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I sent the link to my wife, an Oncology Nurse Practitioner. She said that this type of transport mechanism isn't all that new.

She went on to say that they've already packaged Taxol (a breast CA chemo) in a similar way and supplied this link for more info. It's called Abraxane.

I think one should separate any possible mechanism from the reason why this difference in male/female offspring ratio occurs.

In a species that is not (strictly) monogamous (such as humans) and where the status of the offspring is at least partly inherited, it is beneficial for high ranking females to have more male offspring and for low ranking females to have more female offspring. Rich powerful chiefs, kings etc had many children whilst a lot of men had none. However, most females had children, whatever their social status.

Thus, since engineers (at least in some countries, my condolences to those living in the UK) have higher social status than nurses, they have more male offspring.

This has been observed in many other species and there is a debate whether it is true for humans. After a lot of googling I managed to find the article below. Essentially, one can explain the difference in genetic spread between the Y chromosome and other genetic material by assuming that in each generation, half of all men fathered all children whilst the other half was childless. (All women had children).

http://www.news-medical.net/?id=4895

its been shown that Y sperm die easier when conditions are harsh (acidity, not right temperature etc.)

You mean, like, from notebook computers?

BTW, a 'y' chromo results in a male because, well, it takes less information to make a man.

t's flame bait because you don't know if it's more or less promising research.

I'm sorry I didn't post the multitudes of papers available on the subject. I figured anyone who can get on the internet and view slashdot was fully capable of using Google to do a little research to backup my claim.

So if thousands of well-educated people in their field say this shows promise and someone outside their field says no it's pointless then either they're clueless or they're trying to start a flame war.

Oh, so I must be the only one who came up with adult stem cells as an alternative? There are thousands of scientists who believe adult stem cells are the better alternative. While embryonic stem cell research makes a Slashdot headline for actually doing something, adult stem cell research has had MANY results already.

http://www.marrow.org/MEDICAL/diseases_treatable_b y_stem_cell_transplants.html
http://www.news-medical.net/?id=860
http://www.lifeissues.org/cloningstemcell/adultste msuccess.htm
http://www.sbcbaptistpress.org/bpnews.asp?ID=19641
http://www.stemcellresearch.org/facts/prentice.htm
http://www.larouchepub.com/other/2002/2918stem_cel ls.html
etc.

So, with incredible results already being done, why focus on the back-burner? It's like continuing to research the vacuum tube when we've got transistors.

This is very old news considering it was published on Mar,2004

I believe it is the first living doner transplant. There have been successful cadever transplants before. Whole organ pancreas transplants havent lasted. Islet cell extractions inject into the blood or liver (like bone marrow transplants) have been more successful.

"The test revealed that 522 (5.1%) employees had visual field abnormalities. And there appeared to be a significant link between these and heavy computer use among those with either long or short sight, collectively known as "refractive errors." The full text is from the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health and can be found here for subscribers.

A strong majority of Americans support Nancy Reagan's call for the Bush White House to lift restrictions on stem cell research that might help to find cures for such ailments as the Alzheimer's disease that afflicted the recently deceased President Ronald Reagan, as well as other illnesses such as diabetes, Parkinson's, heart disease and multiple sclerosis. By a margin of 74 percent to 21 percent, Americans (including 79 percent of moderates and 62 percent of conservatives) say that they back the former First Lady's call for more stem cell research flexibility.

The first opinion survey of public attitudes about stem cell research to be conducted since the death of President Reagan also found that 72 percent of Americans say they are more likely in the wake of Reagan's passing to support stem cell research, including 76 percent of moderates, 64 percent of conservatives and 62 percent of fundamentalist or evangelical Christians. Also, Nancy Reagan's clout in the national stem cell debate appears to have risen sharply, with 80 percent of Americans viewing her as credible on the issue, up from 65 percent in a separate survey conducted during March 2004 in 18 key states.

Actually, hearing is not feeling. Hearing is it's own thing involving a protein that translates sound waves into electrochemical impulses. There is an article about it here.

At least HIV mutate a lot, As Far As I Remmember. Also the cold virus (grippe?) mutate a lot this why you have to vaccinate every year AFAIR.
mutability of influenza
some propaganda but also speaks of HIV mutability. I did not have time to search for more HIV article but google is your friend.

"When drivers were talking on a cell phone, they were involved in more rear-end collisions than when they were legally drunk."

"Being tired can be as bad as being drunk, in terms of its effect upon performance," says safety expert, Dr Ann Williamson, who led the study by the University of NSW Injury Risk Management Research Centre.

can be found here . Also, PBS.org has a similar storie here involving a man with robotic arms.