Genetically predicting which drug is more harmful to whom and who is more likely to develop which disease is becoming a reality — a primer on pharmacogenomics and GWAS — Betty’s joints have been acting up recently. She was enjoying life as usual when first her right toe and then the left knee started troubling her. The joints would become red, stiff, swollen, and unbearably painful. Her physician explained that crystals of uric acid have started collecting inside the joints…

In health, America has been the standard that most countries in the developing world aspire towards — the coronavirus might have changed that — Being a practicing physician in an underdeveloped country, I — and virtually everyone else I work with — consider the US health practices as the gold-standard. The resources are unlimited, access to advanced diagnostics and treatments is universal, every step is based on evidence and follows proper guidelines, outside the…

An explainer on the novel vaccine technology used against the novel coronavirus — When Edward Jenner demonstrated immunity against smallpox by inoculating a 13-year-old boy with cowpox virus in 1796, the era of vaccination began. This first vaccine used live virus strain to induce active immunity. Killed organisms (bacteria and virus), chemical-treated toxoids, and bacterial and viral structural components made up of protein…

The cost of protecting ourselves from the virus might be paid by our oceans — until conscious efforts are made — Till December 2019, China, the largest producer of masks globally, made 20 million single-use masks a day. By February, with the spread of the coronavirus, this number had soared to 116 million. The situation with disposable gloves and other personal protective equipment is the same. A decrease in human activity…

Winter is coming and with it the novel coronavirus — Covid-19 is nearly a year old and will enter its second winter soon. While the first wave isn’t subsided yet, warnings of a resurgence are around. Why do we think the virus will surge again, come this winter though? Because it is already happening, that's what respiratory viruses do, and…

Of all the Windows problems, this should be the easiest to fix — Bluetooth is not the most efficient way to transfer files but at times it is the most convenient one, especially while transferring small chunks of data — a word document, for instance. It is convenient until you happen to be using it on Windows 10 —Microsoft’s flagship product running on…

A simple scientifically proven nutritional score can help — In theory, a healthy diet is easy to define: fewer carbs, saturated fats, and salt; more vegetables, plant oils, and fruits. Theory is easy, the devil lies in practice. As a physician, I am often asked to give advice to patients — and sometimes to their relatives as well —…

Selfish moves by parasites to manipulate the behavior of their hosts — The orchard orb weaver, known in the biological world as Leucauge argyra, is a small spider found around the world. William Eberhard and his team have been observing its behavior for a few days now in the African palm plantation in Parrita, Costa Rica. A parasitic wasp indigenous to the…

Find your eureka moments through reading — The second law of thermodynamics, entropy, and Mendel’s law of independent assortment have one thing in common: I didn’t have a clue as to what they actually meant when I was a 10th-grade student, some 15 years ago. I could answer questions asked about them in the exam, but never…