Except the whole point is that many science bloggers at SciAm have posted "non-scientific" posts as well, so the "this is not about discovering science" excuse is BS.
That's why the US has GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008).
Whether it'll actually work is a separate issue. One of the points of this project is that trying to keep your genetic information private is a losing battle and that it might be better/neutral to just be open about it.
You missed the context of that quotation. Myriad's patent gives it the "exclusive right to perform diagnostic tests on the genes" because the patent covers, among other things, the "normal" sequence of the genes! The patent also covers the fact that mutations in the gene greatly increase the risk of developing cancer.
No one else can offer an alternative test because... well, how can you test someone for a disease-causing mutation without comparing their sequence to the "normal" sequence? (Hint: You can't!) How can you test someone for a disease-causing mutation in a gene when the fact that mutations in the gene cause disease is patented? You can't!
Nope you are both wrong. This *IS* about the gene itself. The patent is extremely broad and covers such things as:
1) the "normal" sequence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes 2) the fact that various mutations in those genes are associated with breast cancer
Researchers/doctors are unable to offer alternative tests because offering a test requires being able to compare a patient's sequence with the (patented) "normal" sequence. But Myriad refuses to allow this, so even scientists doing basic research can't sequence their subject's BRCA1/2 genes!!!
Since Myriad Genetics even owns a patent on the "fact" that certain mutations are associated with disease, researchers/doctors aren't even allowed to interpret the results for their patients because doing so would utilized the patented fact that the patient's mutation is associated with breast cancer.
Read the article and/or complaint filed. This lawsuit has been a LONG time coming.
YEs it IS that ridiculous. The patent office was dumb/ignorant when they awarded the patents and it's about time this mistake was challenged.
You're wrong. If you read the article or the complaint or the ACLU writeup or any of the scientific commentary, you'd see that the patent is in fact on the actual SEQUENCE of the gene(s)! This makes it impossible for anyone to do something like, for example, develop an alternative test because it's impossible to offer an alternative test when the "normal" sequence is patented.
In this particular case, Myriad Genetics even owns a patent on the "fact" that certain mutations are associated with disease, such that researchers/doctors aren't even allowed to interpret the results for their patients because doing so would utilized the patented fact that the patient's mutation is associated with breast cancer.
That's why this lawsuit has been a long time coming. Good luck to ACLU/PUBPAT/etc.
For searching, the software has an artificial intelligence system, keywords, meta data. It can store PDFs, word docs, emails, notes. It can be integrated with a scanner so you can scan and store documents in the database. It's got OCR built in...
I have DevonThink (personal edition, not Pro/Office) and I don't even use 1/10 of the power built into this system. You should check out some of the reviews online and videos of people using DevonThink.
I'm not saying I think it's a *bad* idea for doctors to think like scientists.... but they don't. (speaking as a scientist who took classes with premeds)
Our current system for picking/grooming future doctors almost always selects for the least scientifically-minded students--science is the opposite of memorization, but the students who memorize the best are the ones who get into the best med schools.
In my experience, the kinds of people who succeeded in orgo were the ones who were LEAST likely to keep their minds open and actually think for themselves. Orgo can be and is most commonly (by premeds) passed purely by massive brute force memorization. It can also be done by having great intuition and scientific insight, but that is not necessary at all. The premeds suffer through the lab portion of orgo but not the test+lecture portion because the lab portion can't be memorized! The kids who do well in lab are the future researchers and scientists... not the future doctors.
Thanksgiving this year was hysterical for me. I sat there watching my extended family gathering around the Wii like they were in a Nintendo commercial. I got *scolded* for forgetting to bring Wii Sports (had Rayman and Wii Play with me though). Even my grandmother was getting into the game, mumbling things about the players currently at the controls. I have now been charged with bringing home extra controllers from school so that we can have 4 player at Christmas.
The CAV3 and RYR2 genes are not the problems themselves. The problems come from specific MUTATIONS in those genes. The article specifically says: "In each study, two of the 135 cases possessed mutations in either CAV3 or RyR2."
And before anyone starts going "2/135 isn't much," the scientists didn't say these mutations alone are responsible for the disease. They say In the two recent separate studies, researchers examined caveolin-3 (CAV3) and the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) and found molecular and functional evidence in both to implicate them as SIDS-susceptibility genes. . Susceptibility is the key word here. Having the mutations doesn't guarantee SIDS; it only increases the likelihood of it.
Whenever you read a simplified article about genetic susceptibility, 9/10 times the "gene" that is linked to the disease doesn't actually mean the gene causes the disease. It means that mutations in the gene cause the disease.
The mutations impair the normal function of the gene. In the case of these two genes, CAV3 is the gene coding for a protein found in muscle and losing it results in muscle degeneration, while RYR2 is the gene coding for a calcium-release receptor in cardiac muscle.
We haven't yet observed such a pattern, although I think people have looked. We may yet find this, but the longer we look without finding it, the less likely the interbreeding hypothesis becomes.
Perhaps you missed this publication from this past spring which has found very very interesting evidence for interbreeding between homo erectus populations in Asia and anatomically modern homo sapiens spreading out of Africa. The group even found a neat gradient (what would be expected if interbreeding did occur on an infrequent, but significant basis) of the genetic locuses they examined, with the highest percentage of people with the gene located in Southern China (the epicenter of homo erectus as far as we can tell), decreasing across China, through Asia and dwindling to near nil among native Africans.
For those of you non-scientists, this means that a larger proportion of people from southern China have a particular gene (of sorts) that people from other parts of the world (e.g. Africans) do not have. Since homo sapiens spread out of Africa, carrying their genes with them, for some ~53% of southern Chinese to have a gene that native Africans do not have, the ancient ancestors of those Chinese very well may have acquired the gene from another species that was reproductively compatible but separate from homo sapiens arriving from Africa. This is further supported in the paper I linked by the gradient the group discovered. The highest percentage of people who have the gene in question are located in Southern China, while the percentage of people who have the gene slowly tapers off as you go west and south from China towards Africa, until you reach Africa itself and find that almost no Africans have the gene at all.
However, the book I found most convincing from a scientific perspective was "Darwin's Black Box" by Michael Behe. Basically, his argument is that, at the micro level, many cellular functionas are irreducibly complex - that they require a host of different parts to work, none of which do anything independent of the rest.
Only problem is that Behe's examples of "irreducibly complex" systems have been shown time and time again that they are not so. See here for a great scientific analysis of one of his favorite "examples" of IC systems.
So, how would all these parts have evolved gradually when each of them was useless without the others?
Because not all the parts evolved at the same time and many if not all of them evolved from already-existing proteins and were USEFUL in another system. E.g. humans have fairly complex eyes, but the light-sensing photoreceptors in some worms are quite useful to those organisms without being part of a human-like eye. Human have identical cells that compose part of the human eye. Proteins can be adapated for other uses, especially when a second copy results from gene duplication, allowing the second copy to mutate and change without destroying the system the first participates in.
Even if women were "bad" at math (not going to even start with the broad generalizations... not to mention, the lines of gender are *very* blurry) in general, that doesn't mean individual women can't be geniuses at it or very good. And it certainly doesn't mean that if, on average, women perform statistically worse at math, they shouldn't be given equal consideration and opportunities as men to try their hands at it.
The problem comes when you take a (hypothetical, non-existent) statistic and automatically assume "Well since women in general aren't as good as men at math, then THIS woman here must not be as good as THIS man there--therefore I will hire him."
From their site: A glycoprotein, Fel d 1, secreted by the sebaceous glands, is the major cat allergen. This allergen is found in the fur, pelt, saliva, serum, urine, mucous, salivary glands, and hair roots of the cat.
Allerca cats will only lack one of the potential cat allergens... potentially deadly for people allergic to other proteins secreted by the cats. In addition, the gene silencing technique (I assume they refer to RNAi perhaps using siRNAs) cannot be guaranteed 100% effective--all it takes is one mutation.... More info about RNAi here and here.
However, as someone with moderately severe cat allergies, this is definitely a start.
Similar to Spybot S&D's "Immunize" function, but even better and more expansive. (Spybot even mentions Spyware Blaster as a more comprehensive alternative to itself.) Spyware Blaster also sets IE's Security Settings to safer settings.
Slashdot Mirror
Except the whole point is that many science bloggers at SciAm have posted "non-scientific" posts as well, so the "this is not about discovering science" excuse is BS.
http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/context-and-variation/2013/10/12/this-is-not-a-post-about-discovering-science/
Human genetics. Rapidly expanding field, massive and noisy data sets. Jobs in both industry and academia.
That's why the US has GINA (Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act (GINA) of 2008).
Whether it'll actually work is a separate issue. One of the points of this project is that trying to keep your genetic information private is a losing battle and that it might be better/neutral to just be open about it.
You missed the context of that quotation. Myriad's patent gives it the "exclusive right to perform diagnostic tests on the genes" because the patent covers, among other things, the "normal" sequence of the genes! The patent also covers the fact that mutations in the gene greatly increase the risk of developing cancer.
No one else can offer an alternative test because... well, how can you test someone for a disease-causing mutation without comparing their sequence to the "normal" sequence? (Hint: You can't!) How can you test someone for a disease-causing mutation in a gene when the fact that mutations in the gene cause disease is patented? You can't!
Nope you are both wrong. This *IS* about the gene itself. The patent is extremely broad and covers such things as:
1) the "normal" sequence of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes
2) the fact that various mutations in those genes are associated with breast cancer
Researchers/doctors are unable to offer alternative tests because offering a test requires being able to compare a patient's sequence with the (patented) "normal" sequence. But Myriad refuses to allow this, so even scientists doing basic research can't sequence their subject's BRCA1/2 genes!!!
Since Myriad Genetics even owns a patent on the "fact" that certain mutations are associated with disease, researchers/doctors aren't even allowed to interpret the results for their patients because doing so would utilized the patented fact that the patient's mutation is associated with breast cancer.
Read the article and/or complaint filed. This lawsuit has been a LONG time coming.
YEs it IS that ridiculous. The patent office was dumb/ignorant when they awarded the patents and it's about time this mistake was challenged.
You're wrong. If you read the article or the complaint or the ACLU writeup or any of the scientific commentary, you'd see that the patent is in fact on the actual SEQUENCE of the gene(s)! This makes it impossible for anyone to do something like, for example, develop an alternative test because it's impossible to offer an alternative test when the "normal" sequence is patented.
In this particular case, Myriad Genetics even owns a patent on the "fact" that certain mutations are associated with disease, such that researchers/doctors aren't even allowed to interpret the results for their patients because doing so would utilized the patented fact that the patient's mutation is associated with breast cancer.
That's why this lawsuit has been a long time coming. Good luck to ACLU/PUBPAT/etc.
If your professor uses a Mac, consider Devonthink by DevonTechnologies.
http://www.devon-technologies.com/products/devonthink/index.html
For searching, the software has an artificial intelligence system, keywords, meta data. It can store PDFs, word docs, emails, notes. It can be integrated with a scanner so you can scan and store documents in the database. It's got OCR built in...
I have DevonThink (personal edition, not Pro/Office) and I don't even use 1/10 of the power built into this system. You should check out some of the reviews online and videos of people using DevonThink.
I'm not saying I think it's a *bad* idea for doctors to think like scientists.... but they don't. (speaking as a scientist who took classes with premeds)
Our current system for picking/grooming future doctors almost always selects for the least scientifically-minded students--science is the opposite of memorization, but the students who memorize the best are the ones who get into the best med schools.
MD-PhDs are very very different from regular MDs.
In my experience, the kinds of people who succeeded in orgo were the ones who were LEAST likely to keep their minds open and actually think for themselves. Orgo can be and is most commonly (by premeds) passed purely by massive brute force memorization. It can also be done by having great intuition and scientific insight, but that is not necessary at all. The premeds suffer through the lab portion of orgo but not the test+lecture portion because the lab portion can't be memorized! The kids who do well in lab are the future researchers and scientists... not the future doctors.
Oh crap is THAT what it is? Mine ends up unresponsive on wireless even though it's still issuing IPs (no packets getting through though).
Thanksgiving this year was hysterical for me. I sat there watching my extended family gathering around the Wii like they were in a Nintendo commercial. I got *scolded* for forgetting to bring Wii Sports (had Rayman and Wii Play with me though). Even my grandmother was getting into the game, mumbling things about the players currently at the controls. I have now been charged with bringing home extra controllers from school so that we can have 4 player at Christmas.
There is only one Nintendo World store in the entire US. Thank your lucky star you live in the NYC metro area.
Thank you! I wish I hadn't used up all my mod points just before this article was posted.
The CAV3 and RYR2 genes are not the problems themselves. The problems come from specific MUTATIONS in those genes. The article specifically says: "In each study, two of the 135 cases possessed mutations in either CAV3 or RyR2."
And before anyone starts going "2/135 isn't much," the scientists didn't say these mutations alone are responsible for the disease. They say In the two recent separate studies, researchers examined caveolin-3 (CAV3) and the cardiac ryanodine receptor (RyR2) and found molecular and functional evidence in both to implicate them as SIDS-susceptibility genes. . Susceptibility is the key word here. Having the mutations doesn't guarantee SIDS; it only increases the likelihood of it.
Whenever you read a simplified article about genetic susceptibility, 9/10 times the "gene" that is linked to the disease doesn't actually mean the gene causes the disease. It means that mutations in the gene cause the disease.
The mutations impair the normal function of the gene. In the case of these two genes, CAV3 is the gene coding for a protein found in muscle and losing it results in muscle degeneration, while RYR2 is the gene coding for a calcium-release receptor in cardiac muscle.
We haven't yet observed such a pattern, although I think people have looked. We may yet find this, but the longer we look without finding it, the less likely the interbreeding hypothesis becomes.
:P
Perhaps you missed this publication from this past spring which has found very very interesting evidence for interbreeding between homo erectus populations in Asia and anatomically modern homo sapiens spreading out of Africa. The group even found a neat gradient (what would be expected if interbreeding did occur on an infrequent, but significant basis) of the genetic locuses they examined, with the highest percentage of people with the gene located in Southern China (the epicenter of homo erectus as far as we can tell), decreasing across China, through Asia and dwindling to near nil among native Africans.
For those of you non-scientists, this means that a larger proportion of people from southern China have a particular gene (of sorts) that people from other parts of the world (e.g. Africans) do not have. Since homo sapiens spread out of Africa, carrying their genes with them, for some ~53% of southern Chinese to have a gene that native Africans do not have, the ancient ancestors of those Chinese very well may have acquired the gene from another species that was reproductively compatible but separate from homo sapiens arriving from Africa. This is further supported in the paper I linked by the gradient the group discovered. The highest percentage of people who have the gene in question are located in Southern China, while the percentage of people who have the gene slowly tapers off as you go west and south from China towards Africa, until you reach Africa itself and find that almost no Africans have the gene at all.
IAAMBS - I am a molecular biology student.
Only problem is that Behe's examples of "irreducibly complex" systems have been shown time and time again that they are not so. See here for a great scientific analysis of one of his favorite "examples" of IC systems.
Because not all the parts evolved at the same time and many if not all of them evolved from already-existing proteins and were USEFUL in another system. E.g. humans have fairly complex eyes, but the light-sensing photoreceptors in some worms are quite useful to those organisms without being part of a human-like eye. Human have identical cells that compose part of the human eye. Proteins can be adapated for other uses, especially when a second copy results from gene duplication, allowing the second copy to mutate and change without destroying the system the first participates in.
Even if women were "bad" at math (not going to even start with the broad generalizations... not to mention, the lines of gender are *very* blurry) in general, that doesn't mean individual women can't be geniuses at it or very good. And it certainly doesn't mean that if, on average, women perform statistically worse at math, they shouldn't be given equal consideration and opportunities as men to try their hands at it.
The problem comes when you take a (hypothetical, non-existent) statistic and automatically assume "Well since women in general aren't as good as men at math, then THIS woman here must not be as good as THIS man there--therefore I will hire him."
You want to see how our budget works and where the money goes? Here's a visual examination.
Any allergy can be severe enough to cause anaphylactic shock... it's only a matter of how serious a reaction your immune system generates.
From their site:
A glycoprotein, Fel d 1, secreted by the sebaceous glands, is the major cat allergen. This allergen is found in the fur, pelt, saliva, serum, urine, mucous, salivary glands, and hair roots of the cat.
Allerca cats will only lack one of the potential cat allergens... potentially deadly for people allergic to other proteins secreted by the cats. In addition, the gene silencing technique (I assume they refer to RNAi perhaps using siRNAs) cannot be guaranteed 100% effective--all it takes is one mutation.... More info about RNAi here and here.
However, as someone with moderately severe cat allergies, this is definitely a start.
Spyware Blaster
Similar to Spybot S&D's "Immunize" function, but even better and more expansive. (Spybot even mentions Spyware Blaster as a more comprehensive alternative to itself.) Spyware Blaster also sets IE's Security Settings to safer settings.
Except CherryOS *IS* PearPC... ripped.
From what I hear, CherryOS *IS* PearPC (which is GPL). Sounds like they're trying to rip people off with an impossible dream.
CherryOS = PearPC?
Aw man, and here I thought they were learning the right lesson from the RIAA's example.
*attemps to keep a straight face*
*falls over in hysterics*
We're doomed!