Ribosomes are molecular machines that build new proteins. This process of synthesizing a protein is also known as translation.
Many antibiotics prevent translation by binding to ribosomal RNA. In the class that I’m teaching, we’re going to be looking at ribosome structures to see if the polymorphisms that we find in the sequences of 16S ribosomal […]

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This week’s fax from the Center for Substance Abuse Research at the University of Maryland touches on an issue of continual interest, namely the determination of “how addictive” different drugs of abuse may be. As I have mentioned a time or two (or three) before, I believe this is an area where the scientific research […]

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Thanks to a local health officer in Colorado I get word that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has begun an investigation of claims made by my favorite infomercial quacks, the Kinoki Foot Bad folks (see my howl of pain in the post The TV ad that DRIVES ME CRAZY). Here’s some of the […]

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This is the fifth of 6 guest posts on infection and chronic disease.
By Whitney Baker
My previous blog post examined the idea of an infectious etiology for obesity by a group of possible infectious agents. While these pathogens have been associated with obesity in humans or animals, their causative role in human obesity has not […]

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The NY Times has a story about the welcome trend of doctors who refuse to accept industry pay such as consulting fees for sitting on advisory boards. In one case, at least, bloggers played a role (italics mine):
Read the rest of this post… | Read the comments on this post…

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“Doctors think, ‘Well, of course
she’s depressed — she’s dying of breast
cancer,’” he said.

I do see that kind of response sometimes, not just with regard to
terminally ill patients.  The physician does not think the
depression should be treated, because it is felt to be an expected
response to the situation.
If I even show up in an emergency department […]

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I love my iPhone. I really do.
There is, however, one thing I don’t like about it, a characteristic that (or so I’ve learned) the iPhone shares with other “smart” phones, and that’s its annoying tendency to interfere with poorly shielded electronic devices. The phenomenon, known as radiofrequency interference, manifests itself as a mid-frequency electronic buzzing […]

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