Better Living through Chemistry
jfiore | January 23, 2009From a recent ad spotted in Running Times magazine, we discover a way to get oxygen into the bloodstream of athletes without using the lungs. Yes, it's SportsOxy Shot from Scientific Solutions LLC. They're selling "super oxygenated" water that's supposed to drastically improve athletic performance. A "serving" is 10 milliliters and it contains 15 volumes percent O2. Hmmm, a quick back-of-the-envelope calculation reveals something interesting. Let's say we have a decent (though not elite) runner with a VO2max of 60 ml O2 per kg per minute. Further, let's say that they're running at an easy…
bushwells | April 18, 2008Finally! A prescription medication tailor-made for me!
From the makers of Damitol and Fukitol, here is...
bushwells | April 2, 2008So. It's National Poetry Month. Type that key phrase into the "search" query field on the main page of SB, and you'll find that April brings forth a veritable poetry slam among Science Bloggers. In this fine tradition, I will don my black trousers, turtleneck, jaunty (but dirty) beret, take a drag from my half-smoked Gauloise ciggie and go Boho here with a selection from the original Botanical Pornographer, Erasmus Darwin, Charles' grandfather. Today, I have chosen his ode to digitalis. Cue bongo drums.
Bolster'd with down, amid a thousand wants,
Pale Dropsy rears his bloated form,…
bushwells | January 16, 2008Judah Folkman, a most extraordinary scientist, died Monday at age 74. Orac (Respectful Insolence) posted a fitting tribute which I highly recommend. See also Alex's (Daily Transcript) entry and this New York Times article.
Thanks to the intricate academic vascular network between Harvard and Boston biotech, Folkman visited the company in Cambridge MA for which I previously worked. His seminar enthralled us and exemplified his ability to communicate so effectively. Folkman's persistent championship of the anti-angiogenic drugs born of his research illustrates his belief in his work and…
bushwells | September 25, 2007I previously confessed that I subscribe to that glossy hardcopy glut of advertising called Vanity Fair. Invariably, the mag contains photo spreads of ripple-ab'ed dudes hawking various men's cologne. All this to mask delicious or stinky or neutral 5alpha-androst-16-en-3-one (androstenone); based on one's genetic variation in the olfactory receptor that binds this steroid, it will smell sweet or icky or not at all. Razib at Gene Expression already covered the recent article in Nature - please see a world of sensory difference.
The Nature article addressed genetic polymorphisms of the…
bushwells | September 20, 2007When I find myself in times of trouble
Ben and Jerry's comes to me
Snarfing Chunky Monkey so sweetly, so sweetly.
When stressed, some folks barely eat and consequently lose weight. Others, including myself, reach for high-fat-high-sugar (HFS) foods in an attempt to ameliorate the angst. Although the connection between stress and overeating is not fully understood, the evidence until recently focused on centrally acting (brain & spinal cord) mechanisms, e.g., hypothalamic control of food consumption and metabolism.
However, Lydia Kuo et al. (1) reported recently in Nature Medicine that…
bushwells | July 6, 2007Speaking, or rather screeching, as a menopausally-crazed, cognitively-impaired winged harpy, I feel it is my duty to swoop in and squawk about the recent hormone replacement therapy free-for-all that's goin' down at Science Blogs.
Links are hardly necessary given that this is front page news but those of you who have wandered into this mess of bonobo scat and banana peels called the Chimp Refuge can scurry off to Neurotopia v.2 where another insidious primate provides extensive and authoritative reviews in three parts. I'd just like to point out a couple of things. I may have missed these…
bushwells | June 14, 2007Following up on the wacky tobaccy post, the FDA advisory panel voted 14-0 against recommendation of rimonabant to move forward as a treatment for obesity, citing the need for further safety studies. As noted, the primary concerns are psychiatric/neurological issues.
I really can't resist a "No shit, Sherlock!" as pertains to the psychiatric and neurological issues. The endocannabinoid system is under scrutiny for psychiatric indications, i.e., new antidepressants and anxiolytics. It's not exactly unexpected that such adverse effects might arise given the different responses among…
bushwells | June 13, 2007
Today, the FDA's Endocrinologic and Metabologic Advisory Committee reviews rimonabant, the cannabinoid receptor antagonist developed by Sanofi-Aventis, for recommendations, or lack thereof, as an anti-obesity medication. Rimonabant was approved in Europe for limited cohorts of obese patients, but rejected as an anti-smoking medication. Approval for marketing rimonabant in the US is pending next month, and the advisory committee's assessment will weigh heavily on this decision.
There are other 'bants in the pharma pipeline so it should be interesting to see how today's decision plays out…
bushwells | May 1, 2007When I encounter horrific articles like Hope for sex-boosting slimming pill , I would just as soon take a pencil and shove it in my ear because that would be more gratifying than giving such journalistic shattery any kind of serious consideration. But what the hey, this is the Chimp Refuge, where we toss scat with giddy abandon, so I'll hold off on the pencil in ear and substitute a cathartic round of fisking.
At first glance, I thought I should be pissed off at the misogynistic overtones in this article. I mean, look at the byline:
Scientists are developing a pill which could boost women…
bushwells | January 13, 2007I just can't get enough of arachnids these days! Maybe I am unwittingly engaged in exposure therapy for my phobia.
This parody gives a nod to Peter Witt's research on spiders' web weaving abilities while under the influence. For a legit example, see A. Christiansen et. al (1962), "Changes in spider webs brought about by mescaline, psilocybin and an increase in body weight," Journal of Pharmacology And Experimental Therapeutics, Vol. 136: 31-37.
Hat tip to Kevin's mom for passing along the video link!
Note that the film was created by The First Church of Christ, Filmmaker, whose delicious…
bushwells | November 23, 2006I see that ol' amino acid chestnut, Mr. W, who also goes by the moniker of tryptophan, is making the "science of Thanksgiving" rounds here at SB. Over at Chaotic Utopia, Karmen offers a very nice piece on the science of concocting an exquisite gravy. But what good is a gravy worthy of peer review, I ask you, if the mashed spuds which are to receive it are a gluey blob reminiscent of grade school paste?
Sadly, far too many cooks commit the heinous act of overmixing boiled potatoes. With the goal of creating a smooth puree, the cook whirls stainless steel beaters through the cooked root…
bushwells | November 2, 2006Continued from Look, I'm just a biochemist, part 1*...
Recently, I had lunch with a colleague who is concerned about how he is perceived in discovery research. The guy is a sr. scientist in DOPI's leads discovery department which assays something in the order of a gazillion compounds in screening "campaigns." He and his group are able to miniaturize assays to volumes the size of fly's tears and make the robots dance like St. Vitus on rye bread. He fits massive numbers of data points to mathematical models, and has a keen eye for what constitutes a lovely and seductive concentration…
bushwells | June 28, 2006 "Most of the time, I work in a little glass jar and lead a very uneventful life. I drive a Volvo, a beige one. But what I'm dealing with here is one of the most deadly substances the earth has ever known, so what say you cut me some FRIGGIN' SLACK?"
Dr. Stanley Goodspeed's outburst to John Mason sent my friend, a medicinal chemist, and I into noisy guffaws which attracted the attention of the surrounding Cantabrigians on that rainy summer night. After a martini each, we weren't too discriminating and simply wanted entertainment so we chose to see The Rock at the Fresh Pond Cinemas. The…
bushwells | June 9, 2006What a day! Between the scintillating launch of the new blogs (really, I am all aquiver) and doing my best to be irksome in my actual day job, I am more than ready to knock back a dry vodka (Grey Goose, preferably) martini at my favored watering hole in Einsteinville.
Part of my job is to pass judgment on protein targets gearing up for screening campaigns. "Screening" refers to high throughput screening which is the bread and butter of discovery research in Big Bad Pharma. It's an automated process in which the general idea is to increase that needle in the haystack factor. This is…