While humans are 99.999% the same at the DNA level, there are small variations in our DNAs known as alleles. Most differences in our alleles are harmless, but some alleles make us more susceptible to get diseases like cancer or dementia. Understanding how these alleles... click to read more

Schizophrenia is a severe psychiatric disorder, affecting about one percent of the population worldwide. Perturbation of pre-natal development is known to contribute to the disease, although onset typically occurs between late adolescence and early adulthood. This led to formulation of the ‘two-hit’ hypothesis: the disruption... click to read more

Our gut microbial community is not as stable as one might think. Our diet has a big impact on the type and amount of bacteria we have in our gut. Every time we eat, we are not only satisfying our nutritional needs, but we are... click to read more

The back of the eye is lined with a layer of specialized light-sensitive neurons in the retina, arranged in a mosaic, called photoreceptors. Each photoreceptor has a tapered elongated shape—like a bottle—oriented perpendicular to the retina and pointing toward the pupil of the eye. The... click to read more

The brain regulates changes in its own blood flow depending on how active its cells (neurons) are, by a mechanism called neurovascular coupling. When neurons become active, they send messages to nearby blood vessels causing them to dilate and bring in more blood. This increased... click to read more