Ajpolino

Welcome!

For the most part, I try to improve articles on microbiology and molecular biology, my two academic loves. Anything large enough to see with your eyes is probably too big for me to understand. In general, our microbiology/molecular biology articles are in a sorry state, and would require many lifetimes to bring up to snuff. If you've got the time to help but don't know where to start, let me know and we can coordinate our efforts. Similarly, if there's some way I can help with whatever you're doing, please let me know.

The unwelcome intrusion of real life sometimes keeps me from my more important work here. If you need to reach me for whatever reason, dropping me an email is a more surefire way to catch my attention. If I don't respond to your email, I'm probably briefly off the grid.

I also write a (semi-)monthly newsletter for WikiProject Medicine. You can find past issues here, and subscribe to the newsletter (it's free!) here.

Even considering the lousy pay and poor staffing, I've found editing here to be fairly enriching. I hope you decide to stick around and help out. If you do, I hope to see you out there. Happy editing!

Articles I've been heavily involved with

Neglected tropical diseases Buruli ulcer (Dec 2020) - The joy of an open wound, without the pesky pain. Chagas disease (May 2020, at WP:FAR with Spicy under the careful eye of SandyGeorgia) - The cardiovascular scourge of Latin America Dracunculiasis (May 2024) Another interesting wound, though this time a meter-long worm crawls out of it Dracunculus Malaria-related things Plasmodium - Huge genus of blood-dwelling parasites Plasmodium knowlesi - Cause of malaria in SE Asia; research model for Plasmodium Plasmodium cynomolgi - Infects monkeys; research model for Plasmodium Piperaquine - Antimalarial drug Maurer's cleft - semi-mysterious structure that appears in red blood cell infected with P. falciparum Other microbes Chlamydia trachomatis - Causes chlamydia Clostridium tetani - Ubiquitous soil-dweller; makes a toxin that causes tetanus Cyclospora - Genus of weird parasites; basically misnamed Eimeria Giardia lamblia - Most endearing cause of extra-stinky poo Et al. Lung cancer (May 2023, at FAR) - Deadliest cancer; tobacco's gift to us. Prostate cancer (April 2024) - Second deadliest cancer in men. Typical outcome of having a prostate. Type 1 diabetes - When your immune system kills part of your pancreas Diabetic retinopathy - Consequence of chronic high blood sugar on your retinas Academics George McClellan (1849-1913) - Anatomist. Known for anatomy text and teaching at Jefferson Medical College (et al.). Earl O'Roke (1887-1958) - Parasitologist. Worked out transmission of Leucocytozoon. Bennet M. Allen (1877-1963) - Embryologist. Worked on endocrinology in amphibians. William Trager (1910-2005) - Parasitologist. Set up culture systems, especially for Plasmodium falciparum. William F. Harrington (1920-1992) - Biochemist. Worked on the structure and function of collagens and myosins, mostly @ Johns Hopkins. Roger Unger (1924-2020) - Endocrinologist. Worked on glucagon regulation and role at UT Southwestern. Howard Rasmussen (1925-2005) - Endocrinologist. Worked on insulin and aldosterone secretion. David J. L. Luck (1929-1998) - Cell biologist/biochemist. Described mtDNA and one of the godfathers of flagellum research. Stanley J. Korsmeyer (1950-2005) - Cell biologist. Discovered Bcl-2, and then BAD, BAX, BAK...