Science Education & Policy

In Phylogenetic Fallacies: Early Branching Must Mean Primitive I focused on the misconception that an "early branching" lineage was necessarily "primitive" (i.e., very similar to a distant ancestor). This time, I want to discuss something slightly more subtle, but nonetheless important, with regard to interpreting phylogenies. Specifically, I want to note a problem with the very concept of one lineage "branching off from" another lineage. There can be a tendency to consider evolutionary trees as reflecting a main line with a series of "side branches". This is especially true when the tree…

There has been greatly increasing attention given to the potential of ‘biochar’, or charcoal made from biological tissues (e.g., wood) to serve as a long term sink of carbon in the soil. This is because charcoal is carbon-rich and breaks down extremely slowly, persisting in soil for thousands of years. This has led to the suggestion being seriously considered by policy makers worldwide that biochar could be produced in large quantities and stored in soils. This would in turn increase ecosystem carbon sequestration, and thereby counteract human induced increases in carbon-based greenhouse…

Biomedical research in developing countries is the kind of ethical condundrum we all think about. On one hand, infectious diseases may cause up to half of all deaths in undeveloped nations(1), so no one needs advanced treatments more. On the other hand, these are human clinical trials of experimental drugs and socio-economic status does not make you a lab monkey in any sort of culture we want to call civilized. So what is the solution? Americans are primarily distrustful of government, the bigger the worse, so a global body dictating clinical trials would be treated with a lot of…

The term "genome" is oft-heard but seldom defined, and indeed has more than one meaning. Little wonder, then, that discussions about genome sequences and comparisons thereof can leave otherwise interested audiences more frustrated than enlightened. "What is a genome?" and "whose genome was sequenced?" are legitimate questions, and what follows is an attempt at clarification that is, by necessity, as much philosophical as scientific. Definition #1: In a broad sense, a genome can be considered as the collective set of genes, non-coding DNA sequences, and all their variants that are located…

Here we go again, just this morning the Florida House of Representatives passed a bill that directs teachers to engage in “critical analysis” of evolution in public schools. The bill’s chief sponsor, Republican Alan Hays of Umatilla, says that evolution “has holes in it,” and that “no one has any record -- no fossils have been found.” That will come as a big shock to the thousands of natural history museums around the world, displaying hundreds of thousands of fossils. But of course factual truth has never been the forte of creationists. Nor has honesty. The bill is ironically called “The…

PHILADELPHIA and LONDON, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- - Biomarkers to Open the Door to Personalized Medicine and Represents a Seismic Shift for the Pharma Industry The Scientific business of Thomson Reuters today announced the launch of a new biomarkers report, "Establishing the Standards in Biomarker Research" which gives a detailed introduction to the world of biomarkers, an overview of the regulatory context surrounding them, and highlights ongoing biomarker research in some of the world's leading Pharma companies. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20080424/NYTH069LOGO ) Thomson…

DENVER, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Gunther von Hagens' BODY WORLDS, the traveling anatomical exhibitions of donor bodies welcomes its 25th million visitor this week. Though it will not be known if the distinction will go to a visitor entering the turnstile at BODY WORLDS in Los Angeles, or if the honor will go instead to a visitor at BODY WORLDS in Milwaukee, or Baltimore, or Manchester, England, the number is a stellar achievement in museum exhibition history. Since 1996, when anatomist, Gunther von Hagens presented the first BODY WORLDS at the National Science Center in Tokyo, to commemorate…

PALO ALTO, California, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- - Highlights differences vs. legacy solutions Nexenta Systems, Inc., developer of NexentaStor(TM), the leading enterprise class storage management software taking an open source approach to market, is pleased to announce the commercial release of NexentaStor Enterprise v. 1.0. Current customers of NexentaStor include the University of Michigan School of Medicine, Motek Entertainment (Netherlands), Ozmo Devices, Stanford University and many other enterprises and Universities worldwide. NexentaStor Enterprise Edition is superior to alternatives…

WASHINGTON, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- - Public Webcast Features Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz, Technology Reporters with USA Today and Authors of the Book, Zero Day Threat Liberty Alliance, the global identity community working to build a more trust-worthy internet for consumers, governments and businesses worldwide, today announced highlights of the Wednesday, May 7 Privacy in Perspective webcast. Taking place at 8:00am US PT (3:00 UTC), the event is hosted by Byron Acohido and Jon Swartz, technology reporters with USA Today, reviewing highlights from their new book Zero Day Threat.…

GENEVA, Switzerland, April 29 /PRNewswire/ -- Developing countries need more than just access to medicines, and should not be fooled into thinking there is a quick fix for their health needs, the AIDS Institute, Alliance for Health, Education, and Development (AHEAD), patient groups and other experts from around the world said Tuesday. This warning came as the second session of the Intergovernmental Working Group (IGWG) on Public Health, Innovation, and Intellectual Property met in Geneva ahead of an important policy-setting meeting of the World Health Assembly next month. Representatives…