The microbes that live on and in us provide a host of functions that are essential for our health. Changes in the composition of these microbial communities correlate with a variety of disease states. Results of a new study (link) reveal altered populations of intestinal bacteria and metabolic disturbances in ME/CFS patients. The study subjects were …
When giant viruses were discovered – with genomes much larger than any previously seen – some suggested that they had descended from a fourth domain of life (the current three are bacteria, archaea, and eukaryotes). Part of the reason for such a claim was the finding of homologs of bacterial and eukaryotic genes, including molecules involved …
A study of sexual transmission of Zika virus among mice (link to paper) demonstrates beautifully that viral nucleic acid detected by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) is not the same as infectious virus. Male mice were infected with Zika virus and then mated with female mice. Efficient sexual transmission of the virus from males to females was observed. This …
In a recent editorial, the New York Times wrote about ‘the breakdown of a shared public reality built upon widely accepted facts’. As a scientist, I am appalled by the disdain for facts shown by many in this country, including the President-Elect. Unfortunately, science is not without its share of fake information. The Times argues that at one …
By David Tuller, DrPH David Tuller is academic coordinator of the concurrent masters degree program in public health and journalism at the University of California, Berkeley. The past year has been a disaster for proponents of the PACE trial. They have faced growing international resistance to their exaggerated claims that cognitive behavior therapy and graded …
Trial By Error, Continued: The New FITNET Trial for Kids Read More »
Yoshinori Ohsumi has been awarded the 2016 Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine for his work on autophagy, a process of eukaryotic cells for degrading and recycling cellular components. Because of his research, we now understand the importance of autophagy in health and human disease. It is another example of the serendipity of science and …
A Nobel for autophagy, and the importance of fundamental research Read More »
