The taking of various supplements—derived from plant or animal—is as old as mankind itself. The ancient Greeks had cures for everything. Earwax, taken from the sufferer of the ailment—but for more efficacy, some texts suggested that the earwax must be extracted from the ear of a freshly executed person! —and applied to treat human bites, […]
In Greek mythology, Daedalus was an inventor. His inventions—in various iterations from Homer to Pliny—include the axe, plumbline (architectural tool to measure how “plumb” or vertical a line was), glue (fish glue or isinglass, from the floating bladders of fish like sturgeon), and even a colourful dance floor (for Princess Ariadne). However his creative genius […]
COFFEE: WHAT’S SKIN CANCER GOT TO DO WITH OUR FAVOURITE DRINK? Your coffee habit may determine your skin cancer risk. I have often been quoted as saying, “One cannot have bad skin and good health.” Skin merely reflects what lies beneath. What we eat and drink impacts how our skin looks and feels, but what […]
As a skin cancer expert, and someone with an interest in evolutionary biology, I am often asked to operate on animals or treat skin diseases on amazing creatures. The picture to the left shows me examining a lemur (it had a tumour on its tail). Lemurs—precursors of modern primates—can produce their own vitamin C. In […]