It’s a plastic world

Micro- and nanoplastics, found in the plaque within our arteries, are born from the ubiquitous presence of plastics in our environment. They are raising eyebrows and heart rates among scientists and physicians, courtesy of a groundbreaking study in the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM). Plastic Plague: Unwelcome Guests in Your Arteries? (Chuck Dinerstein, MD,Continue reading “It’s a plastic world”

Me, Microbes, and I

  It has been said that “No man is an island.” While you may quibble that it should be “No one is an island,” we know what it means: We human beings depend on one another. We depend on each other, and we also depend on ecosystems to provide us with water and clean air—amongContinue reading “Me, Microbes, and I”

Genetically engineering microbes to work for us

Interesting video from the Open University. Genetically engineered (GE) E. coli bacteria produce much of today’s insulin supply. By using GE, we are turning microbes into “tiny factories” that happily churn out what they get re-programmed to do.