MedWorm provides a medical RSS filtering service. Over 6000 RSS medical sources are combined and output via different filters. This feed contains the latest medical blog items that have been tagged with 'biology'. Sat, 03 Sep 2011 01:52:41 +0100 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5140277&cid=t_103947_149_f&fid=35776&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpipeline.corante.com%2Farchives%2F2011%2F08%2F16%2Fscreening_quickly_through_the_mutants.php Here's another paper at the intersection of biology and chemistry: a way to check the activity of a huge number of mutated esterase enzymes, all at the same time. Protein engineering is a hot field, as well it should be, since enzymes do things in ways that we lowly organic chemists can only envy. Instead of crudely bashing and beating on the molecules out in solution, an enzyme grabs each of them, one at a time, and breaks just the bond it wants to, in the direction it wants to do it, and then does it again and again. If you're looking for molecular-scale nanotechnology, there it is, and it's been right in front of us the whole time. Problem is, enzymes get that way through billions of years of evolution and selection, and those selection pressures don't necessarily have anything to do ... In the Pipeline blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5140277 Tue, 16 Aug 2011 13:23:54 +0100 5140277 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5050879&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2011%2F07%2F18%2Fdoes-the-derma-roller-really-work%2F Katie is curious…I have been doing a lot of research on Collagen Induction Therapy using a derma roller. It’s a roller device with a bunch of tiny needles. You roll it over your skin and it creates tiny, microscopic holes in the skin. The theory is if you slightly, slightly injure your skin it will induce your skin to produce more collagen and reduce scars and wrinkles. It has been shown on the The Doctors and Rachel Ray shows and its all over Youtube etc (not that any of these are reliable, but I do trust The Doctors show more than the rest of course!). Creating these tiny holes is also supposed to help topical products penetrate deeper. So I bought into the hype and bought one. It’s only been a couple of weeks and I’ve used it three times. I use one of the smalles... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5050879 Mon, 18 Jul 2011 06:01:34 +0100 5050879 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5027266&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F07%2Fpcr-troubleshooting-review.html Excerpt from a book review of PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential Guide: "The information is wholesome and appears to target both students and scientists knowledgeable in molecular applications. The comprehensive and comprehendible content indeed qualifies the text as an essential guide to the development, optimization and toubleshooting of PCR assays." from Christopher J. McIver writing in Aus. J. Med. Sci. (2011) 32: 68 read more ... PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential GuideEdited by: Suzanne Kennedy and Nick OswaldISBN: 978-1-904455-72-1Publisher: Caister Academic PressPublication Date: January 2011 Cover: hardback"an essential guide" Aus. J. Med. Sci. (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5027266 Thu, 14 Jul 2011 15:47:43 +0100 5027266 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=5008233&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FqCG-gn2LlV0%2Fscarlet_fever_in_hong_kong.php While "flesh-eating infections" caused by the group A streptococcus (Streptococcus pyogenes) may grab more headlines today, one hundred and fifty years ago, the best known and most dreaded form of streptococcal infection was scarlet fever. Simply hearing the name of this disease, and knowing that it was present in the community, was enough to strike fear into the hearts of those living in Victorian-era United States and Europe. This disease, even when not deadly, caused large amounts of suffering to those infected. In the worst cases, all of a family's children were killed in a matter of a week or two. Indeed, up until early in the 20th century, scarlet fever was a common condition among children. The disease was so common that it was a central part of the popular children's tale, The Velv... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=5008233 Wed, 06 Jul 2011 14:00:00 +0100 5008233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4997221&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F07%2Fmetagenomics-book-available-very-soon.html The new book on Metagenomics edited by Diana Marco will be available for dispatch within the next 2 or 3 weeks read more ... Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future TrendsEdited by: Diana MarcoISBN: 978-1-904455-87-5Publisher: Caister Academic PressPublication Date: September 2011 Cover: hardback read more ... (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4997221 Mon, 04 Jul 2011 07:19:14 +0100 4997221 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4968529&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2F_bVyOjiCSPM%2Fhemolytic_uremic_syndrome_hus_3.php As I've laid out this week (part 1, part 2, part 3), the realization that a fairly simple, toxin-carrying bacterium could cause a "complex" and mysterious disease like hemolytic uremic syndrome came only with 30 years' of scientific investigation and many false starts and misleading results. Like many of these investigations, the true cause was found due to a combination of hard work, novel ways of thinking, and simple serendipity--being able to connect the dots in a framework where the dots didn't necessarily line up as expected, and removing extraneous dots as necessary. It's not an easy task, particularly when we've had mostly culture-based methods to rely on since the dawn of microbiology. If you read start digging around in the evolutionary medicine literature, you'll see that one o... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4968529 Thu, 23 Jun 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4968529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4893498&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FocRS2bXHIyE%2Fwhen_is_mrsa_not_mrsa.php ...when it contains a weird gene conferring methicillin resistance that many tests miss. Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) has become a big issue in the past 15 years or so, as it turned up outside of its old haunts (typically hospitals and other medical facilities) and started causing infections--sometimes very serious--in people who haven't been in a hospital before. Typically MRSA is diagnosed using basic old-school microbiology techniques: growing the bacteria on an agar plate, and then testing to see what antibiotics it's resistant to. This can be done in a number of ways--sometimes you can put a little paper disc containing antibiotics right onto a plate where you've already spread out a bacterial solution and see which discs inhibit growth, or sometimes you can gro... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4893498 Fri, 03 Jun 2011 14:00:00 +0100 4893498 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4871233&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F05%2Fmolecular-phylogeny-of-microorganisms-book-review.html Excerpt from a book review of Molecular Phylogeny of Microorganisms: "written by international experts ... All papers are concisely written and the literature is extensively reviewed, with many papers published in the last two years before the book was printed ... the editors have done well to concentrate on important basic topics that are essential for the understanding of new upcoming reports ... I strongly recommend the book for the private book case of scientists ... and to the university libraries" from Christian Wilhelm (University of Leipzig, Germany) writing in Journal of Plant Physiology read more ... Molecular Phylogeny of MicroorganismsEdited by: Aharon Oren and R. Thane PapkeISBN: 978-1-904455-67-7Publisher: Caister Academic PressPublication Date: July 2010 Cover: hardback"I st... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4871233 Fri, 27 May 2011 14:35:36 +0100 4871233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4842012&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2011%2F05%2Fsystems-biology-for-studying-cancer.html This month's issue of Future Oncology has a well-written editorial from Dr. John McDonald from Georgia Tech regarding systems biology in cancer research.  This is a free download and I highly recommend it as a nice overview contrasting the traditional "reductionist" approach to cancer cell biology research versus the emerging application of a systems biology approach. First, it is appreciated that the traditional approach has grudgingly yielded some valuable insight into cancer cell biology which has led to the development of "rationally designed" targeted therapies.  But while many of these therapies have had some initial impact for patients enrolled in clinical trials (and even some dramatic responses), I think it is fair to say that they also have not... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4842012 Tue, 17 May 2011 16:11:37 +0100 4842012 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4828781&cid=t_103947_83_f&fid=34690&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Finsolence%2F%7E3%2FqOQoACe_9d4%2Fall_bacteria_are_bad.php Remember Robert O. Young? He's the purveyor of only the finest quackery. Note that, by "finest," I mean the most highly entertaining, the sort of utter twaddle that makes me laugh out loud when I read it. Whether it's his claim that alkalinization is the cure for basically all disease, his characterizing sepsis as not being due to bacterial infection, his description of cancer as a mechanism to protect the body from "rotten cells" spoiled by acid and liquified, or his nonsensical attacks on Andrew Weil (his being one of the only men who can make Weil look reasonable by comparison), Robrt O. Young never fails to bring home the woo, often in ways that are utterly hilarious to anyone with a modicum of understanding of science and science-based medicine. Unfortunately, that laughter, as inten... Respectful Insolence blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4828781 Tue, 17 May 2011 12:23:39 +0100 4828781 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4789433&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2011%2F05%2F06%2Fwhy-does-water-make-skin-wrinkly%2F Bennie wants to know…Why does my skin get all pruney and wrinkly after I soak in the bathtub? The Left Brain responds: Believe it or not, scientists have only recently discovered how skin can absorb enough water to turn wrinkly without  dissolving and falling off your bones (which would leave a nasty bathtub ring!) Water logged learning We’ve known for a long time that the stratum corneum, the outer layer of skin, can expand as it absorbs water but we didn’t know why skin doesn’t fall to pieces when it’s water logged. Now, according to Discovery.com, the Journal of the Royal Society Interface reports that Australian scientists have identified the unique feature of skin structure that keeps it together the bath. The short version of the explanation goes like... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4789433 Fri, 06 May 2011 06:01:58 +0100 4789433 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4775479&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2011%2F05%2F02%2Fare-ph-balanced-skincare-products-better%2F Lily longs to learn…Should I only buy skin products that are pH-balanced? The Left Brain replies: I’ve always maintained that pH balanced skin care products are just marketing hype because the skin’s natural pH resets itself within as little as 15 minutes after applying lotion. But as a good scientist, I’m always willing to change my mind when new evidence is presented. In this particular case, new evidence has come in the form of an article written by the Beauty Brains’ favorite dermatologist, Zoe Diana Draelos, M.D. Should I change my opinion that pH balance is bunk? Read on to find out. Acid reign? In her article on Modernmedicine.com, Dr. Draelos points out that while the idea of pH-balanced products began as “marketing strategy” for products t... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4775479 Mon, 02 May 2011 06:01:48 +0100 4775479 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4767630&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F04%2Fnucleic-acid-based-methods-for-pathogen-detection.html from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment ApplicationsNucleic acid hybridization techniquesThe easiest way of detecting specific nucleic acid sequences is through direct hybridization of a probe to microbial nucleic acid extracts. These hybridization techniques rely on the specific binding of nucleic acid probes to complementary DNA or RNA (target nucleic acid). The probes are single strands of nucleic acid with the potential of carrying detectable marker molecules highly specific to complementary target sequences, even if these sequences account for only a small fraction of the target nucleic acid. Either DNA or RNA can serve as a nucleic acid probe, but for a number of reasons (e.g., ease of synthesis and stability), most studies have employed DNA probes. The probes may be ... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4767630 Fri, 29 Apr 2011 04:00:06 +0100 4767630 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4771076&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=38577&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbiosingularity.com%2F2011%2F04%2F22%2Fcan-hobbyists-and-hackers-transform-biotechnology%2F For most of us, managing our health means visiting a doctor. The more serious our concerns, the more specialized a medical expert we seek. Our bodies often feel like foreign and frightening lands, and we are happy to let someone with an MD serve as our tour guide. For most of us, our own DNA [...] (Source: Biosingularity) Biosingularity blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4771076 Fri, 22 Apr 2011 10:21:06 +0100 4771076 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4734690&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2011%2F04%2Fhallmarks-of-cancer-v-20.html In 2000, Douglas Hanahan and Robert Weinberg initially proposed six hallmarks of cancer that form an organizing principle for understanding the remarkable diversity of "cancer."  Their update, "Hallmarks of Cancer: The Next Generation," was published in the March 4, 2011 issue of Cell. The six hallmarks of cancer are distinctive and complementary capabilities enabling tumor growth and metastatic dissemination and are a solid foundation for understanding the biology of cancer . These six hallmark capabilities of cancer, as originally defined, include the ability to sustain chronic proliferation, the ability to evade growth suppressors, the ability to resist cell death, the ability to achieve replicative immortalization, the ability to induce angiogenesis, and, fina... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4734690 Tue, 19 Apr 2011 20:57:59 +0100 4734690 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4708859&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F04%2Fpolymerase-chain-reaction-%28pcr%29-in-pathogen-detection.html from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment ApplicationsAs a consequence of the speed, specificity and low cost of the PCR, the procedure has become one of the most widely used assays for direct detection of low levels of pathogenic microbes in environmental samples. The PCR assay can be used to selectively amplify, to detectable levels, nucleic acid sequences associated with pathogens that might be present in low numbers in water samples. PCR is a process in which target DNA, synthetic oligonucleotide primers, a thermostable DNA polymerase and the DNA subunits are combined in a microcentrifuge tube and subjected to the temperature changes needed for the DNA duplication to occur. During the PCR process, different temperatures are used to facilitate DNA denaturation, annealing o... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4708859 Thu, 14 Apr 2011 04:00:07 +0100 4708859 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4670171&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F04%2F02%2Fgoogle-science-fair-2011%2F I’m pleased to help spread the word today about the world’s first online global science competition, the Google Science Fair! Google has partnered with CERN, LEGO, National Geographic and Scientific American to create a new kind of online science competition that is more global, open and inclusive than ever before. Students aged 13 – 18 from around the world are invited to enter and compete for awesome once-in-a-lifetime experiences, scholarships and real-life work opportunities. Click continue to see the Rube Goldberg-inspired video and learn how to sign-up. Who doesn’t like a good science fair? It gives kids the opportunity to join in a new kind of online science competition that is more global, open and inclusive than ever before. Best yet, it offers full-time... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4670171 Sat, 02 Apr 2011 16:00:21 +0100 4670171 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4636108&cid=t_103947_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.podtrac.com%2Fpts%2Fredirect.mp3%2Ftwit.cachefly.net%2Ffib0076.mp3 I joined Marc Pelletier and Ruedi Aebersold on episode 76 of Futures in Biotech for a conversation about how mass spectrometry has become one of the most important technologies in our move towards personalized medicine. We also talk about systems biology, a topic we first discussed in TWiV #121. Download audio FiB #76 (33 MB .mp3, 68 minutes) Download video (292 MB .mp4) (Source: virology blog) virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4636108 Wed, 16 Mar 2011 20:32:19 +0100 4636108 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4549944&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2011%2F03%2Fevidence-for-tissue-specific-differences-in-emt.html Remodeling of the extracellular matrix is a key process in cancer invasion.  Matrix metalloproteases (MMPs) have been shown to be important in ECM remodeling but identifying individual MMPs with specific roles in various cancers has been difficult due to functional overlap with other proteases.  The current Diseases Models and Mechanisms has an interesting article by Hald et al. in which they demonstrate that double-knockout mice lacking both plasmin and MMP-9 develop inflammatory colonic mass lesions that resemble mucosal prolapse lesions in humans.  In contrast, wound healing in skin in these mice is normal.  The findings indicate tissue-specific differences in ECM remodeling--and thus potential therapeutic targets. Further, this study demonstrates the... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4549944 Fri, 04 Mar 2011 21:15:00 +0100 4549944 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4540589&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2011%2F03%2F02%2Fnaked-therapy-or-just-cam-girl-soft-porn%2F When is psychotherapy, well, therapeutic? Is it any more therapeutic if your “therapist” starts taking off their clothes during your session? A freelance computer programmer, Sarah White, has decided that anyone can do therapy online. And not only that, she does it while she disrobes, one piece of clothing at a time. Yes, I’m serious. She calls this “Naked Therapy.” No, I’m still not kidding (and neither, apparently, is Sarah White). Be forewarned — a lot of the links in this article lead to websites with half-naked photos of a woman. I suppose the hook here is obvious — someone peddling cam-girl soft porn under the guise of something that’s “therapeutic,” because they hold a notepad and take notes while disrobing. So what a... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4540589 Wed, 02 Mar 2011 19:30:19 +0100 4540589 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4527803&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2011%2F02%2F28%2Fwhat-you-should-know-about-treating-ingrown-hairs-2%2F Lydia’s got ingrown hair issues…After I wax my legs and hands, there is a relapse of ingrown hair on my waxed skin. It looks terrible and I have tried treating ,but nothing is working out. Does scrubbing help ? Or is there any remedy to cure this skin problem? The Right Brain recommends an anti-inflammatory: It sounds like you might have a case of folliculitis, a condition in which your hair follicle becomes inflamed. Waxing can irritate the hair follicle which causes dead cells to build up at the site of the irritation and form small pus containing pockets. This blockage can trap the hair as it tries to grow out of the follicle and poof! you’ve got an ingrown hair. Scrubbing will only make things worse so DON’T! In fact, you need to give your follicles a rest for ... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4527803 Mon, 28 Feb 2011 06:01:25 +0100 4527803 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4507281&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fthe-human-genome-turns-10%2F2011.02.22 The human genome has been around for a bit more than ten years, but on February 15, 2001, the first complete human genome sequence was published. This was nothing short of a revolution within medicine. Since then, great advancements have been made in our understanding of genetics and its associations with human traits and diseases. Nature is celebrating this tenth birthday with a special titled “Human Genome at Ten.” In it, multiple papers reflect on what we learned and discovered, what is still unknown, and what we can expect for the near future. Best of all, Nature has packaged the special in a free iPad app for everyone to read, which features interactive graphs, videos, and audio commentaries. Nature special: The Human Genome at Ten… iTunes link: Nature Human Genome S... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4507281 Tue, 22 Feb 2011 18:00:52 +0100 4507281 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4636109&cid=t_103947_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ftraffic.libsyn.com%2Ftwiv%2FTWiV121.mp3 Hosts: Vincent Racaniello, Michael Katze, Michael Gale, Deborah Fuller, and Shawn Iadonato Episode #121 of the podcast This Week in Virology is a conversation about careers in virology, systems biology, innate immunity, and antiviral research recorded at the University of Washington in Seattle. Download TWiV #121 (65 MB .mp3, 90 minutes). To download, right-click or control-click on the link, then select save as. Subscribe to TWiV (free) in iTunes , at the Zune Marketplace, by the RSS feed, or by email, or listen on your mobile device with the Microbeworld app. Links for this episode: A systems biology approach to infectious disease research (mBio) Infectious Curiosity (thanks, Gopal!) Astronomy Cast (thanks, Jacob!) The Journal of Negative Results (thanks, Patricia!) Scientist Solutions... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4636109 Sun, 20 Feb 2011 23:23:10 +0100 4636109 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489674&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhelp-fight-the-nih-budget-cuts%2F2011.02.17 Many of my regular readers may know that biomedical research in the United States is largely funded by the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Please see this message from Dr. William Talman, president of the Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology (FASEB), about proposed spending cuts to the NIH budget. Grant funding from the NIH is already hard to come by, and the proposed budget cuts will make it even harder. Whether you are a scientist, a student, or a member of the public interested in the future of science and medicine, I join with Dr. Talman in asking you to call your congressional representatives and ask them to oppose HR1. Also, if you have a blog I’d ask you to repost Dr. Talman’s call to action so that your readers can join in. Dear Colleague, For months t... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489674 Thu, 17 Feb 2011 15:00:50 +0100 4489674 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4489098&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F02%2Fmolecular-phylogeny-book-review.html I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of Molecular Phylogeny of Microorganisms: "This book provides a timely assessment of current concepts in the molecular phylogeny of microbes since the foundations based on ribosomal RNA genes were described by Carl Woese more than 30 years ago ... I found this book to very informative both in defining the terms used by the authors, introducing each subject and also in providing good well-referenced reviews ... I found this book to be a mine of useful information and it gives some clear explanations of (to me) quite difficult concepts ... I would recommend this book to all microbiologists with an interest in molecular phylogeny." from Norman Fry (Health Protection Agency, UK) writing in Microbiology Today read more ... Molecul... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4489098 Wed, 16 Feb 2011 12:25:53 +0100 4489098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4455494&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2011%2F02%2Fstem-cells-and-pluripotency-articles-in-development.html Development has updated review articles on stem cells and pluripotency that I think would be of general interest for everyone and are available to download for free.  I really found the article on stem cell biology from a systems perspective especially cool.  (Source: The Daily Sign-Out) The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4455494 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 15:26:46 +0100 4455494 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4454919&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F02%2Fconference-update.html October 2 - 7, 2011 Synthetic Biology of Antibiotic Production Sant Feliu de Guixols, Spain Further information The European Science Foundation (ESF) in partnership with EMBO is organising this conference on Synthetic Biology of Antibiotic Production. This conference will focus on the advancement of synthetic biology, especially its application in the field of antibiotic production in filamentous fungi and actinomycete bacteria, including the implementation and modification of complex biosynthesis pathway modules in existing and new production hosts. Antibiotics production is regulated by complex networks and involves intricate multi-step biosynthetic machineries, as well as major reorganization of primary metabolic fluxes to redirect cellular metabolic resources towards their biosynthesis... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4454919 Wed, 09 Feb 2011 12:20:00 +0100 4454919 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4429237&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2011%2F02%2Ffetal-lung-interstitial-tumor-report-of-proposed-new-entity.html So many great articles at the end of the year, it's going to take me 'til Easter to catch up! The December 2010 issue of American Journal of Surgical Pathology has a fascinating article from Dishop and (multiple) colleagues reporting 10 morphologically distinct tumors from multiple American institutions.  The patients' ages ranged from 0 days to 3 months and imaging in each case revealed a well-circumscribed lobar-based mass.  Lobectomy or wedge resection was performed in each case. Each tumor was a well-circumscibed intraparenchymal mass with a solid-to-spongelike surface that appeared to be at least partially surrounded by a fibrous capsule.  The microscopic appearance was characterized by an abrupt transition from normal saccular-stage lung to more immature... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4429237 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 12:37:00 +0100 4429237 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4428641&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F02%2Fpcr-book-review.html I am pleased to provide the following excerpt from a book review of PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential Guide: "The book provides a comprehensive selection of the most recently developed applications for PCR use ... This is an essential book for investigators using PCR technology. The PCR-related topics will be of interest to most, if not all, investigators engaged in research that uses this important technique ... a well-balanced book on the many potential uses of this powerful technique. It also provides a number of updated strategies for investigators interested in incorporating this technique in their research. The presentation is straightforward and is based on proven examples. The book should prove to be a valuable tool to all those interested in PCR technology." from... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4428641 Wed, 02 Feb 2011 08:54:31 +0100 4428641 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4414571&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2011%2F01%2F30%2Ffor-seriously-tangled-hair-don%25e2%2580%2599t-rely-on-homemade-moisturizers%2F Jim’s got a problem…I’m an “older” male who has kept his long hair. Now that I’m left with only about 26,000 hairs!! it’s still long, curly … and once I spend 20 minutes in the shower with a ton of conditioner, looks great. My hair is SO tangly that virtually every hair I have tangles with every other hair. After gobs of conditioner and 20 minutes in the shower separating every hair from every other hair – 2 days later it’s a tangled mess again. I stopped using any shampoo or soap or anything (except conditioner) a long time ago. I’ve never coloured my hair or used any chemicals on it. So – what’s the most powerful, de-tangler you know of? I’d be prepared to use some spray on Teflon cookware product it that... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4414571 Sun, 30 Jan 2011 06:01:11 +0100 4414571 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4399741&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2011%2F01%2F26%2Fvideogames-with-paramecia-players%2F Stanford University bioengineer Ingmar Riedel-Kruse and his colleagues are developing “biotic games” where players control paramecia and other living microorganisms. The PacMan-like video games are the first in which a player’s actions influence the behavior of living microorganisms while the game is being played. Here we propose the concept of ‘biotic games’, i.e., games that operate on biological processes. Utilizing a variety of biological processes we designed and tested a collection of games: ‘Enlightenment’, ‘Ciliaball’, ‘PAC-mecium’, ‘Microbash’, ‘Biotic Pinball’, ‘POND PONG’, ‘PolymerRace’, and ‘The Prisoner’s Smellemma’. We found that biotic games exhibit unique features compared to existing game modalities, such as utili... ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4399741 Wed, 26 Jan 2011 15:05:50 +0100 4399741 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4393830&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F01%2Femerging-trends-in-antibacterial-discovery-answering-the-call-to-arms.html Alita A. Miller and Paul F. Miller (Antibacterials Research Unit, Pfizer Worldwide, Groton, USA) present a new book on Emerging Trends in Antibacterial Discovery: Answering the Call to Arms In this book, respected international experts summarize the most important concepts and pioneering strategies currently being used to develop novel antibacterials. The book opens with chapters on cellular processes that could be used as novel antibacterial targets. Examples include cell division, efflux pumps, metabolite-sensing riboswitches and bacterial secretion systems. These are followed by excellent chapters on the identification of new, naturally occurring antibacterial agents, including phage and biosynthetically engineered compounds. Understanding the host-microbe interaction and microbial comm... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4393830 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 11:10:01 +0100 4393830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4393831&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F01%2Fepigenetics-a-reference-manual.html Jeffrey M. Craig and Nicholas C. Wong (Developmental Epigenetics Group, Murdoch Children's Research Institute, Victoria, Australia) present a new book on Epigenetics The editors of this book have assembled top-quality scientists from diverse fields of epigenetics to produce a major new volume. Comprehensive and cutting-edge, the 26 chapters in this book constitute a key reference manual for everyone involved in epigenetics, DNA methylation, cancer epigenetics and related fields. Topics include: early life environment, DNA methylation and behavior, histone acetyltransferase biology, transgenerational epigenetic inheritance, mammalian X inactivation, epigenetic memory in plants, polycomb-group regulation, centromeres and telomeres, DNA sequence contribution to nucleosome distribution, macros... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4393831 Mon, 24 Jan 2011 09:19:58 +0100 4393831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4388948&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F01%2Fmetagenomics-current-innovations-and-future-trends.html Diana Marco (Microbiology Department, Estacion Experimental del Zaidin (CSIC), Granada, Spain) presents a new book on Metagenomics: Current Innovations and Future Trends This book covers the most innovative and recent advances in theoretical, methodological and applied areas of metagenomics. Topics covered include metagenomics integration with complementary technologies, bacterial genealogy, viral metagenomics, the regulation of prokaryotic communities, functional metagenomics, systems biology, next-generation sequencing, stable isotope probing, DNA sequencing of uncultured microbes, cyberinfrastructure resource, identification of novel viruses, metagenomics of fungal communities, the human microbiome, microbial bioremediation, metagenomic enzyme discovery, quorum-sensing, plant-pathogen i... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4388948 Sun, 23 Jan 2011 15:40:18 +0100 4388948 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4382201&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2011%2F01%2Fnitrogen-cycling-in-bacteria-molecular-analysis.html James W. B. Moir (Department of Biology, University of York, UK) presents a new book on Nitrogen Cycling in Bacteria: Molecular Analysis This timely book aims to provide comprehensive reviews of current nitrogen cycle research and to give a broader perspective on the state of our understanding of this key biogeochemical cycle. With contributions from expert authors from around the world, topics covered include: the archaean N-cycle; redox complexes N-cycle; organisation of respiratory chains in N-cycle processes; Mo-nitrogenase; nitrogen assimilation in bacteria; alternative routes to dinitrogen; nitrite and nitrous oxide reductases; assembly of respiratory proteins; nitric oxide metabolism; denitrification in legume-associated endosymbiotic bacteria; nitrous oxide production in the terres... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4382201 Fri, 21 Jan 2011 19:45:22 +0100 4382201 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4331166&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2011%2F01%2F11%2Fopenpcr-%25e2%2580%2593-open-source-hackable-pcr-machine%2F I’ve recently come across an exciting project, OpenPCR that aims to build a PCR machine by using simple elements that you can buy anywhere. You can pre-order the machine for 512$. We want to produce an open design for a PCR machine. Our goal is to start this project up quickly and get a working prototype made for Maker Faire. After that, add on applications such as SNPs or PCR kits or synthetic biology. A DIY Xerox machine for DNA: A fast, computer controlled PCR machine that uses normal PCR tubes and may be built mostly with off the shelf components + free schematics. It does thermal cycling as well as boil, cool, and freeze (4C) samples. Please help them! You watch a presentation about the project here. (Source: ScienceRoll) ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4331166 Tue, 11 Jan 2011 04:04:01 +0100 4331166 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4314006&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fhenrietta-lacks-and-her-immortal-cells%2F2011.01.05 If you like science, true history, and an engaging story, pick up the new book by journalist Rebecca Skloot, “The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks” and prepare for a great read. I knew nothing about the young black woman whose cells were taken back in 1951 by a scientist at Johns Hopkins Hospital and how those cells have revolutionized modern cell biology and research. The HeLa (named after HEnrietta LAcks) cells were taken as she lay dying on the “colored” ward at Johns Hopkins Hospital of aggressive cervical cancer at age 30. Everyone who studies basic cell biology has heard of HeLa cells because they were the first human cell line to be successfully grown in culture and they are alive today. HeLa cells were sent to researchers all across the globe and have been... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4314006 Wed, 05 Jan 2011 20:00:00 +0100 4314006 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4293524&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fdna-microarrays-in-pathogen-detection.html from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment ApplicationsSignificant advances in the detection of sequence-specific nucleic acid hybridization have been achieved using microarrays. Microarrays are glass microslides or nylon membranes containing a high density of immobilized nucleic acids (genomic DNA, cDNA or oligonucleotides) in an ordered two-dimensional matrix. Microarrays can be prepared by synthesizing DNA in situ on a glass surface using combinational chemistry or by robotic microdeposition of cDNAs (0.5- to 2-kb) amplified by PCR. The sample DNA, usually bound to a fluorescent or enzyme label, is exposed to the microarray and hybridizes with the target sequences. The detection of the probe-target hybrid at each spot on the array is achieved either by direct fluorescence s... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4293524 Mon, 27 Dec 2010 05:00:06 +0100 4293524 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280900&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fasbmb-2011.html A list of ASBMB conferences for 2011 relevant to microbiology and molecular biology. Details of conferences organized by the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280900 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:12:42 +0100 4280900 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280901&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fkeystone-conferences-2011.html A list of Keystone conferences for 2011 relevant to microbiology and molecular biology. Details of conferences organized by Keystone. (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280901 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:11:20 +0100 4280901 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280902&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fselect-biosciences-conferences-2011.html A list of Select Biosciences conferences for 2011 relevant to microbiology and molecular biology. Details of conferences organized by Select Biosciences. (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280902 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:09:43 +0100 4280902 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280903&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fembo-conferences-2011.html A list of EMBO conferences for 2011 relevant to microbiology and molecular biology. Details of conferences organized by the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO). (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280903 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:07:29 +0100 4280903 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4280904&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fgordon-research-conferences-2011.html A list of Gordon Research Conferences relevant to microbiology and molecular biology, for 2011. Details of conferences organized by Gordon Research Conferences (GRC). (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4280904 Wed, 22 Dec 2010 14:04:50 +0100 4280904 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4271949&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fdetection-of-waterborne-pathogens-current-and-emerging-approaches.html from Theron et al. in Nanotechnology in Water Treatment ApplicationsTraditionally, prediction of the presence of human enteric pathogens in water has been achieved by monitoring for established microbial "indicators" of fecal pollution. Not necessarily pathogenic themselves, fecal coliforms, total coliforms, E. coli, enterococci and bacteriophages are all examples of organisms that when present are viewed as predictive of the potential presence of enteric pathogens, since they have the same fecal source as the pathogenic organisms. Tests for coliform bacteria are standardized and relatively easy and inexpensive to use. Consequently, they are more rapidly administered than tests determining the presence of individual pathogenic microorganisms in water. Despite being successful in predicting... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4271949 Mon, 20 Dec 2010 05:00:07 +0100 4271949 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4250963&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F12%2Fmicrobial-bioremediation-of-non-metals.html Anna-Irini Koukkou (University of Ioannina, Greece) presents a new book on Microbial Bioremediation of Non-metals: Current Research Topics covered include: enzymatic biodegradation reactions; the impact of bioturbation on hydrocarbon dynamics in marine sediments; the structure, function and biodiversity of ring-hydroxylating dioxygenases involved in PAH biodegradation; strategies to engineer PCB-degrading bacteria; PCB-degrading plant-microbe systems strategies; the structure, regulation and diversity of microbial genes encoding biodegradative enzymes. In addition there are excellent reviews detailing the application of the state-of-the-art molecular technologies to study biodegradative processes. Technologies covered are community fingerprinting, molecular detection of degradative genes, ... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4250963 Sat, 11 Dec 2010 16:40:14 +0100 4250963 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4205935&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbiological-cinematography-animating-the-cells-of-life%2F2010.11.27 The New York Times published an article (with VIDEO) about molecular animators, scientists who can visualize the microscopic segments of life in a professional way: If there is a Steven Spielberg of molecular animation, it is probably Drew Berry, a cell biologist who works for the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne, Australia. Mr. Berry’s work is revered for artistry and accuracy within the small community of molecular animators, and has also been shown in museums, including the Museum of Modern Art in New York and the Centre Pompidou in Paris. In 2008, his animations formed the backdrop for a night of music and science at the Guggenheim Museum called “Genes and Jazz.” “Scientists have always done pictures to explain their ideas, but now we’re discov... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4205935 Sat, 27 Nov 2010 15:00:29 +0100 4205935 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4203183&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSciencebaseScienceBlog%2F%7E3%2FrxNokmfSDr4%2Fsix-science-books-for-the-holiday-season.html subjects as diverse as molecular biology pioneer Sydney Brenner, the question of antimatter, how scientists can better explain their research to non-scientists, a history of the chemical elements, scientific feuds and how innovators exploit business and technology trends. Minitrends – Minitrends are emerging trends that promise to become significantly important within 2-5 years, but are not generally recognized. Unlike megatrends or microtrends, Minitrends are of a scope and importance to offer attractive opportunities to individuals and businesses of all sizes. The one that caught my eye is mention of nanotechnology and how it could be used in water purification and to make "fake" bone (I think they mean "artificial")! Scientific Feuds – Most science his... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4203183 Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:05:06 +0100 4203183 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4771190&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=38577&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbiosingularity.com%2F2010%2F11%2F20%2Ffor-decades-scientists-have-been-searching-for-the-fundamental-biological-secrets-of-how-eating-less-extends-lifespan-it-has-been-well-documented-in-species-ranging-from-spiders-to-monkeys-that-a-d%2F For decades, scientists have been searching for the fundamental biological secrets of how eating less extends lifespan. It has been well documented in species ranging from spiders to monkeys that a diet with consistently fewer calories can dramatically slow the process of aging and improve health in old age. But how a reduced diet acts [...] (Source: Biosingularity) Biosingularity blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4771190 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:47:40 +0100 4771190 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4771191&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=38577&url=http%3A%2F%2Fbiosingularity.com%2F2010%2F11%2F20%2Fnew-study-into-bladder-regeneration-heralds-organ-replacement-treatment%2F Researchers in the United States have developed a medical model for regenerating bladders using stem cells harvested from a patient’s own bone marrow. The research, published in STEM CELLS, is especially relevant for paediatric patients suffering from abnormally developed bladders, but also represents another step towards new organ replacement therapies. The research, led by Dr [...] (Source: Biosingularity) Biosingularity blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4771191 Sat, 20 Nov 2010 01:25:10 +0100 4771191 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4171602&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F11%2Fpcr-troubleshooting-and-optimization.html The new book PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential Guide edited by Suzanne Kennedy and Nick Oswald has been delivered to our distributors and is available for immediate dispatch read more ... PCR Troubleshooting and Optimization: The Essential GuideEdited by: Suzanne Kennedy and Nick OswaldISBN: 978-1-904455-72-1Publisher: Caister Academic PressPublication Date: January 2011Cover: hardback read more ... (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4171602 Tue, 16 Nov 2010 08:25:26 +0100 4171602 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4098297&cid=t_103947_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FYourBonesGotALittleMachine%2F%7E3%2FbkGkw1Rbhl0%2F Recently I developed a simple mobile interface to the Registry of Standard Biological Parts – the database that is currently the focal point for parts-based synthetic biology. I’ve called this mobile interface mPartsRegistry and I thought it would be worth outlining it’s features and sharing some notes about the project, in case someone else finds it useful. mPartsRegistry is a simple interface to the Registry of Standard Biological Parts aimed at mobile smartphone browsers. It’s powered by the Parts Registry API, which provides a simple RESTful interface to key metadata about parts in the database. It features: . A simple interface tailored for mobile WebKit browsers (Android browser, mobile Safari, probably others). Web-based, zero-installation required. . Basic... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4098297 Sun, 24 Oct 2010 08:37:47 +0100 4098297 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4061009&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2010%2F10%2F12%2Fbionumbers-database-of-biological-numbers%2F If you have ever tried to look up a number such as the volume of a cell, the outer membrane width of E. coli or the cellular concentration of ATP, you will like BioNumbers, a database of biological numbers. It is often surprising how difficult it can be to find concrete biological numbers, even for properties that have been measured numerous times. To help solve this for one and all, BioNumbers (the database of key numbers in molecular biology) was created. Along with the numbers, you’ll find the relevant references to the original literature, useful comments, and related numbers. Though we have made an honest first try at simplifying the process of finding useful biological numbers, there is still much work to be done. A key challenge is filling in the large number of missing items.... ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4061009 Tue, 12 Oct 2010 17:23:39 +0100 4061009 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4031269&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FNUZvmHHEcPw%2Fnew_site--history_of_vaccines.php This is great. The College of Physicians of Philadelphia has launched a site on The History of Vaccines. I've been poking around, and there's an incredible amount of stuff to check out. They have a nice FAQ, Top 20 questions about vaccination, as well as some great activities (herd immunity! learn about Koch's postulates! understand the relative risk of vaccination versus other events!) and a metric f.ton of articles and images. Looks to be a fantastic resource for students, and for anyone interested in understanding vaccination. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Aetiology) Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4031269 Mon, 04 Oct 2010 14:00:00 +0100 4031269 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4025659&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F10%2F02%2Feven-monkeys-know-when-theyre-being-treated-unfairly%2F Discussion about (In)Equality,”“Inequality and the Unequal Situation of Mental and Physical Health, “The Situational Effects of (In)Equality,” “The Situational Consequences of Poverty on Brains,” “The Interior Situation of Intergenerational Poverty,” “Rich Brains, Poor Brains?,” “The Toll of Discrimination on Black Women,” “Miscalculating Welfare - Abstract” “Cheering for the Underdog,” “The Physical Pains of Discrimination,” and “The Cognitive Costs of Interracial Interactions.” (Source: The Situationist) The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4025659 Sat, 02 Oct 2010 04:01:33 +0100 4025659 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4002997&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2010%2F09%2F26%2Fthe-top-3-causes-of-frizzy-hair-2%2F Bluz Cluz is dizzy about frizzy hair…My question is what causes frizzy hair and what can I do to prevent this? My hair tends to go crazy in rainy weather or if there’s a lot of humidity in the air. The Right Brain gives her a scientific spin: BC, here are the 3 main reasons your hair gets frizzy: 1) The Natural Shape of Your Hair: Hair that grows out curly tends to more frizzy than hair that grows out straight. The shape of the shaft is primarily determined by the shape of the follicles, the little tubes under your scalp that your hair grows out of. Sadly, there’s not much you can do to change the genetics of your hair, although you could chemically straighten it. 2) How You Cut and Style It: If you’ve got longer hair that’s experienced a lot of brushing and c... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4002997 Sun, 26 Sep 2010 13:01:03 +0100 4002997 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=4001709&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F09%2F25%2Flistening-in-on-another-conversation%2F We’ve all done it — listened in on another conversation while talking to someone else. How can we do that? How can we focus our listening abilities on a far away conversation while “turning off” the ability to listen to the conversation that’s right in front of us? This unique listening ability is called selective listening and most people can do it. It’s our ability to tune out one conversation and have our brains hone in on another. And despite this fairly common phenomenon, neuroscientists still have little idea of how we do it. It seems to come down to understanding the neural pathways and circuits that underlie our attention skills. In understanding simple attention skills like how we can selectively listen, neuroscientists believe it could also hel... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=4001709 Sat, 25 Sep 2010 16:45:21 +0100 4001709 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3987186&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2010%2F09%2F20%2Fdance-your-ph-d-finalists-announced%2F Last year, I wrote about Science Magazine’s competition in which researchers could dance their research projects or PhDs. Now the finalists are announced. Check these highly creative scientists out: That’s the idea behind “Dance Your Ph.D.” Over the past 3 years, scientists from around the world have teamed up to create dance videos based on their graduate research. This year’s contest, launched in June by Science, received 45 brave submissions. Today, judges—including scientists, choreographers, and past winners—announced the finalists in four categories: physics, chemistry, biology, and social sciences. Each receives $500. The judges will announce the winner next month at the Imagine Science Film Festival in New York City. But you can vote for your favor... ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3987186 Mon, 20 Sep 2010 17:16:38 +0100 3987186 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3980957&cid=t_103947_132_f&fid=35013&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpedrobeltrao%2F%7E3%2FF5UmWS-uus8%2Fsystems-biology-versus-real-biology.html Scientific American has an article about this years' Lindau meeting of Nobel Laureates. It features an interesting conversations between Tim Hunt, Roland Pache (at the time PhD student) and undergraduate Sophia Hsing-Jung Li. Here is the video of the conversation: The discussion centered around systems biology and Hunt was not shy about expressing his skepticism. Since I happen to see great value in both the Omics and the design principles sort of work that characterize systems biology my frustration grew quickly. The whole video can be neatly summarize by Hunt's advice that people working in systems biology should "spend plenty of time talking to real biologists". Real biologists ? ... I felt like writing a long rant about the findings that were made possible by the sort of work tha... Public Rambling blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3980957 Fri, 17 Sep 2010 21:03:00 +0100 3980957 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3889081&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fbodily-organs-which-one-is-the-most-important-and-why%2F2010.08.20 My medical student has apparently had a discussion with his classmates regarding which is the most important organ in the body. Is it the heart? The lungs? The kidneys? What do you think? My medical student thinks it’s the kidney because of the complicated functions it must perform. I think it’s the skin because it holds everything together and keeps our economy going. What do you think? What is the most important organ in the body and why? *This blog post was originally published at The Happy Hospitalist* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3889081 Fri, 20 Aug 2010 19:00:00 +0100 3889081 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3867000&cid=t_103947_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F08%2Fpregnancy-in-man-with-testicular.html This is a guest post by Dr. Sai, Senior Embryologist at Malpani Infertility ClinicThe collection of testicular sperm directly from the testes allows us to help men with azoospermia to have a baby with their own sperm ! This is called testicular sperm extraction with ICSI ( TESE-ICSI ). It’s easy to find sperm in men with obstructive azospermia, because their testes produce sperm normally. However, it can be very challenging to find sperm in men with non-obstructive azoospermia who have partial testicular failure, because sperm production in these men is very patchy.When doing a testicular biopsy, there is sometimes some bleeding, and often the testicular tissue which the surgeon hands over to the lab is blood stained. When these samples are processed in the lab to recover the testicular ... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3867000 Sat, 14 Aug 2010 14:06:00 +0100 3867000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3827066&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fwhich-five-drugs-would-you-take-on-a-remote-desert-island%2F2010.08.05 This post follows a lengthy conversation I had with my wife, a physician-scientist, about this very topic. Many of you who attended the ScienceOnline2010 conference here last January probably met Carmen Drahl, the Princeton-trained chemist who now writes for Chemical & Engineering News and their appropriately-named drug discovery blog, The Haystack, as well as their Newscripts feature. For the latter, Dr. Drahl pointed us toward a recent “Crosstalks” paper in Chemistry & Biology by Thomas U. Mayer and Andreas Marx of the University of Konstanz (and her interview with the authors) who mused as follows from their abstract: Which five molecules would you take to a remote island? If you imagine yourself as a castaway on an island you might pick water, glucose, penicillin, and e... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3827066 Thu, 05 Aug 2010 18:00:33 +0100 3827066 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3813213&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2010%2F08%2Fnew-data-challenges-assumptions-about-smoking-and-lung-cancer.html Data presented at the recent 11th International Lung Cancer Congress challenges the commonly accepted notion that most lung cancer patients are current smokers or only recently quit after the onset of lung cancer-related symptoms.  A retrospective study of 626 lung cancer patients treated at a tertiary care center reported that 77% of patients had a smoking history--but only 14.7% were smoking at the time of diagnosis.  Moreover, 60% of the remaining patients with a smoking history had not smoked for a mean of 18 years--and the other 40% had stopped smoking within 10 years of diagnosis.  The research team was led by Dr. Cindy Mong from UCLA-David Geffen School of Medicine.In addition, a relationship between the time interval of smoking cessation and tumor histologic type ... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3813213 Mon, 02 Aug 2010 14:00:00 +0100 3813213 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3802529&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2010%2F07%2F29%2Fserial-cloner-a-molecular-biology-software%2F A short note about Serial Cloner, a free Molecular Biology software that is available for Windows and Mac as well. It has tons of features such as sequence alignment, vitual PCR, cloning, etc. A real diamond for molecular biologists. Serial Cloner has been developed to provide a light molecular biology software to both Macintosh and Windows users. Serial Cloner reads and write DNA Strider-compatible files and import and export files in the universal FASTA format. Serial Cloner also import files saved in the Vector NTI, ApE, pDRAW32 and GenBank formats. Import from MacVector is also possible now.  Powerful graphical display tools and simple interfaces help the analysis and construction steps in a very intuitive way. Serial Cloner 2.0 now handles Annotations and Features both in the sequ... ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3802529 Thu, 29 Jul 2010 11:09:30 +0100 3802529 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3764137&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fclothing-made-of-bacteria-would-you-wear-it%2F2010.07.18 A British research project called BioCouture is working on clothing made out of bacterial cellulose that was grown in a hacked-together bioreactor. As Gizmodo notes, it’s not clear what the point of the project is, seeing how we already grow cotton in a pretty efficient manner, but we kind of like the concept nevertheless. It’s sure to be a hit in biology labs everywhere. See more pictures here: BioCouture… *This blog post was originally published at Medgadget* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3764137 Sun, 18 Jul 2010 15:30:13 +0100 3764137 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3762988&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2010%2F07%2F18%2Fthe-reason-armpit-hair-doesnt-grow-down-to-your-knees%2F Li longs to learn: How does hair know when to grow? When you shave your legs, it grows back but it stops growing after a certain length. If you shave it again, it will grow back to that length. What’s up with that??? The Left Brain leads her: Li, actually your question is easy to answer once you understand two things: 3 stages of hair growth The first thing to know is that hair goes through 3 different stages as it grows: Anagen, Catagen and Telogen phases. The Anagen stage (that’s Anagen, not Anakin!) is the stage where the hair grows like crazy. This stage can last a up to 4 to 6 years and can produce scalp hairs that grow to be almost 3 feet in length! (that’s 100 cm for our international readers). And if you think 3 feet is impressive, you ain’t seen nothin&#82... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3762988 Sun, 18 Jul 2010 06:01:07 +0100 3762988 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3750043&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=36438&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FCato-at-liberty%2F%7E3%2FBajCOojQbZg%2F By Jason KuznickiPolitical scientist Larry Arnhart heads this month’s Cato Unbound. He argues that libertarians need to integrate biological evolution into their thinking about human cultures and even politics. More provocatively, he claims that the “a Darwinian science of human evolution supports classical liberalism.” This is the case, he argues, even though market competition differ[s] radically from biological competition. Biological competition is a zero-sum game where the survival of one organism is at the expense of others competing for the same scarce resources. But market competition is a positive-sum game where all the participants can gain from voluntary exchanges with one another. In a liberal society of free markets based on voluntary exchanges, success dep... Cato-at-liberty blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3750043 Tue, 13 Jul 2010 16:10:48 +0100 3750043 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3706771&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2010%2F06%2F29%2Fis-there-a-safe-blow-dry-temperature%2F Daffodil asks…Based on one of your descriptions of heat damage, I am wondering if cool air will also do any damage by shocking the cuticle dry too quickly, and removing natural moisture. I thought cool air would be completely safe, now I’m not quite sure. The Left Brain responds: While it seems logical that cool air would be completely safe for your hair you have to understand that the problem is not just the temperature of the air used to dry your hair. It’s also the fact that you cycling your hair through wet and dry conditions. Dry damaged When hair is saturated with water the cortex (the inner protein bundles that give hair its strength) swells up. The outer protective layer of your hair, the cuticle, is not as “stretchy” as the cortex so it doesn’t... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3706771 Tue, 29 Jun 2010 06:01:30 +0100 3706771 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3687099&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Finside-the-nih-grant-review-process%2F2010.06.22 The National Institutes of Health (NIH) is the world’s biggest sponsor of research in the life sciences. Today’s biologists, clinical researchers, and many others rely on the NIH for their funding. To help people better understand how the peer review process happens within the NIH, the agency’s Center for Scientific Review created the following video that includes samples of research being openly discussed by a number of scientists: Click here to view another video of tips for NIH grant applicants. *This blog post was originally published at Medgadget* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3687099 Tue, 22 Jun 2010 22:00:59 +0100 3687099 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3678583&cid=t_103947_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F06%2Fhow-to-increase-your-stress-levels-when.html Being infertile is stressful - and going through an IVF cycle can be even more stressful, because so much is riding on the outcome of the treatment. While the actual medical treatment in an IVF cycle ( shots, scans , pickup and transfer) is not physically taxing, the emotional demands ( because of the hopes, dreams, desires, fears which are such an integral part of all infertility treatment ) can exact a huge toll.The one factor which causes the most stress is having unrealistic expectations . Every patient feels in their heart of hearts that " this is the cycle when it's going to work !" - and I do not think any one would ever start an IVF cycle if they did not feel it was going to work. Unfortunately, the only thing which is in your hands is the process. You can make sure you have a comp... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3678583 Sat, 19 Jun 2010 09:55:00 +0100 3678583 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3671927&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35005&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Ffungalcompgenomics%2F%7E3%2FLT26n1mCdlM%2F University of British Columbia’s Michael Smith Laboratory and Center for High-throughput Biology are advertising 6 faculty positions some of which could be great match for candidates with fungal biology interests.  There is more information about the jobs and applying available here. [note: I am more than happy to post mycology related job adverts on this site, so please feel free to be in touch] (Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics) Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3671927 Thu, 17 Jun 2010 21:50:04 +0100 3671927 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3666242&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2010%2F06%2Fsystems-biology-approach-shows-myb-and-foxm1-as-master-regulators-of-germinal-center-proliferation.html Back from a relaxing stay-cation as well as ASCO meeting--The June 2010 issue of Molecular Systems Biology has a fascinating study identifying MYB and FOXM1 as "master regulators" of germinal center proliferation in lymph nodes.  Why should we as pathologists care about this?What piqued my curiosity here was a connection with my previous post summarizing what I learned at USCAP on the molecular pathology of diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) regarding dysregulated genes in DLBCL (including MYC) and identification of three gene expression subgroups, including the "germinal center B-cell-like" group.The authors use some fascinating and powerful techniques around a systems biology approach to find master regulator genes controlling specific cellular processes (in ... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3666242 Wed, 16 Jun 2010 02:24:22 +0100 3666242 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3742326&cid=t_103947_122_f&fid=35077&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurophilosophy.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F06%2F07%2Fthe_neuroimmunological_basis_of_hair_pulling%2F New research shows that trichotillomania (compulsive hair pulling) occurs as a result of defects in the brain's immune system, and can be alleviated by bone marrow transplants. (Source: Neurophilosophy) Neurophilosophy blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3742326 Mon, 07 Jun 2010 16:55:41 +0100 3742326 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3629636&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fsynthetic-life-created-the-first-micro-avatar%2F2010.06.03 For the first time in history, a living organism has been manufactured with the help of a computer-generated genome. Dr. Jon LaPook reports on the groundbreaking discovery’s widespread implications. Watch CBS News Videos Online The First Micro-Avatar Craig Venter and his team of scientists recently announced that they had created the first “synthetic cell” — a bacterium controlled by genetic material that they had designed on a computer and concocted from four bottles of chemicals. This is the closest thing to creating life that has happened outside of a science-fiction movie. If it doesn’t fire your imagination, then you should fire your imagination. Basically, what Venter et al did was remove the “brain” (the genetic material that runs the cell) from one species o... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3629636 Thu, 03 Jun 2010 19:51:56 +0100 3629636 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3607842&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2010%2F05%2Fmutations-amok-in-lung-cancer.html A team from Genentech reports their findings in this week's Nature 465, 473-477 (27 May 2010) of direct tumor sequencing of a 51-year-old man with a 19-pack-year smoking history.  Note the greater than 50,000 mutations compared with paired "normal" lung. (egads!!!)  Not surprisingly, they found mutation of KRAS.  The magnitude and breadth of mutations is staggering and was surprising to the researchers.  Certainly give pause to ongoing efforts to identify oncogene-addicted tumors amenable to targeted therapy.excerpt from abstract:Here we present the complete sequences of a primary lung tumour (60× coverage) and adjacent normal tissue (46×). Comparing the two genomes, we identify a wide variety of somatic variations, including >50,000 high-confi... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3607842 Thu, 27 May 2010 20:30:00 +0100 3607842 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3607732&cid=t_103947_132_f&fid=35013&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpedrobeltrao%2F%7E3%2F8SBJFMCGX_g%2Fgenetic-interactions-in-powers-of-ten.html During my PhD at EMBL I attended a talk by Peer Bork where he said that computational biologists have the luxury of being able to work at any level of biological organization (atoms, cellular interactions, organism, ecosystems, etc) . At the time his lab was starting to work with metagenomics and his talks would cover the whole range of topics from protein domains to ecosystems. This idea of studying biology across this different scales reminded me of a very inspiring short movie entitled "Powers of Ten" (Wikipedia entry). This 1977 short movie was commissioned by IBM and it was written and directed by Ray Eames and Charles Eames. It takes the viewer on a journey in space from the very small atomic resolution to the outer reaches of the universe in incremental steps of powers of ten. Its o... Public Rambling blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3607732 Thu, 27 May 2010 19:39:00 +0100 3607732 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3592354&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35008&url=http%3A%2F%2Fscienceroll.com%2F2010%2F05%2F24%2Fself-replicating-synthetic-life%2F When I started medical school in 2003, we heard rumours about Craig Venter who was working on some sort of synthetic life and now I just saw the recent reports. An excerpt from Wired: In a feat that is the culmination of two and a half years of tests and adjustments, researchers at the J. Craig Venter Institute inserted artificial genetic material — chemically printed, synthesized and assembled — into cells that were then able to grow naturally. On a Friday in March, scientists inserted over 1 million base pairs of synthetic DNA into Mycoplasma capricolum cells before leaving for the weekend. When they returned on Monday, their cells had bloomed into colonies. (Source: ScienceRoll) ScienceRoll blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3592354 Sun, 23 May 2010 23:11:33 +0100 3592354 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3588958&cid=t_103947_122_f&fid=35066&url=http%3A%2F%2Fneurodudes.com%2F2010%2F05%2F21%2Ffirst-organism-from-entirely-synthesized-genome%2F Craig Venter has made a bacterium from an entirely synthesized genome (link is nice summary in WSJ). Here’s the paper in Science. Now, that that’s taken care of… who will be the first to design a “synthetic biological neural circuit”? (Source: neurodudes) neurodudes blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3588958 Fri, 21 May 2010 19:31:40 +0100 3588958 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3577499&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2010%2F05%2F19%2Fdoes-hair-grow-faster-in-the-summer%2F This study confirms the presence of seasonal variations in normal trichogram.” 3. Seasonality of Hair Shedding in Healthy Women “These results confirm the findings of former authors who have indicated seasonal changes in human hair growth, though this is the first study performed systematically in a representative number of women.” It looks like there is reasonable evidence that hair grows faster in the summer. What an interesting and surprising finding! Isn’t science wonderful? (Source: thebeautybrains.com) thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3577499 Wed, 19 May 2010 06:01:24 +0100 3577499 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3560233&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Flow-dose-naltrexone-medical-revolution-or-pseudoscience%2F2010.05.13 On SBM we have documented the many and various ways that science is abused in the pursuit of health (or making money from those who are pursuing health). One such method is to take a new, but reasonable, scientific hypothesis and run with it, long past the current state of the evidence. We see this with the many bogus stem cell therapy clinics that are popping up in parts of the world with lax regulation. This type of medical pseudoscience is particularly challenging to deal with, because there is a scientific paper trail that seems to support many of the claims of proponents. The claims themselves may have significant plausibility, and parts of the claims may in fact be true. Efforts to educate the public about such treatments are frustrated by the mainstream media’s lazy tendency to di... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3560233 Thu, 13 May 2010 12:00:52 +0100 3560233 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3556098&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fchallenges-continue-for-women-in-science-and-medicine%2F2010.05.11 I didn’t turn on the computer yesterday (yes, it was glorious), so I missed Mother’s Day coverage in our local newspaper. When we returned home, I was happy to see that on the front page of the print copy the dean of Duke School of Medicine, Nancy Andrews, M.D., Ph.D., was featured with her daughter in the lab on their “fun Saturdays” together. Also cited and pictured in the article was Duke vice dean for research and professor of pharmacology and cancer biology, Sally Kornbluth, Ph.D., and her daughter. Written by News & Observer science editor Sarah Avery, the article describes how women are increasing in ranks in biomedical degrees earned while still lagging at the associate professor level and up. This trend was cited specifically for faculty and administrat... Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3556098 Tue, 11 May 2010 16:00:19 +0100 3556098 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3546916&cid=t_103947_112_f&fid=34971&url=http%3A%2F%2Fdoctorandpatient.blogspot.com%2F2010%2F05%2Fwill-ivf-cause-me-to-run-out-of-eggs.html I just got this email from one of my patients." How many unsuccessful IVF attempts does a person like me go through before AMH levels get impacted and early menopause sets in?This is a very common concern many IVF patients have. They feel that pumping their body full of hormones in each IVF cycle is bound to have a deleterious effect on their body - no matter what the medical studies show. This is a very real fear , which is often not articulated." IVF will never cause you to have an early menopause. Let's look at some basic reproductive biology to understand why this is true. Every month , about 40 ovarian follicles start growing. This is called follicular recruitment, and occurs as a result of the production of FSH ( follicle stimulating hormone) . Of these, only one matures . This is wh... The Patient's Doctor blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3546916 Sun, 09 May 2010 12:46:00 +0100 3546916 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3538090&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=39187&url=http%3A%2F%2Fgetbetterhealth.com%2Fdo-you-own-your-genome%2F2010.05.06 As the costs of sequencing our DNA shrink and the roles of digital media in our lives expand, we will need to understand who (or what) controls the ownership, access and use of our genomic information. From state regulation to Google to Facebook, who controls the acquisition, transmission and replication of our genomic information and material will become an important battle in the 21st century. (more…) *This blog post was originally published at Phil Baumann* (Source: Better Health) Better Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3538090 Thu, 06 May 2010 14:00:11 +0100 3538090 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3519621&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35005&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Ffungalcompgenomics%2F%7E3%2F8T_DqOMWXGw%2F Check out Zach Lewis’s Chromatin Chronicles for all good things about chromatin biology and epigenetics. (Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics) Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3519621 Fri, 30 Apr 2010 16:03:35 +0100 3519621 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3511556&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2F_NTP1xnx6KE%2Fworms_are_they_good_or_bad_for.php Student guest post by Shylo Wardyn "Of all the parasites I've had over the years, these worms are among the... hell, they are the best". Was Fry from the animated show 'Futurama' right in his assessment of worms being good for him? Did he know something about parasitic worm infections that I was unaware of? Well, in the show, his parasites were doing remarkable things for his body, but does this translate to real life at all? Some people think so. Altman reviews the idea that over evolutionary time, our ancestors were infected with all sorts of parasites and this led to an interaction between the worm gene products and the immune system. These interactions led to modulation of dendritic cells and establishment of T-cell networks. It has been hypothesized that in an environment without ... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3511556 Tue, 27 Apr 2010 22:00:00 +0100 3511556 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3508148&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=36050&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblisstree.com%2Flive%2Flung-cancer-smoke-signals-women-still-at-high-risk%2F A new report features some scary stats about lung cancer, which is the leading cause of death among both men and women. Check this out: Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women, killing more women each year than breast and all gynecological cancers combined. Every day, nearly 300 women will be diagnosed with lung cancer and about 200 women will die of it. Lung cancer incidence in women has increased six-fold over the past 30 years. Twenty percent of women diagnosed with lung cancer today have never smoked. Report conducted by the Mary Horrigan Connors Center For Women’s Health and Gender Biology. photo: Thinkstock Post from: BlissTree Lung Cancer Smoke Signals: Women Still at High Risk (Source: Breastfeeding 1-2-3) Breastfeeding 1-2-3 blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3508148 Tue, 27 Apr 2010 13:03:02 +0100 3508148 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3494319&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2F4HeaKzNVx3M%2Fwhats_in_your_genes.php This article also provided further evidence to the idea that an error in a single gene may be enough to radically alter individual risk for bacterial disease. This research group, led by Jean Laurent Casanova has also conducted research studies showing underlying genetic vulnerabilities to other infectious diseases including pneumococcal disease and herpes simplex encephalitis. I found this topic interesting because a lot of important efforts focus on altering environmental factors that cause disease but the strong presence of a genetic component just keeps sneaking into all forms of disease and illness and adding a complexity to understanding and treatment. It just goes to show how interactive the battle between the human body and infectious agents has become! While there have been ... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3494319 Thu, 22 Apr 2010 16:12:26 +0100 3494319 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490652&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FXMUsI485UnM%2Fcampylobacter_jejuni-associate.php Student guest post by D.F. Johnston As the year marches forward, ever closer to that summer sun we missed so much during dreary winter days, we also get closer to the traditional summer picnics and barbecues. Sometimes, in our hurry to enjoy quality time with friends and family, we get distracted from our usual practices for proper food handling. We might try to get little Billy his hamburger before he has time for a full-fledged temper tantrum, so we hurry it along, figuring a tiny bit of pink in the middle won't be the end of the world. Or we might realize that we're short a couple of serving spoons and re-use the meat fork for the raw fruit or veggie tray. After all, even if we're thinking about foodborne illness, a little diarrhea is our biggest worry, right? Actually, amongst the ... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490652 Wed, 21 Apr 2010 01:42:26 +0100 3490652 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3490653&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FDTl5_RRsod4%2Fpsychological_disorders_associ.php Student guest post by Laura Vonnahme As a part of traveling to a developing nation, we are often required to take medical precautions. This generally includes a line-up of shots for various diseases, a few other tests, and various regimens of prophylaxis for possible diseases. I have often left these doctors appointments with a line of band-aids on my arm, a handful of prescriptions and a little weakness in my knees. However, I will readily admit that my malaria prophylaxis is often pushed to the back burner; in fact the last time I went to a developing nation, I didn't even get the malaria prophylaxis until I was in the country and I didn't even bother taking it for the prescribed amount of time. However, as I readily admit my shortsightedness in the past, I have become more aware of the... Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3490653 Tue, 20 Apr 2010 20:00:00 +0100 3490653 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3467830&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F04%2F14%2F2010-law-and-mind-sciences-conference%2F The 2010 Conference on Law and Mind Sciences “Moral Biology? How should developments in mind sciences and behavioral biology alter our understanding of law and morality?” When: Thursday, April 15, 2010, at 5:30 p.m. Where: Harvard Law School, Austin Hall, West Classroom Free and Open to the Public This panel discussion will examine how developments in evolutionary biology and the mind sciences should inform law, philosophy, and economics, focusing on subjects such as punishment, responsibility, racism, addiction, and cooperation. Participants will include: I. Glenn Cohen Joshua Greene William Fitzpatrick Adina Roskies Walter Sinnott-Armstrong Thomas Scanlon Co-sponsored by The Project on Law and Mind Sciences at Harvard Law School, The Petrie-Flom Center for Health Law P... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3467830 Wed, 14 Apr 2010 04:01:38 +0100 3467830 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3449060&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Fblogs.discovermagazine.com%2Fgnxp%2F2010%2F04%2Fsean-carrolls-the-biologist-double-duty-day%2F Howard Hughes Medical Institute is showing Sean B. Carroll the love today. HHMI named him the next Vice President of Science Education. Since he already has published several popular books I think this turns out to be after the fact recognition of his service in this area. But I noticed in my RSS that HHMI also put out a lavish press release on a paper which just came out by Carroll’s lab, Preexisting Patterns Guide Evolution’s Paintbrush: One of the enduring mysteries of the animal world is how colored patterns come to adorn different species’ skin, scales, or feathers. Now, a team led by Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator Sean B. Carroll has discovered how wing spots evolved in a species of polka-dotted fruit fly. The new studies show that pigment production in the wi... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3449060 Thu, 08 Apr 2010 08:57:15 +0100 3449060 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3429362&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2FH7kNQKBdC8o%2F Excellent post from Dr. Daniel MacArthur, Common copy number variation doesn’t explain much complex disease risk – but why not?: The Wellcome Trust Case Control Consortium has just published the results of a massive survey of common, large DNA duplications and deletions (collectively termed copy number variation, or CNVs) in 16,000 patients suffering from complex diseases and 3,000 controls. The results come as no surprise, but are nonetheless disappointing: the study identified absolutely no novel CNVs associated with complex disease. Although three such variants were found to alter disease susceptibility, all three had been identified from previous studies. The study’s findings suggests that – despite their size – common CNVs play very little role in the eti... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3429362 Thu, 01 Apr 2010 08:44:23 +0100 3429362 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3425049&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F_xbiJcH7r8A%2F Earlier I pointed to the possibility of biophysical constraints and parameters in terms of inheritance shaping the local trajectory of evolution. Today Olivia Judson has a nice post [link fixed] on how the existence of two sexes in many species results in a strange metastable tug-of-war in terms of phenotypic evolution: In sum, the traits that make a “good” male are often different from those that make a “good” female. (Note: I’m only talking about “good” in evolutionary terms. That means a trait that improves your chance of having surviving offspring.) Since many of these traits have a genetic underpinning, male and female genes are thus being sculpted by different forces. But — and this is the source of the tension I mentioned — males and females are formed from the sam... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3425049 Wed, 31 Mar 2010 01:21:03 +0100 3425049 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3420670&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F2hc4HHcZGbM%2F It is famously noted that when Charles Darwin published The Origin of Species he had no plausible theory of inheritance to drive his hypothesis. Specifically, one of the major issues of the “blending” model whereby the phenotypes of the parents average out in the subsequent generation is that such mixing eliminates the variation which is a necessary precondition for natural selection. At the same time that Darwin was revolutionizing our conceptualization of how the tree of life came to be, Gregor Mendel was preforming the experiments which solidified his eponymous theory of inheritance. Though ignored in his own day by ~1900 Mendelism reemerged and offered a relatively parsimonious abstraction which could explain why variation was not eliminated through the fusion of sexual rep... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3420670 Mon, 29 Mar 2010 08:50:46 +0100 3420670 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3390858&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2010%2F03%2F22%2Fcan-a-drug-make-your-hair-thicker%2F Larissa asks…Is it true that Minoxidil can make hair thicker in people who do not suffer from hair loss? If you have thin, fine hair, can it make the individual hair thicker and coarser? Or should Minoxidil be left to those who suffer from male/female pattern baldness? The Left Brain responds: As Msgotrox accurately pointed out in our Forum, Minoxidil works by altering the growth cycle of hair. Hair has three phases of growth: an active growing phase called anagen, a resting phase called telegen, and a dormant phase. Minoxidil delays the phase where the hair falls out. It does not help by making existing hairs thicker/coarser/stronger. The kind of baldness is key It’s important to remember that Minoxidil only works on a certain type of baldness, the hereditary kind which is tec... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3390858 Mon, 22 Mar 2010 06:01:26 +0100 3390858 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3359167&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F3lpYDZt3-_E%2Fwhatever_happened_to_synthetic.php I remember Craig Venter talking about synthetic life in the fall of 2007 with Carl Zimmer. Last summer he said that we'd have the first "synthetic species" by the end of the year. I haven't heard about it in 2010, have you? Anyone have info on what's going on here? No surprise that project deadlines get pushed back, it happens. But it seems like I've been hearing "wait 6 months" since the beginning of 2008. Does it actually work out so that only God can pull this off? Or is this vaporscience (OK, he got the genome part nailed down, but that was a while ago)? Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3359167 Fri, 12 Mar 2010 04:55:45 +0100 3359167 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3350294&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2Fj-C4sKulhLQ%2Fbiocontrol_in_the_uk_will_they.php Why do I think that this will end badly? From the UK: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Effect Measure) Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3350294 Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:35:05 +0100 3350294 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3318451&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=36089&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthesituationist.wordpress.com%2F2010%2F03%2F01%2Fthe-situation-of-political-and-religious-beliefs%2F Science Daily summarized an intriguing (and, no doubt, soon-to-be-very-controversial study) finding that “Intelligent People Have Values Novel in Human Evolutionary History,” (such as liberalism and atheisim).  Here are some excerpts from that summary. * * * More intelligent people are statistically significantly more likely to exhibit social values and religious and political preferences that are novel to the human species in evolutionary history.  Specifically, liberalism and atheism, and for men (but not women), preference for sexual exclusivity correlate with higher intelligence, a new study finds. The study, published in the March 2010 issue of the peer-reviewed scientific journal Social Psychology Quarterly, advances a new theory to explain why people form particular pr... The Situationist blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3318451 Mon, 01 Mar 2010 04:59:45 +0100 3318451 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3283506&cid=t_103947_87_f&fid=35052&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FWomensBioethicsBlog%2F%7E3%2Fh7eQIpWbePw%2Fdiy-synthetic-biology-more-than.html A few years in his book, A Many-Colored Glass, Freeman Dyson envisioned that the domestication of biotechnology would result in a new art form, as creative as painting or sculpture and would give rise to an explosion of new diverse creatures, few of which will be masterpieces, but “all will bring joy to their creators and variety to our flora and fauna.”  Now, college biology students are competing to see who can create new, living tools to address the planet's problems (e.g., bacteria that   The comments and reactions to the article range from go-get-'em to we-are-destroying-ourselves-and-the planet to philosophical: Sample comment 1:  Genetic engineering by experienced professionals is dangerous enough. Genetic engineering by students is a spectacularly bad idea. S... Women's Bioethics Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3283506 Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:47:25 +0100 3283506 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3246712&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F02%2Fconference-update-new-zealand.html November 30 - December 3, 2010 New Zealand Microbiological Society and New Zealand Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology joint meetingAuckland, New Zealand Further informationThis is a multidisciplinary conference generally attracting 200-300 delegates. Most participants are New Zealand-based, although the conference also has a range of renowned international plenary speakers, encompassing diverse fields such as medical microbiology, wine science, food microbiology, industrial microbiology, microbial ecology, systems biology and molecular evolution.Suggested reading: Molecular Microbiology BooksFull range of books on microbiology at Microbiology Books (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3246712 Fri, 05 Feb 2010 18:40:00 +0100 3246712 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3231668&cid=t_103947_122_f&fid=36582&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FSharpBrains%2F%7E3%2F2AuNRx0lJ8Q%2F (Editor’s Note: we are pleased to bring you this article thanks to our collaboration with Greater Good Magazine). The Evolution of Empathy Empathy’s not a uniquely human trait, explains primatologist Frans de Waal. Apes and other animals feel it as well, suggesting that empathy is truly an essential part of who we are. Once upon a time, the United States had a president known for a peculiar facial display. In an act of controlled emotion, he would bite his lower lip and tell his audience, “I feel your pain.” Whether the display was sincere is not the issue here; how we are affected by another’s predicament is. Empathy is second nature to us, so much so that anyone devoid of it strikes us as dangerous or mentally ill. At the movies, we can’t help but get insi... SharpBrains blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3231668 Tue, 02 Feb 2010 14:28:30 +0100 3231668 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3231598&cid=t_103947_109_f&fid=34750&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpsychcentral.com%2Fblog%2Farchives%2F2010%2F02%2F01%2Fkids-and-depression-parents-call-to-action-part-1%2F As a child psychiatrist, I help teenagers struggling with depression, bipolar disorder, and suicide. It’s also my job to communicate with parents during what is often a very difficult and scary time. More than anything, parents want their children to be okay, and I often encourage them by stressing that mental illness is highly treatable, and adolescents are capable of extraordinary growth. With treatment and proactive parents, hope does persist and, with some time and commitment, life can and will go on for children and parents alike. When I do interviews or public readings parents often ask me about warning signs in children for depression and even suicidality. They may be worried about a daughter who is withdrawing, or a son who sleeps for hours on end and is failing in school. These ... World of Psychology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3231598 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 20:45:11 +0100 3231598 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3228031&cid=t_103947_155_f&fid=38412&url=http%3A%2F%2Fpathlabmed.typepad.com%2Fsurgical_pathology_and_la%2F2010%2F02%2Fevidence-for-stemprogenitor-cells-in-mouse-lung-model.html I came across this excellent paper and summarized my "top 10 list" of points from the paper.  The role of stem/progenitor cells in cancer is a crazy-active area in current research.  If you catch some of the details, you can probably guess the technical challenges to this work.  Evidence of an epithelial stem/progenitor cell hierarchy in the adult mouse lung Jonathan L. McQualtera, Karen Yuena, Brenda Williams, and Ivan Bertoncello PNAS 2010; 107:1414-1419. Mesenchymal progenitor cells (EpCAMneg Sca-1pos) regulate the growth of EpCAMpos lung progenitor/stem cells in in vitro matrigel cultures. Fibroblast growth factor-10 and hepatocyte growth factor regulate epithelial cfus even in stromal-free cultures and appear to act synergistically, while the addition of ... The Daily Sign-Out blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3228031 Mon, 01 Feb 2010 12:35:08 +0100 3228031 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3216074&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2010%2F01%2F14th-workshop-of-international-study.html September 6 - 10, 2010 14th Workshop of the International Study Group for Systems Biology 2010Vladimir, Russia Further informationThe International Study Group for Systems Biology is a collective of international researchers interested in advancing the biological sciences through exploring the interplay between theory and experiment. The general theme is theoretical approaches to understanding the behaviour of cell systems, particularly transport, metabolism and signal transduction.Suggested reading: Molecular Biology BooksFull range of books on microbiology at Microbiology Books (Source: Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists.) Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3216074 Wed, 27 Jan 2010 16:55:00 +0100 3216074 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200462&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2F1Hfklnxu1qM%2Fe_coli_rides_the_wave.php I'm fully immersed in writing a big grant proposal so I have even less time for blogging and reading blogs than usual, but that doesn't mean I have no time. Along with my colleagues I've been working on this beast for 9 months, but now with only 3 months to go before the deadline it's crunch time (the last time we did a competitive renewal of this thing the application was over 900 pages long and this one will be close to that). So time is a precious commodity. It is also a fascinating biological variable and scienceblogs is blessed with several experts on the subject, notably Coturnix at Blog Around the Clock. We also have a new colleague on scienceblogs, Harvard PhD candidate Christina Agapakis who works on synthetic biology and blogs about it on her new blog (new to scienceblogs site ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200462 Sat, 23 Jan 2010 11:11:02 +0100 3200462 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3200607&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35005&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Ffungalcompgenomics%2F%7E3%2FTVjpvpN2flQ%2F Don’t forget to register for Neurospora 2010 held at the beautiful Asilomar Conference center in Pacific Grove, CA held April 8-11, 2010. Get your filamentous fungi fix here! Also save the date for some other important upcoming conferences you may consider attending American Society of Microbiology, Candida and Dimorphic Fungi Meeting, March 22-26, Miami, FL, USA Joint Genome Institute, 2010 User Meeting, March 24-26, Walnut Creek, CA, USA New and emerging fungal diseases of animals and plants, April 17-21, Roscoff Biological Station (near Brest), Brittany, FRANCE American Society of Microbiology, 110th Annual Meeting, May 23-27, San Diego, CA, USA Cellular and Molecular Fungal Biology Gordon Conference, June 13-18, Holderness, NH, USA Mycological Society of America meeting, June 2... Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3200607 Fri, 22 Jan 2010 19:03:23 +0100 3200607 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3188876&cid=t_103947_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FyEjW4dYWK8I%2F Tomorrow is the start of my new virology course at Columbia University. The course, Biology W3310, is aimed at advanced undergraduates and will be taught at the Morningside Campus of Columbia University. Columbia University encompasses two principal campuses: the historic, neoclassical campus in the Morningside Heights neighborhood and the modern Medical Center further uptown, in Washington Heights. The two are separated by fifty-two city blocks, a distance of over two miles and 20-30 minutes by subway. My laboratory is at the Medical Center, where I’ve taught a variety of virology courses over the years. However, a virology course has not been offered at the Morningside Heights campus since the late 1980s. This is a serious omission for a first-class University. Sending graduates in... virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3188876 Tue, 19 Jan 2010 17:52:08 +0100 3188876 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3185554&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F9FqX9BKIlcA%2Fthe_laws_of_the_superorganism.php Mathematical support for insect colonies as superorganisms. Click through for the scatterplot. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3185554 Mon, 18 Jan 2010 22:51:17 +0100 3185554 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3167318&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2FoE9cXYFhdX8%2Fthe_oscillator.php Interesting new ScienceBlog, Oscillator. From the about page: A collection of notes, thoughts, and news about synthetic biology and biologically inspired engineering in principle and in practice. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3167318 Tue, 12 Jan 2010 22:27:22 +0100 3167318 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3153405&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=35041&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fdigitalbio%2F%7E3%2F8PQiU_5-W18%2Fcan_you_spot_the_mistake.php This month's cover of The Scientist has a mistake that makes me cringe. Can you spot what's wrong? And they call themselves "The Scientist" humph! Read the comments on this post... (Source: Discovering Biology in a Digital World) Discovering Biology in a Digital World blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3153405 Fri, 08 Jan 2010 02:24:31 +0100 3153405 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3136678&cid=t_103947_132_f&fid=35021&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FYourBonesGotALittleMachine%2F%7E3%2F-N23Iq0GDP4%2F So, people tell me 2009 ended recently. Apparently there were fireworks and stuff. This blog as seen very little action during 2009, despite my various good intentions for a blog ‘reboot’ (ala Pawel). Like many of my online friends, I blame FriendFeed. I find commenting on a FriendFeed post a much more productive way of having a conversation around some new development sweeping the web than writing a dedicated blog post. Still, despite this being my “year of FriendFeed”, I started writing a few blog posts / articles / essays this year which never made it out of the Drafts folder. There is a positive side to unpublished drafts – they serve to nicely organize some thoughts, even if they are ultimately never shared. Anyhow, it’s time to clean them out and m... Your bones got a little machine. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3136678 Sat, 02 Jan 2010 11:57:23 +0100 3136678 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3124553&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FFB8lPF9GY3A%2Fducks_and_the_shape_of_things.php The natural home for influenza viruses is aquatic waterfowl, including ducks and geese (anseriformes). So I've read a fair amount about swabbing the claocae (rectums) of these animals as part of avian influenza surveillance. Recently it has been suggested that avian influenza is actually a sexually transmitted disease, so the question of anseriform sex is now on the agenda. It's not just consensual sex. It turns out that male ducks and geese haven't heard that rape (aka forced copulation) is frowned up in civilized society and, unusual among birds, they go in for it in a big way. Big in lots of ways. Because ducks seem to have prodigiously large penises. I was reading about a just published paper on duck penises and vaginas and decided to Google the subject and came upon a great post from ... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3124553 Sun, 27 Dec 2009 19:34:59 +0100 3124553 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3067247&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=35005&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Ffungalcompgenomics%2F%7E3%2FcVgkeRAUhuM%2F Announced today at the 10th Frontiers in Fungal Biology meeting in Ensenada, Baja California: In honor of his contributions to research in cell biology fungi, in particular the growth of hyphae in fungi, the discovery and characterization of the Spitzenkörper,  development numerous approaches for microscopic and biochemical characterization of fungal cell walls, and uncovering molecular mechanisms for growth and morphogenesis in filamentous fungi, a named award will be established for Salomón Bartnicki-García, Director in the Department of Microbiology at CICESE and Professor Emertius at UC Riverside. He has been honored in the past upon his retirement from UCR in a special issue in Fungal Genetics and Biology and by the Mycological Society of America as a Distinguished Mycologist.  H... Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3067247 Tue, 08 Dec 2009 00:16:09 +0100 3067247 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039831&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=35762&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgrrlscientist%2F%7E3%2FkW-mLrNa5ug%2Fnew_species_of_orchid_is_world.php tags: new species, biology, botany, orchid, tiniest orchid, Orchidaceae, Platystele, Lou Jost A close-up of the world's smallest orchid, at just over 2mm from petal tip to petal tip. Image: Lou Jost. The world's smallest orchid was discovered recently in a mountainous nature reserve in Ecuador by American botanist Lou Jost. Dr. Jost, a former physicist, is one of the world's leading orchid hunters. In the previous decade, Dr. Jost discovered 60 new species of orchids and 10 other new plant species. He discovered this diminutive plant whilst examining another species of small orchid. "I found it among the roots of another plant that I had collected, another small orchid which I took back to grow in my greenhouse to get it to flower," Dr. Jost stated. "A few months later I saw ... Living the Scientific Life (Scientist, Interrupted) blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039831 Mon, 30 Nov 2009 14:27:32 +0100 3039831 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3039815&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FcLa3wkOP6uk%2Fpics_of_the_flu_virus_and_some.php We talk so much about the flu virus we thought we'd show you some nice pics that CDC has just put up. This is a review for many of you put reviews are always helpful. In these three pics, only one is the actual swine flu virus, the other two being "cartoon" depictions of a generic influenza virus. The cartoons are quite nice and helpful to see what you are looking at in the electron micrograph of influenza virions (virus particles), probably grown in tissue culture. I say "probably" because there is no other information on the site other than the micrograph was taken in the CDC Influenza Laboratory, but when the virus grows in your lungs it usually isn't nice and spherical like this but assumes many shapes, often elongated and strand-like. Looking at the photomicrograph, though, you see th... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3039815 Sun, 29 Nov 2009 20:00:43 +0100 3039815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3035828&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2009%2F11%2Fselect-biosciences-conferences-2010.html January 20 - 21, 2010 Stem Cells World CongressSan Francisco, CA, USA Further information4th annual Stem Cells World Congress and exhibition. There will be two parallel tracks focused specifically on: (1) Stem Cells in Drug Discovery and Development and (2) Regenerative MedicineFebruary 11 - 12, 2010 Screening EuropeBarcelona, Spain Further information7th annual Screening Europe conference and exhibition, claimed to be the largest screening event in Europe with four conference rooms in 2010. Novel Screening Platforms and Drug Discovery Methods, High Content Screening, Fragment Based Screening, Label Free Screening, Enzymes as Drug Targets, Receptors as Drug TargetsSuggested reading: Biology BooksMarch 4 - 5, 2010 Advances in Synthetic BiologyLondon, UK Further information3rd annual Advance... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3035828 Fri, 27 Nov 2009 16:10:00 +0100 3035828 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=3022686&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2009%2F11%2Fmolecular-biology-conferences-2010.html Details of conferences on molecular biology from our comprehensive list at Molecular Biology Conferences 2010January 2010January 8 - 13, 2010 Structural Genomics: Expanding the Horizons of Structural BiologyBreckenridge, CO, USA Further informationStructural Biology continues to be one of the most prolific and informative ways to make biological and biomedical discoveries at the turn of the millennium, and provides fundamental molecular level insights into the underlying biological and biochemical functions. Structural genomics has been at the forefront of these developments as a major contributor to the advances of high throughput (HT) technologies and methodologies that span the gene to structure process by both crystallography and NMR. In parallel, the rapid expansion of the genome sequ... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=3022686 Mon, 23 Nov 2009 17:00:00 +0100 3022686 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2962860&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2009%2F11%2Fentamoeba-histolytica-genomic-analyses.html The sequencing of the Entamoeba histolytica genome, as well as the development of genome-wide techniques to allow study of gene expression, has led to many advances in our understanding of the biology of this parasite. Recent work used genomic technologies (DNA microarrays and proteomics) to study important aspects of amebic biology, including pathogenesis, host interaction, phagocytosis, stage conversion, responses to stressful stimuli, and mechanisms of gene regulation. These studies identify pathways involved in regulating major functions in this important human pathogen.from Anaerobic Parasitic Protozoa: Genomics and Molecular BiologyFurther reading:Anaerobic Parasitic ProtozoaAcanthamoeba: Biology and PathogenesisLeishmania: After The GenomeFull range of books on microbiology at Micro... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2962860 Thu, 05 Nov 2009 14:27:00 +0100 2962860 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2962879&cid=t_103947_77_f&fid=37259&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.horizonpress.com%2Fblogger%2F2009%2F11%2Flentiviruses.html comprise a genus of diverse viruses in the Retroviridae family which are united in their ability to infect and persist in macrophages. Infections are characterized by immune system dysfunctions following sometimes lengthy incubation periods. The viruses in this genus include primate lentiviruses such as HIV as well as animal lentiviruses including equine infectious anemia virus (EIAV). An intriguing feature of lentiviruses is their ability to hijack macrophages so that they are simultaneously involved in the dissemination and control of virus spread throughout the host, leading to disease induction and/or transmission to a new host. Macrophage biology is at an exciting stage with a wealth of new information being generated as their role in parasitic, viral and bacterial infections as well... Microbiology Blog: The weblog for microbiologists. blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2962879 Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:54:00 +0100 2962879 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2916358&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2FQkw_K8erRCI%2Fscientists_of_note_now_on_scie.php Pamela Ronald of Tommorow's Table, author of Tomorrow's Table: Organic Farming, Genetics, and the Future of Food. Additionally, David Sloan Wilson, has moved his blog to ScienceBlogs. It's called Evolution for Everyone, after the book of the same name. You can read my review of his book here. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2916358 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 23:00:45 +0100 2916358 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912374&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34989&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeeds.b5media.com%2F%7Er%2Fb5media%2FGeneticsHealth%2F%7E3%2FwfK90aoXZSQ%2F This is such a cool application of genetics! By sequencing all the genes of a patient, scientists diagnosed a congenital disease that could not be identified using clinical observations. Because of the “molecular diagnostics technique”, doctors were able to provide a treatment tailored for the disease.   The patient, an infant, was persistently dehydrated and failing to gain weight, and researchers uncovered a gene mutation that was responsible to the infant’s condition called congenital chloride diarrhea. Instead of sequencing all the thousand base pairs in a genome, researchers focused only on DNA that encodes proteins, about 1% of the total genome. DNA mutations in this region can result in a nonfunctional protein, and would have far-ranging effects on health. According to H... Genetics and Health blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912374 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:57:31 +0100 2912374 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2912485&cid=t_103947_136_f&fid=36070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.nature.com%2Fpeople%2Fbasanta%2Fblog%2F2009%2F10%2F21%2Fsystems-biology-graphical-notation I haven’t updated this blog for a while, the reason being the usual for many researchers working in the US: grant writing. Part of this grant writing involved producing diagrams to illustrate various processes occurring at different scales in prostate tissue. These diagrams describe rather sophisticated intra and extra cellular interactions in the simplest possible manner. Yet these diagrams can be complicated and selecting the right symbols and colours to describe these interactions in a visually appealing but consistent manner can be far from trivial. As someone with a background in computer science I appreciate the advantage of having a standard notation to describe processes. Software engineers use tools such as UML to describe software modules and how they interact to form comp... Cancerevo: Evolution and cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2912485 Wed, 21 Oct 2009 03:40:04 +0100 2912485 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2908632&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=35043&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Ftranscript%2F%7E3%2FwCLYDZj8oY4%2Fa_discussion_with_a_cancer_sur.php This weekend, I had the opportunity to sit down with a friend, a cancer surgeon who works at a major teaching hospital in the US. He, his wife and two kids were up visiting us for the weekend. Over coffee, I was asking him about the state of cancer therapeutics. Although he himself does not administer drugs or design treatments, he is part of a larger team which includes molecular oncologists that perform this task. What I heard was quite surprising. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Daily Transcript) The Daily Transcript blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2908632 Tue, 20 Oct 2009 00:40:48 +0100 2908632 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2898985&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=35043&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Ftranscript%2F%7E3%2FgeqYLxl_95A%2Fall_your_ribosomes_belong_to_u.php So more than a week has gone by and there has been little press about the science Nobels. And I must say that this year's Medicine and Chemistry prizes are some of the most important in quite a while. But even between the two, the Chemistry is especially important. Why? I'm not sure. Maybe they were overshadowed by Obama's award??? Or maybe science journalists are sleeping on the job. Ribosomes ... boring. Nothing could be further from the truth. Ribosomes are arguably the most important biological molecule that we know of. I don't have much time to write long essays on the subject so I'll just throw some ideas at you. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: The Daily Transcript) The Daily Transcript blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2898985 Fri, 16 Oct 2009 01:16:39 +0100 2898985 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2883113&cid=t_103947_122_f&fid=35065&url=http%3A%2F%2Feideneurolearningblog.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F10%2Fdyslexic-molecular-biologist-carol.html “It's going to be hard work whether you think it's fun or not, so you might as well have fun while you're doing the hard work.” - Carol Greider, PhD, 2009 Nobel Prize Winner in MedicineHer application package was a bit unusual, Greider says. “I had great research experience, great letters of recommendation, and outstanding grades, but I had poor GREs.” Although she did not know it growing up, Greider suffers from dyslexia, which affected her scores on standardized tests. Only two schools—the California Institute of Technology (Pasadena, CA) and the University of California, Berkeley— offered her an interview..."Carol Greider's family history has some overlaps with others in this blog - including physics in the family (Greider's father is a physics professor). Greider has said a... Eide Neurolearning Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2883113 Mon, 12 Oct 2009 07:03:00 +0100 2883113 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2842580&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=36672&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.sciencebase.com%2Fscience-blog%2Fmicrornas.html Until 2001, few people had heard the term micro ribonucleic acids, but these little chunks of nucleic acid, just 21 to 23 bases long, have been conserved throughout evolution. They don’t code for proteins, but they do seem to be involved in the regulation of immunity, the development and differentiation of immune cells, antibody production and the release of chemicals involved in the inflammatory response. So micro by name, but not by nature, you might say. Indeed, microRNA, or miRNA, represent something of a new paradigm in the regulation of a vast array of responses of physiological and hence medical importance. They play a key role in diverse such diverse areas as virology, embryogenesis, differentiation of stem cells, cholesterol and fat metabolism, inflammation and (of course) c... Sciencebase Science Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2842580 Mon, 28 Sep 2009 20:00:37 +0100 2842580 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2824347&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34994&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.gnxp.com%2Fblog%2F2009%2F09%2Fsynthetic-biology-goes-mainstream.php If The New Yorker is giving the topic coverage.... (though a lot of probably is more Craig Venter's celebrity status) (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2824347 Tue, 22 Sep 2009 23:36:00 +0100 2824347 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2800427&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34593&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2FAyaJ%2F%7E3%2FYMEOosDLHic%2Fdoes_tamiflu_resistant_swine_f.php There is no way to keep up with all the flu news, so we pick and choose, usually based on some kind of point we want to make. That's both the good and the bad of this blog: the news comes with a point of view. But so does most news, and we try to make ours both explicit and scientifically as accurate as we can with the information at hand. Today is a typical example. Bloomberg is reporting that any swine flu virus resistant to oseltamivir (trade name Tamiflu), the only antiviral pill effective at all for the infection, transmits less well than swine flu that's sensitive to Tamiflu. The source of this information is Dr. David Mercer, identified as acting head of WHO's European region communicable disease unit. The article makes it sound pretty definite. I don't know if that's the reporter's... Effect Measure blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2800427 Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:28:34 +0100 2800427 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2774829&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F0fO0rTOpvT0%2Flost_world_2009.php The story about the giant rat discovered in an isolated crater in Papua New Guinea is fascinating. It's kind of atypical in these days, but if you read through really old copies of National Geographic from the early 20th century it you observe that it occurred all the time back then. I would of course much rather live now at the turn of the 21st century than the turn of the 20th, but there's a certain amount of zoological and anthropological wonder that we'll not be able to attain because so much of the sample space of possibilities has been mapped out. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2774829 Tue, 08 Sep 2009 05:33:51 +0100 2774829 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2768815&cid=t_103947_136_f&fid=36070&url=http%3A%2F%2Fnetwork.nature.com%2Fpeople%2Fbasanta%2Fblog%2F2009%2F09%2F04%2Fthe-role-of-transforming-growth-factor-beta-mediated-tumor-stroma-interactions-in-prostate-cancer-progression-an-integrative-approach Can biologists and mathematicians accomplish more together than working separately? My answer to that question has always been a resounding yes but today I am backing up that statement with a piece of research: the result of a collaboration involving mathematicians and biologists (and a pathologist) in Tampa, Nashville and Houston. Basanta, D., Strand, D., Lukner, R., Franco, O., Cliffel, D., Ayala, G., Hayward, S., & Anderson, A. (2009). The Role of Transforming Growth Factor- -Mediated Tumor-Stroma Interactions in Prostate Cancer Progression: An Integrative Approach Cancer Research, 69 (17), 7111-7120 DOI: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-08-3957 The paper, of which I am one of the authors, studies the role of stromal-tumour interactions in prostate cancer progression. It introduces a computat... Cancerevo: Evolution and cancer blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2768815 Fri, 04 Sep 2009 22:27:13 +0100 2768815 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2670940&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2009%2F08%2F05%2Fdid-you-ever-wonder-what-your-hair-looks-like-close-up%2F This really appeals to the scientist in me. You can see all of the important hair structures like the cuticle, the cortex and even the melanin that gives hair it’s color. It also shows you why you can’t fix a split end. Once the hair fiber has been broken, no amount of hair treatment is going to rebuild a broken strand. (Source: thebeautybrains.com) thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2670940 Wed, 05 Aug 2009 07:53:06 +0100 2670940 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2662606&cid=t_103947_132_f&fid=35013&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fpedrobeltrao%2F%7E3%2F8Gl7cZ6ggD4%2Fdrug-synergies-tend-to-be-context.html A little over a year ago I mentioned a paper published in MSB on how drug-combinations could be used to study pathways. Recently, some of the same authors have now published a study in Nature Biotech analyzing drug combinations under different contexts (i.e. different tissues, different species, different outputs, etc). The underlying methodology of the study is essentially the same as in above mentioned paper. The authors try to study the effect of combining drugs on specific phenotypes. One example of a phenotype could be the inhibition of growth of a pathogenic strain. Different concentrations of two drugs are combined in a matrix form as described in figure 1a (reproduced below) and the phenotype is measured for each case. Two drugs are said to be synergistic if the measured impact on... Public Rambling blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2662606 Sat, 01 Aug 2009 23:04:00 +0100 2662606 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2584182&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=36905&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjemmasbiologyblog.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F07%2Fartificial-sperm.html Read this news story about how human sperm have been made in the lab (Source: Jemma's Biology Blog) Jemma's Biology Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2584182 Thu, 09 Jul 2009 08:25:00 +0100 2584182 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2741110&cid=t_103947_139_f&fid=38879&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2FVirologyBlog%2F%7E3%2FwoHBMIBFRvA%2F In the current episode of the Penn State University interview series called “Conversations from Penn State“, Peter Hudson, who is Willaman professor of biology and director of Penn State’s Huck Institutes of the Life Sciences, discusses the dynamics of infectious diseases, their spread, and their transmission from animals to humans. (Source: virology blog) virology blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2741110 Mon, 22 Jun 2009 18:37:06 +0100 2741110 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2473507&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=36905&url=http%3A%2F%2Fjemmasbiologyblog.blogspot.com%2F2009%2F06%2Ftransgenic-monkeys.html News story about how transgenic monkeys may be used to find cures for human diseases.What does transgenic mean? (Source: Jemma's Biology Blog) Jemma's Biology Blog blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2473507 Thu, 11 Jun 2009 09:52:00 +0100 2473507 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2424274&cid=t_103947_117_f&fid=34808&url=http%3A%2F%2Fthebeautybrains.com%2F2009%2F05%2F20%2Fwho-wants-to-get-tan-without-cancer-concerns%2F Mid Brain muses: According to this article, the Fake Bake sunless tanning market is hot. Over the last few years major skin care manufacturers have discovered how to combine a skin moisturizer with a sunless tanner to make an effective light sunless tanner that gives a steady color change. These new tech products prevent the streaking effect that has been a major drawback of traditional sunless tanners. They also provide daily moisturization so there’s a reason to use them everyday. You get healthy skin and a natural looking color. How do sunless tanners work? To understand sunless tanning it is helpful to have a simple understanding of skin structure. Skin is made up of two primary layers, the dermis and the epidermis. The dermis is the inside layers of the skin where all the blood... thebeautybrains.com blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2424274 Wed, 20 May 2009 06:01:22 +0100 2424274 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2389868&cid=t_103947_107_f&fid=35041&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fdigitalbio%2F%7E3%2Fq1UVig19zgk%2Fteen-age_children_as_experimen.php We always enjoy home science experiments and it was fun the other night to learn about a new experiment we could try with our teenage daughter and an iPhone. As it turned out, the joke was on us. Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Discovering Biology in a Digital World) Discovering Biology in a Digital World blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2389868 Wed, 06 May 2009 13:00:04 +0100 2389868 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2386909&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2Ff_FM-1-5nUc%2Fwhy_are_the_schools_closing_an.php Over at DailyKos, DemfromCT has an excellent post explaining why it may be beneficial for schools to close temporarily, even if they only have one confirmed case of swine influenza: H1N1: Why Do Schools Close, And When Do They Open? DarkSyde also has one up on the basic biology and evolution of the flu. Nick Kristof discusses our lack of attention to public health and what it means in the event of a pandemic in today's NY Times. [Updated: and via the comment theads, this post which further discusses what I mentioned here regarding testing--and how the confirmed cases are only the tip of the iceberg (complete with diagram!). Read the comments on this post... (Source: Aetiology) Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2386909 Sun, 03 May 2009 17:10:00 +0100 2386909 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2382360&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FbMf0ybrEves%2Fadamantane_resistance_in_flu_e.php Nick Anthis has a very nice (and very readable!) overview of why flu viruses (including the new A/H1N1 strain) are resistant to adamantane, one of the antiviral drugs that can be used to treat influenza infections. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Aetiology) Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2382360 Fri, 01 May 2009 15:45:00 +0100 2382360 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2381000&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2FR6PwxaoKBc0%2Fnoninvasive_down_syndrome_test.php I blogged about this a few months ago, but Dan MacArthur reports that the firm which was going to roll it out first claims that it doesn't really work as advertised. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2381000 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 19:57:02 +0100 2381000 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2381003&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F6Lxtqqa0c70%2Fdrink_wine_to_live_longer.php I'm in the mood for a "feel good" story with the past week's fixation in swine flu. Half A Glass Of Wine A Day May Boost Life Expectancy By Five Years: The Dutch authors base their findings on a total of 1,373 randomly selected men whose cardiovascular health and life expectancy at age 50 were repeatedly monitored between 1960 and 2000. Here are the findings: Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2381003 Thu, 30 Apr 2009 13:11:42 +0100 2381003 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376518&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2FP3Zb795-yfc%2Fpray_the_virus_away.php Carl Zimmer points out that Marianne Williamson is making some real strange suggestions in regards to the swine flue in The Huffington Post: l) Pray it away. Just pray it away, asking God as you understand Him, the Divine Physician, Jesus or whatever other form of divine imagery works for you. Simply ask that it be removed from our midst. 2) Send love to Mexico. Between what's actually been happening there with the drug wars, plus all the "Mexico is dangerous" thoughts we've loaded onto it over the last several weeks, it needs a major dose of love - the most powerful medicine of all - to dissolve the fear thoughts that have produced this flu. It's not that surprising that this was published in The Huffington Post, which has some issues with regards to quality control. Remember the Deepa... Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376518 Wed, 29 Apr 2009 03:17:31 +0100 2376518 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376526&cid=t_103947_131_f&fid=34995&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Fgnxp%2F%7E3%2F1DqT9PcH9o0%2Fvitamin_d_asthma.php Serum Vitamin D Levels and Markers of Severity of Childhood Asthma in Costa Rica. See ScienceDaily. Anecdote: my own asthma has gotten much better since I started Vitamin D supplementation. Not only have I had many fewer bouts of bronchitis the past few years, but my basal respiratory functioning is much improved. Read the comments on this post... (Source: Gene Expression) Gene Expression blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376526 Mon, 27 Apr 2009 15:28:55 +0100 2376526 http://www.medworm.com/index.php?rid=2376085&cid=t_103947_99_f&fid=34589&url=http%3A%2F%2Ffeedproxy.google.com%2F%7Er%2Fscienceblogs%2Faetiology%2F%7E3%2FBWsyWs_khbM%2Fswine_flu_and_deaths_in_health.php Discussion after the jump... Read the rest of this post... | Read the comments on this post... (Source: Aetiology) Aetiology blogs http://www.medworm.com/rss/comments.php?id=2376085 Sun, 26 Apr 2009 14:00:00 +0100 2376085