We've shown you Salmonella before on Scope, but the bacteria have once again been in the news this week owing to a recall of 36 …
Month: August 2011
Grand Roundup: Top posts for the week of July 31
The five most-read posts on Scope this week were: Moving toward a Down syndrome drug: A recent story in the New York Times Magazine describes …
Anti-venom drug gains FDA approval despite clinical trial tribulations
Despite significant difficulties, a new anti-venom product that treats the pain (and the neurological side effects) of a bark-scorpion sting was approved by the Food …
For your morning enjoyment: "Science Nation Army"
I recognize this (really neat) video has but a tenuous connection to medicine, but I believe the mission of the Blast lab at the Imperial …
A look at how building design may affect our health
From office buildings to shopping malls to our homes, we spend a significant about of time in structures with controlled environments. Noting how much time …
On pagers, churned butter and social media
I missed this yesterday, but Michele Au, MD, of The Underwear Drawer fame, has written an amusing and insightful perspective on social media's importance to …
New review of child health trials in developing countries
Over at the PLoS Medicine blog, Speaking of Medicine, there's an interesting post about a new booklet that summarizes pediatric trials conducted in developing countries during …
The Genetic Music Project highlights the dramatic beauty of the genome
ScienceRoll reported today on the Genetic Music Project, an open-source art piece created by graduate student Alexandra Pajak. The Genetic Music Project creates music based …
Brain's inability to create new neurons can lead to depression, unmanageable stress
Depression is a prevalent disorder whose origins (like those of so many other mental diseases) are nonetheless shrouded in mystery. A new study published in Nature …
Stanford legal expert discusses future of stem cell research on ScienceLive
UPDATE: A transcript of the talk is now available. (Scroll down to "The Future of Stem Cell Research" box.) *** Ever since U.S. district court …
Medicine 2.0 organizers offer a need-based discount for ePatients
The organizers of the Medicine 2.0 conference at Stanford have just announced a scholarship program offering ePatients significant discounts off the conference registration fees. Interested …
Potential anti-cancer therapy starves cancer cells of glucose
In a study involving renal cell carcinomas, the most common form of kidney cancer in adults, Stanford researchers have identified a compound that deprives cancer cells …
What does "exhaustion" really mean?
I must confess, when "exhaustion" comes up in a health context, my mind conjures up an imaginary 19th-century scene wherein the town doctor, Phineas (who …
Polypills could improve drug compliance, preventative medicine
A peer-reviewed article by NYU medical student Jonathan Levanthal over at Clinical Correlations makes a convincing argument for polypills - that is, a combination pill that …
BMI can oversimplify weight categories by ignoring natural fluctuations
BMI is a quick-and-dirty formula for categorizing individuals as "underweight," "healthyweight," "overweight," or "obese," based on height and weight - but it's far from perfect. …
After the lawsuit, what's next for stem cell research?
One week ago, a federal judge threw out a lawsuit against government funding for human embryonic stem cell research. But, as Nature's Meredith Wadman is reporting, the field remains …