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Killing flies with bacteria and other things I couldn’t possibly explain to my grandfather

Killing flies with bacteria and other things I couldn’t possibly explain to my grandfather

written by Dr. Justin Nodwell image by Andrew Zhai My grade 11 math teacher, Mr. Dimass, was a fan of short, elegant proofs. Conversely, he had an aversion for anything that was unnecessarily complicated. To indicate such excesses, he used to say, “it’s like you’re 

Woes of the Morning Shift: Research in the time of COVID

Woes of the Morning Shift: Research in the time of COVID

written by Raphaella So After three months of COVID shutdowns, research labs reopened for non-essential work in June. To abide by social distancing rules, all researchers are grouped into shifts. For our building, the Krembil Discovery Tower, the morning shift is 7 am to 1 

Stepping off the treadmill and into the park: A glimpse into the promising future of an alternative publishing platform

Stepping off the treadmill and into the park: A glimpse into the promising future of an alternative publishing platform

written by Claire MacMurray and Noel Garber We have written the following article due to our firm belief in the need of a total reform of the publishing industry in the natural sciences. Once having emphasized the shortcomings of the model/industry, we will proceed to 

Who Could’ve Predicted This? A Look at Biochem’s Decade Ahead

Who Could’ve Predicted This? A Look at Biochem’s Decade Ahead

Written by Em Miraglia Interviews by Claire MacMurray, Kate Jiang, Andrew Zhai We first envisioned this piece at the start of the year. We set out to talk to people in our graduate department about what they wanted to contribute, create, and see around them 

A Pledge

A Pledge

Written by Andrew Zhai Edited by Jethro Prinston Image courtesy of Christopher Michel Science has long been used as a tool to prop-up racist beliefs held against Black and Indigenous people of colour (BIPOC). Beginning with the use of eugenics as a justification for racial 

Demystifying COVID: One Publication at a Time

Demystifying COVID: One Publication at a Time

written by Kate Jiang image by Kate Jiang When Lasya Vankayala started the COVID19 Demystified website to write about ongoing research during the pandemic, she did not expect it to grow into a project with a team of more than 20 student authors and reviewers 

Quarter-life Crisis, Quarantine Style

Quarter-life Crisis, Quarantine Style

written by Raphaella So image by Andrew Zhai I celebrated my 25th birthday in the first week of March. In true faithfulness to my long-standing tradition of self-deprecating humour, I wrote “Raphie’s quarter-life crisis” as the tagline when I created the event invitation on Facebook. 

The New Kid on the Block: Getting to Know Dr. Jonathon Ditlev

The New Kid on the Block: Getting to Know Dr. Jonathon Ditlev

written by Claire MacMurray Dr. Jonathon Ditlev joined our department in August of 2019. His current topic of interest is the postsynaptic density, a membraneless organelle found within the synaptic region of the neuron. His efforts are motivated by an attempt to better understand the 

In Light of Darkness

In Light of Darkness

written by Kate Jiang During the day, my boss goes through the usual chores of emails, committee meetings, and grants; but when night comes around and the clock strikes 9, he puts on a black lab coat and heads into our lab’s microscopy room. Sometimes 

Part II: How serendipity can lead to a new model for Alzheimer’s disease

Part II: How serendipity can lead to a new model for Alzheimer’s disease

PDB ID: 6DSO Cryo-EM structure of murine AA amyloid fibril written by Claire MacMurray It is my hope that both part one of this series in addition to Dr. Herrup’s Connell lecture brought awareness to the state of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) research and the predominant