/oss/taxonomy/term/322/all en /oss/article/medical-contributors/dr-ralph-steinman-nobel-prize-winning-scientist-who-became-own-patient <p>For over 100 years the Nobel foundation has recognized outstanding individuals for contributions to their respective fields; however, the rules stipulate that prizes cannot be awarded posthumously. But in October 2011 an exception was made for an exceptional individual: Dr. Ralph Steinman was awarded the joint Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine three days after he died of pancreatic cancer. At the time of the announcement, the news of his death had not yet reached the Nobel committee. So they decided that his wife and children would be able to accept his prize on his behalf.</p> Fri, 09 Feb 2024 20:14:10 +0000 Cassandra Lee, OSS Contributor 9829 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/does-covid-19-mess-immune-system <p>Have you heard that, apparently, COVID-19 is “airborne AIDS?”</p> <p>“I think that that epithet is horrifying and beyond offensive,” Edward Nirenberg tells me. He is a science communicator with a degree in biochemistry who focuses his communication efforts on vaccines and COVID-19. “It categorically isn’t. It’s not what the data show.”</p> Fri, 10 Feb 2023 13:59:23 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9386 at /oss /oss/article/medical-contributors/get-lymph-moving <p>Foreign invaders, be they molds on walls, toxins in polluted air, contaminants in food, viruses, bacteria, parasites, or fungi, represent a threat to our health. Luckily, our body has a way of battling such invaders. A complex network of organs, white blood cells, proteins, and signaling molecules collectively known as the immune system are ready to wage war against the enemy.</p> Wed, 06 Jul 2022 13:00:00 +0000 Nancy Liu-Sullivan, PhD 9166 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/how-social-distance-university-residence-hall <p>Living for two semesters in ���ϲ�����’s Upper Residence dorms, I dodged COVID-19 against all odds.</p> <p>But a couple of days after checking out of the university residence, unscathed and uninfected, the virus hunted me down in my private Montreal apartment.</p> <p>How did I survive the unsafe space of a university residence, untouched by outbreak after outbreak? After all, we shared dining halls and hallways, common rooms and dorm rooms, even bathroom sinks, showers and toilets in close proximity. All the while ordered to stay two metres apart.</p> Thu, 02 Jun 2022 20:31:28 +0000 Haleh Cohn 9124 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health-and-nutrition/masked-kids-are-alright <p>It is easy to raise the spectre of science to scare people. Talk about a new vaccine technology messing with your DNA and you’ve conjured up instant anxiety. It is an especially potent technique when the target of the sciency boogeyman is a child. Children are frequently at the center of moral panics, from video games to heavy metal music, from alleged Satanic ritual abuse to reactionary views on gender expression.</p> Fri, 25 Feb 2022 18:56:31 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9039 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/natural-immunity-covid-has-its-limits <hr /> <p>This article was originally posted in <a href="https://montrealgazette.com/opinion/columnists/christopher-labos-natural-immunity-to-covid-has-its-limits">the Montreal Gazette</a></p> Fri, 25 Feb 2022 18:21:27 +0000 Christopher Labos MD, MSc 9036 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/debilitating-puzzle-box-long-covid <p>Imagine sitting in front of 40,000 tiny pieces that you have to assemble into a jigsaw puzzle. Except that some of these pieces may belong to a different puzzle. There is no box to tell you what the final image looks like. And in front of you is a massive hourglass, its sand slowly and inevitably flowing down, and as time goes by, more and more people suffer. You must solve the puzzle while minimizing suffering.</p> Fri, 04 Feb 2022 20:36:09 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 9015 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19/do-bad-viruses-always-become-good-guys-end <p>In our social media age, talk of virulence has gone viral, with most of us atwitter about the course the new coronavirus is taking. As novel variants move up the ladder of concern, we are left asking the same questions: is this one more transmissible? is it more dangerous to us? will our vaccines stop it?</p> Sat, 18 Dec 2021 09:00:00 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8951 at /oss /oss/article/health-and-nutrition-contributors/cancers-sweet-tooth <p>To the surprise of many, however, cancer cells are defective at producing the very fuel they need to grow and spread, but manage to overcome the innate “disability” and out-compete normal healthy cells? How?</p> Fri, 17 Dec 2021 22:29:44 +0000 Nancy Liu-Sullivan, PhD 8953 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/how-we-know-covid-19-vaccines-work <p>We keep hearing that the COVID-19 vaccines work but some people have asked us, “How do we know that they work?”</p> <p>Luckily, we have a growing trove of data that show that these vaccines are indeed effective against catching the virus, transmitting it to other people, and ending up in the hospital because of it.</p> Fri, 23 Jul 2021 19:51:58 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8790 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/sometimes-you-want-immunity-suppressed <p>“Boosting immunity” is a hot topic these days. That’s understandable since it is our immune system that protects us from invaders such as the SARS-CoV-2 virus. But boosting the immune system is a very nebulous concept because it is actually composed of a complex array of white blood cells, organs and messenger chemicals and cannot be revved up like a car engine. Poor diet, lack of exercise, stress , and lack of sleep can reduce immune activity, so remedying any of these can help “boost” the system.</p> Fri, 25 Jun 2021 16:54:58 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8768 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-student-contributors-health/giving-worried-sick-whole-new-meaning <p>Everybody experiences stress differently, from the circumstances that cause it, to the ways that we cope with it. What doesn’t differ is that we all experience it, one way or another. There are a multitude of reasons why we get stressed: academic deadlines, social pressures and work-related responsibilities.</p> Fri, 09 Apr 2021 19:44:07 +0000 Cat Wang 8694 at /oss /oss/article/critical-thinking-health-general-science/boost-your-knowledge-about-boosting-your-immune-system <p>“Reinforce and Boost Your Immune System” promised the ad splashed across two pages of a local newspaper. There were products galore! Mushroom extracts, probiotics, collagen supplements, exotic oils, bee propolis and various “kefir-kombucha fermented blends.” No direct reference is made to COVID-19, but the implicit message is clear. If somehow we can boost our immune system we will be in a better position to ward off this nasty virus. Sounds good, but the truth is that “boosting the immune system” is a scientifically meaningless claim.</p> Wed, 06 Jan 2021 19:19:09 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8547 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/covid-19-vaccine-betting-hare-or-tortoise <p>The race is on! Pharmaceutical companies and assorted academic researchers around the world are engaged in the quest for the current version of the Holy Grail, a vaccine against the SARS-CoV-2 virus that hopefully will restore some degree of normalcy to our lives. Given that no vaccine has ever been produced in less than four years, the challenge is a mighty one. However, with many brilliant minds cooperating in an unprecedented fashion, there is a good chance that at least some of the close to two hundred projects now underway will bear fruit.</p> Thu, 10 Sep 2020 01:03:22 +0000 Joe Schwarcz PhD 8394 at /oss /oss/article/covid-19-health/virus-every-season <p>We have all heard the claim, passed down the generations, that you catch a cold by being exposed to cold weather. That’s what I used to believe when I was younger. Then I graduated to the explanation that respiratory tract infections, like the cold and the flu, peak in the winter months because we spend so much more time indoors. Close contact favours viral transmission, you see. But the reality is<a href="https://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.ppat.1007327"> a lot more complex</a> than these simplistic accounts, which break down when we contemplate their logic.</p> Fri, 24 Jul 2020 15:45:09 +0000 Jonathan Jarry M.Sc. 8345 at /oss