The Journal of Young Investigators:
Innovation in scientific writing, publishing, and peer-review for undergraduates.
Depression is a serious mental disorder that is highly prevalent among Canadians. Stigma associated with depression is a key barrier in preventing depressed individuals from seeking psychological services. This type of help-seeking behavior is especially low in Asian individuals, which can be accounted for by the stigmatization of depression in this population. However, little research has been conducted on depression stigma in East Asian Canadians; specifically, those who are Chinese, Korean, and Japanese. Furthermore, no research has directly investigated self-stigma for depression in this population.
ALS (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis), otherwise known as Lou Gehrig’s disease, is a fatal neurodegenerative disease that involves the loss of motor neurons in the spinal cord, brainstem, and motor cortex. This disease, estimated to be afflicting around 20,000 Americans, leads to progressive muscle weakness throughout the body. Recently, researchers at the University of California in Berkeley used the gene-editing technology, CRISPR-Cas9, to disrupt the mutant SOD1 gene expression in the spinal cord of mice with ALS, effectively extending their lifespan by 25%
Dr. Joy Bennett is a Doctor in Chemistry with aPh.D. in Organic/Inorganic Chemistry from Coventry University in the UK. Having previously graduated with a 2:1 BSc in Pharmaceutical Chemistry as a mature student, she now works as a chemist doing analytical chemistry.
Proteins are often intuitively named after their function, and condensin is no exception. It condenses DNA inside the nucleus of a cell into X-shaped chromosomes for cell division. The name, however, provides no insight into how this feat is achieved. In fact, the molecular mechanism of how condensin organizes DNA inside the nucleus has previously only been hypothesized to involve extruding DNA into large loops.
Our mission is to improve undergraduate science training by providing innovative, high-quality educational experiences in science writing, publication and the peer-review process.
