Dr. Ireland's JCC Class Blog

Venter’s recent accomplishment of transferring a synthetic chromosome into an emptied cell and then achieving subsequent replication is much more philosophically profound than most reporters have noted.  While the biology of the experiment was not terribly earth-shattering, the chromosome is an identical copy of the template, the impact is more in what this isn’t.  For the first time in human history there is an organism that has not arisen from the unbroken chain of common descent that all extant life shares.  The chromosome, though a copy, is totally synthetic in nature.  This represents our first step towards a truly synthetic life-form, eventually based on something other than the current paradigm of life.

And you thought Romeo and Juliet had it hard.  What if you came from two different species.  The recent completion of the draft genome for Neanderthals shows surprising evidence that there was exchange between ancient modern humans (commonly referred to as Cro-Magnon) in genetic terms.  Yes kids, that means that they had sex and fertile children from these unions.  The data shows a contribution of 1 to 4% in non-African human populations.  This would indicate that the gene flow most probably occurred early in the interactions between the two populations, most likely in the Middle East.  Definitely an interesting story to follow and a really cool application of genomic technologies.

Link to NPR story

A recent article in the Proceeding of the National Academy of Sciences (link) shows evidence of Bacillus-like sporulation in Mycobacterium species.  This would be a tremendous finding if confirmed by other scientists.  It also goes to show that even the organisms we think we know extremely well might still have some real zingers up their sleeves.

It is that time of the year when I get my annual dose of frustration. Even with the overwhelming evidence supporting the value and safety of both childhood and influenza vaccines the vocal and irrational advocates of the antivaccine movement have come out to spew their vitriol in the media. The recent media frenzy over the Wired article by Amy Wallace and the half-informed “discussions” by various TV “news” personalities about the H1N1 vaccine only show the power this uninformed group has over a national health priority. The problem is that the whole movement is driven by fear and a fanatical belief that remains firm even in direct opposition to cold, hard facts.

Let us start with the most obvious fact, children have been vaccinated against multiple diseases since the 1960s (with the MMR vaccine licensed in 1971) and yet the rapid “increase” in autism cases doesn’t appear until the 1990s. Is it more likely that the increase is due to vaccination protocols that have been used for decades before the perceived rise (even though vaccines were added to the schedule, others were removed) or to the increased diagnosis of a confusing and heterogeneous spectrum of related disorders. Likewise, the idea that the preservative thiomersal is responsible for the rise in autism rates does not hold up under scrutiny. The preservative, while present in some of the influenza vaccine preps, was voluntarily removed from childhood vaccines during the 1990s, yet we have continued to see dramatic rises in autism rates. Again, we are forced to ask the question of whether it is more likely that the rate is due to the limited chance of receiving thiomersal in the annual influenza vaccine (which has a significantly lower use rate than childhood vaccine) or that the preservative is not a causative factor (an idea supported by multiple studies directed at this specific question).

The most insidious manifestation of autism is late-onset, where abilities regress suddenly. This happens at around two years of age, about the same time as the end of the US vaccine schedule (first part) and coincidence equals consequence to people desperate for an answer to why their child has been affected. Unfortunately there is no simple answer as to why autism occurs. So many disorders are listed in the autism spectrum that a simple etiology is impossible and it is likely that most of them are due to multifactorial causes (a mixture of genetic, environmental, and/or infectious factors). While I empathize with these parents, I temper my empathy with the realization than regular and consistent vaccination of the children in our country has prevented at the very least thousands of deaths and countless incidents of hospitalization and needless suffering. I also recognize that these diseases are not eradicated (a feat only ever accomplished with smallpox) and that as vaccine rates drop due to the anti-vaccine fear-mongering these diseases will reemerge. It is already apparent that this effect has hampered the worldwide effort to eradicate polio and has slowed the eradication effort for measles (a virus that has a 30% fatality rate in developing countries).

There is no illusion that this is an argument that a single blog post can win, but it is important that those who understand the science speak out. I might not be a Hollywood celebrity or a faux news personality, but I have read the studies and I have looked at the facts and it seems abundantly clear that the evidence points to the safe and effective use of vaccines.

The Associated Press is reporting the discovery of a new hemorrhagic virus in Africa.  The new virus, named Lujo (after the two towns it was discovered in), has been confirmed in five cases, killing four.  Lujo is a member of the aerenavirus family and distantly related to another deadly virus, Lassa.  The pathology is similar to the filovirus Ebola, but it appears that this may respond to current Lassa treatments.  From an epidemiology standpoint this is not a big deal, these hyper-aggressive viruses are poor at developing long-lasting outbreaks and tend to just flare and die away.  However, this should serve as a reminder that we still face new pathogens even in this day and age.

Link to AP article.

As much as the media has overhyped the swine flu it is nice to see that someone is taking the whimsical approach of converting it to music.  The artist has taken the amino acid sequence for the hemagglutinin protein found on the surface of H1N1 influenza and set the sequence to music.  Each amino acid in the primary sequence of the protein corresponds to a specific note and instrument and the piece is done in 3/4 time.  The tune is oddly haunting and pleasent in my opinion.  You can listen to the tune at the artists website.

One of the best resources on the web for information about the swine flu is the Centers for Disease Control site http://www.cdc.gov/swineflu.  The site contains a wealth of information and is very balanced and even in tone.  For those of you with a curiosity about the spread of the disease Google Maps has a live map showing the confirmed cases.

It is a common misconception of our education that we think all the advances and awards of modern science come from either American or European scientists.  We should take the time to stop and consider the contributions of other countries to our store of knowledge and celebrate the diversity of science as a whole.  In that vein, today’s information post will be in honor of Dr. Mario Molina (1943-) whose birthday is today.  Dr. Molina is the only Mexican citizen to receive a Nobel Prize in science.  Dr. Molina and colleagues were instrumental in discovering the role of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the destruction of ozone, now known to be the foundation of the antarctic ozone layer hole.  He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 1995 and continues active research today.  Dr. Molina was recently appointed to President Obama’s transition team on environmental issues and hold a number of prestigous appiontments through out the world.  So on this day, let us pause and realize that science is not the product or pervue of any single culture… as much as it sometimes appears to be.

Since the ancient Greeks there has been an idea that life may not have originated on Earth, but rather come from somewhere else.  The modern iteration of this idea has been the idea of panspermia, or that life was introduced on Earth as a organism brought to Earth by a space-traveling object (i.e. meteor or space aliens if you really want to get out there).  While the idea is still riding on the fringe of mainstream science it has gained a lot credence with the idea that Mars may have once harbored life, and that material from Mars has landed on Earth (and still does).  It is an interesting idea and has an appeal in that it can extend the timeline of evolution.  However, as with all science, it is not enough to simply think about science, you have to design hypothesis and test them.  There is now a current experiment being set-up to test the core tenant of this theory, that life can survive interstellar travel inside a meteor.  The Planetary Society is piggy-backing on a Russian space probe to send a small retreivable probe containing diverse forms of microbial life on a three year space trip.  The probe will mimic the protection of a meteor and provide the first experimental test of  survivability.  The probe should launch later this year and is an excellent example of experimental science.

One of the news articles about this idea.  LINK

While watching television this last week I ran across two incidents where prime-time shows aggresively dealt with controversial sciencitific topics.  This is unusual in that I usually find myself railing against the stupid mistakes made in television in order to make scientific content palatable to the masses.  I was surpised and heartened to see this type of movement in the mass media.  The first show was the new CBS drama The Eleventh Hour and their plotline involving autism.  Even though the plot was science fiction (“curing” autism with brain implants), I was happy to see a frank description of the disease without any pandering to those who ignore all evidence to the contrary and still blame vaccines for this condition.  Given that television has a spotted record on this subject (yes, I am talking about Eli Stone) it is nice to see this type of show.  The second show was the season premiere of Law and Order, which dealt with the little heard of AIDS denial community.  Even in this day and age where the pathology of HIV has been mapped with such precision and we have had such success in treatment, there are still people who cling with fanatical fervor to out-dated theories and poorly constructed experimentation to claim that HIV doesn’t cause AIDS.  I would love to say that this is relegated to some backwater of the world, but the fact is that major heads of state in Africa have even fallen to this tripe.  These types of junk science are why I push so hard in my classes for my students to look beyond the headlines and dig into the meat of any scientific coverage.