Dr. Brown: Very busy day launched a career that changed the world
Sometimes we are so busy we barely have time to think. Here’s what one very busy day looked like – then guess who and when: Breakfast at 5 a.m. with fried eggs and bacon.
Dr. William Brown is a professor of neurology at McMaster University and co-founder of the Infohealth series at the Niagara-on-the-Lake Public Library.
Author's Latest
Dr. Brown: Proteins and artificial intelligence a major scientific triumph
In biology, structure dictates function. That’s certainly the case with protein-encoding genes: the sequence of bases in a specific gene dictates the sequence of bases in an intermediate molecule called messenger RNA, which in
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Dr. Brown — It’s time for universal vaccines for coronaviruses
Evidence from Israel last year suggested the immunity to the COVID virus created by two shots of a mRNA vaccine might begin to wane as early as three to four months following the second shot.
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Dr. Brown: Why isolation in nursing homes is a bad idea, despite Omicron
The scene was surreal on Dec. 30: just a few blocks from the Niagara Long-Term Care Residence where my wife resides, streets and stores were crowded with shoppers inside and outside lined up, most with masks
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Dr. Brown: With Omicron dominating, be careful this holiday season
Where SARS-Cov-2 is concerned, surprise is the operative word. As recently as last summer some experts began to imagine a world beyond COVID or at least a world where COVID was corralled well
Dr. Brown: James Webb telescope an Advent tale of creation and hope
If all goes well, the most powerful, capable, expensive and complex star-gazing satellite telescope yet – the James Webb telescope – is slated for launch aboard an Ariane 5 rocket later this month. It’s been
Dr. Brown: Antivirals, antibodies, boostersand worries about the coming winter
Remember this time a year ago, all was relatively quiet several months following the opening first surge of COVID-19 in the winter and spring of 2020. That early days surge seemed to affect mostly
Dr. Brown: Building better proteins and when proteins dont work
Next episode in NOTL library's online Nobel series is Monday, Nov. 22 For Frances Arnold, the question was how to design a better enzyme to break up plastic or perhaps create new drugs? Frustrated
Dr. Brown: Physics, physicists, beautyand a Theory of Everything
Of the three Nobel prizes in science awarded each year, my hands-down favorite is physics. Physics covers the really big stuff, such as the origins of the universe, the life cycles of galaxies,
Dr. Brown: How we feel touch, warmth, cold and pain
Without our senses, our bodies and brains would be unable to make sense of what’s going on outside and within our bodies. Those senses depend on billions of sensors (receptors) and their related
Dr. Brown: Environmentally friendly, effective enzymes and all that plastic
The headline might sound esoteric, but the subject is not. The planet is awash with plastic, thrown every which way from car windows, piled up in dumpsites or cluttering the bottoms of rivers, seas and oceans
Dr. Brown: Climate change is here now and worse is coming
This year’s Nobel Prize in physics represents a timely change. No black holes, gravitational waves or birth of the universe, no laser tweezers and no new particles accompanied by inflationary claims that without this
Dr. Brown–Will mRNA vaccinessomedaywin a Nobel Prize?
In 1953, a Nobel Prize was awarded to James Watson and Francis Crick for their model of DNA whose double-stranded helical structure hinted at how genes might be faithfully passed on from one
Dr. Brown: Isolation and shrinking boundaries in the COVID era
It wasn’t so long ago that some were upset by women wearing the niqab. Now, nearly two years into this pandemic, distancing, social bubbles and face masks have become the norm and the niqab is
Dr. Brown: New drugs and the ongoing battle against Alzheimer’s
Like Oliver Sachs, I eagerly look forward to the weekly arrival of the next issue of the journal Nature. Last week a piece written by Paul Nurse caught my eye. He quoted his
Dr. Brown: Valuable lessons learned from treating rare diseases
Sometimes, a rare disease can teach us a lot about treating more common diseases. Such is the case for a disease called transthyretin amyloidosis, which in its autosomal dominantly transmitted form, is rare
Dr. Brown: COVID surge in Israel a cautionary tale for everyone
For most of us who have been sweltering in Ontario’s summer heat wave, the latest surge in infections in Israel seems too far away to worry. But Israel may be the canary in the mine
Dr. Brown: COVID virus keeps outsmarting the human body’s defences
Unlike simple cells such as archaea and bacteria, viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 (which causes COVID) are unable to make copies of themselves without host cells to exploit. Like most viruses, SARS-CoV-2 is a
Dr. Brown: Technology can restore speech to those unable to speak
No one knows when storytelling began but it would have required symbolic thought and language and the cognitive ability to imagine and literally “talk about” the past, present and future. Modern humans were probably not
Dr. Brown: Pandemic virus keeps upping the ante
At the most basic level, this pandemic has always been about a battle between hordes of mutating viruses and billions of human hosts, with no clear victor or end as yet in sight.
Dr. Brown: Indeed, miraculous medical recoveries do happen
When I was a medical student, the dean of Medicine at Western University presented the history of a young man who had a malignant melanoma with metastases to his liver (based on a laparoscopic
Dr. Brown: The Big Bang and the creation of our universe
For much of human history, the Earth was firmly planted at the centre of the known universe – a reasonable assertion given that the sun regularly rose in the east and set in
Dr. Brown: Why did neanderthals disappear?
About 100,000 years ago, 36 stocky people walked along a beach in southern Spain leaving footprints behind in the sand which later fossilized. Most were made by adults and a few by children
Dr. Brown: For Long-COVIDpatients, symptoms linger long afterward
For most healthy, middle-aged and especially younger people, infection with COVID-19 has been a non-event – a positive PCR test with few, if any symptoms to show for the infection. But for older folk
Dr. Brown: Celebrations, yes, but some cautionary COVID tales as well
A week ago. the Sunday New York Times was in full celebration mode, festooned with plenty of photos of packed indoor and outdoor activities, open restaurants, bars and theatres, admittedly with some residual distancing and
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