Stacey Smith
I'm a graduate student studying the molecular and biochemical evolution of HIV within patients and within populations. I also study epigenetic control of ERVs.
sa smith
Posts by this author
February 16, 2010
Thanks to the numerous vaccines I have received over the years, I have superpowers.
100% serious, here.
I mean, I cant fly. Cant see through walls. Nothing cliche like that.
No, my superpower is, I can predict what Creationists are going to say/do before they say/do it.
You might think this is a…
February 16, 2010
Shorter "Absence of xenotropic murine leukaemia virus-related virus in UK patients with chronic fatigue syndrome":
170 more CFS samples from two different cohorts.
395 more healthy controls.
No Simon Wesseley.
No XMRV by regular PCR, boosted PCR, or qRT-PCR on DNA or cDNA.
No meaningful anti-XMRV…
February 15, 2010
Last week I wrote about a disappointing study where they found that treating people infected with HIV-1 and HSV-2 with acyclovir didnt decrease their rates of HIV-1 transmission to their partners... even though they had lower HIV-1 viral loads, and fewer HSV-2 outbreaks.
Really disappointing.
Well…
February 13, 2010
Hey, you all remember a while back, there was that cheerleader that got the seasonal flu vaccine, and then all hell broke loose?
Turns out, wasnt dystonia, it was psychogenic. And apparently, shes fine now:
Minor problem: Steve Novella, while he is a great advocate for rational, science-based…
February 11, 2010
I refer to this so often-- I need to make a name for it.
A name for how Creationists are always parading about saying protein structures are so perfect and pretty colorful Lego blocks, and they all snap together perfectly, but reality is SO not like that? Reality is a buzzing, floppy, invisible…
February 9, 2010
Look, I like weird people. Goth kids. Sci-fi geeks. Language nerds.
Weird people are far more interesting than, say, the 'normal' people that get cast for shows like 'The Bachelor': Generic Human #231975, Generic Human #576930, Generic Human #750193, bleh.
But theres a whole different level of…
February 9, 2010
Acyclovir and Transmission of HIV-1 from Persons Infected with HIV-1 and HSV-2.
--Daily acyclovir therapy did not reduce the risk of transmission of HIV-1, despite a reduction in plasma HIV-1 RNA of 0.25 log10 copies per milliliter and a 73% reduction in the occurrence of genital ulcers due to HSV-…
February 6, 2010
Its not news that I like vampire fiction. Grew up with Lestat, eh, its my fluff hobby.
One of my favorite vampires is Andre, from the Sookie Stackhouse mysteries. Dunno why-- hes not in the books a lot, but there was something about him that caught my fancy. (spoilers ahead) I got (and still am…
February 3, 2010
The following post should be read in the voice of 'Jakov', from the timeless South Park episode, 'Jakovasaurs'.
*ahem*
THIS IS JUST SO TYPICAL.
TYPICAL WHITE ELITIST D00D DOMINATION OF THE SCIENCES.
EUREKA JUST RELEASED THEIR TOP 30 SCIENCE BLOGS, AND ONLY 20% OF THEM ARE AUTHORED BY WOOMYN.
BUT…
February 2, 2010
I hesitate to write about this, as Im sure its going to be taken and amplified by Teh Crazy... but I suppose I better just get a head start...
Isolation of an Infectious Endogenous Retrovirus in a Proportion of Live Attenuated Vaccines for Pets
Well shit.
Researchers took a dozen cat/dog vaccines…
February 1, 2010
So here are my answers to The Brainstorm Challenge.
Some of you got real damn close to the 'answers' I was thinking of, but you all missed a great big one (which I think will make sense to you after I bring it up hehe!)
1-- Lets say youve isolated white blood cells from CFS patients. You treat…
January 31, 2010
For the new year, lots of blogs and blags are posting great intros for beginners.
1-- If you are real new to weight-lifting, please check out Lyle McDonalds 'Beginning Weight Training' series.
Part I
Part II
Part III
Part IV
2-- If you are a dude, especially a young dude with dreams of 22-inch…
January 29, 2010
I think its funny that even people who HATE Richard Dawkins, I mean, the people who would run the man down with their car and eat the corpse raw, or even just the hundreds (thousands?) of douche bags who wrote 'reviews' or 'rebuttals' of 'The God Delusion' without actually reading it-- Their lives…
January 27, 2010
This is a repost from the old ERV. A retrotransposed ERV :P
The Proceedings of the National Academy of Science have a special online edition focused on the place of evilution in medicine.
Shorter Michael Egnor:
:-O
Hat tip to Pharyngula.
Oops. Dr. Egnor, Mr. Professor of Neurosurgery, doesnt…
January 26, 2010
Okay, you know how I say with ERVs and disease:
Expression of the ERV protein causes the disease
Expression of the ERV is an effect of the disease (a useful biomarker)
Expression of the ERV is an effect that perpetuates the disease
I just read a paper that exemplifies #3!
Regulation of human…
January 24, 2010
While listening to Judy Mikovits presentation to CFS patients on Friday, I took a few notes.
Well, I took a few notes in between screaming at my computer, slamming my head into my keyboard, and popping Xanax like they were Skittles.
Ive got a few questions for my regular readers, because I…
January 21, 2010
My god, epigenetics is a woo-magnet.
Its not epigenetics fault, its just science.
But the word 'epigenetics' gets put on this ('chambery thing' heh.).
And this.
And this.
And... well, just Google it. Find your own favorite bit of self-help/explain all/magic epigenetic crap.
Attention woo-meisters…
January 20, 2010
This is insanity, people.
Scientific insanity.
Moved right from 'this does not make sense' and 'youre acting like a bitch' to 'this is insane'.
#1-- Lead author of the Reno XMRV-->CFS study is holding a live-streamed press conference at Hotel Mar Monte on Friday.
*blink*
This is insanity. They…
January 18, 2010
The only creatures that existed in the RNA World that still exist today, are viruses.
They are the only creatures that still use RNA to store their genome-- they never upgraded to V2.0, DNA.
In fact the creatures that might have written V2.0, retroviruses, are still around today too. They carry…
January 16, 2010
The 'fitness' news this week has been all about STEROIDS!
Pals went on a grand adventures with an anti-aging wooer (Train Wreck 1, Train Wreck 2, Train Wreck 3-- holy crap!).
Well, dont feel bad, Pal. There is no question in my mind that this guy 'has issues', because I get 'Life Extension'…
January 13, 2010
One 'insider' thing I hope ERV readers learn about science from this blag, is that in science, controversies are completely normal, everyday occurrences. Outsiders might think scientists are 'mean' when dealing with anti-vaxers/Creationists/whatever, but how we treat non-scientists manufacturing a…
January 10, 2010
I actually have a couple EXERGAMES for mah Wii.
I wouldnt buy a Wii for these games, but they do make me sweat when the weather/timing keeps me from getting to the gym:
Golds Gym Cardio Workout-- This is basically 'Guitar Hero' with jabs/upper-cuts/hooks/ducks/blocks/etc. It can get pretty damn…
January 9, 2010
Since last weeks post on fitness (or lack of it) on SciBlogs*, blag brother Ethan suggested a blag-wide fitness event-- lets all talk about our personal 'fitness'. What we do, why we do it, mistakes we made along the way, even though we are totally amateurs :P
Heres his pretty post :)
My post is…
January 7, 2010
October 16, 2009--
The science of this paper is fine. Their experiments are fine. And, there is clearly a bias for the presence of XMLV in CFS patients.
BUT, this story doesnt make sense.
October 23, 2009--
This normally 'harmless' virus is more prevalent in certain areas of the world (Africa) than…
January 6, 2010
Hey, you remember last fall when Stephen '1985' Meyer came to OU?
And I went to see him, not Johnny Wells, so Wells threw an epic tantrum?
Smith left abruptly after the lecture and did not stay for the Q&A.
"Hi! Im Johnny Wells! I wasnt at the lecture, but Im going to tell everyone what…
January 6, 2010
Endogenous retroviruses are weird, but how they got into our genomes and what they mean, evolutionarily, isnt too hard to understand (unless youre an IDiot). A retrovirus has to not only accidentally infect a germ-line cell (sperm/egg), that particular egg/sperm has to successfully mediate…
January 5, 2010
I volunteer my ovum in the service of cloning more Carl Zimmers.
Hes got a laymen-science appropriate-yet-not-dumbed-down-to-the-point-of-being-wrong article on the New York Times on one of the many ways we use viral evolution in the lab.
A decade ago, scientists began running experiments that…
January 4, 2010
I havent mentioned anything about Ugandas Evangelical-driven quest to kill homosexuals.
I figured that you dont really need to have my expertise in HIV-1 to recognize that these people are fucking psycho.
But, it doesnt take a whole lot of effort for me to demonstrate that on a scientific level,…
January 3, 2010
Last Fridays xkcd:
A scene from 'Big Bang Theory'.
This is why there will never be a movie/reality TV show made about Real Science(TM).
I can make my experiments sound dramatic: Setting up steel-cage death-matches between various variants of HIV-1. Epic gladiator battles where only the fittest…
January 2, 2010
Mooney 2008.
Mooney 2010.
Hes like the blonde girl in the white convertible-- the one that got away *dreamy sigh*
*BARF!*