The Pipette Warrior

The technical term for reverse engineered somatic cells is known as induced Pluripotent Stem Cells (iPSC's). These cells are reprogrammed through genetic manipulation that reverses them into a Pluripotent stem cell. A pluripotent stem cell is formed in later stages of embryonic development, however is capable of giving rise to most of the cell types. Since, iPSCs are engineered from body tissues, they are considered as a more ethical substitute for sourcing stem cells. How was the First iPSC Engineered? The process of iPSC Engineering. Image:  University of Utah Induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC's) are first isolated from the patient and multiplied in a petri dish. Mostly, fibroblasts are used for this purpose because they have more genetic elasticity. Next the cells are exposed to reprogramming factors that are four transcription factors, namely: Oct4 , Sox2 , cMyc and Klf4 . For this purpose attenuated viruses carrying the target genes are used to '...

An ancient Egyptian sarcophagus was unearthed in the city of Alexandria in Egypt. The said sarcophagus was made of black granite and was estimated to be around 2000 years old.  A view of the unopened sarcophagus from above. Image: The Guardian . Mystery surrounded the sarcophagus, as it was unusually large (3 meters long) and carbon dating placed it around the Ptolemaic period, 322 BC. Speculation arose that the remains may be of Alexander the Great as he was possibly buried in Alexandria around the same time. Adding to the mystery was the talk of a curse which might be unleashed if the sarcophagus was to be opened. Two weeks and several conspiracy theories later, the sarcophagus was finally opened to reveal three fully decomposed mummies drenched in a reddish foul smelling liquid. Removal of the 1.5 ton lid revealed that the sarcophagus contained three decomposed skeletons. Image: Egypt Today . A close-up of the skeleton showed three skulls drenched in...

It has been 111 years since the first plastic 'bakelite' was synthesized in 1907 and took almost 50 years to become commercialized. Since then manufacturing industry boomed owing to its high strength to weight ratio. The race was on to create the most durable plastic that resisted degradation. Ironically, this very aspect became the Achilles heel for plastic biodegradability and its subsequent persistence in the environment. In 1997, Charles Moors discovered the Great Pacific Garbage Patch , a humongous cluster of plastic waste, which led to the awareness of plastic pollution. It until 2008, that the potential health hazards of plastics were identified by Saal and coworkers . What is more concerning that the issue was overlooked as late as 2015. Still we are at a point where we lack sufficient data long term toxicity damage that plastics cause. Hazardous Plastics Technically speaking, the intact plastic polymer itself is not toxic since its molecular weight is so...

News has been floating about that Kylie Jenner has had her  lip fillers removed . So I guess now we wont be able to play this game: Image source:https: me.me Jokes apart, (this is a serious blog ;) ), the science behind lip fillers is a lot cooler. I'm going to walk you through the whole process, so lets begin: What are lip fillers? Lip fillers are organic compounds that are injected in to the lips to give them a fuller look. They are directly injected in to the tissue to 'shape' the lips to become more voluminous. Before and After Images of Lip Augmentation Procedure. Source: PMC . Whats their composition? Collagen derived from a bovine source was the first to be used as a lip filler and was marketed as  Zyderm®/Zyplast® . However, possible concerns over allergic reactions forced surgeons to use human derived collagen, which was commercially available as  CosmoDerm®/CosmoPlast® . The collagen was derived from a human-fibroblast ...

A new strain of a relatively new viral species, called the Nipah virus, has caused a new outbreak in  the Kerala State of India.  How It All Began The outbreak started with three cases within the same family and a fourth case, who was a healthcare worker tending to the family. The mysterious infection had flu like symptoms, headache, vomiting and diarrhea. These symptoms elevated to much severe condition such as coma and So basically, nothing indicative of a specific kind of illness. All four infections resulted in death. Blood samples of the initial victims confirmed the presence of Nipah Virus.  Bats and Pigs Spread the Virus Its mechanism of transmission is just as strange as it symptoms. In, 1999, when the virus was first discovered, it was assumed that direct contact with infected pigs or their tissues led to infection. Later on, other causes were identified such as consuming fruits contaminated with bat saliva. The virus also transmits from...