Annual Roundup, Part Deux

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It's never made much sense to me why the pathogenic bacteria Salmonella and Shigella (which is really E. coli) have lost the ability to use lactose (milk sugar). In Shigella, we know that when we restore some lost functions through genetic manipulation (e.g., cadaverine production), they actually…
Last of the annual roundup of 2009. TEH SWINEY FLOO!, Streptococcus, and the Forgotten Vaccine If Your Business Model Requires Ridiculous Gouging, Then... Public Hygiene and Vaccination: They're Not For You, They're For... Economics: Does It All Come Down to Those Stupid F-cking Natural History…
[This is my latest review for Download the Universe] Honor Thy Symbionts, by Jeff Leach. Kindle In 2003, the Human Genome Project--an effort to sequence every gene in a human being--was completed. The success, announced to great fanfare, was supposed to herald a new era in health care.…
Yesterday's article by Gina Kolata about cancer research mistakes a symptom--caution due to a perceived lack of funding--for the disease, which is the symbiosis between academia and the NIH. Don't get me wrong, a lot of research should involve academics. But the priorities of NIH have become…