Touchpoint 1
Scientists Discover Unique Building Block of Human Vision
What is it?
Researchers put cameras on the heads of infants to monitor where their eyes were drawn to and found that high contrast, simple patterns are preferred. They don’t believe babies are born with the same sight as adults and develop vision over time.
Potential message to students:
Are ten babies and 70 hours of video enough to do this type of study? Do you think the cameras picked up more than straight-on vision? Do you think it’s important to give infants a lot of different things to look at as they develop their sight?
Touchpoint 2
One Neurological Factor Keeps Black, Hispanic Patients From Alzheimer’s Clinical Trials
What is it?
Black and Hispanic patients are more likely to get dementia than White patients but are not invited to as many clinical trials because they have less amyloid in their blood. This is telling scientists that amyloid may only be one factor of Alzheimer’s.
Potential message to students:
Do you think any clinical trial should be run if it does not include multiple races? Do you think there should be trials for different racial groups to improve the results? Do you think different races can tell us more about the biology of our human race?
Touchpoint 3
How Pregnancy Forever Transforms the Body and the Mind
What is it?
During pregnancy, cells are moving back and forth between Mom and baby. Some of those cells stay with Mom after pregnancy. A younger sibling may also have some of the older sibling’s cells, too. This is called microchimerism.
Potential message to students:
Do you believe you have some of your mother’s cells? If you have an older brother or sister, do you believe you have some of their cells? Do you think the mixing of your cells and your mother’s changes your mom’s biology?