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
August 27, 2009
Ive been puking all morning.
No, Im not pregnant.
Its just that Michael Behe recently filmed a show for BloggingHeads with some dude, John McWhorter. Never heard of the guy, but he gave Behe one hot, 44 minute blow-job.
On BloggingHeads.
BloggingHeads.
Bonus: Ive been trying to debate Behe for…
August 25, 2009
Okay, no big shock to any of you-- bacteria are becoming resistant to our antibiotics. One of the many enteric bacteria (cause kids to poop to death), E. coli, is racking up antibiotic resistance genes like theyre McDonalds Beanie Babies.
What the hell are we going to do?
Phage therapy.…
August 21, 2009
The connection between wayward endogenous retroviral protein production and multiple sclerosis is tightening :D Sure its still a mess, sure we dont have all the pieces to The Puzzle-- but weve got a strong foothold now. We know we are going in the right direction.
A subtle paper just came out in…
August 18, 2009
I read a nice review article on viral evilution this weekend that really highlighted, for me, how clueless Creationists (especially Intelligent Design Creationists) are about evilution.
Antiviral resistance and impact on viral replication capacity: evolution of viruses under antiviral pressure…
August 16, 2009
Been quiet on ERV lately, cause Ive been puppah sitting again.
This time, its a ~1 year old mutt (German Shepherd, Rottie, Boxer... ??). One week of this:
Approximately 20 hours a day.
LOL!
These two have been having so much fun, Weenie Dog From Hell even decided to give this 'play' thing a try:
August 13, 2009
Kevin Miller, XI
Kevin Miller, ksī
Kevin Miller, *sigh*
I love how Intelligent Design is SO NOT Creationism.
I love how professional proponents of ID, when confronted by real scientists and real educated laymen, feign ignorance. Go all Po-Mo "different ways of knowing". Act like little know-it-…
August 12, 2009
Because Christian politicians have nothing else to worry about:
Republican mayoral candidate Anna Falling said Tuesday that putting a Christian creationism display in the Tulsa Zoo is No. 1 in importance among city issues that include violent crime, budget woes and bumpy streets.
"It's first," she…
August 11, 2009
You know youre a nerd when:
1. You squeeeeee with excitement when the secretary tells you there is extra grant money you can use to order textbooks
2. You hand over a list of books you want to the secretary in ~30 seconds, because you keep a running list of stats/virus/evolution books you want
3…
August 6, 2009
Welp, Mooney chickened out. Again.
I feel bad for Reggie, because this is totally my fault-- Reggie is a very congenial interviewer. Hes been earning street-cred since the internet was born, interviewing top dogs like Eugenie Scott, Richard Dawkins, Ken Miller, James Randi, Barbara Forrest...
But…
August 5, 2009
Ha.
Ray Comfort (ie, insufferable attention whore) is cruising for tricks atheist kids to debate in Oklahoma.
Unfortunately, he is going to run into the same problems Charles Jackson had. While Professional Evangelical Freaks can draw crowds on the coasts, they arent exactly a novelty in Oklahoma…
August 5, 2009
A group of scientists from Mexico (Catholic population: >90%) have written a nice letter to Teh Pope in The Lancet Infectious Diseases. Its brilliant because its so simple and straightforward in its reasoning why Teh Pope should support condom use.
The Pope, condoms, and the evolution of HIV…
August 3, 2009
Nothing wakes me up on a rainy Monday morning like viral nomenclature!
So we have two kinds of HIV. HIV-1 we got from chimpanzees. HIV-2 we got from sooty mangabeys.
HIV-1 is further divided into Group M, N, and O, each resulting from a different zoonotic event from chimpanzees.
Several years ago…
August 2, 2009
DRAMA-LLAMA-DING-DONG!
Just an observation. Move along, unless youre bored on a Sunday afternoon.
So you all know how I 'debated' Charles Jackson a few months ago? Like over 9,000 hours of presentation and Q&A? Well, I answered a lot more Qs after the Q&A, after we had officially '…
July 30, 2009
EMAIL!
Dear ERV--
Hope you don't mind a real question instead of the stupid stuff teh idiots usually send you.
This morning we had a lecture by Salvatore DiMauro, M.D. from columbia university (he is neurolog/neuromuscular mainly mitochondrial diseases) about mitochondrial diseases.
Any evidence…
July 30, 2009
If you are one of the many people who cant get Luskin Mooney to give you a straight answer to your questions/comments/criticisms of his 'Unscientific America' fap-fest, whether because youre banned from his blog, he defriended you on Facebook, or he just plain ignores everything you say because…
July 29, 2009
Howdy!
Just want to point you all towards a Q&A I did with an animal blag, 'Paw Talk'! Theyve been doing these with lots of science bloggers, and the series has been pretty fun, so Im glad Ive been included!
I also think its funny that both Ava and Conspiracy Skeptic picked the same piccie of…
July 28, 2009
*collapses in a pile of giggles*
If you dont want to read more blag drama, move along. This post is strictly for the lulz.
Chris Mooney is Not My Friend Anymore
In addition, Mooney and Kirshenbaum offer no practical suggestions for how to acquire the target audience. People with no interest in…
July 28, 2009
If you watch the late night talk shows in the US, you probably heard about this research-- Turns out the 'new' swine flu looks, structurally, a hellovalot like the 1918 flu. People who were born before 1918 had antibodies in their serum that could neutralize the new swine flu. Enter the late…
July 24, 2009
When HIV-1 was first discovered, scientists were optimistic about a vaccine. Small pox, polio, measles, meh-- HIV-1 is a virus. We can handle viruses. Give us 6 months. No prob.
Well, >25 years later and we still dont have a damn vaccine. Strategies that worked against other viruses? HIV-1…
July 23, 2009
Uh oh. Ive dont it again! Enabled teh cranks by talking about HIV-1and HIV Denialism with The Conspiracy Skeptic (scroll down to find the mp3)!
I was worried it would come off as too 'inside'-- Conspiracy Skeptic is an ERV reader, so we made some references that newbs might not be familiar with,…
July 21, 2009
WTF!
Did someone declare this week 'cool ERV research week.' or something?? Yet another awesome ERV paper came out:
Distribution of Endogenous Retroviruses in Crocodilians.
The title is pretty non-sexy, but what they found... AAAAH!
Okay, Jaratlerdsiri and company set out to look at ERVs in the…
July 20, 2009
Sally Kern lives in constant terror of the ACLU-- but at least Governor Brad Henry has her back.
Oh wait, no he doesnt.
LOL! Baptists.
The Baptist Messenger -- an established weekly newspaper with a paid circulation of over 85,000--decided to photoshop Governor Henry's signature on the…
July 20, 2009
Ive been pet-sitting a friends weiner dog for about a week now. Nother 2 weeks to go.
I wish I could have a reality TV show around to film Arnie and Alexs interactions, because they pretty much hate each other. Not in an 'IM GOING TO EAT YOU!' sort of way-- I can leave them alone together, and…
July 18, 2009
FereÅte-mÄ, doamne, de prieteni, cÄ de duÅmani mÄ feresc eu singur.
Defend me, Lord, from my friends, because from enemies I can defend myself.
Thank you, Ms Stephanie Zvan. One might say you were sent from Heaven.
*bows*
July 17, 2009
WEIRD COOL EXPERIMENT ALERT!
Proviral integrations and expression of endogenous Avian leukosis virus during long term selection for high and low body weight in two chicken lines
For some reason, I have no idea why (Im sure they have a good reason-- obesity research, farming research), scientists…
July 16, 2009
So Ive been over the basics of ERVs (Intro, gag, pol, env), but Im still missing a 'basic' aspect of ERVs, even though I talk about them all the friggen time on this blag: LTRs.
In exogenous retroviruses, LTRs act as promoters. Genome has all the genes (gag, pol, env), LTRs make sure they, and…
July 16, 2009
Im obnoxiously optimistic.
You have to be, as an HIV-1 researcher. You have to be, cause when you think about how far weve come, and how far we have to go... youd never get out of bed in the morning.
So I happily found something good through Mooneytits and Cockenbaum throwing PZ under the bus:…
July 14, 2009
A life-goal of mine: Turn HIV-1 into herpes. An STD that sucks, you have to take meds for, you have to tell your partner about, need to worry about passing to your baby in childbirth, but not a soul crushing death sentence, anywhere.
But even though herpes has some behaviors HIV-1 needs, HIV has…