Medicine
Sometimes antivaccinationists reveal more than they intend about why they blame vaccines for autism
Posted by Orac on April 24, 2013 I had a long day in the operating room yesterday; so I was tired last night. As a consequence, I thought that today might end up being one of those rare weekdays free of new Insolence. Then, in the morning as I was doing my usual brief perusal of e-mail and blogs before heading to…
Experimental Biology – Tuesday
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 23, 2013 Today’s symposia included a session on “Integrative Cardiovascular and Respiratory Physiology of Non-model Organisms” as well as the August Krogh Distinguished Lecture. This year’s Krogh lecture was given by Dr. Stan Lindstedt from Northern Arizona University. Dr. Lindstedt is arguably best known for publishing work showing that the metabolic rate of an animal is negatively…
Student guest post: The Fallacious Fad of Foregoing Vaccinations
Posted by Tara C. Smith on April 23, 2013 It’s time for this year’s second installment of student guest posts for my class on infectious causes of chronic disease. First one this year is by Dana Lowry. Humans have a long history of illness and death from infectious diseases. It wasn’t until the 1790s that we had a solution. Edward Jenner recognized that milkmaids…
Experimental Biology – Monday
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 23, 2013 Another exciting day for Comparative Physiology! I just got back to my hotel after the wonderful dinner meeting overlooking the Harbor. Of course, the research was exciting too Here are the highlights from today’s sessions: Heinrich E, Bradley T. Univ California, Irvine I learned a lot about the insect tracheal system this morning. Insects do not…
Experimental Biology – Sunday
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 22, 2013 The Comparative and Evolutionary Physiology section held their Scholander Poster competition for young comparative physiologists today! It was exciting to see all of the students present their work. Here are some of the highlights: Raffaele Pilla, Dominic P, D’Agostino, Carol S. Landon, and Jay B. Dean from Molecular Pharmacology and Physiology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL.…
Oh, no! GMOs are going to kill your babies and permanently change your gene expression!
Posted by Orac on April 22, 2013 Heidi Stevenson amuses me. I know, I know, I’ve started a previous post with exactly this sentence a mere month ago, but it’s so damned appropriate that I can’t help but try it again. A homeopath (which means that she’s reality-challenged to begin with), she’s produced some of the most hilariously off-base, pseudoscientific, and downright…
HPV vaccine works. NO WAY!!!!
Posted by ERV on April 22, 2013 The HPV vaccine works! Genital warts in young Australians five years into national human papillomavirus vaccination programme: national surveillance data. In Australia, they started vaccinating girls/women against HPV in 2007. In 2007, 11.5% of women under 21 (age-range most likely to get the vaccine before they were sexually active) were diagnosed with genital warts. 0.85%…
Talking To Stubbornly Angle-Pushing Journalist About Vaccine
Posted by Martin R on April 21, 2013 
As part of my duties as chairman of the Swedish Skeptics, earlier tonight I took part in a studio discussion on Swedish TV4 about Gardasil, the vaccine against human papilloma virus that is offered to all 12-y-o Swedish girls. It was a pretty silly affair. The TV people had decided on the angle that the…
Experimental Biology – Opening Ceremony
Posted by Dr. Dolittle on April 21, 2013 As always, the opening ceremony for the American Physiological Society at the Experimental Biology meeting was awesome! The food was probably the best I have had at these meetings, which along with the fun band, probably explains why it was jam-packed with Physiologists eager to kick-start this meeting. I am looking forward to the Scholander…
Is Eric Merola issuing bogus DMCA takedown notices against critics of Stanislaw Burzynski?
Posted by Orac on April 19, 2013 If there is one aspect of cranks that is almost universal (besides the aforementioned tendency to want to prove themselves through things like “live televised debates“), it’s a tendency to want to shut down the criticism of its opposition. True, such a tendency is a human trait as well and used far too often by,…
