I’m a blood cell… April Fools! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Your body has its own Secret Service — the IMMUNE SYSTEM. It’s built to keep good stuff in and bad stuff out. But sometimes security is TOO TIGHT. Even MEDICINE can get filtered
Continue readingTag: medicine
Bacteria Army
Bacteria trained for the mission … impossible! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Ever seen bacteria in petri dishes? They’re like bad disco dancers – all over the place! But is there more to these troublemakers than just randomly dancing around? Enter Taras Turiv and
Continue readingFearless Gut
Should I follow my brain or my heart? How about my gut?! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with The Loh Down on Science. Our guts are filled with microbiomes made of viruses, bacteria, and fungi. These microorganisms have a HUGE impact on our health. Even small changes affect immunity and
Continue readingSpider Stitches
Did I just walk into a spider web? Eeew! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with The Loh Down on Science. Having surgery? That means…stitches!. And getting stitches is about as fun as… well, getting stitches. Any way we can avoid those needles? Hyunwoo Yuk and Claudia Varela from MIT took
Continue readingSlimy Solution
What’s slippery, slimy, and soon to be in your medicine cabinet? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. The answer? Sea snails, of course! Specifically, the Australian white rock sea snail. These escargot secrete a slime that has chemicals also found in prescription drugs. They’re called
Continue readingDanger Down Under
Ten foot venomous tentacles lurking in the ocean? It’s the box jellyfish! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. Box jellyfish stings could easily be something from a horror movie. Especially terrifying? The monstrous C. fleckeri! Its venom causes pain, tissue damage, and even death! Swimmers,
Continue readingPsychedelic Zombie
Clawing its way out of an earthen tomb…it’s the living dead, ready to feed! This is Sandra Tsing-Loh, with the Loh Down on Science. Imagine opening the door to find a horde of brain-hungry UNDEAD on your lawn! Yikes! Thankfully, zombies aren’t real. Right? Wrong! They ARE real! And they
Continue readingBetter Bug Guts
Hah! Gotcha, pesky mosquito! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down On Science. Mosquitoes! They suck. Not only do they bite, but they can spread dangerous diseases like malaria. Some insecticides that USED to kill mosquitos aren’t effective anymore! What can we do to stop them? Flaminia Catteruccia
Continue readingMicro-Medicine
Hugs, not drugs. Wait, I mean, bugs on drugs! This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. If you get sick, your doctor might write you a prescription. But not everyone responds to medicines in the same way. Prescriptions can be guess-and-check – expensive, and possibly even
Continue readingPainless Pill
Shots or pills? How about BOTH? This is Sandra Tsing Loh with the Loh Down on Science. I would pick pills over shots any day! Easier to take and PAINLESS – hypodermic needles are scary!! But what about the drugs that HAVE to be injected? For those, Alex Abramson from
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