Category: Writing

A doctor’s quest

Bathed in dim morning light from a small window, the infant lies in a hospital bed at Kennedy Krieger Institute. Like a faint flame, a blood-colored birthmark engulfs the sleeping boy’s left eye and spreads up his pale forehead to lick his hairline.

Energy-harvesting rubber sheets could power pacemakers, mobile phones

Power-generating rubber films developed by Princeton University engineers could harness natural body movements such as breathing and walking to power pacemakers, mobile phones and other electronic devices. The material, composed of ceramic nanoribbons embedded onto silicone rubber sheets, generates electricity when flexed and is highly efficient at converting mechanical energy to electrical energy. Shoes made [...]

New website to help translate genetic data into medical therapies

Princeton researchers have created a Rosetta Stone for the human body, a website that offers clues to the role DNA plays in aging and disease by helping scientists make sense of the vast jumble of information emerging from genetics research. By mashing up genetic data from disparate sources and interpreting it with the help of [...]

Surprising genetic diversity found among cleanup microbes

Researchers have uncovered a broad genetic diversity among members of a bacterial genus, using a cutting-edge “systems” approach that might one day help scientists choose the right microbe for environmental cleanups. Employing modern genomics and proteomics techniques, the researchers found that Shewanella, an adaptable genus of bacteria found both in the oceans and on land, [...]

New sensor derived from frogs may fight bacteria and save wildlife

Princeton engineers have developed a sensor that may revolutionize how drugs and medical devices are tested for contamination, and in the process also help ensure the survival of two species of threatened animals. To be fair, some of the credit goes to an African frog. In the wild, the African clawed frog produces antibacterial peptides [...]

A new look into cancer’s roots

Scientists hope that someday stem cells will cure diseases. Pamela Joseph fears that cancer stem cells will kill her first. As her doctors explain it, stem cells are the source of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer the 56-year-old Clarksville woman has been fighting since 2005. Stem cells might also be the reason that the cancer [...]

Scientists revive study of stem cells’ link to disease

Scientists hope that someday stem cells will cure diseases. Pamela Joseph fears that cancer stem cells will kill her first. As her doctors explain it, stem cells are the source of multiple myeloma, a blood cancer the 56-year-old Clarksville woman has been fighting since 2005. Stem cells might also be the reason that the cancer [...]

Calculating a new way to find cures

Using mathematical concepts, Princeton researchers have developed a method of discovering new drugs for a range of diseases by calculating which physical properties of biological molecules may predict their effectiveness as medicines. The technique already has identified several potential new drugs that were shown to be effective for fighting strains of HIV by researchers at [...]

Princeton builds research ties with historically black universities

As an early career scientist, Max Fontus wondered how successful researchers repeatedly make discoveries worth publishing. Collaborating with a Princeton engineering professor this summer, he realized that working with scientists from other fields of research results in a cross-pollination of ideas that lays the foundation for great progress in science. “It also opened my mind [...]

Em[Power] plans an escape from severe poverty

A Pakistani garbage dump seems like an unlikely place to find a solution to extreme poverty. But then again, the group of students from Princeton and Rutgers universities who plan to convert garbage into hope is an unlikely team.