Review: Saving Leonardo

Have you found yourself witnessing a battle between "religious people" and secular ideas wondering… "How did we get here?" Or maybe you've noticed that some people (most people) have a confusing ability to hold two incompatible views simultaneously so long as they stay in different mental boxes? Both of these have their roots in the …

What “Lessons in Chemistry” Says About Religion

Bonnie Garmus' novel Lessons in Chemistry tells the story of a confident, young female chemist named Elizabeth Zott. The book primarily takes place in the early 1960s but also slowly reveals the characters' pasts throughout.  Lessons in Chemistry has become popular since its release in early 2022. A year after it came out, the waitlist …

Meet BChE!

Meet butyrylcholinesterase! Better known as BChE, butyrylcholinesterase was recently identified as a possible indicator of SIDS risk (scientists are not sure about this quite yet). SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) can occur in a vulnerable infant during a critical developmental period when they experience an outside stressor.* A lot of research efforts have been invested …

Meet PAH!

As part of their check-up at birth, babies get a prick on the heel. Among many other things, the blood tests for the function of a protein called phenylalanine hydroxylase. (Scientists sometimes call it "PAH" for convenience.) PAH is the first in a sequence of enzymes that break down excess phenylalanine. It speeds up the …