Stem Cells--New Hope

It's exciting to hear that the first FDA-approved phase I clinical trial is under way for the pioneering stem cell treatment for Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS or Lou Gehrig's disease), a condition for which there has not been a cure.  Thanks to Nueralstem, Inc which provided the spinal cord stem cells, new hope has been given to ALS sufferers.  ALS is a progressive fatal neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain, leading to the degeneration and death of the motor neurons in the spinal cord that control muscle movement.

Egypt's Pride: Doctor Peseshet

The first woman doctor ever belonged to Egypt. Her name was  Peseshet; she was not only a swnwt (woman doctor) but also a imyt-r hm(wt)-ka (woman director of the soul-priestesses) and lived around 2500 B.C.  Nothing much is known about her except that she was the mother of Akhethetep in whose tomb her stela (carved or inscribed stone slab) was found.

Women of Ancient Egypt could enter any profession they liked, unlike in modern times.

The picture on the left shows some of the instruments she may have used.  Most of these tools were used for embalming as well.

 
http://www.crystalinks.com/egyptianwomen.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancient_Egyptian_medicine

PARKING 'PLAINTS? WHO CARES?

 


According to Prof. Simon Blackburn this is a foolproof formula for making your car fit in the tightest parking spots. So, my dear readers, add your measuring tape and the calculator to the survival kit you pack in the trunk of your car. Yeah, right! I can imagine what a help this might be when I am attempting to park in the narrow streets of New York City with all those cars honking behind me and the juicy epithets spilling out of their open windows.  Not for anything will I venture out measuring stuff.

TELL ME AGAIN WHY THERE IS NO CURE FOR CANCER

I was watching an episode of NOVA on television today titled “What Darwin Never Knew”. Actually, it turns out that there is very little that Darwin did not know. However, scientists can today provide evidence for the theories that Darwin propounded. They now have proof that all life is a process of evolution and natural selection. They even believe that all land animals have evolved from the fish. D-uh, isn't that what we Hindus always knew? They have compared the DNA of various species and traced the path of evolution.

Scientists can now study the genetic code of animals and tell which gene is responsible for a particular trait in that animal. The study of the DNA is fascinating. All genetic code consists of an infinite number of patterns formed by the arrangement of four kinds of bases—Adenine (A), Thymine (T), Guanine (G) and Cytosine (C). The particular arrangement gives us our unique traits. Cracking the genetic code has helped to isolate genes and their characteristics.

Researchers went back to the Galapagos Islands to do what Darwin did—study the different kinds of finches. They too found that the same species of birds may have different kinds of beaks depending on their habitat. What kind of beak they have is dictated by the DNA. The DNA has the ability to switch off certain genes and turn others on. The gene switches are not genes but can activate the genes that are responsible for the trait. Phew!! I hope I got it right. Nobody knows yet what makes the genes turn on and off. The most amazing part of this research was that all embryos—of all animals look alike initially—they compared the embryos of reptiles, birds, fish and mammals. It was really hard to tell them apart. The human embryo had vestiges of gills, and reptiles of limbs. The gills developed into the three inner bones of the human ear and the limbs of reptiles just vanished. The gene switches get active after a certain stage and turn things on and off in the embryo.

Given all this, why hasn’t anyone discovered what causes cancer? Scientists can cut DNA, inject glow into a fruit fly from a jelly fish and create new species of fruit flies—but they cannot isolate the trigger that produces cancer? I find that very hard to believe. They have isolated 23,000 different genes in the human body. They know which protein is responsible for muscle building, which is responsible for hair. What’s left to investigate?

Furthermore, it is scary that new species of animals can be created in a laboratory. How long will it be before we produce real life Frankensteins?  Can science fulfil its responsibilities towards the human race and its role on the planet or will it become an uncontrollable instrument of mutilation/mutation?

IT'S ALI-I-I-VE, EEEET'S ALIVE!!

Scientists discovered a "significant" amount of water- 25 gallons of it--on the moon when the Lcross satellite crashed into a crater near its south pole making a large hole 60-100 ft wide.  The water "gives future settlers something to drink, but could also be broken apart into oxygen and hydrogen. Both are valuable as rocket fuel, and the oxygen would also give astronauts air to breathe."(NYTimes)  It's sad that the moon has to be wrung dry now.  What is the future of our moon? The stray astronaut will go there for a drink of water, the space station will exploit it, and we will have all these probes making more craters on the moon.  The sea of tranquility will become like the Chicago Wal-Mart on Black Friday of 2008.

And then, the moon will be colonised.  People will fight for rights to explore it.  They will fight for the water, and our wars will reach the boundaries of our solar system. Or a new order of pilgrims will make their way there, endure the bitter, harsh realities of the moon and on the Thanksgiving days they will "cook" water. Sigh!