Category Archives: Biology

HIV/AIDS news: the good, bad, and downright sad

Posted on July 19, 2010 by lifeandtechie

During my six years as an immunology grad student, HIV research papers that had the words ‘T cells,’ ‘antibodies’ and ‘vaccine’ in them always sat on or near the top of my must-read pile. I read those papers with enthusiasm … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Health and Medicine | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

“Is it me? Or is it XMRV?” – the Chronic Fatigue blame game continues

Posted on July 14, 2010 by lifeandtechie

Several million perpetually tired people heaved a weary sigh of relief last year when a research group “raised the possibility” that Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, a much-debated (and sometimes-mocked) condition, was caused by a retrovirus. Well, okay, the researchers didn’t outright … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Health and Medicine, Uncategorized | Tagged , , , , , | Leave a comment

Stem cell misadventures: shady stories from hot places

Posted on June 28, 2010 by lifeandtechie

A man staggers off a plane on to a hot tarmac. He’s flown thousands of miles in the hope that this visit to a country famous for its beautiful beaches, among other things, will mend his broken heart — medically, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Health and Medicine | Tagged , , , | 1 Comment

Need to know: troubled oceans, lurking flu, vuvuzela filters and more

Posted on June 21, 2010 by lifeandtechie

A handful of need-to-knows this week: The oceans are in trouble even without rigs dumping oil into them. Science’s coverage of the issues in its latest issue, is, well, oceanic. The direst of the problems seems to be that the oceans’ pH … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Environment, Technology | Tagged , , , , , , | Leave a comment

Now Big Brother wants your DNA too (psst, it might already have it)

Posted on June 16, 2010 by lifeandtechie

Whether it’s a good thing or not is debatable, but the truth of the matter is that Big Brother, a.k.a, the federal government, already has gathered a little too much info about us by snooping on our digital lives. Govt.-commissioned … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Technology | Tagged , , , | 2 Comments

10 year old human genome feels the weight of false expectations

Posted on June 15, 2010 by lifeandtechie

It’s annoying when people pick on the human genome. Especially since this June marks its 10th birthday (scientists unveiled its first draft 1o years ago), and we should be throwing the genome birthday bashes, not bashing it up. And particularly … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Technology | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

New ways of hitting cancer: peptide rockets and nanobombs

Posted on June 13, 2010 by lifeandtechie

You can make a cancer drug that only targets cancer cells while leaving healthy cells alone. You can even tailor a cancer drug so that it specifically targets genetic mistakes that are unique to the particular subtype of cancer that … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Cancer, Health and Medicine | Tagged , , , , | 1 Comment

The Neanderthalizer and other weapons of mass instruction

Posted on June 7, 2010 by lifeandtechie

Want a Neandertal makeover? There’s an app for that. There’s also an app to keep tabs on NASA. And a couple for beating climate-change skeptics and anti-evolutionists at their own game. These and scores of other nerdy downloads are some … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Environment, Evolution, Technology | Tagged , , , , | Leave a comment

May days: a couple of highlights

Posted on June 2, 2010 by lifeandtechie

May has morphed into June, but there are a couple of “origin” stories from last month that will percolate for a long time in the groove that they’ve dug into my brain. Although one is about the origins of the … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Evolution, Other sciences | Tagged , , , , , , | 1 Comment

New czar for cancer war

Posted on May 28, 2010 by lifeandtechie

The National Cancer Institute (NCI)—command central for the war on cancer for the last 40 years—will be run by a new general come July. Last week, President Obama nominated Harold Varmus to replace a Bush appointee who, by all accounts, … Continue reading →

Posted in Biology, Cancer | Tagged | Leave a comment