Over the last 12,000 or so years, during a period we call the Holocene epoch, human society grew from a small population of hunter-gatherer communities to the global civilization of the modern day. Scientists view the Holocene as an important period for placing today’s human-driven... click to read more

 All physiological functions in humans are orchestrated by cell surface receptors and their intracellular signaling effects. Cell signaling typically consists of 5 components: stimulus, receptor, transducer, messenger, and effector. These components are modularly linked to each other to ensure that extracellular cues are relayed flawlessly... click to read more

 The world is in the midst of a biodiversity crisis. Our actions threaten more plant and animal species with extinction than ever before, driven by habitat loss and overexploitation of the world’s resources.  Over the next 30 years cities are set to become a vital... 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