Couch to Clinic

Is the cure for cancer… a jog? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Run for your health, they say. But can you outrun… a tumor? Enter Catherine Phelps from the University of Pittsburgh. Her team studied melanoma-prone mice. Some exercised, others stayed sedentary. Surprisingly, tumor

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Shadow Showdown

No flash photography, and please, don’t feed the mold. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine priceless puppets slowly degrading over the years. Museum air TEEMS with sneaky microbes. How can we protect our historical artifacts? Enter Yuanyuan Wang and team from Beijing’s University of

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Brushing Up on Heart Health

Bad heart? Chew on this. It’s doublemint. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. What’s bad for your mouth could be horrible for your heart. Why?! Enter Shunsuke Miyauchi and team at Hiroshima University. They studied bacteria behind the gum disease gingivitis to understand its impact

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Cancer Gender Gap

Zombie outbreak! Who ya gonna call? Mommy?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. “Zombie” immune cells have been discovered that let tumors grow unchecked! But only in men’s bladders. How can we stop them? Qingchen Zhu from the Chinese Academy of Sciences went with a

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Why So Smelly?

Summer’s coming and the heat is on!  Unfortunately. This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Our sweat is odorless, but our armpits can, er, stink.  Gurdeep Minhas and colleagues at Oxford found the culprit.  In armpit bacteria, there is a transport protein. Picture a conveyor belt bringing

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Plants vs. Bacteria

Plants versus bacteria. Who will win? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Bacteria are sneaky. Sure plants can use enzymes – like BGAL1 – to uncover them. But some bacteria can block those enzymes and stay hidden using a mystery molecule. Scientists knew that this

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Bacteria’s Microplastic Power-up

Are MICROplastics making BIG impacts? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Microplastics are tiny plastic particles that have infiltrated our ecosystem from waste. And you know what’s even worse? They’re teaming up with bacteria! How? Enter Neila Gross and team at Boston University. They exposed

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Brain Food

Can bacteria make us smarter? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science.  Our gut contains “good” bacteria called microbiota! They help break down our lunch into essential nutrients. The more bacteria in our microbiota, the healthier we are!  But wait, there’s more! Premysl Bercik and team at

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The Accidental Bouncer

Who’s that rowdy DJ… in your lungs?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever had a party crasher? Meet T.mu, a gut bacteria turning your lungs into an unexpected rave. Kyle Burrows from the University of Toronto uncovered T.mu’s surprising role. It invites immune cells

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All About Algae

Pee-yew! Is that the smell of…. greenhouse… GAS?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Fertilizer’s stink comes from nitrogen. When plants can’t get enough of this nutrient from the air, we help them. But Tyler Coale and team from the University of California, Santa Cruz

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