Though dissenting opinions on the appropriateness of a person’s complete, public
genome are widespread in response to PGP’s approach, the 10 volunteers’ full
genomes are far from being completely sequenced: the privately-funded project is
focusing on only a handful of genes that seem to have the most influence over
disease, behavior, and physical traits. …
Day: October 24, 2008
Harvard researchers use chemical to transform human skin cells into pluripotent cells
Using valproic acid, a chemical often used as a medication to treat seizure
disorders, the scientists loosened the chromatin—the packaging of the cellular
chromosome—making it easier to alter the cell’s DNA to transform ordinary human
skin cells into more powerful induced pluripotent cells, or iPS cells. …
Adverse event reports hit record high
The Institute took its stats from the FDA’s adverse events reporting system,
which can be problematic for a couple of reasons. One, adverse events often go
unreported, so the numbers can understate the problem. But–and this is the
second reason–the individual reports don’t prove that the drug caused the
problem. …
Deprived Of A Sense Of Smell, Worms Live Longer
In the long term, Kornfeld’s goal is to identify compounds that could
potentially delay human aging. …
Study: Half of doctors use placebo
They said they used placebo treatments several times a month, and usually
described the pill or injection as “a potentially beneficial medicine not
typically used for your condition.” …