Lab Notes

Science is supporting the battle against addiction and substance use disorder. Neuroscientists around the world are working to better understand the mechanisms of addictive drug use and how to allevi…

This episode originally aired on March 14, 2022.

Why is the brain harder to understand than other organs? What can we learn about our brains from studying octopus arms? Is the human brain even capable…

How does the brain work? Scientists are closer to answering this enigma with the largest wiring diagram and functional map of a mammalian brain to date. In April 2025, the Allen Institute, as part of…

Reaching new heights, stem cells from the Allen Institute for Cell Science were flown into space for the first time ever. In 2023, astronauts from Axiom Space studied genetically engineered cells, de…

Where are we with long COVID? Researchers at the Allen Institute and Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center are working to understand the science behind this new chronic disease. 

Behind every science headline…

Reward is essential for life. Our brains flood with feel-good chemicals when we learn, eat, have sex. But these essential brain circuits are hijacked in drug addiction. Neuroscientists at the Allen I…

It is no secret that social isolation has major developmental consequences on humans, but what about other social creatures like bumblebees? Neuroscientist Z Yan Wang investigated how social isolatio…

Can we put a number on human consciousness? Neuroscientist Christof Koch is leading an effort to build a consciousness meter that could have real-world applications to determine whether coma patients…

Scientists have known for centuries that the brain is the seat of human thought, but we’re still in the dark about how it works. For Brain Awareness Week 2022, Lab Notes asked four neuroscientists to…

In the early '80s, Linda Sloate was a 30-year old mom raising three little kids when she became one of an estimated 20 million people worldwide living with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). It has been a 40…

When neuroscientist Christina Kim published an important research study, her close friend, novelist Yaa Gyasi, wanted to understand more about her friend’s work, so she asked to shadow her in the lab…

Aldan Beaubien was in high school when a smorgasbord of bagels, cream cheese and apple juice left him in agony. Months later, doctors diagnosed him with Crohn's disease. Now an IT engineer at a resea…

In the winter of 2019, a series of storms dubbed “Snowpocalypse” dumped more than 20 inches of snow on the Seattle area, forcing the closure of schools and businesses. This weather-induced social-dis…

When the first U.S. COVID-19 cases began arriving at the hospital, doctors nicknamed the illness "The Beast" because of the way it attacked the body. Dr. Ryan Padgett treated several patients before …

What if there were a face mask that could tell you you're infected with coronavirus before you ever show symptoms? In this episode we chat with Allen Distinguished Investigator Jim Collins from MIT a…