Is Frankenstein deserving of its subtitle?

 The Prometheus story is about the titular Prometheus stealing fire from the gods, and teaching humanity how to create fire and civilization. For this, Zeus punished him, even though Prometheus’s intentions were benevolent. With that said, is it similar enough to Mary Shelley’s novel for Frankenstein’s subtitle to reference it? And are there similarities to Serizawa’s story in Godzilla? In Frankenstein, Victor was motivated to create the monster by pure ambition, wanting to make the discovery without thinking about the potential consequences, and ultimately, his actions directly backfire on him as his neglect of his creation due to its unsettling appearance lead it to kill his brother, his fiancée/adopted sister, and because of Victor chasing after him in the arctic, Victor himself, followed by the monster burning himself alive to eliminate his remains so nobody like Victor can try and recreate the experiment with zero foresight. The similarities between Victor and Prometheus are limited to going against God and being punished for it, but while Prometheus wanted the best for humanity, but Victor wasn’t thinking about the outcome, he only thought about himself, and ran from consequences. Prometheus’s story is actually more like Serizawa’s. Serizawa created the oxygen destroyer, but he knew that humanity wasn’t ready for it yet, so he worked on it in secret, so that one day, when humanity isn’t itching to destroy itself, he can reveal it, and use it to generate energy to power the world, but when he was forced to reveal it to stop Godzilla, he knew the world would force him to make weapons out of the oxygen destroyer, so he destroyed his research and died with the king of the monsters. He created something that could benefit humanity, but circumstances lead to his punishment for his knowledge. Much more analogous to Prometheus in my opinion.

"Radical" Solutions: A New Development in Cancer Treatment

    One of the most important areas of scientific research is cancer treatment and therapies. Despite significant advancements, cancer remains one of the leading causes of death worldwide, primarily due to its complex nature and the unique challenges it presents in medicine. The article "Breast cancer treatment advances with light-activated ‘smart bomb’" from ScienceDaily highlights a promising development in cancer treatment. Photodynamic therapy (PDT) is a method that uses light-sensitive chemicals to target cancer cells. These chemicals, when exposed to light, generate reactive oxygen molecules (including oxygen radicals) that destroy the cancer cells. Light-sensitive chemicals are substances that undergo chemical changes, such as alterations in their molecular structure, when exposed to light. However, traditional PDT has limitations, including extended light sensitivity, limited ability to penetrate tissues, and unintended toxicity, which can hinder full tumor removal and raise the likelihood of recurrence. 

Image showing the stages of PDT

     To address these challenges, researchers from the University of California, Riverside (UCR) and Michigan State University (MSU) developed a new approach using cyanine-carborane salts. These salts, when introduced into the body, are absorbed preferentially by cancer cells. The treatment involves shining light on the patient, which activates the chemicals and triggers the production of reactive oxygen species to destroy the cancer cells, leaving healthy tissue unaffected. Unlike traditional PDT agents, the cyanine-carborane salts specifically target cancer cells by targeting the overexpression of OATPs (Organic Anion Transporting Polypeptides), proteins that are found at higher levels in the membranes of cancer cells compared to healthy cells. Traditional PDT is also limited by the fact that current FDA-approved chemicals tend to stay in the body for extended periods. As a result, patients must stay in the dark for several months, as even minimal light exposure can cause blistering and burns. The cyanine-carborane salts help address this issue by being cleared from the body more rapidly, resulting in a quicker recovery time. ecent tests in mice have shown that this approach led to the complete eradication of metastatic breast cancer tumors. The researchers are excited to continue expanding their studies, with hopes to apply this method to treat other types of cancer. 

 Citations 

 University of California - Riverside. "Breast cancer treatment advances with light-activated 'smart bomb'." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 11 February 2025. 

 A. Roshanzadeh, H. C. D. Medeiros, C. K. Herrera, C. Malhado, A. W. Tomich, S. P. Fisher, S. O. Lovera, M. Bates, V. Lavallo, R. R. Lunt, S. Y. Lunt, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2025, e202419759.

https://doi.org/10.1002/anie.202419759 https://www.cancer.gov/about-cancer/treatment/types/photodynamic-therapy

Carbon Removal in the Oceans: A Climate Solution at What Cost?

Robert Izett prepared to gather water column samples from the ocean floor in Halifax Harbour.

    A recent article by the New York Times poses an interesting solution to global warming called alkalinity enhancement. Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere warms the earth through the greenhouse effect. In the presence of water, carbon dioxide can dissolve forming stable bicarbonate and removing its contribution to atmospheric heating. It is through this process that one-third of the 1.7 trillion tons of carbon dioxide that humans have pumped into the atmosphere since the industrial age has been naturally removed by the oceans. Alkalinity enhancement involves adding limestone, magnesium oxide or other alkaline substances to rivers, oceans, or other bodies of water to enhance the water’s ability to “soak up” CO2. Could alkalinity enhancement be the solution to the global warming crisis?

    Alkalinity enhancement has already been used for purposes other than carbon capture and with definitive success. Acid rain resulting from industrial pollution in the 1970s and ‘80s poisoned lakes and streams around the world, severely harming fish populations. Some of the hardest hit countries such as Norway, Sweden and Canada began adding limestone to their waterways to restore the pH balance. The project worked and enabled fish populations to recover. 

    Proving the effectiveness of alkalinity enhancement on a larger scale does however present significant challenges. While studies have shown that alkalinity enhancement does work in relatively small bodies of water, it is much harder to prove the same techniques work in the vast oceans where the added alkalinity becomes quickly diluted and/or forever lost in the watery depths. Oceanographer, Jaime Palter at the University of Rhode Island states that “the biggest barrier to ocean alkalinity enhancement is proving that it works.” Despite the massive hurdle, researchers like Dr. Atamanchuk from Dalhousie University remain optimistic. 

    Beyond questions of effectiveness, many experts and environmental groups raise serious concerns about the potential ecological impacts of alkalinity enhancement on marine life. Marine ecologist Lisa Levin cautions that certain types of ocean geoengineering, if tried at scale, are bound to affect deep-sea life. Others share concern over the type of chemicals and their concentrations when being released into the oceans. Sodium hydroxide, for example, is caustic at high concentrations but common soaps and cleaners at lower concentrations. Dr. Subhas, researcher at the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, proposes to use lye or 100% sodium hydroxide, but dilute it in freshwater before unloading into the ocean to limit ecological consequences. Marine biologist James Kerry disagrees with the use of sodium hydroxide, comparing the release of 50% sodium hydroxide into the ocean to a “chemical spillage”. 

Sources

Plumer, Brad, and Raymond Zhong. “They’ve Got a Plan to Fight Global Warming. It Could Alter the Oceans.” The New York Times, The New York Times, 23 Sept. 2024, www.nytimes.com/2024/09/23/climate/oceans-rivers-carbon-removal.html.