Society is often so focused on the negative side of news, but it’s important to reflect on all of the positives that this past month has brought.  From space to justice, positivity could be found all around. 

After 56 years, Dr. Alfred DiStefano was reunited with his class ring from his college graduation at Fordham University, after having lost it in the Long Island Sound.  The ring was found by David Orlowski, a man who frequently spends his days metal detecting at the beach and came across a ring with an inscription on the back.   Orlowski located Dr. DiStefano through social media, who excitedly proclaimed the sequence of events as a miracle. 

In the Chinese province of Guizhou, a young boy playing near a raging river was saved from falling in by two kind and courageous strangers.  Nearby spectators rushed to aid the boy.  First, they tried to pull the boy out with a rope, but they were unsuccessful.  

Then, some of the people at the scene risked their own safety, going into the river and creating a human wall strong enough to temporarily stop the river’s flow.  This allowed an especially brave man named Xiao Feng to scale the surrounding rocks down to the river, where he rescued the boy after three attempts, bringing him back up to safety.

This month saw a breakthrough in Alzheimer’s research, a disease that affects 6.7 million Americans and their loved ones.  Scientists discovered that a protein called midkine, which is typically elevated in Alzheimer’s patients, doesn’t worsen the disease; instead, it helps break apart and prevent the formation of harmful amyloid beta protein clumps.  

When stuck together, these proteins can cause cell death, which in turn leads to a more harmful development of the disease.  Since midkine is known for being a biomarker of cancer, it was assumed to have negative effects in Alzheimer’s disease, and very little research has actually been conducted on it.  However,  a St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital study suggests the opposite: midkine has a very protective role against Alzheimer’s disease.

“It’s great to hear that the human brain is capable of stopping Alzheimer’s.  It’s truly amazing what it can do,” said sophomore Rowan Danow. 

In the United Kingdom, a baby Bonobo Ape, which is the world’s most endangered ape species and one of the closest living relatives to humans, has been born.  In 2023, the baby Bonobo Ape’s mother Yuli came to Twycross Zoo in the United Kingdom from Valeé Des Singes in France as a part of a European-led environmental conservation initiative.  Bonobos are highly endangered due to the threats humans pose such as deforestation and poaching.  These apes are only native to the Democratic Republic of the Congo and are the only female-led species of apes, making them a truly remarkable species. 

“As an environmental activist, I am overjoyed to see this Bonobo Ape being born.  We need milestones like this to happen more regularly.  I commend the efforts of the Twycross Zoo for making this possible,” said sophomore Sophie Markowitz. 

At the University of Chicago, researchers have worked to make CRISPR, a gene editing software which can be used to treat genetic conditions, more effective by creating a new nanostructure.  A nanostructure refers to a genetically engineered structure so small that it measures in nanometers.  It assists with the delivery of the various components needed for CRISPR to function properly, such as enzymes and Ribonucleic Acid (RNA).  

These nanostructures are always wrapped in DNA when traveling through an organism, which plays a role in where the nanostructure ends up.  When tested in human and animal cells, they were revealed to be far less toxic and increased the effectiveness of the gene editing software by approximately 200 percent.  This discovery paves the way for more accessible healthcare in treatments for diseases such as Covid-19. 

While it may seem like the news is full of only negative events, it is important to pay attention to the positive stories. They may be more difficult to find, but they are all around us.