The Mono

British researchers uncover DNA variations in seven common ailments

The seven common diseases are bipolar disorder, coronary artery disease, Crohn's disease, hypertension, rheumatoid arthritis, and Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes.

It doesn't give us a straight out-of-the-box solution, not by far... but it does provide a lot more information about the diseases in question, and about the roles of these genes. It's exactly what people were hoping for when the human genome was sequenced.

Edit: joedecker linked to a post at In The Pipeline, reminding us that media reports that this is "a locked chest full of the secret keys to health" are way off the mark. I had generally tried to avoid giving that impression with this LJ post, but it's a good thing to really bring attention to. This is a significant piece to the puzzle, but we aren't much further than pulling the pieces out of the box and putting them on the table yet. Getting the full picture is a long way off.

My Very Excellent Mother Just Served Us Nachos.

If there is a single piece of technology that I can point to and say "This is the future I've been waiting for," it's thermal conversion.

The new Discover magazine article

The prototype plant has gone through serious growing pains and come out stronger than ever... and Ireland hopes to have one next year. We need to push our lawmakers into making the US more attractive, via subsidies, additional rules on feedstocks (we need to cut out poultry cannibalism anyway) and grants. Let's get us some of these to chew up our landfills, agricultural wastes, raw sewage, tire piles, electronic and hazardous wastes, and anything else we can think of.

Oil doesn't just come from the land of the dinosaurs anymore.

"-oyl" is indeed the suffix for an acyl halide. Good to know I remembered correctly.

1,10-decanedioyl chloride:

Oh, and Lexan? Made out of bisphenol A and phosgene. You know, phosgene-the-chemical-warfare-agent. Hoy.

Two forwarded email messages in as many days.

Theobromine is the ingredient that is used to make all chocolate

and

[H]e was told it's a compound which is one molecule away from antifreeze



I'm waiting for the trifecta.
Oh, my brain.



Edit: It does occur to me that "one molecule away" from antifreeze (ethylene glycol) might be an attempt to describe ethylene glycol monobutyl ether. Maybe I should look at the Swiffer Wetjet and see whether they really are putting Formula 409 in there -- that would add another thing to my list of hazardous household products. Sigh.

Swiffer WetJets contain propylene glycol monobutyl ether. It's a little less toxic than EGBE, but so similar that I don't want to be near it regardless. One more thing to mention when rattling off my list of "problem chemicals"...

Hey hybrid owners! Your car is putting your health at risk.

Fortunately, ATTI has the solution to your woes. If you think $65 x 4 is too steep a price, think about all the health care costs you're avoiding, not to mention the improvement in quality of life!






I have a few physics textbooks I'd like to throw at these guys.

And maybe a fraud suit.




(I don't think that EMF sensitivity is total bunk -- look at how I'm not supposed to be able to detect certain chemicals at such incredibly low concentrations as I do. But high-voltage AC lines are a totally different animal compared to DC battery current. I just wish more EMF-sensitive people knew that.)

I usually take information from the Pesticide Action Network with a grain of salt; even though I've been chemically injured and deal poorly with many of the pesticides they campaign against, their tone has always struck me as overly hysterical. That said, they sometimes do a good job of aggregating other news reports and summarizing studies, and this one seems like a good read.

Carbaryl: One Poison for Another in Urban Creeks

( Read more... )

This caught my eye, mainly because it has to do with plant pathology. It is, however, also a tale of the same sort of corruption that pervades the current White House. Which makes sense, given who Katherine Harris is.

Pressure was put on Florida officials to test "Celestial Water" as a cure for citrus canker

I haven't researched citrus canker specifically, but I remember hearing that it's been a real scourge in Florida over the last four years or so. It's a bacterial disease, and the combination of wet weather (which helps it spread from tree to tree) and hurricanes (which injured the trees, making wounds where disease could enter) has made a serious impact on the citrus orchards. The only treatment for most cankers is to cut off the affected parts, which in many cases in Florida has meant taking out trees entirely. Everyone's looking for some other way, but I don't know of any.

When Katherine Harris, who knows absolutely zip about plant disease, hooks up with a New York Rabbi and a cardiologist to suggest a cure, it makes me angry that scientists have to comply with ignorant superstitious beliefs just because of who she is. Other quacks are brushed off with a quiet "do the research and let us know". Yet this Kabbalist dreck gets tested by the state, because a U.S. Representative is breathing down people's necks.

Gah. I get irritated by politicians messing with climate change data, but I guess when they mess with my profession, it gets personal.