Mate competition by males over females is common in many animal species. During mating season male testosterone levels rise, resulting in an increase in aggressive behavior and masculine features. Male bonobos, however, invest much more into friendly relationships with females. Elevated testosterone and aggression levels would collide with this increased tendency towards forming pair-relationships. Bonobos [...]
A specific human enzyme significantly slowed weight, improving metabolism and efficacy of insulin in mice, a new study. Insulin, produced by the pancreas, helps move glucose from the blood into cells, where it is needed for movement, growth and repair. This explains why diabetics who do not use insulin or can become very low. Although [...]
A concentration program is a grouping of courses that includes prerequisites, a core, and often a required capstone activity. No one at Brown enters with a formally predetermined concentration, but everyone must declare at least one concentration by the fourth semester. Completing at least one concentration program is one of the requirements for obtaining the [...]
“A lot of people are skeptical, particularly people like me who are clinicians and know how hard it is to help people with anxiety and how much effort and time it takes in therapy,” said Courtney Beard, the study’s lead author and assistant professor (research) of psychiatry and human behavior in the Warren Alpert Medical [...]
The directed research experience, or independent study, is integral to many concentration programs in the biological sciences. BIOL 1950/1960 are the undergraduate directed research ‘independent study’ courses designated for academic credit. Research carried out for two or more semesters often forms the basis for senior Honors projects. Visit the Office of Biology Undergraduate Education site [...]
The Department of Molecular Biology, Cell Biology and Biochemistry is a basic science department within the Brown University Division of Biology and Medicine. Its core areas of scholarship are broad and encompass biochemistry, cell biology, developmental biology, and genetics. The department supports undergraduate, graduate, and medical education in these fields, offering a large variety of [...]
*In 2009 Brown and IBM announced the opening of a multimillion-dollar supercomputer at Brown’s Center for Computation and Visualization. Capable of performing more than 14 trillion calculations per second, the supercomputer is the most powerful computational system in Rhode Island and is used for research in genomics; investigation of the mechanics of human and animal [...]
Harrison first went to Honduras while a Brown family medicine fellow and student seeking a masters in public health. She was also a physician at the Thundermist Health Center in Woonsocket. Thundermist had a partnership with a Honduran community through Shoulder to Shoulder, and Harrison’s supervisors encouraged her to visit. The trip seemed like a [...]
In more good news for those struggling with infertility, scientists reported success in creating an artificial ovary that could one day nurture immature human eggs outside the body. Researchers led by a team at Brown University managed to coax three primary ovary cells donated by patients into a 3-D structure resembling an ovary. In the [...]
Ah, reading: one of the seminal achievements of early childhood. The time when your little bean suddenly—and I mean suddenly—goes from singing the alphabet song (“A, B, C, D, elmoopee… Z!”) to reading all the naughty bumper stickers on cars at the red lights. True story: My son recently asked me, out of the blue, [...]