Having just moved a ludicrous amount of boxes and furniture into various U-Hauls and relocation tubes, I can feel all the literal weight of those decisions in my muscles and bones. Now that I'm back in Chicago, nursing my muscle soreness and the occasional bruise, I'm left thinking about the need for better muscular recovery and repair, which brings us to today's wonderful success story with an ABclonal customer as they added to our knowledge of myoblast differentiation and skeletal muscle development.

In the wake of new programs that produce artwork derived from existing media, ChatGPT, and even algorithms that can predict protein folding, it is evident that the age of artificial intelligence (AI) is upon us. In many cases, the AI programs and tools are far more advanced than we have previously seen, to the point where humanity can derive great benefit from AI while fearing how it may affect our society and livelihoods. While it is unlikely that we will be subjugated by our new robot overlords, it is still important to explore what has been done and remains possible through AI, and our considerations for its ethical usage.

Perhaps one of the best things about awareness months, even if they bring focus to maladies and situations that are not always pleasant, is to get people interested to learn about the topic, and if they're interested enough, they'll do something to help out. This is the case with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. Some time back, there was the Ice Bucket Challenge which went viral, involved numerous athletes and celebrities and common people, and raised a ton of money for research and to support the afflicted people around the world. Yet, although I know it is a motor neuron disease and that it has affected famous people like the late brilliant physicist Stephen Hawking and more recently, the respected baseball media personality and fellow UChicago alum Sarah Langs (she's not even that old!), I found that I knew remarkably little about the disease itself. So this May, which is ALS Awareness Month, let's learn a little bit more together.

Parkinson's Disease (PD) remains the second-most common neurodegenerative disorder behind Alzheimer's Disease, and the incidence of patients being diagnosed with PD will only rise as we all get older. With this in mind, much personnel and resources are dedicated to discovering more about this disease and to develop better treatments and management strategies to improve the livelihoods of those afflicted with PD. April is Parkinson's Awareness Month, and this is a perfect time for us not only to raise funds and awareness to help PD patients, but also to learn about how companies like ABclonal can help accelerate the research behind PD onset and progression. Here, we highlight studies using ABclonal products that were published within the past year that add new insights into Parkinson's research.

It is always a thrill and a privilege to share our customers' success stories with you, particularly when they feature ABclonal's products in their research publications. Over the past year, we have seen many citations of our reagents in multiple journals, showcasing the partnership ABclonal maintains as a trusted lab partner across a wide range of disciplines. In this entry, we will highlight some of the catalog and custom antibody products our valued customers used to generate recent publication-quality research that adds to our collective understanding of biology!

As the new year gets going, most people have already set some New Year's resolutions (here's some if you're of the science-y academic ilk) and chief among these is usually to exercise more and lose that holiday weight after the mounds of cookies and pie. It is perhaps not a coincidence that the latest Science Magazine Breakthrough of the Year recognizes GLP-1 drugs, which have been shown not only to be effective in managing diabetes, but also has significant impact on weight loss. The demand for these drugs has skyrocketed over the last few years as the word of their efficacy has spread, leading to supply chain issues that could adversely affect diabetes patients dependent on the medications. As the various GLP-1 drugs remain in short supply, it seems a good time to explore these drugs, their potential contributions to global human health, and what can be done to ensure they are accessible to those who need them most.