What Is One Life Science Fact or Discovery That Blew Your Mind?
- McMaster Life Science Society
- Jan 6
- 1 min read
Entries by Emma Wu & Tahmid Mottalib
November 2025
I had never pondered about how babies can get enough oxygen in the womb while the mother also needs oxygen to live. Babies get more oxygen in the womb because fetal hemoglobin binds oxygen more strongly than the mother’s adult hemoglobin. The gamma globin in fetal hemoglobin replaces the beta globin found in adult hemoglobin, this change allows the baby’s blood to pull oxygen from the mother’s blood across the placenta due to the higher affinity for oxygen in their hemoglobin molecule. After birth, the baby’s body gradually switches from producing gamma globin to beta globin due to changes in gene expression. This fact stuck with me due to the fact that gene expression is an automatic process, requiring no thought, but can modify our body to adapt to different scenarios to assist in living properly.
-Tahmid Mottalib
Brussel sprouts are by no means a popular vegetable. Did you know that hating brussel sprouts could be genetic? Even though it's not surprising because our DNA gives us a specific set of taste receptors on our tongues and different people's receptors have different sensitivities and thus varying tolerances for food, I still find it cool that there's a legitimate biological reason that we dislike particular foods. I don't hate brussel sprouts, but this fact stuck with me because I was wondering if there were other foods that we could have genetic predispositions to disliking, and turns out this is the case for truffles and coriander.
-Emma Wu
I read the McMaster Life Science Society post where students shared cool science facts that really surprised them, like how fetal hemoglobin helps babies get more oxygen before birth, which was something new and eye‑opening. Affordable help with last minute assignment was something I needed once when I left most of my school work too late while trying to learn topics like this, so I know how tricky it feels to manage everything. It makes me think how fascinating learning new things can be, even when work piles up.