YSM Issue 93.2

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DOES BEING KIND MAKEYOU FEEL LESS PAIN?&WHY DOES STRESS TURNYOUR HAIR GRAY?By Anmei LittleHave you ever noticed that politicians and CEOs developgrey hairs fairly quickly? Usually the growth of greyor white hairs accompanies old age due to the naturaldepletion of melanocyte stem cells (MeSCs), which are responsiblefor the hair pigmentation. A recent study by Ya-Chieh Hsu’s lab atthe Harvard Stem Cell Institute discovered that acute stress causedmice to develop grey hairs by the same process as aging: MeSCdepletion. This could explain the premature greying of politicians,CEOs, and others who experience stress on a daily basis.In their experiment, the researchers stimulated stress in mice byinjecting them with a chemical called resiniferatoxin (RTX). RTXacts similarly to the compound in chili peppers that is responsiblefor the burning sensation of spice. In response to this stressor, theresearchers observed that the sympathetic nervous system in micebecame overstimulated and activated a “fight-or-flight” response,releasing a neurotransmitter called noradrenaline. Noradrenalinecaused MeSCs to multiply and migrate, depleting the reservoirand leading to premature greying. Interestingly enough, ifnoradrenaline release was blocked, the mice’s hair did not losecolor. This suggests that noradrenaline is associated with, perhapseven necessary for, the mechanism for hair greying.While it may sound like bad news that your stress spawnsgrey hairs, scientists are deeply interested in further exploringthe mechanisms of MeSC depletion. Future research may welldiscover a way to prevent both stress-induced and age-inducedgreying. To the next generation of politicians and leaders: do notfret—the era of hair dye might pass soon. ■By Selma AbouneamehFrom morphine to ibuprofen, modern medicine has madeenormous progress in the field of pain management.However, a recent study conducted by Professor XiaofeiXie’s lab at Peking University showed that medicine might not bethe only means by which we can attain pain relief. The proposedalternative? Helping others.Why do people help others? The question has plaguedscientists for centuries—after all, altruism is a costly behavior.The researchers’ study sought to address this paradox. “Ourexperiments suggest that altruism is not just other-benefiting, butit benefits the performers as well,” said Yilu Wang, lead author ofthe study. According to their results, a key benefit is pain relief.In order to get a deeper understanding into how altruismaffects our biology, the authors conducted three experimentsthat placed individuals in either altruistic or non-altruistic roles,then either induced pain or measured naturally existing pain. Inone of these experiments, the researchers used functional MRI(fMRI) to measure how brain activity changed after participantsperformed the altruistic task of donating money to orphans.The fMRI results showed that those who had donated moneyexhibited decreased activity in the right insula, the area of thebrain responsible for feeling pain.Thus, performing altruistic behaviors regularly can serve asa “low-cost, side effect-free approach to supplement currenttherapies for chronic pain,” Wang and Xie said. Their researchnot only sheds light on different psychological and biologicalmotivations behind our behaviors but may also provide insightinto a new method for pain management. ■Wang, Y., Ge, J., Zhang, H., Wang, H., & Xie, X. (2020). Altruisticbehaviors relieve physical pain. Proceedings of the NationalAcademy of Sciences, 117(2), 950-958.Zhang, B., Ma, S., Rachmin, I., He, M., Baral, P., Choi, S., Gonçalves, W. A.,Shwartz, Y., Fast, E. M., Su, Y., Zon, L. I., Regev, A., Buenrostro, J. D., Cunha,T. M., Chiu, I. M., Fisher, D. E., & Hsu, Y.-C. (2020). Hyperactivation ofsympathetic nerves drives depletion of melanocyte stem cells. Nature,577(7792), 676–681. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-020-1935-34 Yale Scientific Magazine September 2020 www.yalescientific.org
The Editor-in-Chief SpeaksWORKING THROUGH CRISESLast issue, I touted the Yale Scientific Magazine’s steadfast commitment tocommunicate science “through . . . epoch-making events,” thanks to our forebears’tireless efforts over the past 126 years. Through the events of the past few months,we at YSM have truly come to understand what it means to push forward in ourmission, even as Yale and the world have been rocked by crisis after crisis.It is thanks to an incredible feat of dedication and passion by our mastheadand contributors that we are publishing this issue. Writers and editors conductedinterviews and worked on drafts through spring break, against unprecedentedacademic uncertainty. Thanks to our webmasters, the content for this issue hasbeen online since May; the production and business teams have also been workingtirelessly in their respective domains to ensure a successful launch for Issue 93.2.This issue’s cover article by Cindy Kuang (page 16) gives an incisive account ofa research study to determine how, and whether, soil organic matter contributesto crop productivity. We continue to highlight the best research from all cornersof the Yale campus, be it harnessing the deadly Ebola virus to treat brain tumors(page 8), or building better superconducting qubits for quantum computing (page18). Two Features articles in this issue are of note. One addresses the implicationsof an AI-driven jury (page 22), while the other covers the Angiosarcoma Project,a pioneering model for public and patient involvement in disease research (page24). These represent a new effort to spotlight the social impacts of scientificadvances, and we will tell more stories like these in the future.The past few months have given us the COVID-19 pandemic and the tragediesleading to the Black Lives Matter movement. COVID-19 will change how welive our lives and how we do science. In a short span of months, we have gonefrom knowing nothing about SARS-CoV-2 to developing promising vaccines.YSM has attempted to capture this rapid—albeit meandering—progress inour summer COVID-19 Catch-Up series, which covers the latest COVID-19literature on our social media. On the other hand, the Black Lives Mattermovement has made us recognize the dearth of recognition and participationby minority groups in science. As a science publication, YSM needs to do more.In our future coverage, we will strive to highlight more underrepresented voicesin science. You can find our full statement on our website.Wherever you are, please stay safe, take care, and wear a mask.ABOUT THE ARTMarcus Sak, Editor-in-ChiefSoil is arguably nature’s underdog.The substance reinforces extensiveplant root systems, houses adiversity of fauna, and acts as akey player within nutrient cycles,yet its multifacetedness is oftennot fully acknowledged throughoutour day-to-day lives. In thisissue’s cover, I explore soil as thefocal point of the illustration.Sophia Zhao, Cover ArtistMASTHEADSeptember 2020 VOL. 93 NO. 2EDITORIAL BOARDEditor-in-ChiefManaging EditorsNews EditorFeatures EditorArticles EditorOnline EditorsCopy EditorsScope EditorsPRODUCTION & DESIGNProduction ManagerLayout EditorArt EditorCover ArtistPhotography EditorWebmastersSocial Media CoordinatorBUSINESSPublisherOperations ManagerAdvertising ManagersOUTREACHSynapse PresidentsSynapse Vice PresidentOutreach CoordinatorsSTAFFSelma AbouneamehNadean AlnajjarShoumik ChowdhuryMakayla ConleyKatherine DaiMaria Fernanda PachecoSydney HirschBeatriz HortaADVISORY BOARDPriyamvada NatarajanSandy ChangKurt Zilm, ChairFred VolkmarStanley EisenstatJames DuncanStephen StearnsJakub SzeferWerner WolfJohn WettlauferWilliam SummersScott StrobelRobert BazellCraig CrewsAyaska FernandoRobert CordovaMia JacksonCindy KuangAnmei LittleDhruv PatelZoe PosnerJerry RuvalcabaNoora SaidMarcus SakKelly FarleyAnna SunXiaoying ZhengHannah RoJames HanTiffany LiaoMaria Fernanda PachecoNithyashri BaskaranSerena Thaw-PoonLorenzo ArvanitisBrett JenningsAntalique TranJulia ZhengEllie GabrielSophia ZhaoKate KellySiena CizdzielMatt TuMegan HeSebastian TsaiJenny TanStephanie HuCynthia LinMichelle BarsukovKatherine DaiChelsea WangNadean AlnajjarBlake BridgeYu Jun ShenAnastasia ShilovIshani SinghAthena StenorEva SythVictoria VeraMirilla ZhuAstronomyBiological and Biomedical SciencesChemistryChild Study CenterComputer ScienceDiagnostic RadiologyEcology & Evolutionary BiologyElectrical EngineeringEmeritusGeology & GeophysicsHistory of Science, Medicine, & Public HealthMolecular Biophysics & BiochemistryMolecular, Cellular, & Developmental BiologyMolecular, Cellular, & Developmental BiologyUndergraduate AdmissionsYale Science & Engineering AssociationThe Yale Scientific Magazine (YSM) is published four times a year by YaleScientific Publications, Inc. Third class postage paid in New Haven, CT06520. Non-profit postage permit number 01106 paid for May 19, 1927under the act of August 1912. ISN:0091-287. We reserve the right to editany submissions, solicited or unsolicited, for publication. This magazine ispublished by Yale College students, and Yale University is not responsible forits contents. Perspectives expressed by authors do not necessarily reflect theopinions of YSM. We retain the right to reprint contributions, both text andgraphics, in future issues as well as a non-exclusive right to reproduce thesein electronic form. The YSM welcomes comments and feedback. Lettersto the editor should be under two hundred words and should include theauthor’s name and contact information. We reserve the right to edit lettersbefore publication. Please send questions and comments to yalescientific@yale.edu. Special thanks to Yale Student Technology Collaborative.
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Page 17 and 18: EcologyFOCUSResultsTo analyze the e
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Page 31 and 32: ALUMNI ALUMNIPROFILEFrom his humble

YSM Issue 93.2

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