Essays on metabolism, cellular regulation, aging, chronic disease, and the biological consequences of modern life.
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The Limits of Extrapolation in Epigenetic Systems
Scientific models help us understand complex systems, but they only work within the limits of the data used to build them. When we push a model too far beyond those limits, it stops describing reality and starts producing misleading results. This problem is known as over‑extrapolation. It appears in many fields, from population science to…
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The First Irreversible Choice: Homochirality, Nobel Chemistry 2026, and the Architecture of Asymmetry
Every system starts with a slight tilt and then amplifies it. Life begins with a choice. Even before organisms, replication, or metabolism existed, there was already a preference for one mirror-image form over the other. This property, called homochirality, is the first structural asymmetry in biology and marks the first irreversible choice life made. The…
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Energy Metabolism, Modern Diet, Caffeine Dependence, Sedentary Life, and the Amygdala Trade‑off
Modern humans live inside an energy landscape that no longer resembles the one they evolved for. The body expects fluctuation, but the environment offers constancy. Glucose is everywhere, and scarcity is gone. The metabolic machinery responds, yet the response carries a cost. The modern diet pushes continuous glucose availability. Cells shift toward glycolysis because it…
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Ketogenic Diets and the Human Face of Metabolism
Ketogenic diets have moved beyond weight control. In recent years, they have been tested in Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, and ALS. The idea is simple: when glucose metabolism falters, ketone bodies provide an alternative fuel. Mitochondria gain support, oxidative stress is reduced, and neuroinflammation is modulated. Small clinical trials report short‑term cognitive improvements. Animal models show preserved…
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Egalitarianism and Autonomy as a Trade‑off
On 8 September 2026, The Conversation published two articles that highlight the paradoxes of modern society. The first, written by Andreana Drencheva and others in the Journal of Occupational and Organizational Psychology, examined the autonomy paradox—how greater workplace freedom can leave people feeling powerless. The second article examined Sweden’s changing relationship with wealth and demonstrated…
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Between Cure and Fragility: Sam Neill and the Ambivalent Future of Medicine
Sam Neill, known worldwide for Jurassic Park and a lifetime of composed performances, became a symbol of endurance when he faced cancer. His remission through CAR T‑cell immunotherapy looked like victory. Yet the same therapy — a process in which a patient’s own immune cells are genetically re‑engineered to attack cancer — also weakened his…