MetaFilter posts tagged with Biology and research

Do they preserve scientific transparency, protect profits or both?

zarq — Wed, 13 May 2009 10:16:38 -0800

On behalf of medical organizations, universities, & individual patients, pathologists and genetics researchers, the ACLU has filed a lawsuit against Utah-based Myriad Genetics and the US Patent and Trademark Office. Myriad holds the US patents to the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes, associated with hereditary causes of breast and ovarian cancers. Their patents guarantee the company the right to prevent anyone else from testing or studying those genes, which the ACLU says is unconstitutional and inhibits researchers from finding treatments and cures. The ACLU has posted a FAQ explaining the suit. It might be news to some that genes, gene fragments and the tools used to assess them can be patented. Here's some general info on patent eligibility and qualifications. Some question whether such patents spur or stifle research Myriad's BRCA test to measure the likelihood that someone would develop ovarian or breast cancer was in the news a couple of years ago, when a study revealed that it produces false negatives. Concerns were also raised in the EU over the patents when they were initially filed. Previously on MeFi

I'm going to check my Facebook page... wait, what was I doing again?

desjardins — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 08:58:33 -0800

Dr. Aric Sigman has told us that TV is literally killing us, that it makes children pregnant, that Batman makes our kids violent and that multitasking ruins children's attention span. Now he says that social networking can cause cancer, strokes, and dementia. (PDF of press release)

"It was like he was cross-dressing in private -- an old man out there sponging by himself."

kliuless — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 06:50:22 -0800

I, for one, welcome our new loner female, tool-using dolphin overlords. from the article:

As best the researchers can tell, a single dolphin may have invented the technique relatively recently and taught it to her kin. The simple innovation dramatically changed their behavior, hunting habits and social life, the researchers found. Those that adopted it became loners who spend much more time on the hunt than others and dive more deeply in search of prey. The sponging dolphins teach the technique to all their young, but only the females seem to grasp the idea.

altho another article sez the technique confers no advantages. more broadly, i wonder if self-awareness is a necessary condition for tool use?

retrovirally transforming pancreatic cells from adult mice into insulin-producing beta cells

kliuless — Wed, 27 Aug 2008 19:51:39 -0800

Scientists Repurpose Adult Cells - "Scientists have transformed one type of fully developed adult cell directly into another inside a living animal, a startling advance that could lead to cures for a variety of illnesses and sidestep the political and ethical quagmires associated with embryonic stem cell research." [nature abstract, nature writeup, audio announcement]

you say you want an evolution

kliuless — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 12:33:42 -0800

EO Wilson believes in ~~Darwinism~~ group selection: "evolution as a multi-level process¹ that can evolve adaptations above the level of individual organisms."

The young island Surtsey

carsonb — Thu, 17 Jul 2008 20:41:17 -0800

Surtsey was first observed on November 14, 1963, as a pillar of smoke on the water some ways south of Iceland. The very next day lava and tephra broke the surface of the Atlantic and by May, 1964 the formation had grown to 2.4 km². Over the next three years lava eruptions continued, coating the loose debris in a hard shell and protecting it from erosion. An island born. Naturally, Surtsey has been under close scientific observation since its emergence, and courtesy The Surtsey Research Society you can read published reports on the geology and biological colonization of this new earth.

Brok en Pip e l ine

Gyan — Fri, 14 Mar 2008 03:46:32 -0800

An unprecedented five consecutive years of stagnant funding for the National Institutes of Health is putting America at risk - a few prominent research institutions get together to voice their concern over flat funding of the National Institutes of Health over the past 5 years, in their report The Broken Pipeline (pdf). Bloggers comment [1, 2, 3].

In their own words...

Blazecock Pileon — Tue, 10 Apr 2007 00:35:00 -0800

In their own words... Researchers at the National Institutes of Health recall the early years of AIDS, from diagnosis of the then-unknown disease, to discovering the viral cause, and from there to the search for treatments. The site features interviews (including several with virologist Robert Gallo), early publications, and a collection of archived image materials.

Coming soon to a cinema near you

Gyan — Sun, 23 Jul 2006 12:40:34 -0800

The Human Speechome Project - "A baby is to be monitored by a network of microphones and video cameras for 14 hours a day, 365 days a year, in an effort to unravel the seemingly miraculous process by which children acquire language.". Selected video clips. Paper (PDF, 750KB). To test hypotheses of how children learn, Prof Deb Roy's team at MIT will develop machine learning systems that “step into the shoes” of his son by processing the sights and sounds of three years of life at home. Total storage required: 1.4 petabytes.

Stem Cells in nature

Gyan — Sun, 02 Jul 2006 08:12:29 -0800

Nature has a somewhat technical but free supplement on stem cells (alongwith a podcast and related blog).

I'm blue, da boo dee, da boo die...

reflection — Sun, 29 Jan 2006 17:51:05 -0800

Blue Gene bears Blue Brain beats Deep Blue. Dr. Henry Markram answers questions in the FAQ. Neurons are beautiful. Blue Gene/L is now the fastest supercomputer in the world. IBM Research rocks. Deep Blue beat Kasparov almost a decade ago. F e e l i n g B l u e ?

MegaFeeders

Gyan — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 12:43:29 -0800

Obesity: Epidemic or Myth?

Seductive Solutions for Rough Illnesses

daksya — Tue, 08 Nov 2005 19:43:59 -0800

Serotonin and Depression: A Disconnect between the Advertisements and the Scientific Literature

Science of Sleep

Gyan — Sat, 29 Oct 2005 09:28:53 -0800

Nature has a somewhat technical but free supplement on sleep

Stem Cells - Rumor vs. Reality

daksya — Sun, 26 Jun 2005 23:04:08 -0800

Stem cell pioneer does a reality check

Mammal Gene Memetics

Gyan — Tue, 11 May 2004 00:27:47 -0800

Analysis Uncovers Critical Stretches of Human Genome.

Genesis

Gyan — Tue, 27 Apr 2004 18:02:07 -0800

Genesis. "Life" from inorganic mixture. Full PDF paper : Spontaneous Formation of Cellular Chemical System that Sustains Itself far from Thermodynamic Equilibrium.

No stem cell research

homunculus — Wed, 24 Mar 2004 21:17:35 -0800

Thou shalt not make scientific progress. "Medical research is poised to make a quantum leap that will benefit sufferers from Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, muscular dystrophy, diabetes and other diseases. But George W. Bush's religious convictions stand in its way."

Grod — Fri, 11 Oct 2002 13:20:05 -0800

Gene Prevents 'Brains Everywhere' The human version of the gene probably is not involved in keeping the human brain inside the skull, but likely plays some other role in nervous system development in human embryos, says Alejandro Sanchez Alvarado, a developmental biologist at the University of Utah School of Medicine. Cool.

stbalbach — Fri, 08 Feb 2002 05:54:40 -0800

Scientists in the USA have discovered [NYTimes] a new cell in the eye responsible for resetting the biological clock. Its being called "heretical".. Not every day, Dr. Provencio said, do scientists find a new body function.

barbelith — Tue, 27 Feb 2001 14:51:56 -0800

Thrown off the scent. A fascinating story about The Pill and its effect on women's mate choice, and the effect of these choices on evolution. T-shirts belonging to unknown men were given to women to smell. All they had to do was say which smelt best. Women on the pill chose exactly the opposite t-shirts to those that didn't - find me free will, personal taste and the nature / culture divide in that if you can... [found via Plastic - and if you want to talk about that, then click here]