Science To Life

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Sun, 12 Oct 2008 16:21:48 -0500

This will be the last post for Science To Life. Due to changes in my professional life I will no longer maintain the blog. I have thoroughly enjoyed writing here and I hope you have enjoyed reading the blog. Take care!

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New web-based scientific tools & sites

Wed, 03 Sep 2008 08:43:37 -0500

The Graduate Junction
The Graduate Junction provides an easy way for Masters, PhD and Postdoctoral researchers to see what current work is being undertaken by their peers and communicate with those who share common research interests in a global multi-disciplinary environment. It was created by a team of graduate researchers at Durham and Oxford University. With this website, they hope to build an online graduate research community.
www.graduatejunction.com

Labmeeting.com
Labmeeting.com is a new, web-based tool to help researchers organize and search their collection of PDFs, find out about new papers, and share protocols powerpoint presentations, and data with their lab. The software was created by doctoral students at Stanford University and aims to help people do research faster.
www.labmeeting.com

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Chronic exposure to estrogen impairs some cognitive functions

Wed, 13 Aug 2008 14:18:56 -0500

This article was brought to my attention by the male minority (we have 2 men and 8 women) in my lab. They suggested that the article supports their plea to recruit more men into the lab in order to neutralize the excessive female-ness that they are exposed to every day. They are grossly exaggerating, of course. Nevertheless, here are excerpts from the article.

University of Illinois researchers report this week that chronic exposure to estradiol, the main estrogen in the body, diminishes some cognitive functions. Rats exposed to a steady dose of estradiol were impaired on tasks involving working memory and response inhibition, the researchers found.

Their report appears this week in the journal Behavioral Neuroscience.

The researchers made the discovery when studying the effects of estradiol on activities mediated by the prefrontal cortex, a brain region that is vital to working memory and to the ability to plan, respond to changing conditions and moderate or control one's behavior.

In the new study, rats were trained to press one of two levers to obtain a food reward. Those that alternated between the levers (which were withdrawn from the rat enclosure for a few seconds between trials) received a reward. Those that hit the same lever twice in a row got no reward. Rats exposed to estradiol performed worse than their counterparts on this task, earning significantly fewer rewards.

A second set of tests measured the rats' ability to wait before responding to a stimulus. The rats had to wait 15 seconds before pushing a lever to get a reward. Those exposed to estradiol performed worse on this task than those that were not exposed.

Read the rest of the article.

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Bio tech brain drain: are too many talented scientists leaving the Southeast?

Tue, 05 Aug 2008 11:54:35 -0500

The Southeastern United States has long been recognized for producing talented scientists and technicians. But are too many of them leaving the Southeast to find jobs?

I recently explored this issue in an article that was published in the August 2008 edition of Tech Journal South.

Georgia, North Carolina and Florida were selected as representative Southeastern states. The problems they face-and solutions they create-are likely to reflect on other neighboring states.

Area scientists and administrators, including those who work in the Southeast or are actively involved in recruiting and retaining talent, weighed in on the issue.

Read the full article here.

Southeast BIO is a regional nonprofit organization that fosters the growth of the life sciences industry in the Southeastern United States. Tech Journal South is the business publication for the Southeast's new economy.

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The importance of stupidity in scientific research

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 23:17:29 -0500

I recently read an interesting article about why doing scientific research makes a person feel stupid and why this may actually be a good thing.

The article is written by Martin A. Schwartz, a professor at the University of Virginia and is published in the April 2008 edition of Journal of Cell Science.

Schwartz writes:

I recently saw an old friend for the first time in many years. We had been Ph.D. students at the same time, both studying science, although in different areas. She later dropped out of graduate school, went to Harvard Law School and is now a senior lawyer for a major environmental organization. At some point, the conversation turned to why she had left graduate school. To my utter astonishment, she said it was because it made her feel stupid. After a couple of years of feeling stupid every day, she was ready to do something else.

Schwartz soon realized that he agreed with his colleague: science made him feel stupid too!

He goes on to explain how Ph.D. programs factor into this culture of stupidity and suggests ways to teach science graduate students how to be "productively stupid".

Read other takes on the article from fellow ScienceBlogger Bora, FemaleScienceProfessor or Counterminds.

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New materials for microwave cookware heat faster with less energy

Mon, 28 Jul 2008 22:43:01 -0500

You may soon be enjoying microwave popcorn and other 'nuked' foods and beverages faster than ever before, while saving on electricity. Researchers in Pennsylvania and Japan report development of new ceramic materials that heat up faster and retain heat longer than conventional microwave cookware while using less energy.

The ceramics are made from a mixtures of magnetite and petalite and are reported to heat faster than commercially available microwave cookware.

"Rice cooks in about half or less time," the researchers say. Other applications may include pizza delivery, since the food would stay warmer for longer.

A rice cooker and plates made from this material are already being sold by ASAHI Ceramics Research Co. in Japan.

The report will be published in the August 26 issue of the journal Chemistry of Materials.

Image credit: Sridhar Komarneni

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6 years, 3 letters-The end of graduate school

Mon, 21 Jul 2008 15:33:05 -0500

After 6 years in graduate school, I finally defended my dissertation and earned those 3 letters I've wanted for so long: P.h. & D.

I look forward to putting the emotional and psychological roller coaster called "grad school" behind me and moving on into the professional world, which I hope will be more routinely stable.

Anyone looking to hire a medical writer? Email me.

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New research on the molecular basis of SIDS

Mon, 07 Jul 2008 07:59:34 -0500

Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) is the major cause of death in infants between 1 month and 1 year of age in developed countries ₍₁₎.

Researchers of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL) in Monterotondo, Italy, have developed a mouse model of SIDS to study to role of serotonin signaling in the disease and hope to apply their findings to treating the same condition in humans.

Postmortem studies have shown alterations in serotonin neurons in the brainstem of SIDS infants. The researchers set out to determine how serotonin homeostasis may contribute to infant death in a mammalian model. The findings, which are published in this week's issue of Science, reveal that altered serotonin homeostasis alone is sufficient to cause sudden death in mice ₍₂₎.

While the exact cause of SIDS remains elusive (experts believe that multiple factors, including predisposing conditions and environmental stressors, contribute to SIDS ₍₃₎), the EMBL researchers believe that their mouse model may help identify risk factors, new diagnostic tools and prophylactic avenues for the prevention of SIDS

Suppression of tumor growth by the BRCA1-associated protein-1"

Wed, 02 Jul 2008 11:13:37 -0500

I am happy to report that my research paper on a protein implicated in breast and lung cancer, called BAP1 (BRCA1-associated protein-1), was recently accepted for publication in the journal 'Cancer Research'.

As you know, my research studies are in the field of cancer biochemistry and for the past few years I have been working on the BAP1 protein-a deubiquitinating enzyme.

The paper is entitled "BAP1 is a tumor suppressor that requires deubiquitinating activity and nuclear localization". This paper is particularly special to me because it is my first peer-reviewed scientific publication (also, I am the first author). When it becomes available online I will write a blog post on it-it will be my first stab at "blogging on peer-reviewed research".

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Is Google making us stupid?-What the Internet is doing to our brains

Mon, 23 Jun 2008 11:04:53 -0500

Nicholas Carr set out to explore how the ubiquity of text on the Internet is affecting our brains, after realizing that his increased Internet use may be affecting his ability to concentrate on reading long, detailed texts. His essay is published in the July/August issue of The Atlantic

"Over the past few years I've had an uncomfortable sense that someone, or something, has been tinkering with my brain," he says. "The deep reading that use to come naturally has become a struggle."

As the Internet becomes a universal conduit for most of the information that flows through our eyes and ears, it seems to be chipping away at our capacity for concentration and contemplation.

While we still await the long-term neurological and psychological experiments that will provide a definitive picture of how Internet use affects cognition, a recently published study of online research habits, conducted by scholars from University College London, suggests that we may well be in the midst of a sea change in the way we read and think.

Read the full article.

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How does bacon impact the body's physiology?

Mon, 16 Jun 2008 09:50:51 -0500

The question was asked by a Science To Life reader using the "Make a Request" icon. He asked:

I am interested in how bacon impacts the body. Is it filling because it has fat that is useful for delaying hunger and quelling the appetite? Is it not damaging because of nitrates or nitrates used in production/preparation? Is it not to be avoided as a fatty heavy protein the body finds hard to metabolize?

To answer this question, I turned to fitness expert and author Louiza Patsis MS. Here is her response:

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The Skinny on Artificial Sweeteners

Tue, 10 Jun 2008 08:53:47 -0500

Clifford S. Mintz Ph.D., author of Bio Job Blog, writes about a study suggesting that artificial sweeteners may cause people to gain rather than lose weight. Like Cliff, I had heard reports of this but never paid much attention. Although the study was published several months ago, I recently became interested in it because I am trying to kick a bad dependence on diet sodas.

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The Science of Sarcasm

Wed, 04 Jun 2008 09:52:15 -0500

A new study aimed at confirming the region of the brain that is important in detecting sarcasm may open the door for new diagnostic tools in detecting mental illness, according to an article in The New York Times.

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Receive science/medical writing job list (free)

Thu, 29 May 2008 07:53:35 -0500

I recently teamed up with Hitt Medical Writing, LLC to bring you science/medical writing jobs (see the new section of the sidebar).

Hitt Medical Writing is a company that provides solutions to industries in the life sciences, including continuing medical education, pharmaceutical, and biotech companies.

Company founder, Emma Hitt Ph.D., produces "The HittList"^TM, a free weekly subscription email containing information about science/medical writing/editing jobs (both staff and freelance).

I've been receiving this job list for ages and find it to be a great resource for freelance, full-time and part-time science/medical writers looking for jobs.

Each time The HittList^TM comes out, I will feature one job on this blog. Check back regularly for new writing jobs and be sure to subscribe to The HittList^TM for more jobs!

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Science To Life

Last Post

New web-based scientific tools & sites

Chronic exposure to estrogen impairs some cognitive functions

Bio tech brain drain: are too many talented scientists leaving the Southeast?

The importance of stupidity in scientific research

New materials for microwave cookware heat faster with less energy

6 years, 3 letters-The end of graduate school

Blogroll Picks

New research on the molecular basis of SIDS

Suppression of tumor growth by the BRCA1-associated protein-1"

Is Google making us stupid?-What the Internet is doing to our brains

How does bacon impact the body's physiology?

The Skinny on Artificial Sweeteners

The Science of Sarcasm

Receive science/medical writing job list (free)