VERY interesting public lecture tonight at UCI (University of California, Irvine) by Eric Lander, one of the heads of the Human Genome Project. Lander outlined the future goals of the project, the basic methodologies, how long it will take, and how much it may cost - A LOT, but probably well worth it. A case study he covered: turns out that there are two very distinct forms of leukemia that look exactly alike. The symptoms are the same. The microscopy is the same. One research doctor had a...
The various strains of flu that emerge mainly from Asia come via one major route - birds and pigs raised together. Note that this combination is not necessary, but speeds the process of getting to humans. The birds catch the original version of the new mutated virus, then the pigs pick it up by eating the birds' droppings, but not immediately, as the virus has to go through a lot of random mutations before it can make the leap successfully to a mammal. Once there, however, it is a much ...
I just noticed earlier this week that my hair - previously merely thinning - is now starting to turn noticably grey. Not a happy moment. For years I have watched as much younger guys turned, and felt a certain satisfaction that all the mega-supplements on which I've spent so many thousands of dollars were doing their job and protecting me. Another illusion falls. One way or another, we boomers are going to be working a lot more into our promised retirement time than we anticipated, as t...
Interesting program on NPR regarding the fairly common problem of pre-frontal lobe atrophy. Ravel was coming down with it as he wrote Bolero, and the structure of the piece reflects the removal of the moderating circuitry in the pre-frontal lobe. Typically, victims will go thru a phase in which they generate amazing repetitive pattens... I'm thinking about my "On Morals" blog, but there are numerous other blog articles in which I tend to repeat myself, with slight var...
Not for enjoyable reading: About a year ago, I was approached one of my supervisors at work with a proposal. I had had full-coverage insurance from ABC (Anthem/Blue Cross) and was signed up with what used to be Talbert Medical and now was reborn as Health Care Partners. Everything was paid through deductions from my pay check plus an employer contribution. There were co-pays, but never anything outrageous. But, I was getting to SS retirement age and...
A recent study out of Yale indicates that cold air really does cause colds. http://www.bbc.com/news/health-30685732 Turns out that about 1 in 6 people carries the common cold virus even without an active, symptomatic cold. But when the air temperature drops, it causes a drastic drop off in immune response in the nasal passages, so the person with the low-level constant infection suddenly starts broadcasting bigtime as the virus multiplies without an effective immun...
http://www.genescient.com/research/genes-to-network/ Just this morning, I thought about the recent finding that allegedly demonstrates statistically that about 2/3 cancers are random occurences, typically involving a mistaken stem cell differentiation. Thus, perhaps only 1/3 of cancers, overall, are preventable via diet or environmental or lifestyle. Genescient may have some answers to this, or the potential to develop them, as their general theory sounds very robust. M...
Some years ago, I opened the books on a local congressman, all that pesky history that really wasn't so bad, objectively. It was just that he was trying to live a lie - and still is! He comes off as the squeeky clean Mr. Conservative, when only a few decades ago he was dead in the sights of Ronny Raygun, who was bent on using California's home grown storm troupers to prevent the anarchist-libertarian faction of Young American for Freedom, headed by the later congressman,...