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#6 - How Did 'The Biomed Water Cooler’ Get Its Name? (A 350+ Follower Special!)

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So this is a 350+ follower special (it’s absolutely crazy that I’ve gained this many followers in under the first month of being live on Instagram!) Thank you to everyone for your support and I hope to be bringing you interesting content during the next year or so. So why exactly did I want to call this blog the Biomed Water Cooler? The ‘Biomed’ part mostly because I am an aspiring biomedical scientist / researcher . Granted, it is a bit of an odd name (to say the least!), but the whole point was to generate short 10-15 minute reads that would strike up a casual conversation with your colleagues at your nearest water cooler! But what exactly is the notion of ‘water cooler talk? What are the benefits and drawbacks to it? Let’s discuss this a bit further…   So gossip (or to use the precise term – reputational information sharing) is usually associated with negative connotations – and rightfully so, it can have negative societal implications. But several studi...
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#5 – Can music therapy be used as an intervention for patients with Alzheimer’s Disease?

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Discovered in late 1907 by Alois Alzheimer, Alzheimer’s disease manifests in approximately 7.7 million cases per year and is a causative factor for 60% to 70% of dementia cases and according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). Although the speed of development of Alzheimer’s can vary between individuals, the average life expectancy for a patient following diagnosis is roughly three to nine years.   Alzheimer’s disease (AD) affects the hippocampus and causes atrophy. This atrophy leads to cognitive decline and results in impaired long term potentiation (LTP), a decrease in synaptic strength. The way AD is caused is by misprocessing of the amyloid precursor protein (APP). This protein changes shape and thus, cannot function effectively, leading to amyloid plaques accumulating outside neurones. It is unknown as to how AD arises but the common understanding is that APP is said to be transcribed and translated improperly, creating a different version of the protein called beta amy...
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#4 - Can Psychedelics Alleviate Major Depressive Disorder?

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Approximately 1 in 4 people will experience a mental health condition during their lifetime and currently, over 7 million people in England are diagnosed with major depressive disorder (MDD). Despite these numbers, there is still a stigma around mental health disorders that exist, due to a lack of education and awareness. There are many different therapies and medications available to treat certain mental health conditions, however, these are over-prescribed and as a result, are losing their effectiveness. So what makes an MDD individual suffer on a biochemical level? Hormonal imbalances are the main reason and the most important hormone that controls one’s mood is serotonin.  Serotonin is a neurotransmitter that has a plethora of effects on various systems within the body. A lack of production can lead to several types of depression, hence why most medications aim to prevent reuptake of serotonin back into the nerve terminals from which they were released. The most common of th...
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#3 - Tea Time – Where there is tea, there is hope!

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We all love tea, some more than others.   In fact, I’m drinking tea as I write this post. But did you know that until the mid-16 th century, there was absolutely no tea in Britain?   I know - how did we survive? In 2019, a Nature article by Natasha Gilbert dictated the so-called ‘science’ behind the mood-altering properties of tea and how it was able to lower stress levels. Evidently, drinking roughly 100ml of green tea per day reduced the chance of developing depression and dementia.   Drinking tea has demonstrated to have preventative effects on obesity, cardiovascular disease and immune dysfunction (Sutherland et al., 2005).  The reason why tea may be able to prevent serious diseases, such as the above, is mostly due to the antioxidants present. An example of such anti-oxidant is epigallocatechin gallate (EGCG), which can improve both memory and attention, as well as increase the feeling of calmness in individuals. EGCG is found in green tea, at rough...
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#2 - Unzip Your Genes: A Quick CRISPR Fact Sheet

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#1 - Lego and Learning: What it means to work hard and play hard.

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Some of you may have played with Lego when you were younger. Others may have siblings who played with Lego. You may even have children who absolutely love Lego and I, for one, do not blame them. This classic test of creativity originates from the Danish phrase, ‘leg godt’ , meaning to ‘play well.’ Now I don’t know about you, but I bought a Lego set of The Big Bang Theory (TBBT) a few years back and it took me roughly 3 hours to build with no breaks (see Figure 1 ). I was exhausted, to say the least, but I guess I…played well? As scientists, our lives (partly) revolve around finding evidence.  Of course, lots of people love Lego, but what impact does it have on our long-term cognition? An empty box of bricks forces us to unleash our creativity and make towering cities filled with various components. But other than that, what else do we know about the mystical powers of the studded blocks? Allowing creativity in this day and age, is one thing that can be lacking in a child’s lif...
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