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Aetiology

Discussing causes, origins, evolution, and implications of disease and other phenomena.

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"...a veritable expert on tawdry cosmetic procedures gone horribly awry..."--Kevin Beck

Tara C. Smith is an Assistant Professor of Epidemiology. Her research involves a number of pathogens at the animal-human nexus. Additionally, she is the founder of Iowa Citizens for Science and also writes for The Panda's Thumb and WIRED SCIENCE's Correlations. Please note the views expressed on this site are Dr. Smith's alone and may not be representative of the groups mentioned above.

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Infectious Disease Series

July 31, 2006

Limits on information, continued

Category: Infectious diseasePolicyPublic healthVarious bacteriaVarious viruses

Good timing. Just Friday we were discussing limits on biological knowledge, particularly in regard to bioterrorism and the potential for information to fall into the wrong hands (or be used for the "wrong" purposes). Today, msnbc.com has an article discussing...

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Early childhood exposures and a healthy life

Category: Cancer epidemiologyGeneral EpidemiologyHistorical studies of diseaseInfectious causes of chronic diseaseInfectious diseaseInfluenzaPolicyPoliticsPublic health

I was busy over the weekend (and disgusted by the hot, nasty weather that will not die), so I don't have a lot on tap for today. Luckily, though, there's some interesting stuff elsewhere that's already written up--thoughtfully saving me...

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Pediatrics really is a circus!

Category: Blog carnivals

Check out the latest edition of Pediatrics Grand Rounds over at Ringmaster Flea's Three-Ring Circus....

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July 29, 2006

Saturday roundup

Category: Blog carnivalsGeneral EpidemiologyInfluenzaPolicyVarious virusesWomen and science

More fascinating topics I didn't get around to:...

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July 28, 2006

Iowa solves the fuel crisis

Category: HumorIowa/area news

It ain't ethanol......

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Limits on biological information--where do we draw the line?

Category: General EpidemiologyGeneral biologyInfectious diseaseInfluenzaPolicyPublic healthVarious viruses

Chuck Darwin posed a very good question here that I'm spinning off into a new discussion. The work Taubenberger and others are doing on the evolution of influenza a century ago is fascinating and could very well be pertinent to...

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Followup to Morgellons post--link to Collembola?

Category: General EpidemiologyGeneral biologySkepticism

A reader sent me a link to this site, which contained a reprint of a story by CBS 47 in Jacksonville. Mostly, it was a repeat of the story I already discussed, but it added this tidbit of information:...

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July 27, 2006

Sequencing pre-1918 influenza viruses

Category: General EpidemiologyGeneral biologyInfectious diseaseInfluenzaPublic healthVarious viruses

Somehow I missed this story in the June issue of Science: ...Jeffery Taubenberger of the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology (AFIP) in Washington, D.C., said that RNA found in tissue samples from pneumonia patients who died in 1915 shows that...

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Children's books--the unofficial "ask a scienceblogger"

Category: Misc.

So, over at the World's Fair, they've put together an unofficial ask a scienceblogger: Are there any children's books that are dear to you, either as a child or a parent, and especially ones that perhaps strike a chord with...

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July 26, 2006

New story on Morgellons disease

Category: General EpidemiologyInfectious diseaseSkepticism

Every couple of months, it seems, comes a new media story on Morgellons disease, a "mysterious ailment" in which Most individuals with this disease report disturbing crawling, stinging, and biting sensations, as well as non-healing skin lesions, which are associated...

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Government funding of studies you don't agree with

Category: AcademiaPublic health

I've not commented on the whole stem cell controversy. Though I follow the literature (and the news), others are much better-versed in the science (and the politics) than I am, so I've left it to them to comment on both...

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July 25, 2006

Grand Rounds 2.44

Category: Blog carnivals

This week's Grand Rounds, a roundup of the week's best medical blogging, is up over at Medical Humanities with a unique garden theme....

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Emerging disease and zoonoses #20--subclinical infections with avian influenza

Category: EcologyGeneral EpidemiologyGeneral biologyInfectious diseaseInfluenzaPublic healthVarious viruses

I've mentioned previously the potential role that mild or asymptomatic infections with influenza may play in transmission and evolution of the virus. Right now, most of our reports of H5N1 have been due to serious infections that caused a...

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July 24, 2006

In which I quit my job and rally against the germ theory of disease

Category: AIDS/HIVGeneral biologyInfectious diseaseIntelligent design/creationism

Evolutionary biologists sometimes think we microbiology people have it easy. "No one doubts the germ theory!," they claim. Au contraire, mes amis: Do some research Tara. Then you will be ready to start from scratch again, forget the germ theory...

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Family + academic career: my take on it

Category: AcademiaWomen and science

I see Janet has a post series going on family + academic career. (Part 1; Part 2). I've written a bit on my own experience at the old blog (and I do mean "a bit;" it's much more of a...

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Gallagher discussion elsewhere

Category: Intelligent design/creationismScience educationSkepticism

Just wanted to point y'all to PZ's post on Gallagher's editorial (as he notes, he's much less generous than I am) and make a few clarifications:...

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