The Polished Pipette

Recently, a paper was published in Nature, reporting on the discovery of what the authors call a new organ - the interstitium. Before we get into the merits of the paper, let's cover some basics. Most organs are made up of two general tissue types - parenchyma and interstitium. Parenchyma describes the functional cell types of the organ - the cells that do whatever the organ has evolved to do. For example, in the lung, you would describe the alveoli (air sacs) and trachea as part of the parenchyma. Interstitium is made up of a variety of other cells and structures that support the parenchyma. ("Inter" = between, "stitial" = to set, positioned "interstitium" = positioned between) This part is made up of different kinds of collagen and other structures as well as some cells that contribute to things like inflammation and wound healing, like fibroblasts. So parenchyma = the heavy lifters, interstitium = support for the heavy lifters. Theise, et. al. pu...

I've fallen into a trap. It's a tasty, spicy trap, but it's still a trap. You see, I've been observing a lot of interest lately in turmeric, turmeric lattes, "golden milk," etc. and the link between turmeric and human disease. My thinking goes, "Turmeric is very buzzy right now, and turmeric lattes taste like tasty, spicy chai lattes, so I'll order one and read the lit on it later." So now I'm going to do what I probably should have done a few months ago and wade into the literature and give you my thoughts on turmeric and whether or not it's really the Alzheimer's-fighting superfood that it claims to be (spoiler alert: It isn't.) Turmeric is a golden-hued spice often used in curries, lending them a beautiful sunny, mustard color. You usually hear about turmeric in the context of Alzheimer's prevention, but it has also been praised as a therapeutic for ailments ranging from erectile dysfunction to cancer to hirstutism (yes, ...

For my first science-related post, I want to introduce you to exosomes. Exosomes are small (~30-100 nanometers) spheres that are produced by cells. Many different kinds of cells can produce them, and they can do all kinds of things, including carrying proteins, DNA, or RNA to neighboring or distant cells. Think of them basically as cell mail, carrying important messages between cells. The cargo of the exosome differs depending on what kind of cell the exosome came from, and what kind of cell its target is. For example, exosomes from cancer cells can contain enzymes that break down the surrounding environment and make it easier for cancers to spread. (1) While exosomes from other cell types carry signals that stoke the immune system in response to diseases like sepsis (2). Now that we have the understanding that cells use exosomes to affect the behavior of other cells, researchers are trying to utilize the exosome system to affect cell behavior. Because exosomes are made by our cells ...