March 6, 2024

Touchpoint 1
Possible ‘Trojan Horse’ found for treating stubborn bacterial infections

What is it?
Scientists are working on a way to trick bacteria into destroying itself. Early tests have show a 99.99% reduction in bacteria. In the U.S. alone there are 2MM bacterial infections each year, leading to 23,000 deaths.

Potential message to students:
Instead of attacking cancer, virus and other diseases with human-made solutions, what do students think about reprogramming diseased cells to get rid of other bad cells in the body? Do you think entire organisms like insects can be programmed to eat and destroy other insects?

Touchpoint 2
The Buzzworthy Bee Research of CU’s Dr. Sammy

What is it?
A CU professor who specializes in ecology, entomology and evolutionary biology says he used to be afraid of bugs until he read a book about them as a young child. Now is is one of the leading experts on bees.

Potential message for students:
Can you think of anything that scares you? What do you think about facing it head on and reading a book on the topic that scares you. Do you think it would make a difference? Do you think a lot of people find their passion by accident?

Touchpoint 3
A call for standardization of controls in lifespan studies

What is it?
Researchers have identified hundreds of beneficial interventions to increase lifespan, but are these studies misleading because we have a tough time comparing one study to another? Do we need researchers to agree on some standards before they even start studying lifespan?

Potential message to students:
The Scientific Method has been incredible for human productivity and scientific breakthroughs. But each researcher starts the method from scratch and results can vary widely. Do students think groups of researchers need to agree on some rules for the scientific method before going off in many different directions?

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