Author: Sarah Foust
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Like Hela Cells
For Henrietta Lacks if i die mid experimentation working with tuberculosis will I be used like Henrietta Lacks if it’s not written on a document does the brain lose its privacy as if rotted thoughts cannot still be trapped by skull before my body fuses with mother earth will my cells be enslaved by latex…
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A comfort poem after you finish an experiment
today is friday at 5pm, and i want you to remind your body that it did a good day’s work today remind your body that it is enough let every muscle fiber twitch down your knuckles shock your nerve endings marionette palms to your shoulder and hold yourself feel comfort embrace that you have made…
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We’re Nuts about Cashew!
This month I had the pleasure of speaking with the adorable and rambunctious Cashew Carreiro, who took a pause from playtime to answer some questions about life at Rockefeller with her human mom, Jeannie. Audrey Goldfarb: How did you and Jeannie meet? Cashew Carreiro: My brother and I were getting ready to move out and…
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February 2024 Book Recommendations
2024 is upon us, and many of us have set our reading goals for the year. If you need some help getting started, look into these informative, entertaining, and thought-provoking picks. The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks by Rebecca Skloot will walk you through the history of one of the most important, and often misunderstood…
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New Weill Cornell postdoc union begins collective bargaining
On November 15th, 2023, postdoctoral fellows at Weill Cornell Medicine voted to unionize by a 99% majority of 328 to 4. Forming the union gives postdocs the legal right to engage in collective bargaining with the institution. Postdocs aim to use this right to improve workplace conditions through increased salary minimums, improved housing and childcare…
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Will Artificial Intelligence Replace Bench and Computer Scientists?
One popular topic buzzing around laboratory corridors is the debate on whether artificial intelligence (AI) could replace hands-on bench work. While AI has proven its worth in various domains like economics, customer service, and climate science, it makes you think – what are the real limits to these technologies? To what extent will human work…
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New Director May Bring Positive Changes to the NIH
In 2023, the Tri-I received 1,056 grants—nearly $600 million in total—from the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH). While many members of the Tri-I community rely on such NIH funding, we represent just 1.5% of NIH-funded research. The NIH had a total budget of almost $48 billion last year, of which $40 billion was allocated…
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Navigating Health Equity Amidst the Gene Editing Revolution
From the characterization of the double-helix structure of DNA, to the development of the first chimeric recombinant DNA in 1972, to the mapping of the human genome in 2001, technological improvements have historically led to advances in conceptual understanding of molecular and cellular biology. These conceptual advances in turn inform the next generation of…
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Henrietta Lacks’ Immortal Story: When Science Forgets Humanity
Research and reporting by Kenny Bradley, Jeannie Carreiro, Colin Burdette, and Sarthak Tiwari Imagine you notice a persistent, painful lump on your cervix. You consult your doctor, who asks your permission to conduct a diagnostic tissue biopsy. You have access to information about this procedure from your doctor, other medical professionals, and online forums. You…
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Briefing on EZH2 Research in the Tri-I
Across a wide variety of cancer types, the overexpression of EZH2 is a well-documented phenomenon. A type of histone methyltransferase, the EZH2 enzyme adds methyl groups onto specific residues on histones, the core proteins of chromatin coils. By methylating a specific type of histone, EZH2 inhibits the transcription of tumor suppressor genes, ultimately causing cancer…