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Research Briefs, Science & Technology

Accidental discovery reveals a potential plant-based anti-aging compound

by José Moro Gutiérrez on

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Geroscience, the study of aging and age-related diseases, has become a popular area of research in recent years. Here, the focus is not on treating age-related illnesses, but preventing or delaying their onset by understanding the biological mechanisms underlying aging. In a recent study, researchers discovered that Cyrene, a plant-derived solvent, can extend lifespan and improve health in model organisms, raising new questions about how small molecules might influence aging.

Published in npj Aging, the study examined Cyrene’s effects on two organisms used in aging research: The microscopic roundworm Caenorhabditis elegans and the fruit fly Drosophila melanogaster. These species share many biological pathways with humans, allowing scientists to observe aging-related changes quickly across many generations.

Abdelrahman AlOkda, a former PhD student in McGill University’s Integrated Program in Neuroscience who worked in the Van Raamsdonk Neuroscience Lab, led this study. In an interview with The Tribune, AlOkda noted the discovery of Cyrene’s anti-aging effects was unexpected. While evaluating Cyrene as a potential solvent, he noticed that worms exposed to the compound lived significantly longer than untreated worms.

“This was just a side discovery,” AlOkda said. “Cyrene is a solvent. It’s not supposed to do this. When we saw the animals living longer and resisting stress better, the reaction was, ‘What is happening here?’”

AlOkda exposed worms to several concentrations of Cyrene and monitored their lifespan. A concentration of about one per cent produced the best results, significantly extending lifespan while producing only mild side effects such as slight developmental delays and small reductions in fertility.

The compound did more than simply extend lifespan. Worms treated with Cyrene also maintained stronger movement as they aged, suggesting improvements in what is called ‘healthspan.’

“You could extend lifespan but still have animals that are unhealthy,” AlOkda added. “What researchers really care about is healthspan, [which is] the period where the organism is still functioning well. There’s no point living longer if you’re sick the entire time.”

The treated worms also showed increased resilience when exposed to environmental stress. They survived heat, oxidative damage, and other stress conditions better than untreated worms, particularly later in life. Because aging often reduces the body’s ability to cope with stress, maintaining this resilience may indicate that protective cellular systems remain active for longer.

Moreover, cyrene appeared to help protect against neurodegenerative disease in experimental models. Worm strains engineered to mimic conditions similar to Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s, or Huntington’s disease typically show reduced movement as toxic proteins accumulate in their cells. Worms treated with Cyrene, however, maintained higher levels of activity, suggesting the compound may help preserve nervous system function.

“A geroprotective compound affects the process of aging in a positive way,” AlOkda explained. “Instead of treating just one disease, you’re modifying aging itself. When you slow aging down, you can potentially protect against multiple age-related diseases.”

Another finding involved the worms’ bacterial food source. In some experiments, chemicals extended worm lifespan simply by altering the metabolism of bacteria used in laboratory cultures, indirectly changing the worms’ diet. AlOkda tested this possibility and found that Cyrene extended lifespan even when worms were fed bacteria that could not grow or reproduce, implying that the compound acts directly on the organism itself rather than the bacteria in its food.

To test whether Cyrene’s effects extend beyond worms, AlOkda repeated similar experiments with fruit flies. Flies exposed to certain concentrations of Cyrene lived longer than untreated flies, with lifespan increases ranging from about 11 to 29 per cent depending on the dose and the sex of the flies. These results suggest that Cyrene may influence biological mechanisms shared across different species.

However, AlOkda cautions that the findings remain preliminary. Studies in worms and flies provide perspective into biological mechanisms, but they do not guarantee that the same effects will occur in mammals or humans. Further research is needed to understand how Cyrene interacts with cellular pathways and whether similar benefits could appear in more complex organisms.

“This discovery was really just a side quest,” AlOkda concluded. 

For now, the discovery shows how unexpected observations can lead to important scientific breakthroughs: A compound originally developed as a sustainable solvent may now offer new clues about how organisms maintain resilience against aging.

Private, Student Life

Is another economic model possible? Working Alternatives McGill thinks so

by Rebecca Hamilton on

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On Feb. 24, Burnside 1B16 was filled with students eating falafels and discussing neoliberalism. This wasn’t a class—it was a workshop put on by Working Alternatives McGill (WAM). The student group aims to foster a community that explores sustainable futures amid late-stage capitalism and the climate crisis. WAM’s most recent workshop was the second installment in a series called “Economics for Everyone.” By focusing on neoliberalism as the current dominant form of economic policy and thought, WAM built upon its first workshop, which traced the evolution of economic systems in Europe and North America over the last 500 years. Content particularly analyzed neoliberal capitalism as a root of many current issues, including the housing crisis, ecological crisis, and market concentration in the grocery sector.

Organizer Basil Dogra, a PhD student in the Faculty of Education, majored in Economics during his undergraduate degree. He says students may internalize economic myths from “advocates of the capitalist economy” through economic courses or general media, and explained that one goal of all of WAM’s activities—and particularly the Economics for Everyone workshops—is to examine these underlying assumptions.

“For example, [there is] the idea that capitalism is the best system because it allocates resources efficiently. This is something which […] is in fact not the case,” Dogra said in an interview with The Tribune.

Another common claim he addressed is that capitalism uniquely enables innovation.

“Innovation is a direct product of people’s public investment first, and then certainly it’s often a labour of love,” said Dogra.

He pointed to open-source software as an example. Much of the world’s digital infrastructure relies on software developed collaboratively and shared freely rather than produced for profit. Dogra also spoke about rational choice theory as a foundational assumption of traditional economic thinking. Rational choice theory is a model for human thinking used in microeconomics, theorizing that individuals will make decisions that maximize their personal benefit and satisfaction. The discipline itself is increasingly recognizing the limits of rational choice theory, particularly following Richard Thaler’s 2017 Nobel Prize win.

While some advanced economics courses cover similar debates, Dogra says that, in his experience, a single core assumption often remains.

“[It is assumed] that you cannot think about any kind of economic activity without a profit motive.”

By studying economic structures such as worker cooperatives, the group hopes to challenge what many commentators identify as a central feature of contemporary capitalism: the belief that the current economic system is the only possible one.

In addition to the Economics for Everyone series, WAM is running two other projects this semester. One is a series of discussion circles about different practices for economic change, including union organizing and mutual aid.

Organizer Harlan Porfiri, U3 Science, explained the format of these sessions.

“[They] are less directly educational and more about having nuanced conversations,” Porfiri said.

The third project is a career fair featuring organizations within the social and solidarity economy, and WAM links students to explanations of the solidarity economy from resources such as the Solidstate website. Planned for the end of March, organizers aim to showcase organizations that provide alternative employment options for STEM students who are typically recruited by fossil fuel companies and defence contractors.

What, exactly, is a ‘solidarity economy’? Dogra describes it as an economic model in which “the economy is run by firms and organizations that have community welfare and broader prosperity as their priority rather than profits.” SEIZE, a Montreal group and cooperative incubator from Concordia University working to build solidarity-economy practices, also collaborates with WAM.

 Dorga sees WAM’s environment as an essential complement to other forms of political organizing.

“There is one aspect to leftist organizing where you organize protests, picket, or call out the McGill administration. That is an absolutely important dimension,” he says. “But an equally important dimension is building popular education, the intellectual orientation to the leftist enterprise.”

Students interested in attending events or getting involved are encouraged to explore WAM’s Instagram page, @workingalternativesmcgill.

A previous version of this article published on March 10, 2026, stated that Working Alternatives McGill’s third project is “a career fair featuring organizations within Solidstate, a ‘cooperative of cooperatives, bound together by a commitment to friendship and mutual aid’ based in British Columbia.” In fact, the career fair will feature organizations within the social and solidarity economy more broadly, and WAM’s career fair will not be limited to groups from Solid State. The Tribune regrets this error.

Commentary, Opinion

Reelected as Conservative Party Leader, Pierre Poilievre is a divisive choice

by Nello Giuliani on

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For the Conservative Party of Canada (CPC), re-electing Pierre Poilievre as party leader reflects a calculated bet that ideological consistency will outweigh declining cross-party support, even amid shifting public attitudes. By relying on a familiar face to unite constituents across the country, CPC has assumed its audience is willing to entertain the same policy platform, populist sentiment, and combative messaging that lost the Conservatives the 2025 General Election. Reaffirming his leadership also stands as a polarizing choice that risks inter- and intra-party division—not only regarding policy, but also his appeal as a leader. Although his reelection might solidify his base among Conservatives, it risks further propagating political polarization in Canada at a time when the country cannot afford it. 

Poilievre was reelected by a vote of 87.4 per cent at the Conservative Party’s convention in late January 2026. At first glance, this staggeringly high result appears to confirm that his core voter base and fellow Conservative Party members still fully back his agenda and continue to believe in the momentum he held prior to Trump’s re-election. However, the election was also explicitly designed to maximize Poilievre’s chances of victory. It was held in his hometown of Calgary, Alberta—a conservative stronghold—at the same time as the Ontario Progressive Conservative Party Convention, to limit the presence of Poilievre-doubters.  

This strategic vote reveals two major insecurities within the Conservative Party. The first is that consolidating Poilievre’s leadership in Alberta hints at a lack of crossover appeal, which hinders the CPC’s chance at expansion. This is reinforced by signs of a weaker voter base in central and eastern regions during the 2025 federal elections, which forced Poilievre to abscond to Alberta to retain a seat in Parliament after losing the Ontario riding he had held for almost two decades. The second is that there are fears of internal division, not only with Poilievre’s loss of support among more centrist Conservative voters, but also from the party’s shrinking coalition. This fear has only been reinforced as more Conservative Members of Parliament (MPs) cross the floor to join the Liberal Party, the latest being Matt Jeneroux, representative for Edmonton Riverbend. 

These losses are in part due to the fact that Poilievre’s platform, focused on affordability, reducing crime, and reducing the national deficit, is closely aligned with Trump’s successful 2024 presidential campaign. Yet, despite the Trump administration’s hostile stance on Canadian foreign policy, including tariffs and threats of annexation, this platform has remained unchanged, rendering it unable to sway voters. A MAGA-sympathetic CPC is a harder sell now that tensions with the US require a Canadian leader who will not capitulate to Trump’s demands. This sentiment is clearly shown in new polls measuring Poilievre’s personal ratings, which show that 48 per cent of Canadians hold a negative impression of Poilievre. Similarly, in Quebec, Parti Québécois leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon has experienced declining popularity due to his separatist platform which alienates voters who are more concerned with national unity in light of international uncertainty.  

Since Poilievre is reinforcing his line of conservatism to favour his most dedicated voter base, which tends to include young people and recent immigrants, he has failed to make gains beyond. As a result, a divide has emerged between the core Conservative bloc, which has unwaveringly platformed him, and Conservative voters at large. This has only fostered division between more radical and more progressive conservatives—division that is far too fundamental for this solidifying base approach to be an effective strategy. Even worse, Poilievre’s blind commitment to his hardline voters has only deepened national polarization. As the CPC distances itself further and further from the platforms of the Liberals and the New Democratic Party, the result is an effective divide both between parties and within them. 
As a majority of Canadians have begun to view the US as a negative global force, Canadians are far more likely to rally behind the party preaching national unity, and Poilievre will have to make changes to show that he can represent a united Canada. However, even though CPC leaders seem aware that their platform under Polievre has become more unpopular to constituents and has, in fact, undermined national unity, they don’t seem ready to adopt a new strategy—or a new leader to be their party’s face.

Mia Helfrich/The Tribune
Editorial, Opinion

Quebec’s forestry regime is racial capitalism

by The Tribune Editorial Board on

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MAMU First Nation, a collective of nearly 40 Indigenous land guardians and hereditary chiefs from the Atikamekw and Innu nations, has filed a lawsuit in the Quebec Superior Court, seeking formal recognition of their rights over territory between the St. Lawrence River, the Saint-Maurice River valley, and northern Mauricie. Their legal challenge demands that the court void all forestry permits and supply guarantees, as these permits were issued without their consent. 

This lawsuit is part of a broader effort to counter Quebec’s Bill 97, the Legault government’s proposed overhaul of the province’s forestry regime which sought to offer unceded territory for industrial logging activity. This legal injunction, alongside mass blockades in the summer of 2025, tackles a pervasive pattern of Quebec seizing Indigenous land for provincial industrial control. Bill 97 may be withdrawn, but the system of racial capitalism that facilitates Indigenous land dispossession and labour exploitation on those lands will remain unless it is fundamentally addressed through the courts. 

Bill 97 proposed dividing public forests into thirds: a conservation zone, a zone dedicated exclusively to private industrial logging activity, and a multi-purpose zone. If it had passed, Bill 97 would have designated significant portions of unceded Indigenous land for industrial use, a clear violation of sovereignty. By allowing the province and industry to extract economic value from Indigenous land while withholding Indigenous authority, Bill 97 reinforced a system of racial capitalism in which colonial dispossession enables the continued extraction of valuable resources for the monetary gain of the colonial state and private developers. Indigenous communities and environmental groups protested the bill, warning it would prioritize extraction while weakening already inadequate public and Indigenous oversight. 

Despite the success of Indigenous activists in demanding Bill 97’s removal, scrapping the bill does not resolve the underlying issue, as Quebec’s current legal framework still violates the decision-making power of Indigenous groups, instead placing all autonomous control in the hands of the province. Quebec’s Sustainable Forest Development Act may require the government to take into account the “interests, values, and needs” of Indigenous communities and consult Indigenous communities specifically. However, by only requiring consultations with band councils, whose expertise is often limited to the reserves they preside over, the government neglects the authority of territory chiefs, land guardians, and hereditary chiefs. The law may obligate the Quebec government to conduct consultations, but if this does not come with policy adjustments, these legal standards are obsolete.

Aboriginal and treaty rights are explicitly recognized and affirmed under Section 35 of the Canadian Constitution. Yet, through their treatment of Quebec’s forests, the province and private industry continue to prioritize extraction and economic gain over these constitutionally guaranteed rights. 

Canada’s labour system operates by the same logic. Under the Seasonal Agricultural Worker Program, migrant workers are recruited to fill labour shortages while being kept on temporary status, limiting long-term security. The Temporary Foreign Worker Program reinforces that precarity by tying workers’ futures to employer sponsorship. When employers determine the ability of temporary workers to secure permanent status or citizenship, changing jobs, reporting abuse, or resisting exploitation can carry serious risks. Though the laws governing land and labour differ, the premise of racial capitalism is foundational to both: for-profit extraction through the exploitation of stolen land and foreign labour. 

McGill is not outside this system, either. The university, situated on the unceded territory of the Kanien’kehà:ka, not only operates on stolen land but has continued to pursue expansion and development projects. The wealth behind the university’s founding came directly from James McGill’s participation in the colonial economic system and his slave ownership, illustrating its continued execution of racial capitalism through land dispossession and labour exploitation. The New Vic Project is also still in process despite persistent legal action by the Mohawk Mothers and potential evidence of human remains buried on the site. As is the case under Quebec’s forestry law, consultation without redistributed authority remains an inadequate, self-serving standard, especially for an institution whose history and present-day action are both inseparable from colonial dispossession.  

If Quebec is serious about reform, it must move beyond consultation and end the system that turns land and labour into sources of profit, all the while stripping power from the most impacted. 

As long as the province can profit from licensing extraction on unceded land and precarious racialized labour, the deeply embedded system of racial capitalism will remain unchanged.

Art, Arts & Entertainment

Richard Avedon’s ‘Immortal-Portraits of Aging’ has revolutionized photography

by Lia James on

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In a time of glamourized celebrity personas and pristine, unchanging faces, Richard Avedon’s work is a breath of fresh air. The American fashion photographer and portraitist treasured the honest representation of aging in those he photographed. The exhibit Immortal–Portraits of Aging at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts features his successful capture of the natural beauty of his subjects. By shooting in black and white, Avedon highlighted wrinkles, reflection in the eyes, and human imperfections, placing subjects face-to-face with viewers.

Avedon produced a diverse array of portraits, including notable directors, artists, singers, and politicians—some of the most well-known being Ronald Reagan, Patti Smith, and Willem de Kooning. Today, celebrities are constantly altering their appearances to look more youthful. Whether through plastic surgery or Instagram filters, audiences barely get to see those who have created impactful art as their true selves. Avedon, however, captured his celebrity subjects with no filters and no glamorous poses, just their bare selves. In doing so, his work continues to challenge traditional beauty expectations, revealing that aging is a beautiful blessing, not a curse.

The exhibit also includes nine photographs of his father, Jacob Israel Avedon, as he battled liver cancer between 1969 and 1973. Avedon captured the final portrait only days before his father’s death. Through these images, viewers sense the close relationship the two men shared through Jacob’s natural positioning in the photos. These images expose the ephemerality of life; no matter who we are, time will take us all in the end. The photos portray the final moments between a father and a son, immortalizing the temporary, countering the loss of a loved one with an eternal appreciation for their life.

Richard’s photographs depict love, sadness, and most prominently, satisfaction. He successfully conveys how legacies live on into old age, and how the spirit his subjects held in their craft persists. A prominent portrait in this exhibit is that of actor Gloria Swanson at age 81. Swanson is shown with a large smile on her face, running her hands through her hair, wearing glamorous red lipstick and eye shadow. She was known throughout her career for her glamour, and this image illustrates how she continues to uphold her style beyond her acting years.

Another photo in this exhibit is of William Casby, a man born into slavery, taken in 1963. True to style, the photograph is a close-up and reveals many of Casby’s facial features. Avedon, including such a highly detailed photograph of Casby, reminds us that historical atrocities such as American slavery are not so distant a past. In reality, it was so recent that high-resolution photographs of survivors are something we can view today. Immortal–Portraits of Aging not only shows the beauty of aging, but also puts into perspective moments in history.

Another prominent theme of this exhibit is what love looks like as you age. A photograph of pediatrician Benjamin Spock and his wife Jane Cheney Spock kissing depicts how love can transform from youthful joy into something deeper and more passionate. The photograph illustrates the intimacy that has grown between two people who are deeply familiar and comfortable with each other.

Immortal–Portraits of Aging is a love letter to continuous change throughout human life. It illustrates both the beauty and sadness that come with aging, teaching us to appreciate our lives and embrace the changes we will undergo as we continue to live.


Immortal–Portraits of Aging runs at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts from Feb. 12, 2026-Aug. 9, 2026

News, The Tribune Explains

The Tribune Explains: Abortion rights in the Quebec Constitution Act

by Josette Chandler on

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On Oct. 9, 2025, Quebec Minister of Justice Simon Jolin-Barrette introduced Bill 1, the Quebec Constitution Act, to the National Assembly of Quebec. The act intends to establish a provincial constitution, allowing for more legislative autonomy by enshrining popular Quebec values, such as French language protection, secularism, and abortion rights. However, on Feb. 20, Jolin-Barette withdrew Section 29 of this bill, which would have guaranteed the right to abortion as part of the prospective constitution. The Tribune breaks down Section 29 of the Quebec Constitution Act, examining how its withdrawal may affect the protection of abortion rights in Quebec.

What is Section 29?

Section 29 of the Quebec Constitution Act states, “the state shall protect the freedom of women to have recourse to a voluntary termination of pregnancy.” Jolin-Barrette originally added this clause due to his concern that women’s reproductive rights may one day be called into question, which he described in an open letter.

“I am sincerely worried. Worried that in the coming years, women’s rights—of our mothers, our sisters, our daughters—will crumble, at the risk of their health and dignity,” Jolin-Barette wrote. “It is this deep and persistent concern that convinced me to include in the draft Constitution a provision that would commit the Quebec government to act to defend women’s free choice to have an abortion.”

Why was the clause protecting abortion withdrawn?

The idea of withdrawing Section 29 first gained traction on Feb. 18 in the public hearings for Bill 1, when Claude Morin, a former member of the National Assembly of Quebec, asked whether the clause was being considered for removal. Etienne-Alexis Boucher, a former Parti Québécois member for the Johnson electoral division, expressed support for the section’s withdrawal. 

“My recommendation to all parliamentarians is to improve the bill so that the final version can respond to criticism. And you are right, there has been very strong criticism of the right to abortion,” Boucher said. “If this type of enhancement to the bill allows [us] to broaden the consensus on this one, I think that would be a good idea.”

Later in the hearing, Natacha Meilleur, a representative from the Clinique des femmes de l’Outaouais, requested the removal of Section 29 from the bill. She argued that the clause does not aid abortion rights, but rather puts them at risk. 

“Enshrining abortion in a constitutional text would [offer no] additional protection demonstrated,” Meilleur said. “Canada protects abortion with autonomy and personal safety. And, moreover, the Canadian model is legally more integrated into the fundamental rights structure. And that’s what makes it more stable. It is therefore the absence of legislation that is our strength. Legislating on abortion is therefore a way of offering a breach, a legal hold that may be interpreted, challenged, or modified in the future.”

Following the arguments introduced in this session, Jolin-Barrette removed Section 29 from the Quebec Constitution Act. 

What protections are in place for abortion rights in Quebec?

Currently, abortion rights in Quebec are protected based on jurisprudence that supports the right of women to choose, such as R. v. Morgentaler.  This case overturned a 1969 law that criminalized abortion except in specific circumstances across Canada. The case used Section 7 of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms—specifically the right to security of the person—as the legal basis for removing the abortion restrictions, arguing that they infringed on pregnant women’s right to security. 

In a written exchange with The Tribune, McGill’s chapter of the Women’s Network, the largest collegiate networking organization for women in North America, emphasized the significance of protecting women’s bodily autonomy as fundamental to women’s rights. 

“It is important to protect abortion rights because they are integral to a woman’s freedom, independence and self-autonomy,” the Women’s Network wrote. “Abortion rights are human rights and women’s rights, and it is important that the legislation reflects that. One should have the right to make decisions regarding their own body and future without judgment or fear of legal or social repercussions.”

For more information on accessing abortion at McGill, please visit a previous article published on Nov. 19, 2024.

Commentary, Opinion

Quebec is failing the basic test of reproductive care

by Amalia Kylie Tsampalis on

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Despite increasing sexual health awareness, long-term oral contraceptives are still relatively inaccessible to young individuals within Quebec, as many fall victim to the province’s high healthcare costs and physician unavailability. This lack of uncompromised access to basic healthcare perpetuates the stagnation in promoting reproductive health in Quebec.

In October 2024, Bill C-64 (the Pharmacare Act) was established across Canada. Its objective was to allow single-payer coverage on contraceptives, boosting attainability and building the pharmacare expansion foundation. However, the Bloc Quebecois’s arguments that healthcare is a provincial matter quietly influenced the bill’s implementation into the province’s existing health insurance plan, Régie de l’assurance maladie du Québec (RAMQ). 

Those in the young adult demographic who lack access to a family or employer plan typically rely on RAMQ’s Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, which generally reimburses only up to the cost of the lowest‑price generic medication in a given class. The provincial government has failed to acknowledge that young adults residing in Quebec do not have adequate pharmacare access. Those in the young adult demographic without familial endorsement typically use RAMQ’s Public Prescription Drug Insurance Plan, which covers only the lowest-price medication. If the patient can only obtain affordable medication, this option changes multiple times a year. This inconsistency can cause detrimental hormonal side effects. RAMQ lacks attentiveness to potential health compromisers, consequently disregarding healthcare nuances. 

A 2025 study states that women aged 20-29 made up 58 per cent of Canada’s unintended pregnancies. Within Quebec, women in this same age group made up over one-third of all births in 2024—highlighting the disproportionate concentration of pregnancies within young adults. This range aligns with the average years of peak fertility, the pursuit of education, and when individuals learn most about their sexual preferences. These intersecting life factors illustrate why accessible contraception is particularly critical for this demographic. Another study details how even if contraceptive use is desired, individuals are fearful of facing judgment when purchasing. The lack of easy access to oral contraceptives has created a significant barrier to their use.

Furthermore, physicians in Quebec prescribing these medications already struggle with understaffing. The passing of Bill 2 now ties physicians’ salaries to province-set performance targets. The bill’s unrealistic goals exacerbate existing strain, pushing doctors to leave the province.

This problem is perpetuated through McGill’s very own Wellness Hub. It is seemingly impossible for students to receive care in a timely fashion—or get appointments at all. This inaccessibility stems from the fact that the Wellness Hub is not the primary place of employment for its healthcare workers. Physicians sign up for extra hours to work at McGill, and are not paid specific salaries. This is unfair to thousands of McGill students who may otherwise struggle to access care.   

Ruba Ghazal, Québec Solidaire’s co-spokesperson and leader of the second opposition group at the National Assembly of Quebec identified this inaccessibility struggle. In May 2025, she proposed Bill 994, or the  Act to foster sexual and reproductive health through improved access to contraception. Its objectives include improving anonymity and destigmatization, enhancing personal autonomy, reducing unplanned pregnancies, and alleviating societal inequalities. 

If the bill is passed, its desired implementation would occur in four divisions. Ghazal’s first proposed stage allows individuals under the RAMQ free access to contraceptives, also offering coverage to unhoused people, minors, and others. The second stage will design pilot projects that enable designated professionals (such as midwives and nurses) to administer contraception—a role typically reserved for physicians. The final measures touch on awareness and privacy. Stage three describes confidential distribution methods for prophylactics across high schools, colleges, and universities, and the fourth implements mandatory sexual education in grade schools. Bill 994 would grant Quebec the opportunity to promote a more nuanced approach to fundamental healthcare.  

Thus far, safety concerns have prevented the bill’s approval. Politicians are worried that the administration of such medication from non-physicians risks a lack of open familial communication, as well as poor medication quality. Families have expressed concern that minors could access high-impact medications without guardian consent or knowledge of potential implications, particularly if prescribed by non-physicians without full understanding of the patient’s health. But granting these responsibilities to other notable care providers proactively addresses the healthcare understaffing issue. Allowing the distribution of all contraceptive brands without cost ensures increased access to effective medication. Consequences like unplanned pregnancy are greater risks when individuals have concealed, unprotected sex—not concealed, protected sex. 

Furthermore, Bill 994 would save the Quebec government money. According to Action Canada for Sexual Health & Rights, for every $1 CAD put into covering contraceptive costs, $9 CAD is saved in pregnancy-related fees. 


Ghazal’s Bill 994 allows young adults to access a basic form of healthcare while offering solutions to Quebec’s pharmacare challenges through the Free Access to Contraception Program. With creativity and a humanitarian approach, Ghazal has shown that working to rebuild a broken system is possible—it just requires the right mindset.

Science & Technology

McGill iGEM: An award-winning synthetic biology research team

by Luca Paone on

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McGill iGEM is one of McGill’s premier synthetic biology research teams. They tackle a range of ambitious projects involving both wet and dry lab components, granting students the opportunity to lead original research in campus laboratories and compete internationally at the iGEM Jamboree in Paris, France—winning the Grand Prize in the 2025 competition.

The team’s 2025 project, ​​Cohera, exemplifies their technical ambition, opening a new door for cellular architects by allowing them to essentially use cells as building blocks. They engineered a toolbox for scientists to employ controlled cell-cell adhesion, a process necessary for cell networks to maintain the stability and flexibility required to function. Cohera addresses limitations in traditional laboratory adhesion methods, allowing researchers to ensure strong bond strength between cells without limiting which cells they can bond. This technique takes advantage of SpyCatcher and SpyTag proteins—the biological components that form strong, irreversible covalent bonds. 

“These are two proteins which form an isopeptide covalent bond together,” Mollee Ye, U3 Bioengineering student and team co-lead, explained in an interview with The Tribune. “We attach them onto membrane proteins so that when expressed in microbes, these proteins would localize to the surface of these microbes and allow them to adhere together.” 

The team has also demonstrated possible Cohera applications spanning natural rubber production, wastewater treatment, and gastrointestinal therapeutics. Its unbounded implementation can be used for a plethora of needs. One example focused on preventing the body from prematurely flushing therapeutic yeast and bacterial microbes when scanning for cancerous or diseased cells. Cohera addresses this issue through targeted adhesion, which prevents the unwanted removal of microbes. 

“The problem with yeast probiotics is that it doesn’t maintain in your gut very well [.…] So with the idea of adhering cells together, the bacteria would express one part of the adhesion proteins, and the yeast would express a different part,” Salena Sun, U2 Anatomy and Cell Biology student and team co-lead, said in an interview with The Tribune. “That way, the yeast is able to release its therapeutics. And with the protease, [i.e.] the scissors, you’re able to control how long the yeast is maintained in the gut. After it’s done its therapeutic effects, it will be flushed out of the body as it naturally would be.”

Sun noted that subteams are part of the iGEM grading criteria—with subteams including Human Practices, Education, Entrepreneurship, Inclusivity, and Media—and that they are assessed for community impact. Last year, the Inclusivity team hosted queer health case competitions and interviewed math drag queen Kyne for their STEMcast podcast, and the Education team ran miniGEM—a synthetic biology competition for high schools across Canada. One iGEM member even proposed Synbiosis, an art exhibit whose applicants submit synthetic biology-related art, which is now a yearly event.

“For us, we have [team members] integrated. People who are wet lab members [are also] on the education team and on the human practices team, [and] people on the dry lab team who are also involved in media and finances,” Ye explained. “Because of that, people just get a more holistic view of the project and generally also learn a lot more.”

Members describe McGill iGEM as an experience that extends beyond the club’s events and activities.

“A lot of my time is within iGEM. But when I’m outside of iGEM, I also talk about iGEM,” Ye said.

Similarly, camaraderie is forged through other means beyond a shared name. Sun described how shared failure also contributes to bonding.

“In the lab […] you try to successfully clone this construct. And for weeks, it just doesn’t work. And then, when you finally get it, you feel like you have a team of people to really bond over that.”
The team aims to publish Cohera in scientific journals such as Frontiers and looks forward to sharing their foundational advance in synthetic biology and its potential applicability. Beyond science, however, the club offers a community. Commitment to iGEM’s community is inseparable from regular involvement, and it is a devotion that exceeds undergraduate competition. Sun described iGEM as a lifelong identity marked by Patagonia fleeces, sticker-plastered laptops, and immediate kinship with strangers wearing iGEM patches.

Behind the Bench, Sports

The Olympic prescription?

by Jenna Durante on

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Popularized between 2021 and 2023, GLP-1 drugs have become all the rage. As the new band-aid weight-loss solution, products such as Ozempic, Wegovy, and Ro have moved from pharmacy counters into mainstream media, promising quick and efficient ways to keep the weight off. During coverage of the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics on CBC Gem, advertisements for Ozempic began appearing in between sporting events—an unexpected pairing for a global event built to celebrate athletic performance.

Originally developed for patients with type 2 diabetes, GLP-1 agonists work to regulate blood sugar, slow digestion, and increase feelings of fullness. Drugs like Ozempic contain semaglutide, a compound that stimulates insulin release while suppressing appetite, leading many patients to experience significant weight loss. What began as a metabolic treatment has quickly evolved into a cultural phenomenon, with a recent survey suggesting that about three million Canadian adults are currently taking GLP-1 drugs.

Seeing these medications advertised during Olympic coverage raises questions about how/and where pharmaceutical products like Ozempic should enter the public eye, especially when they appear alongside an elite athletic competition.

In Canada, prescription drug advertising is tightly restricted under the Food and Drugs Act and Food and Drug Regulations. Given the strict guidelines, pharmaceutical companies rely on ‘reminder ads,’ which may name a prescription drug but cannot mention what it treats, and ‘help-seeking messages,’ which discuss a disease or condition but do not identify a specific medication for it, prompting viewers to consult their healthcare providers.

Concurrently, these direct-to-consumer ads communicate vague and ambiguous drug information to Canadians. When these ads appear during major international sports broadcasts, they can blur the line between public health information and pharmaceutical marketing.

In an interview with The Tribune, Etay Ben-Eli, U3 Kinesiology, spoke about the implications of advertising Ozempic during the Olympic Games.

“These are the elite athletes of the planet. These are top-shape individuals being advertised beside something that’s either used for diabetes or for extreme weight-loss or for people who have difficulty losing weight,” Ben-Eli said. “It’s just especially shocking to see that in the Olympic Games, where there’s so many people watching, kids included.”

This juxtaposition is what viewers witnessed firsthand. In one moment, hockey fans watched Mitch Marner score a heroic overtime goal for Team Canada against Czechia in the Olympic quarterfinals—an impressive display of speed, endurance, and precision. Seconds later, the broadcast cut to a commercial break featuring an advertisement for Ozempic.

The use of elite athletes to promote GLP-1 drugs extends beyond Olympic broadcasts. During the 2026 Super Bowl, 23-time Grand Slam champion and all-time tennis great Serena Williams appeared in an advertisement for Ro, a telehealth-based weight loss program that provides access to GLP-1 medications. The commercial featured Williams using a GLP-1 drug, framing the medication as a tool for weight loss and self-improvement.

“There’s kind of this sad reality that these companies are almost not selling medication. They’re just searching for profit and they’re using elite athletes to sell [the idea] that this is not just a medication for people who need it, this is just an easy fix to a common problem or even a nothing-problem,” Ben-Eli said. “I don’t understand why Serena Williams would ever endorse this medication, or even take it. She’s in incredible shape and is one of the best athletes on the planet. So it’s sad to see the stretch that they’ve gone to convince people that this [drug] should be normalized.”

The growing presence of GLP-1 advertising in major sporting broadcasts raises questions about how these messages shape public perception. When 30.5 million Canadians tuned into the 2026 Olympic Games, frequent drug advertisements blurred the line between medical treatment and lifestyle marketing. Media organizations such as CBC Gem risk facing increased scrutiny regarding the role they play in disseminating pharmaceutical messaging and its potential impact on audiences.

“These are giant corporations and they need to be careful about the messages that they portray,” Ben-Eli explained. “So I think to myself, CBC, do all they care about is just making deals with companies to just put some money in the back of their pocket? Or do they actually care about the sports they’re showing?” 

Off the Board, Opinion

Face it!

by Zoe Lee on

More in Off the Board:

I saw my mom for the first time this summer. Sitting alone in the busy Toronto Pearson Airport, I waited for my flight to Edmonton to join my family on a trip. I was armed with a couple of pencil crayons, a sharpener, and an Above Ground sketchbook bought from their tiny store next to OCAD University. 

I had been working at a children’s art camp where I spent my breaks outside sketching strangers from my Pinterest boards or friends from university. The kids would clamour around, ask me questions about the people I was drawing, and then enthusiastically confirm that my 15-minute scribbles did, in fact, look like their reference photos. Sometimes, perhaps unnecessarily, they would be brutally honest and tell me that I was way off. 

It’s hardest to draw people you know personally; when you know someone’s face so casually from seeing them every day, you take the minute details of their facial features for granted. However, you also know what makes these people who they are, so when they don’t fully resemble themselves, you can tell. Perhaps you drew a friend’s face perfectly, but it still wouldn’t be right unless you managed to capture their boundless whimsy you could only know from years shared together and a particular glint in their eyes. 

So, when I was stuck waiting in the airport, I felt like I was seeing my mom properly for the first time in this rough sketch of the woman who raised me. It was still imperfect, because the reference photo I used was a couple of years old—her smile lines and the creases in her eyes were softer than what greets me nowadays—but these are things I would only know from loving her.

I find that drawing people you’re close with makes you confront how much you actually don’t know about their faces. My mom’s face is one I’ve seen my entire life, but as I was drawing her, I forgot which side her mole is on. I realized I did not know that the right corner of her mouth tilts down at the very end. I do know, however, how loving her smile is, and how we have the same nose.

My favourite thing to draw has always been faces. I love drawing a portrait, starting with the same proportions and guidelines I learned from an Instagram tutorial when I was 11, then moving on to the eyes, nose, and mouth. Faces of people I know, faces of people online, faces of movie characters, and characters I made up. Landscapes and still-lifes bore me—I wish to understand people.

And, as much as I enjoy drawing portraits, others are even more delighted to have their portraits drawn. They like being seen, being recognized, and being known to others. Not only seeing themselves in a picture, but also knowing that someone took great care to translate their face into a piece of art. 

 The guidelines don’t change: A circle split by a horizontal line to indicate where each facial feature goes, and a vertical one for symmetry. You have to be careful, though, because if you mess up the roundness of their cheeks or the angle of their nose, the face distorts into a new stranger. It’s the same process each time, but I always get to learn something new. What does it look like when a person with monolids furrows their brow, or when an old man laughs? 

When the Sports section of The Tribune writes a “Know Your Athlete” piece, I sign up to do the illustration. Should you search through issues, you will find I have done several portraits for various sections. Some are scientists, rugby players, television characters, or filmmakers. 

It is an intimate and quiet waltz between my subject and me. Who has loved this face, I wonder? What features are they proud of? Which would they change if they could? These are strangers I will never meet, people who will never know someone spent hours staring at their faces, searching for their most recognizable features to ensure that they are represented as accurately as possible. Yet I know how their eyes crease at the corners, I gather how shy they may be to smile in front of a camera, and I see the way they style their makeup for a professional headshot. Maybe I even fall in love with them, my dance partner, while my pen etches lines and shadows. Though don’t tell them, of course.

I still struggle to draw myself. My eyes always turn out too wide or my nose too small, and please don’t get me started on the shape of my jaw. But I’ll keep trying; whether it’s the narcissistic impulse of a 20-year-old, or an effort to know myself as well as these strangers whose portraits fill my sketchbooks’ pages. Each time, I am a little more faithful to my image, slowly improving until the day I will recognize the face as my own. I wish to see myself as I saw my mother on the pages of my sketchbook, with her sweet but stern look etched in turquoise and dark blue pencil crayons

My mom, Penny Lee 

– August 2025

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