The Tufts Daily

COVID-19 vaccine boosters will be strongly recommended — but not yet required — for students across Tufts’ campuses, university officials told the Daily last week. Testing frequency and pandemic protocols are also currently expected to remain unchanged going into the Spring semester. The guidance comes alongside a rise in cases across the country and the […]

Throughout her career, Ayse Asatekin, associate professor of chemical and biological engineering at Tufts University, has sought to use filters to prevent illness and protect the environment. One mineral that performs this function is fluoride, which results in dental and skeletal fluorosis. Fluorosis is a degradation of bones or teeth that happens when fluoride is […]

Stop the genetic swap: Novel omicron variant may bear resemblance to common cold coronavirus strain The omicron variant, the newest COVID-19 strain, may be more contagious but cause milder symptoms than other coronavirus variants, a new study suggests. Venky Soundararajan, a bioengineer who co-wrote the study, explained to the Washington Post that as viruses evolve […]

As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to impact communities around the United States and the world, certain trends have emerged surrounding infection rates and their link with prevention measures including surveillance testing, masking and vaccine mandates. Experts agree that, especially on college campuses, these measures are essential in curbing the spread of COVID-19.  The number of […]

New COVID-19 variant found across globe, raises questions about transmissibility A new COVID-19 variant labeled omicron has recently emerged in several countries, including South Africa, Botswana and Hong Kong, and contains dozens of mutations from the original alpha variant, leading many scientists to discuss its implications for COVID-19’s future. Although the moment when omicron first […]

Among the 3D printers throughout the room, Vincent Fitzpatrick, a postdoctoral biomedical researcher at Tufts University, holds up a gray unassuming piece of plastic, crisscrossed with a cage-like structure. Hidden beneath a series of support structures that have yet to be removed, he explains, lies a perfect replica of a patient’s bone — assembled from […]

Movies, TV shows, music albums, hotels, restaurants and many other things have rating systems that can help consumers decide which product is best for them. Foods are no exception. The Food Compass, a brand-new nutrient profiling system developed by a team at the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, incorporates 54 food attributes across […]

DARTing across the cosmos: NASA’s plan to protect planet Earth  NASA plans to launch a spacecraft this week that, in late 2022, will intentionally crash into an asteroid, hopefully changing its trajectory. Planetary defense research has been conducted over the past several years in hopes of preventing foreseeable meteor crashes. Although scientists believe massive meteorites […]

Bananas about art: Environmental factors, age affect orangutan drawings A recent study analyzed drawings done by five orangutans in a Japanese zoo and found that the drawings — especially those of one orangutan, Molly — correlate with environmental factors like seasons, daily life events and even changes in keeper identity. In total, 790 orangutan drawings […]

HPV vaccines effective in preventing 87% of cervical cancer cases The human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine has the potential to reduce cases of cervical cancer by 87% and prevent certain cervical abnormalities by 97%, according to a British study recently published in The Lancet. Researchers examined women a decade after their HPV vaccinations and found that […]