 Reuters | Flu Shots in Children Help People of All Ages New York Times More important from a medical point of view, they live in communities of up to 160 people, own everything jointly, attend their own schools, ... Kids Who Get Flu Shots Protect the UnvaccinatedBusinessWeek Vaccinating Children Shown to Reduce Flu Transmission Selectively immunizing ...ModernMedicine |
Just Like Avatar: Scenes from India, Canada, China, and Hawaii | Discoblog
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Pandora on Earth
If you’re a big Avatar fan, then James Cameron’s Oscar loss may have left your eyes swollen and your popcorn soggy. But if Avatar grabbed your attention with its story of greedy humans ravaging the alien moon Pandora for a mineral that Earth needs, then here are a handful of real-life stories, from good ol’ planet Earth, that might make the plight of Pandora’s native Na’vi seem eerily familiar.
First we have members of the Dongria Kondh tribe from Orissa, India, talking to the tribal-rights group Survival International about their quest to save their sacred mountain from a large mining company. The company wants to raze a huge part of their lush, bountiful, holy mountain to mine not “unobtanium,” but bauxite. Wait, James… are you getting this down?
Survival International took out an ad in the film industry magazine Variety to appeal directly to Cameron for help. Says Survival International director Stephen Corry: “Just as the Na’vi describe the forest of Pandora as ‘their everything,’ for the Dongria Kondh, life and land have always been deeply connected. The fundamental story of Avatar – if you take away the multi-coloured lemurs, the long-trunked horses and warring androids – is being played out today in the hills of Niyamgiri in Orissa, India.”
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Cost Of Medical School Rises In Recession – NPR
Cost Of Medical School Rises In Recession NPR Audio for this story from All Things Considered will be available at approx. 7:00 pm ET. |
Can Mom’s Diet Shape Baby’s Genes? Study of Pregnant Mice Suggests So | 80beats
You are what you eat, and perhaps in some ways, what your mother ate. Back in 2003, Cheryl Rosenfeld’s team found that the diet they fed to pregnant mice caused a “striking variation” in the sex ratios of the offspring: High fat favored males, low fat favored females. Now Rosenfeld has a new study in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences that says the mother’s diet can also affect the very way genes are expressed in the placenta.
To figure this out, Rosenfeld’s team studied the placentas attached to fetal mice 12 and a half days after conception, when the mice were midway through gestation but had yet to produce sex hormones like estrogen or testosterone (those can also alter gene expression, which would have confounded the study). They found that gene activity in the placentas differed significantly depending on whether the mom was fed a high- or low-fat diet. The biggest differences were found when comparing the high- and low-fat placentas linked to female fetal mice, suggesting that placentas nourishing females do a better job of responding to diet—and potentially protecting the fetus from harmful ingredients—than do those connected to males [ScienceNOW]. Specifically, of the 700 genes that they saw behave differently between the sexes, 651 were expressed more in females than males. In all, their study saw changes in the expression of nearly 2,000 genes.
The team can’t say for sure why diet affects either sex ratio or gene expression. Indeed, the analysis turned up changes in genes that affect things like kidney function and smell, which the scientists were not expecting to see. Whatever the reason these changes happen, they say, diet during pregnancy could have long-term health effects on children. Sons and daughters are also at different risk for conditions such as obesity or diabetes later in life, apparently related to either the mother’s diet or body condition while pregnant [The Times].
Biologist Jared Friedman, who didn’t work on the current study, says this will be an interesting area for future studies, but he’s not totally sold on the conclusion of Rosenfeld’s team yet. Males, he says, seem to lag behind females in all stages of development. Maybe those olfactory genes become more active in the male placenta as the pregnancy continues, he says. “Instead of 12.5 days, go to 19.5 and see if the differences are magnified or if the males catch up” [ScienceNOW].
Related Content:
80beats: Study: Biotech Mice With Two Moms (And No Dad) Live Longer
80beats: A Single Genetic Tweak Gives Mice Longer, Healthier Lives
DISCOVER: Vital Signs: A Dangerous Pregnancy
Reality Base: Later Pregnancy Gives Women More Money—And More Caesareans
Image: flickr / dizznbonn
Launch Pad 2010 open for, um, launch | Bad Astronomy
Last year, I attended the NASA-sponsored Launch Pad Workshop, a week-long camp in Laramie, Wyoming, to help science fiction authors learn astronomy. That way, they can get ideas and write more accurate stories! It was a lot of fun, and I had a fantastic time.
Registration is open again for Launch Pad 2010, with guest speaker Kevin Grazier, who is a planetary scientist and science advisor for TV shows, including Battlestar Galactica.
Launch Pad will be from July 11 – 18, 2010, and if you’re a science fiction author you can apply to attend from now until March 31. And if you are an author, I urge you to go. It’s more than just getting the science right; it’s about inspiration, and there’s plenty to be had in astronomy. Launch Pad is a great way to meet it head on.
What a difference a year makes
It has been one year since I commented on 23andMe's foray into clinical medicine. I was frankly blown away that such a move would be so blatant without integration of health care practitioners.
I also was blown away that Myriad wouldn't sue the ever living bejesus out of 23andMe. A year later, no lawsuit. I am still surprised about this one. Don't you have to demonstrate protection of your patent to keep it?
Maybe Google/23andMe are paying a VIG to Myriad? I don't know, but it hasn't shown up on Myriad's SEC reports yet......
Why was I so surprised? Well, a few months after 23andMe launched the service AND Myriad did not sue, MYRIAD WAS SUED.
I began to wonder if not suing Google/23andMe was a sign of weakness. I was certain Myriad would then shut down the DTC Genomics BRCA testing.
To date, they have not.
This begs the question, does Myriad think they do not have a case and would lose against Google, thus strengthening the case against them by the ACLU? If that is truly the case and we will begin to see judicial activism in patent removal, well, then we could be in for an EXPLOSION of genetic testing labs out there, each doing their own thing, their own way.
An article in Nature Medicine by Brendan Borrell, does an excellent job of discussion the potential backlash and issues related to DTC Genomics and patent holders. Balaji S. of Counsyl took the tech line. "Should we really be charge to look in the mirror?" Well, Balaji, do you have to buy a mirror to look in it? FAIL
The question is: "Will other patent holders see themselves as vulnerable by allowing DTC Genomics companies to test for THEIR patented genetic markers?"
This could prompt a huge wave of lawsuits against these fledgling DTC Genomics companies. Normally, companies sue to shake down, scare away competition and make money or at least protect patents. What we could see is lawsuits designed to crush these young companies in an attempt to scare off the ACLU et.al.
By Myriad NOT suing 23andMe, we may have opened up a new wave of patent paranoia and fear. When that happens companies often turn to the courts to scare away competitors and people hell bent on their (patent) destruction......(ACLU)
It will be interesting to see what this year holds for the Gene Patent......
The Sherpa Says: I would love to hear Dan Vorhaus or Gary Marchant's or Barbara Evans' opinions on these things.........
Babylon schools head: Teen’s collapse unrelated to athletics – Newsday (subscription)
Babylon schools head: Teen's collapse unrelated to athletics Newsday (subscription) A teenage girl who went into cardiac arrest on the sidelines of a Babylon school lacrosse practice suffers from a medical condition not ... |
Stimulus Funds Pay for Monkey Research – NewsMax.com
Stimulus Funds Pay for Monkey Research NewsMax.com Civitas Institute has selected a cocaine addiction study featuring monkey experimental subjects at Wake Forest University Medical School as No. ... Stimulus funds pay for monkey research in NCMiamiHerald.com Man questions merit of coke monkey studyUPI.com |
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