Monthly Archives: October 2020

Studying cell structures is the foundation of numerous fields in biology including health sciences, pharmacology, microbiology, and more. Traditional microscopic methods of observing structures within cells rely on dyes, fixatives, and/or artificial labels. The full effect that these extra components have on the functions of cell components is still unknown. For example, tacking a green fluorescent protein label to a drug receptor protein may interfere with the receptor binding site and decrease the effectiveness of the drug in the experimental cells (1). Micro-spectroscopy bypasses any interference from labels and dyes and is currently “the only technique for observing molecular activity in humans” (1).

The primary micro-spectroscopic methods currently being applied to cell biology are Raman spectroscopy and Infrared (IR) spectroscopy (2). These techniques rely on vibrational energy in chemical bonds. Raman spectroscopy is more versatile and can be used with a large range of

Sewage and wastewater help in the fight against COVID-19

The World Health Organization declared SARS-CoV-2, known as COVID-19, a worldwide pandemic in March 2020. The world health organization has since reported 35.3 million cases and over 1 million deaths. Despite widespread efforts to social distance, wear masks, and reduce travel, infection rates keep climbing. Infectious disease researchers and public health officials are using new tools to get ahead of this deadly virus.

Aggressive community testing is the primary way for local and federal governments to obtain data on the spread of COVID-19. However, COVID-19 infections are unpredictable and testing limitations including individual costs, invasiveness, and reaching enough people pose challenges for surveilling community spread by testing alone. Recent research has discovered COVID-19 traces in sewage and wastewater, opening up a whole new avenue of testing strategies that may increase the ability

Water is an essential component for life on Earth, constituting 71% of the planet and about 60% of the human body (1). It’s therefore imperative for terrestrial plants, animals, and humans to have a steady supply of fresh, clean water through either natural or artificial processes. The water cycle is Earth’s natural water recycling system in which water travels through all three phases of matter (solid, liquid, gas), getting desalinated, filtered, and purified in the process. Natural filtration sources function in many different, surprising ways including:

• trapping particulates by hard porous materials like gravel and sand
• filter-feeding shellfish consuming organic and metal contaminants from water
• aquatic plants soaking up excess chemical nutrients and replenishing oxygen (2)