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How Biotechnology is Breaking Extinction’s Grip: The Campaign to Restore Extinct Species
BY LIAM HUBER | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) This year, once finals week has finished and life in the campus library has gone extinct, cinemas will begin roaring to life with summer films like Jurassic World: The Fallen Kingdom, coming out late June.1 Theatergoers will once again witness tyrannosaurs and velociraptors wreak on-screen…
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Building a Bio-Fueled Future
BY MADISON RAE | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) With current projections predicting the depletion of fossil fuel reserves being by 2088, biofuels are seeing a resurgence in funding and awareness. The field of alternative energy is open to all kinds of new perspectives and technological advances, a great opportunity for creative up-and-coming biologists. This…
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Taking the Bite Out of Pathogens: How Researchers at UC San Diego Are Divorcing Mosquitos from Malaria and Other Infectious Diseases
LIAM HUBER AND MAYA GOPALAKRISHNAN | ONLINE REPORTERS | SALTMAN QUARTERLY 17-18 At UC San Diego, Dr. Omar Akbari pioneers a new method to combat some of the world’s deadliest contagions. (Source) Picture the deadliest animal in the world. What comes to mind? Fearsome teeth, bulging muscles, and lethal venom? Great white sharks, Bengal tigers, and…
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Tardigrades: Testing the Limits of Space Travel
EMMA HUIE | UTS WRITER | SALTMAN QUARTERLY 17-18 ______________________________________________________________________________________________ In 2016, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration reported a record-breaking 18,300 applications from aspiring astronauts (NASA). It may be surprising that so many people seem to be eager to launch themselves into space, considering that they would have to forgo Earth’s mild temperatures, clean…
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Solving The Microbe Mystery: An Interview With UCSD Researcher Cliff Kapono
MADELEINE YU | ONLINE REPORTER | SQ ONLINE 17-18 They surround us by the billions in every nook and cranny imaginable, even hitching a ride with us throughout our daily routines. All the while, we are oblivious to their presence. Microbes. Despite their ubiquity in our world, little is known about these microorganisms. But,…
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Evolution in Action: An Interview with Dr. Justin Meyer and Dr. Katie Petrie
BY LAUREN BRUMAGE | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) Evolutionary biologist Theodosius Dobzhansky once said that “nothing in biology makes sense except in the light of evolution.” That being said, our understanding of the molecular mechanisms through which evolution operates is still incomplete. One UC San Diego lab, headed by Dr. Justin Meyer, is…
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Alzheimer’s Research: The Need to Succeed
MADELEINE YU | ONLINE REPORTER | SQ ONLINE 17-18 Nearly everyone knows someone affected by Alzheimer’s disease; it has become a leading medical issue and is often at the forefront of pharmaceutical research. Every year, more and more drugs are introduced for testing, but despite this abundance, not one has managed to succeed in…
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HELP! Anxiety Disorders, Treatment, and Stigma
BY LAUREN BRUMAGE | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) Imagine the following scenario: you are in a crowded lecture hall, hunched over a tiny desk and staring blankly at an exam. Your heart races and you feel a gnawing headache take hold as you struggle to gather your thoughts to focus on the task…
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Outback Biology: Studying Bio Abroad in Australia (and Why You Might Consider it)
BY LIAM HUBER | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) In Winter 2017, I applied for study abroad and saw, with some shock, that I would be considered a “student from a traditionally underrepresented area.” Typically, studying abroad is seen as the endeavor of the humanities and social sciences student, so few could fathom why…
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Pacific Plastic
BY MADISON RAE | SQ ONLINE WRITER | SQ ONLINE (2017-18) The beautiful beaches of San Diego and the rest of the Pacific ocean are facing significant threats from something man-made and nearly invisible: plastic pollution. Conservation groups inundate us with images of necks and fins trapped by soda rings, whales and dolphins tangled in discarded plastic…