Life Science

This NYT article is mostly about the proliferation of prenatal gene tests and the ethical/legal isses that they bring up. When should the tests be done? Who decides? What is the role of the physician; what’s the prerogative and role of the patient? What about legal consequences for docs? What about the cost of tests? It’s a lot of issues, ...

New discovery could provide tool to detect whether a cancer will develop and spread This seems like more than your average grain of scientific finding about cancer. When a physician discovers cancer in a patient, the first thing the doctor wants to know is whether that cancer has spread, or “metastasized.” This metastasis signifies that the patient has entered a ...

Here’s something that is geek to the max: IBM has just announced a device that that it is so sensitive it can detect the presence of a single electron dancing about an atom. The most immediate application of biological significance is using it as a way to feel out (sort of like Braille) the three-dimensional shape of proteins; and proteins ...

Here’s an interesting skirmish in the global economics and politics of the drug industry. An organization that is deeply involved in funding HIV drug disbursement to developing countries is rattling the cage of the FDA. They’re putting pressure on to get the US FDA to approve a three-in-one pill for HIV treatment made by an Indian pharmaceutical company. The drugs ...