By Lucia Aronica, Max F Perutz Laboratories, Austria Note: Lucia won the first ever Access to Understanding People’s Choice award. Tomorrow the blog will feature her popular piece! My research field is epigenetics, which means that I am interested in understanding how environmental factors can influence our genes and thereby impact both our health and predisposition to diseases. This scientific passion inspired me to write about Dr.
Image Source: Serial/Trash Cancer results from an accumulation of mistakes or abnormalities in genes that normally control cell survival, growth and migration. Genes are the instruction manual for our cells, and when these instructions are altered cells may begin to multiply (proliferate) uncontrollably.
By Clare Finlay, a PhD student at the Wolfson Centre for Age-Related Disease, King’s College London Note: Clare was highly commended for her entry. Check back tomorrow to read her brilliant summary on the blog.
Image Source: Serial/Trash After centuries of endeavour, scientists and doctors have made great strides towards improving cancer treatment. Nonetheless, while conventional therapy has undoubtedly saved innumerable lives, a worrying number of tumours remain inoperable and incurable by chemo- or radiotherapy.
By Claire Sand, PhD student at King’s College London Note: Claire Sand was highly commended for her entry this year. She was a joint second-place winner in Access to Understanding 2013 competition. Check back tomorrow to read her entry. After my fantastic experience at Access to Understanding 2013, I was very keen to be involved again this year.
Image design: Serial/Trash Malaria claims a million lives a year, a majority of which are children, and threatens the lives of billions more within its tropical ranges.
By Aidan Maartens, Post-doc student at the Gurdon Institute Note: Aidan was awarded third place in this year’s Access to Understa nding competition. Check back tomorrow to read his winning entry! Congratulations Aidan!
Image Source: Serial/Trash People have little trouble recognising and following the beat in a piece of music. We can even continue to play the beat in our minds once a song has finished. However, despite the ease with which we carry out such a task, the brain activity which underpins it remains a topic of investigation.
By Elizabeth Kirkham, PhD student at the University of Sheffield Note: Elizabeth was the winner of this year’s Access to Understanding competition. Check back tomorrow to read her winning entry! It has also been published by eLife. Congratulations Elizabeth!
Image design: Serial/Trash New research challenges common beliefs about the origin of the disease and draws attention to the nerve cells’ ability to tidy up. Parkinson’s disease is a devastating neurological disorder where nerve cells in the brain slowly degenerate and die. The disease especially affects a certain type of nerve cell, the dopaminergic nerve cells, which are located in a small area of the brain called the substantia nigra.