being overweight can negatively affect an individual’s energy and mood, and more dreadfully, make the individual more prone to various diseases such as cardiovascular…

Plagiarize Let no one else’s work evade your eyes Remember why the good Lord made your eyes So don’t shade your eyes But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize Only be sure always to call it please “research” (Tom Lehrer) – – – In his song, “Lobachevky”, American songwriter, mathematician, and satirist Tom Lehrer claims that the secret to success is plagiarism. The limerick-like lyrics of the song humourously depicts several aspects of academic life: the competitive nature of research, the need to publish to remain in the game, and the large dependence of scientific advancement on prior knowledge. The notion that future…