Bioengineering

Iridescence, or the bright, shiny effects that may appear to color-shift based on various viewing angles, could seem like a human-made invention. However, there are numerous examples of iridescence in nature, from butterfly wings to the patterns on peacocks’ wings.

Many people may be aware that the human papillomavirus (HPV) can cause cervical cancer by promoting oncogenes. Oncogenes are DNA sequences that can increase the risk of a cell becoming a tumor progenitor. HPV is not the only pathogen that can boost the risk of cancer in human cells. There are other viruses or retroviruses that can trigger different oncogenes in different cells. A prominent example is HTLV-1, which infects human T-cells.

CRISPR/Cas9 has become the most prominent form of potential gene therapy for various conditions. However, the concept is still associated with issues that need to be addressed, before it can be applied to conventional medical settings.

Synthetic biology is the study of the interdisciplinary fields of engineering and biology. It was described by the UK Royal Society as “an emerging area of research that can broadly be described as the design and construction of novel artificial biological pathways, organisms or devices, or the redesign of existing natural biological systems.”

Periplaneta americana, commonly known as the American cockroach, is the most dreaded house pest of them all. Why? It is almost impossible to kill.

Even though the process of ageing differs among individuals (based on their lifestyles and environment), it is inevitable and irreversible for all of them. Chronological age can be measured according to birth date, each year, but experts have adjudged this method to be inaccurate while determining true biological age.

Many forms of cancer have been treated using systemic radiotherapeutics, which can destroy cancer cells, their ability to replicate or both.

Cancer drugs are becoming impressively diverse in terms of their numbers and biological functions. This level of pharmaceutical development has arisen in response to the many types and subtypes of cancer that we are aware of.

Tinnitus is a condition in which the patient is subject to a consistent level of ‘phantom’ ringing or buzzing in the ears. It is not clear what causes it, although environmental and occupational factors have been implicated in the development of the condition.

You may have heard phrases such as ‘real’ or ‘biological’ age, and how it may actually differ from your actual ‘chronological’ age.

Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune condition in which the patient’s ability to produce insulin is negated by their body’s own protective processes, often from an early age. As with type 2 diabetes, it can require chronic medical treatment from the point of diagnosis in order to avoid severe, even life-threatening, disease events.

The first cases of Ebola virus disease (EVD) were registered in Africa’s Sudan and Congo, and since then it has spread by contamination and human-to-human transmission to several parts of West Africa and surrounding regions. Hailing from the Filoviridae family, the disease is incurable and, most often, fatal.