The A﹠P Professor Science & Education Updates - Issue #185

Life Science

Few biological facts seem as irrevocable as brain death. It has long been assumed that when we die, our neurons die with us. But a new study on the neuron-packed tissue of the eye is beginning to challenge that dogma.

The cells' mitochondria skip a key metabolic reaction that takes place in other cells in the body, a study finds.

Hair loss, reduced libido and ejaculation difficulties may be unrecognised symptoms of long covid, according to a study of 2.4 million electronic health records.

To identify oral and throat cancer, lesions have to be big enough for doctors to see. A saliva test could enable much earlier diagnosis Estimates suggest there will be 54,000 new cases of oral cancer and 20,640 new cases of oesophageal cancer in the US alone this year.

In the middle of the night, the world can sometimes feel like a dark place. Under the cover of darkness, negative thoughts have a way of drifting through your mind, and as you lie awake, staring at the ceiling, you might start craving guilty pleasures, like a cigarette or a carb-heavy meal.

Type 2 diabetes (T2D) is a well-established risk factor associated with some types of cancer, including liver, pancreas, endometrium, colorectal, breast, and bladder. In fact, cancer and T2D have many common risk factors, including age and obesity.

When it comes to food, one tempting substance is sugar. Although sweetness is detected by the tongue, the desire to consume sugar arises from the gut.

Michael Wigler, a professor at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) was surprised. A molecular biologist and geneticist, with a background in mathematics and medicine, he devoted two decades of his research career to studying the causes of autism.

The acute effects of various respiratory viral infections have been well studied, with extensive characterization of the clinical presentation as well as viral pathogenesis and host responses. However, over the course of the recent COVID-19 pandemic, the incidence and prevalence of chronic sequelae after acute viral infections have become increasingly appreciated as a serious health concern.

Post-acute sequelae of COVID-19, alternatively described as “long COVID-19,” are characterized by symptoms that persist for longer than 28 days after recovery from acute illness. Although there exists substantial heterogeneity in the nature of the observed sequelae, this phenomenon has also been observed in the context of other respiratory viral infections including influenza virus, respiratory syncytial virus, rhinovirus, severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus, and Middle Eastern respiratory syndrome coronavirus.

In this Review, the authors discuss the various sequelae observed following important human respiratory viral pathogens and our current understanding of the immunological mechanisms underlying the failure of restoration of homeostasis in the lung.

Teaching & Learning

Colleges’ vaccine mandates appeared to have a substantial effect on county-level Covid-19 infection and death rates, likely reducing total U.S. deaths from the virus by about 5 percent — or roughly 7,300 lives — in fall 2021.

TAPP News & Notes

Reviewing Our Syllabus | Telling the Story of Our Course | Our Syllabus Creates Our Course Culture