Our laboratory is interested in how the cells that "see" color are made. There are three types of color-detecting cells that sense red, green, or blue light. We cannot study how these cells are made in developing human babies, so we take human stem cells... click to read more

Hypertension or high blood pressure is the major risk factor of heart and kidney diseases affecting the human population. Indeed the incidence rate is very high: 1 in every 3 adult individuals. Hypertension is normally treated in the clinic as an independent disease. Nonetheless, it... click to read more

We now know that a good night's sleep is essential for maintaining optimal brain functioning and health. Many will have experienced the acute detrimental effects of "pulling an all-nighter" on attention and performance, which are usually quickly remedied by sleep. Chronically curtailed or disrupted sleep... click to read more

Halfway between the coastal beaches of Southern California and the paradise islands of Hawaii lies the Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) - a patch of plastic debris covering a vast area of the oceanic surface. Despite the name, it is not a compact garbage island... click to read more

The Atacama Desert in northern Chile is the driest and oldest desert on earth. It has been an arid place for the last 150 million years, and hyperarid (an extremely dry place) for the last 15 million years. In the Atacama, rain is extremely rare,... click to read more