A publication for teenagers
Latest Articles
Welcome to 'To the Core', your go-to source for captivating articles and designs in the bio-chem field from a teenage perspective. Explore our latest publications and immerse yourself in the world of science.
Synthetic Biology: Should We Bring Species Back?
This article explores the promise and peril of de-extinction. While restoring extinct species like the woolly mammoth may help ecosystems, ethical issues abound - animal suffering, ecological disruption, and the risk of treating life as a product. It argues de-extinction must not distract from urgent conservation of living species.
Medical Ethics Under Extreme Pressure: Should Healthcare Professionals Participate in Torture to Prevent Terrorism?
This article explores whether medical professionals should assist in torture during terrorism investigations. It examines the conflict between national security and medical ethics, highlighting international laws, psychological consequences, and real-world cases like Guantanamo Bay. Ultimately, it argues that participation violates core medical values and erodes public trust and professionalism.
The Ethics of Biotech in the Military: Enhancing Soldiers or Creating Superhumans?
As biotechnology redefines soldiers' capabilities, this piece questions the morality of “super soldiers.” It examines cognitive enhancers, exoskeletons, and genetic modification, emphasizing issues like consent, inequality, and dehumanisation. The article warns against unchecked advancement and urges global dialogue to determine what kind of humans we want on the battlefield.
Posthumous Genetic Testing: Ethical Boundaries of DNA After Death
This article addresses the ethics of using DNA from deceased individuals. It highlights concerns around consent, privacy, and family implications, especially when genetic revelations affect living relatives. While postmortem DNA can be life-saving, current legal and ethical frameworks struggle to balance confidentiality with medical utility and familial rights.
Rewriting Nature: Should We Be Engineering Our Pets?
Exploring gene editing in pets, this article raises concerns about animal welfare and consent. While hypoallergenic cats and designer dogs seem appealing, unintended consequences like health issues, overbreeding, and commercialisation of animals raise ethical red flags. The piece questions whether aesthetics and novelty justify tampering with animals’ biology.
Organ Allocation: The Lottery of Life
Organ transplantation faces an ethical dilemma: who should receive scarce organs? This article examines the U.S. system, balancing urgency, compatibility, and fairness. While technological processes bring efficiency, socioeconomic and geographic inequalities persist. The article urges transparency and justice in deciding who gets a second chance at life.
AI-Designed Drugs: Can Algorithms Be Held Accountable?
AI is revolutionising drug development, but this article raises questions about bias, transparency, and accountability. When algorithm-generated drugs cause harm, it's unclear who is responsible. As AI models become more central in medicine, legal and ethical frameworks must evolve to ensure justice, safety, and fairness in healthcare innovation.
Death on Demand: Should We Biotechnologise Euthanasia?
As technology enters end-of-life care, this article questions whether automated euthanasia tools enhance dignity or risk dehumanisation. With devices like the Sarco Pod and AI-driven systems, it considers concerns about safety, misuse, and emotional detachment. The article argues for ethical safeguards to ensure compassion isn’t lost in convenience.
Testing on the Margins: How Past Abuses Shaped Clinical Trials We Bring Species Back?
Reflecting on unethical historical experiments like the Tuskegee Study and Nazi trials, this article traces how past abuses led to vital reforms in clinical research ethics. It emphasizes the importance of informed consent, justice, and protection for vulnerable groups, forming the foundation of today’s ethical medical research guidelines.
The Ethics of Digital Twins in Healthcare: Should Virtual Bodies Guide Medical Decisions?
Digital twins, virtual replicas of patients, are transforming medicine, enabling simulations and predictive treatments. But the article raises alarms over privacy, ownership, inequality, and bias. As virtual health models expand, it stresses the need for strong legal protections and equitable access to prevent a two-tiered system in digital healthcare.
Antioxidants and Chronic Disease: The Biochemical Shield of Public Health
Antioxidants protect the body by neutralizing free radicals, reducing oxidative stress linked to cancer, heart disease, and aging. Found in vitamins and plant compounds, they help prevent DNA damage, reduce inflammation, and slow aging. Incorporating antioxidant-rich foods into the diet supports cellular health and strengthens the body’s natural defenses.
Obesity and Biochemistry: Understanding the Molecular Causes of a Global Epidemic
Obesity is not just about willpower or diet—it’s a biochemical imbalance. Hormones like leptin and insulin misfire, disrupting hunger signals and fat storage. Processed foods worsen cravings and inflammation. Future treatments aim to restore hormonal balance, reduce inflammation, and support gut health, shifting focus from blame to science-based solutions.
Modern Medicine: AI and Patents
Structure-based drug design uses advanced computational tools to create molecules that precisely target disease proteins. While scientifically groundbreaking, access to these drugs is limited by patent strategies, high costs, and corporate lobbying. Ensuring equitable access requires legal reform and global cooperation so life-saving treatments reach all who need them.
The Hunger Molecule: Malnutrition Through a Biochemical Lens
Malnutrition is a molecular crisis affecting cells and organs, not just a symptom of hunger. It includes undernutrition, micronutrient deficiencies, and even overnutrition. Innovations like micronutrient powders, fortified foods, and CRISPR-edited crops offer promising solutions. Addressing malnutrition requires science-driven approaches to ensure global access to essential nutrients for survival.
Insulin Inequality: When Life-Saving Molecules Become Luxury Items
Insulin, a life-saving hormone for people with Type 1 diabetes, was discovered in 1921 and meant to be universally accessible. Today, it has become unaffordable for many due to corporate pricing. Global efforts, from advocacy to open-source projects, aim to restore access and make insulin a right, not a luxury.
Gut Reactions: Microbiomes and the Future of Preventive Health
The gut microbiome, a unique community of microorganisms in each person, plays a vital role in digestion, immunity, and disease prevention. Early development and lifestyle affect its balance. Disruptions can lead to conditions like IBD or obesity. Probiotics help restore gut health, benefiting physical, mental, and even skin health overall.
Genetically Modified Organisms: The Biochemistry Behind GMO Crops and Public Health
GMOs, rooted in biochemistry, enable precise genetic changes to improve crop nutrition and resilience. They offer solutions to food insecurity and support public health by reducing malnutrition and chemical use. However, ethical concerns, unequal access, and regulatory debates highlight the need for balanced innovation, safety, and inclusive dialogue across society.
Thalassemia: The Inherited Burden
Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder affecting thousands in India, often undiagnosed due to limited awareness. This article highlights its medical challenges, social implications, and the urgent need for public education, national screening programs, and research. It emphasises how prevention and genetic literacy can reduce the burden of this life-altering condition.
The Shape of Beauty: How 3D Printing is Transforming Reconstruction
This article explores how three-dimensional printing is transforming facial reconstruction and prosthetics. By using digital scans and biocompatible materials, it creates lifelike, personalised prosthetics more quickly and accurately. The technology reduces discomfort, improves function and restores identity, marking a powerful shift in medicine that helps patients reclaim their confidence and lives.
Future Faces: Can AI Predict
Surgical Outcomes?
This article explores how artificial intelligence and three-dimensional facial mapping are transforming facial surgery. By simulating surgical outcomes on personalised digital models, AI enhances planning, improves precision and empowers patients. While challenges remain around data diversity and privacy, this technology promises a future where surgery begins with simulation, not incision.
Growing Skin in the Lab
This article explores how scientists are growing skin in laboratories using skin organoids and bioengineered epidermis. These advances offer promising treatments for burns, genetic skin diseases and surgical reconstruction, using a patient’s own cells. The technology reduces rejection, scarring and trauma, marking a breakthrough in regenerative medicine and ethical testing.
Self-Healing Skin: The Science Behind Regenerative Wound Healing
This article explores the science of regenerative wound healing, focusing on how fibroblasts, cytokines, and the regeneration seen in salamanders could revolutionise human skin repair. It highlights innovative treatments like growth factors, gene editing, and bioengineered materials that could transform care for chronic wounds and impaired healing conditions.
Beyond Aesthetics: Plastic Surgery for Cleft Palates, Acid Attacks, and Trauma Recovery
This article explores the life-changing role of reconstructive plastic surgery beyond aesthetics. From correcting cleft palates in children to restoring acid attack survivors and trauma victims, it highlights how surgical care restores function, dignity and identity, emphasising its humanitarian value and the need for accessible treatment for marginalised communities.
Cancer’s Worst Nightmare: How Biochemistry is Arming the Body to Fight Back
Biochemistry is empowering the immune system to combat cancer through immunotherapy, targeted drugs, and engineered proteins. This article explores innovative approaches transforming cancer from a fatal disease to a manageable condition.
The Biochemistry of Aging and Longevity:
How Molecular Mechanisms Affect Lifespan
and Potential Anti-Aging Therapies
This article explores how molecular mechanisms like telomere shortening, DNA damage, and mitochondrial dysfunction contribute to aging, while interventions like caloric restriction, senolytics, and gene therapy offer potential anti-aging solutions.
The Revolutionary Potential of Bioprinting: 3D-Printed Organs and Tissues in Regenerative Medicine
Bioprinting harnesses 3D printing technology to create organs and tissues, offering hope for regenerative medicine. This article explores its biochemical principles, breakthroughs, and potential to address organ shortages and repair tissues.
The Biochemistry of Autoimmune Diseases: Why the Immune System Attacks the Body and How Treatments Work
Autoimmune diseases arise when the immune system mistakenly targets healthy cells. This article delves into the biochemical mechanisms behind autoimmunity and explores treatments designed to suppress harmful responses while preserving immunity.
Synthetic Haemoglobin and its Potential in
Emergency Medicine
Synthetic haemoglobin offers a promising alternative to blood transfusions, especially in emergencies. This article explores its structure, oxygen-carrying capabilities, and potential to revolutinise trauma care and improve patient outcomes.
The Biochemical Sociology of Human Interaction: How Brain Chemistry Shapes Social Behavior
This article delves into the intricate relationship between brain chemistry and social behavior, exploring how oxytocin, serotonin, and dopamine shape emotions, trust, relationships, and even broader social dynamics.