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Are your genes your destiny? (Not if your mom has anything to say about it.)

Posted by Hannah

McGill scientists are playing a leading role in explaining how the nature vs. nurture debate is even more complicated than we thought. This article originally appeared in the Spring-Summer 2011 issue of the McGill News What if your ability to pay the rent, to buy groceries or the nature of your relationships set up your children for cardiovascular problems, diabetes or even mental health issues? Although it’s not a far-fetched idea, researchers struggled for years to find biological explanations that linked socioeconomic status or trauma to health. And then, beginning in 2004, scientists at McGill began to untangle some of those … Read more…

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Everyday tales of trauma

Posted by Hannah

A young woman who lost half her blood in a terrifying car crash, and lived. A man with a fractured skull from a simple fall on his stairs. A crack team of nurses, surgeons and specialists on call 24/7. Welcome to the daily drama of the region’s trauma HQ. It was late on a Thursday afternoon in early December last year. Santanna and her mother-in-law had just finished installing a set of holiday flower arrangements at a client’s house in King Township, near Nobleton, Ont. The pair planned to fit in one more client visit before Santanna met her husband … Read more…

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Despite Canadian government woes, neuroscience should win out

Posted by Hannah

MONTREAL — When Canada’s Conservative government presented its 2011 budget in late March, the fiscal plan didn’t contain too many surprises for science funding. Like previous budgets, the proposal offered modest increases to the country’s national research agencies and replenished the coffers of Genome Canada, its genomics and proteomics outfit. But the budget also contained a flashy and unprecedented new move: a multimillion-dollar earmark for neuroscience research. Under the Conservatives’ proposed scheme, the government would contribute up to C$100 million ($105 million) over several years to the Canada Brain Research Fund, a public-private partnership led by the Brain Canada Foundation … Read more…