Fat Cells Change Colour In Response to Temperature
By: Jennifer W.J. Wong. May 5th 2013
Feature Article published on Science 2.0. Mammals have the ability to adapt to a range of the temperature. While physiological homeostasis has a lot to do with this, part of the reason why mammals can adapt to cold temperatures is the presence of energy-burning brown fat cells. Unlike the large fat storage units in white fat cells (the cell type responsible for obesity), brown fat cells have the capacity to generate heat and provide insulation from cold. Recently, scientists discovered a population of fat cells with the properties of brown and white fat cells, a population dubbed the beige (brite cells) that emerges in mammalian fat as a result of cold adaptation.... Click here to read more...Too Much Thinking Can Cause DNA Damage In The Brain?
By: Jennifer W.J. Wong. April 25, 2013
Published in my column on Science 2.0. Neuroscientists have long demonstrated that neuronal connections in the brain can be strengthened with neuronal activity in the process known as neuroplasticity, and that brain training can be the ideal remedy to sharpen the human mind and to slow down the progress of neurodegeneration. However, recent studies revealed that too much thinking can actually be detrimental to the brain, causing profound DNA damage often dubbed as the DNA double-stranded breakages (DSBs).. Click here to read more...Ancient Bacteria-Killing Virus Holds Evolutionary Secret Against Antibiotic Resistance
By: Jennifer W.J. Wong. April 16, 2013
Published in my column on Science 2.0. The emergence of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is a common concern in hospitals worldwide, and is the evolutionary result of the selective pressures caused by our extensive use of antibiotics to fight bacterial infections. Scientists are often fighting the losing battle against antibiotic-resistant bacteria, with every new antibiotic treatment outwitted by the bacteria’s uncanny ability to adapt and survive whatever adversity comes their way. Although bacteria’s evasive strategies may have outwitted scientists in the last century, their strategies still fall prey to the nature’s billion-year old bacteria-killing virus known as bacteriophages. Click here to read more.... |
My Articles at the Lancet OncologyImatinib is exorbitantly priced despite protests. May 2013. The Lancet Oncology.
Diluted chemotherapy drugs affect 1200 patients in Canada. April 2013. The Lancet Oncology. About Jennifer W.J. WongI am a full time science journalist who writes about research news in the life-sciences discipline. I am currently an active contributor at Science 2.0. and the Lancet Oncology.
A bit a about my background: I have a PhD in Neuroscience, where I studied how injured axons in the spinal cord can be repaired with novel therapeutic compounds. From January 2010-2013, I joined the Jia group at the UBC Brain Research Centre as a postdoctoral fellow, where I studied cancer stem cells in brain tumors, and how to selectively eliminate them with oncolytic viruses. While working as a postdoc, I have started my own column at Science 2.0 in 2010, and have written ever since. |
