Science Stories

Bretzel  and Citelli with  Capsula Mundi Model.  Whenever a person dies, it is a burden for the family emotionally and financially. We spend thousands of dollars in funerals paying for the casket, flowers, and monuments. Environmentally, those caskets and monuments left behind an enormous carbon footprint. Recently, many people have begun to embrace the idea of  green burials. People are environmentally more aware and there is a shift from cremation and  the use of wood, the synthetic cushioning and the metals generally  used in traditional coffins  to green burial. Green burial is a method of burying the body in a wooden coffin without a concrete burial vault. The body along with the wooden coffin is degraded easily by the bacteria in the soil. This type of  burial allows the graveyard to return to nature. Nearly 54 percent of Americans are considering green burial and 74 percent of cemeteries are reporting an increased demand for g...

Blood group A converted into group O by gut bacterial enzymes. Gut Bacterial enzymes provide a way to increase human blood type O supply. Blood transfusions are a daily routine procedure in hospitals. In a day, 16k liters of blood are transfused daily in the United States. Human being has four types of blood group- A, B, AB, O. Blood type A, B, and AB have their own antigens on their surface. Blood Antigens are basically a polysaccharide on the surface of red blood cells.  Type O does not have any antigens on their surface. The demand for blood all over the world is very high, especially during emergency surgeries and operations. Blood transfusion is only possible when the blood group of donor and recipient are matched . If they are not matched , the immune cells of the recipient will attack and destroy the RBCs of the donor. Blood group O does not have an antigen on their surface, thus making them transfusable to any recipient irrespective of the blood group of...

   Using the CRISPR genome editing, researchers have created a chicken resistant to ALV-J Virus.   Chicken is the most important source of food in many countries. It is a preferred food over other meat product as it is considered more hygienic and less expensive. The booming poultry industry is currently estimated to be worth 46.3 billion. Avian leukosis virus subgroup J (ALV-J) has been a major concern for the poultry industry. The virus is responsible for huge economic loss incurred to poultry farmers due to viral infection of chickens. The virus gets inside the cell of chicken by binding to a receptor, called chicken NHE-1 which resides on the surfaces of the chicken cell. This receptor is necessary for the virus to enter the cell. Using CRISPR genome editing, a scientist first collected the germ cells and deleted three nucleotides in a gene that codes for the receptor. The germs cells were grown and made developed into a mature bird. The bird...

      It's not 37 degrees anymore. Do you know what is the temperature of the human body? If your answer is 37 0 C , you have missed the updated information. A scientist from Stanford has found that our body temperature has dropped by 0.6 0 C since the civil war. Previously in the past, scientists have observed this change in our body temperature. But they could not believe the drop in temperature. So, they blame the thermometers for the discrepancy. But recent studies have confirmed that our body temperature has indeed  dropped by 0.6 0 C. The reason behind the temperature dropped of our body The main reason is the reduction in the overall level of inflammation thanks to vaccines, antibiotics and quality water. When  inflammation occurs, chemicals from the body's white blood cells are released into the blood or affected tissues to protect your body from foreign substances. This release of chemicals increases the blo...