Science of Cooking Series! Food is a fundamental part of life and we all get the pleasure of working with it to make delicious snacks, meals, and treats! The first post in the series is on why bread rises! We have leavening reagents to thank! Leavening reagents – such as yeast, baking powder, or bakingContinue reading “Leavening Reagents”
Author Archives: annickae
Research is Formalized Curiosity
“Research is formalized curiosity; it is poking and prying with a purpose.” – Zora Neale Hurston
501Y.V2
Today we’re talking about variant 501Y.V2, also known as B.1.351, also known as the variant that was originally identified in South Africa! Another variant that has concerned the world as it makes it way from country to country. Why? Because it has key mutations in the spike protein receptor binding domain that could have aContinue reading “501Y.V2”
Types of Skeletal Muscle
Did you know that there are different types of skeletal muscle fibers that specialize in different kinds of motion? Muscles are made of many bundles of muscle fibers, each fiber contracting and relaxing during use. Some muscle fibers are better suited for slow and sustained motion, while other muscle fibers are better suited for quickContinue reading “Types of Skeletal Muscle”
Masks after the shot?
Why have you been hearing that’s it recommended you continue wearing your mask even after being vaccinated? This post goes over it! In a nutshell, the clinical trials for Moderna and Pfizer/BioNTech were designed to focus on disease inhibition and decreased disease severity. Participants were only tested if they were experiencing symptoms. Therefore, asymptotic casesContinue reading “Masks after the shot?”
Route of Administration
Route of Administration! The way a drug/therapeutic enters your body. I thought it would be useful to go over some of the basics so we all have a better understanding of why certain drugs are injected into our body and why others are given in pill form. It all has to do with what theContinue reading “Route of Administration”
Sleep Stages
Sleep Stages! Stepping out of the molecular biology world today because, why not? I’m a gene therapy specialist/virologist but I hope y’all don’t mind if I post science art outside of that! Sleeping is something we all do, but do you much about what you’re brain and body are doing during each stage, how muchContinue reading “Sleep Stages”
Neutralizing Antibody Test – N501Y e.g.
Neutralizing Antibody Tests! What are they? These kind of assays evaluate how well a virus (or protein) is neutralized by a particular pool of antibodies! This is of particular interest this weekend because early, pre-print, data was just released, looking at the important SARS-CoV-2 mutation, N501Y. The big question has been if this mutation willContinue reading “Neutralizing Antibody Test – N501Y e.g.”
Science and Life Cannot be Separated
“Science and everyday life cannot and should not be separated.” -Rosalind Franklin Science is in health, science is in skincare, science is in architecture, science is in food, science is in sports, science is in love, science is in family, science is in nature. You get the idea! In the comments let’s talk about whereContinue reading “Science and Life Cannot be Separated”
What is an Adjuvant?
Adjuvants! These are substances added to vaccines (and other drugs whose goal is to elicit an immune response) to enhance the immune response. By adding these to the formulation, you may reduce the required overall dose of the vaccine or simply increased the efficacy. Other times an adjuvant isn’t included or doesn’t benefit the system.Continue reading “What is an Adjuvant?”