Headliners

From total recall to climate free-fall

By Neale McDevitt

Of mice and memories

Remember Nahum Sonenberg? If not, you might want to look into his recent research into our ability for long-term recall. As widely reported in print and electronic media around the world, research led by Sonenberg, the James McGill Professor in the Department of Biochemistry, found that genetically altered mice that produce less of a memory-blocking protein learn faster and remember longer. Researchers suggest that the next step may be producing a pill that would have the same effect as the gene mutation, thereby offering hope to people with memory-related ailments such as Alzheimer’s.

Northern exposure

As reported by CBC News, Avi Friedman has taken his affordable housing road show up north to the city of Iqaluit. Friedman, the Director of McGill’s Affordable Homes Program, spoke to Iqaluit city councilors about replacing 15 single-family houses with seven ten-plexes—essential for a city that has seen its population increase by 20 percent in the last five years. In an article for Canadian Architect, Friedman wrote that more than just affordable houses, the new structures must be designed to stand up to the demanding climate and to accommodate the cultural and lifestyle attributes of the Innu.

More Moore

Karl Moore’s head is in the clouds. Again. In three separate Toronto Star articles and one that ran in the Globe and Mail, the Desautels Faculty of Management professor weighed on a variety of airline- and aerospace-related topics. On top of offering commentary on the status of a pair of fledgling Canadian airlines, Moore noted that the Conservatives’ injection of $900 million into the aerospace sector bodes well for their goal of forming a majority government in the next federal election, seeing as how many aerospace companies are located in Quebec.

Adapting to climate change

James Ford, post-doctoral fellow in the geography department at McGill, is co-author of a letter to the Toronto Star on how Canada must prepare now for extreme temperatures in summer, increased storm activity, flooding, and ice storms.