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profile.gif David Ng is Director of the Advanced Molecular Biology Laboratory at the University of British Columbia - this is a just a fancier way of calling himself a science teacher.

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Things I'd like to understand: Grey's Anatomy and that Radiohead video edition.

Category: Nature, as in parts, bits, molecular and stuffThe Art/Science (Non?)Divide Building
Posted on: February 2, 2007 3:34 PM, by David Ng

So did anyone else see that Grey's Anatomy episode last night? You know, the one with the patient on chemotherapy, that had some sort of herbal supplement earlier in the day, and whammo, that strange mixture somehow led to (as they said in the show) a form of "neurotoxic" blood?

And by neurotoxic, we mean that when going under the knife, you had doctors dropping left and right, from some airborne element in the blood?

Because if you did, and especially if you are an M.D., I'd like some answers. Because this has everything to do with Radiohead.

Not that I believe for a second that those particular circumstances and outcomes are exactly real, or without artistic license, but I'm wondering whether, there has ever been the occasion where something, anything, stemming from a human's body can have the effect of knocking out a roomful of people just by apparent "exposure." And by something, I'm hoping for something medical as oppose to technology.

What does this have to do with Radiohead? It just does.

Comments

Tangential ...

That may very well be the episode where the show jumped the shark. I was trying to figure out how *all* the staff dropped at the one time and none were able even to make it out or phone out.

(Not that I watch the show. My wife does. I was just in the room. Honest.)

Posted by: John Lynch | February 2, 2007 4:00 PM

You know John. You might be on to something. My wife got season one on DVD this past christmas, so we've been watching a lot of this stuff, and I've got to say that I've quite enjoyed season one (and also two, since we borrowed it from friends).

I haven't actually been following this season's stuff, but did watch yesterday because I saw the preview and am looking for answers for this radiohead thing (I do have real reasons for wanting to find out - I even had a notebook out last night to catch some medical term or other). And I've got to say, it was the first time the skepticism alarm really went off in a significant manner.

But I'm not a medical person - so who knows. For now, I do know that "neurotoxic blood" doesn't seem to be something that comes up easily in the medical literature.

Posted by: David Ng | February 2, 2007 4:14 PM

Just think of the terrorist applications!

Posted by: Barry | February 2, 2007 5:44 PM

I was reading for class last night when my fiancee starts yelling about everybody falling over and what could cause that. So upon review, before they started calling it a neurotoxin, I thought that the patient had just had a crappy oncologist or was trying chemo on her own and was accordingly really really radioactive. Because the symptoms of the people on the show were similar to those of mild/severe radiation poisoning.

Posted by: Toaster Sunshine | February 2, 2007 5:49 PM

Except that in the Radiohead video, all the people passing out do so on one side of the initial guy lying on the floor. This suggests something directional going on, which would work better in the airborne context (i.e. person falls down, other rush to check out what's wrong, they get caught in the path as well, and etc...) So many possibilities. Hoping to expand a few of them out there with this post.

Posted by: David Ng | February 2, 2007 6:26 PM

I didn't think the Radiohead was about an airborne neurotoxin from the man, it seemed to be the words he spoke. The people walked up to him and listened to his warning before they laid down. If it was something emanating from him they'd immediately keel over like the doctors.

I imagined it could be some type of alien apocalypse, with low flying crafts destroying the buildings a head level. Or something exploding nearby, with an impact meant to knock them over (at the least) so it was safer on the ground. Or, a firestorm, the air close to the ground safer to breathe than smoke.

Or...?

Posted by: Sandra | February 2, 2007 7:24 PM

Wasn't there an incident some years back when surgeons operating on a man suddenly became ill from something in his body?

Posted by: Gerry L | February 3, 2007 12:36 AM

It had to have been the funniest joke in the world.

(http://www.jumpstation.ca/recroom/comedy/python/joke.html)

Posted by: Sarah B | November 29, 2007 1:02 AM

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