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
January 6, 2009
Why do scientists hate freedom so much?
Oh, maybe cause 'academic freedom' is the post 9/11 jingoist new buzzword radical Christians are using to squirt warm, salty Creationism, Global Warming Denialism, and pro-life arguments into public schools.
YAAAAAAAAAAAAY!!!
Via NCSE:
The State Board of…
January 5, 2009
Via PZ, a quote from Walt Ruloff, producer of EXPELLED:
The first version of Expelled leaned heavily on computer-generated images of cells, illustrating how their development relied on more than random mutation.
But alas, Ruloff said, "When we first watched that movie it was verrrrry boring."
So,…
January 5, 2009
One of more genuinely stupid comments I hear about HIV-1 research goes along these lines:
Why we spenden so much moneys on HIV when we aint got no vaccine and we could be spendin it on cancer/heart disease/diabeetus/whatever disease I personally am at risk for?
No, we dont have a vaccine for HIV-1…
December 29, 2008
Creationists and HIV Deniers, gawd bless em.
So like, remember a while back when Andy Schlafly, Creationist of Conservapedia wrote PNAS demanding raw data, reagents, etc from Richard Lenski? And if Lenski refused to deliver that stuff to Schlafly (and his crack team of home schooled children) for…
December 29, 2008
Jim Gorant, thank you.
The dog approaches the outstretched hand. Her name is Sweet Jasmine, and she is 35 pounds of twitchy curiosity with a coat the color of fried chicken, a pink nose and brown eyes. She had spent a full 20 seconds studying this five-fingered offering before advancing. Now, as…
December 29, 2008
An unfortunate side effect of grad school is that I have had zero spare time for reading. I mean, sure Ive got several hours a day to read papers, but I mean fun reading.
Well this past week I took a nice break from work/school/writing and I totally binged.
Seven books in seven days.
I read the…
December 25, 2008
Maaaaaan.
Christmas 2005: Intelligent Design gets taken off life support
Christmas 2006: Mr. Dembskis Fartastic Flash Animation
Christmas 2007: Discovery Institute gets caught breaking the eighth commandment.
Christmas 2008: Boo.
*sigh*
Well, we can always count on little Casey Luskin for a good…
December 21, 2008
Oh George.
I dont blame you for being angry. I attacked your profession, your profession is an extension of you, thus you took my comments personally, and completely missed what the hell I was talking about.
1-- I dont know whether she had a bad experience with 'The Wichita Beacon Journal'*...…
December 18, 2008
I grew up with the internet.
This is my life.
I regularly make internet culture references that others are too old/young to get (which is why I like hanging out with WoWers, even though I dont play-- they get my jokes :P).
So I thought I would do myself and my readers a favor by posting on the next…
December 18, 2008
UPDATE 1/9/09-- More RIck Warrens anti-activism.
When I found out yesterday that Rick Warren was speaking at Obamas inauguration, I was pretty grossed out. Grossed out, and confused. Obama and Warren appear to be polar opposites... but whatever. Its Obamas party, he can invite whoever he wants.…
December 17, 2008
Ive been *patiently* waiting two damn weeks for this paper to come out:
A transitional endogenous lentivirus from the genome of a basal primate and implications for lentivirus evolution.
Gifford and Katzourakis are the same folks who found RELIK a while back-- a lentiviral ERV in a species of…
December 15, 2008
*sigh*
My swooning over Venter on the cover of the latest edition of SEED was rudely interrupted by Larry Moran. Evidently he really does get SEED 'for the articles'. heh.
Epigenetics at SEED
Yeah, um, this SEED article... this article is not helpful. For you, or me, or the scientific literacy…
December 15, 2008
Ive spent the past week staring at a computer screen, comparing amino acid sequences of the envelope gene of various kinds of HIV-1.
CNNKTFNGTGPCHNVSTVQCTHGIKPVVSTQLLLNGSLAEREIIIRSENLTDNVKTIIVHLNESVEISCTR
PNNNTRKSIRIGPGQAFYATGDIIGDIRQAHCNISENWNKTLEWVRKKLEEHFPNKTIAFKPSSGGDLEI…
December 11, 2008
Steven Chu is going to be nominated for Obamas Secretary of Energy.
He is Steve #75.
*breathes a little easier*
December 10, 2008
Stewart relentlessly confronts Huckabee on gay marriage.
*/
The Daily Show With Jon StewartM - Th 11p / 10c
Mike Huckabee Pt. 2
Barack Obama InterviewJohn McCain Interview
Sarah Palin VideoFunny Election Video
Damn! Thanks, Jon!
December 9, 2008
Yeah... so remember that herpes vaccine?
We just got another reason to want that bad boy (as if we needed another reason):
Herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA is located within Alzheimer's disease amyloid plaques.
So Wozniak et al cut up the brains of 11 people (who had kindly asked that their bodies…
December 8, 2008
Blaggers. YouTubers. WikkiWarriors.
We are all brothers in arms in this information revolution.
Jeremy Mohn from stand up for REAL science has been creating a series of YouTube videos on evolution.
His newest installment?
ERVs.
Sweet.
December 6, 2008
LOL! I didnt know this was up yet!
Me and Ed Yong blithering for like, and hour :P
Full diavalogue!
December 4, 2008
Gene therapy is easy, in theory.
Born with a bad gene? No prob!! Just replace it with one that works! We have lots of ways of doing that! I mean, retroviruses plop new genes into our cells all the time! Half of your genome is made of leftover retroviruses! So why dont we just put a functional…
December 3, 2008
Lets say Im holding in my hand, a syringe.
In this syringe is an experimental vaccine for HSV-2. The dreaded genital herpes.
The vaccine is a live HSV virus with one gene deleted, ICP0 (free paper about this virus). When ICP0 is gone, the virus can still establish life long infection (if you get…
December 1, 2008
Just in time for World AIDS day, the folks who discovered tetherin have a new paper out:
Broad-spectrum inhibition of retroviral and filoviral particle release by tetherin.
Just a quick summary-- Neil et al looked at the evolution of an HIV-1 protein, Vpu, and said 'something is going on here.'…
November 25, 2008
Urge to kill fading... fading... fading...
Last micro test today.
Just finished writing my final paper.
No more Type III Secretion Systems.
No more god forsaken 'Listeria' and 'Salmonella' and 'EHEC'.
All I have left is three weeks of virology. Sweet, sweet virology.
eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee **…
November 21, 2008
Gosh golly.
November 14th some good ol Evangelical kids were minding their own business, praising His name on a Friday night on Castro Street.
In front of a memorial set up for Hank Wilson-- A much loved HIV/AIDS, gay rights activist who passed away November 9th.
In the late 1970s, Mr. Wilson…
November 21, 2008
Hi girls! **waves excitedly**
Its a big day, right? YAY!
I know you all are totally pepped up, and I dont want to be a Debbie Downer again... but well... see, when I was your alls age, 12-ish, I was in love with a family of vampires too. The main dude wasnt Edward, though. His name was Lestat…
November 20, 2008
Journalists and journalism shouldnt exist anymore.
Theyre no longer relevant.
In todays world of Twitters and Bloggers and YouTubers-- there is no point in getting a 'degree' to be a journalist, when we all have the capabilities of being 'civilian' journalists. Civilian journalists that are, flat…
November 17, 2008
Holy crap...
... Its a disaster, you guys...
... The TARDmine... its collapsed...
... The carnage... its killed Dembski and DaveTard...
... Denyse has sustained severe head trauma...
... BarryA is the only one left alive...
There is no god...
November 17, 2008
Ive totally been a Debbie Downer lately.
I dont mean to be, its just that I really friggen hate it when main-stream media trumpets the latest, greatest 'CURE FOR AIDS OMFG'-- and then 10 years later scientists have to explain to the general public why we havent cured AIDS yet.
Why cant reporters…
November 15, 2008
Carivintas Winery, along with Best Friends Animal Sanctuary (the folks looking after the pups Michael Vick tortured) have released a line of 'Vicktory Wine'-- Bottles of 'boutique' booze with 10% going to Best Friends.
So if youre in the mood to blow $672 on a few cases of booze, why not have some…
November 13, 2008
Oh for Petes sake.
*sigh*
Okay, there are two potential targets for an HIV-1 vaccine:
1-- The envelope protein. Its the only HIV-1 protein that your antibodies can see. Antibodies can prevent the viruses from attaching to your cells.
2-- The structural proteins in gag. These proteins are…
November 10, 2008
Ray Comfort NEEDS YOUR HELP!
A publisher has asked if I can suggest someone to give a me Foreword for my new book, You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence, But You Can't Make Him Think.
Any takers? If we use it, I will make sure you get attribution. The book is due out Jan/Feb. 2009, so you will need…