The history of vaccines from the Scout Report

Posted by Jennifer Eidelman | 8 Nov, 2010
The History of Vaccines

http://www.historyofvaccines.org/

Created by The College of Physicians of Philadelphia, The History of Vaccines website is designed "to provide a living, changing chronicle of the compelling history of vaccination, from pre-Jennerian variolation practices, to the defeat of polio in the Western Hemisphere." It is truly a remarkable website, and along with learning about variolation practices, visitors can look through interactive timelines, watch video profiles of scholars who work on vaccination techniques, and also read articles on the future of immunization. On the homepage, visitors can take short quizzes, read recent posts from their blog, and explore their gallery of images. The "Articles" area contains pieces such as "Top 20 Questions about Vaccination" and other works designed to be used in the classroom. The site also contains a glossary of terms and a place to sign up for email updates. [KMG]

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Studying ancient viruses

Posted by Jennifer Eidelman | 1 Oct, 2010

"In a new article in PLoS Biology Clément Gilbert and Cédric Feschotte report their discover of  the DNA of hepadnaviridae viruses embedded in the genome of the zebra finch. By comparing the viral DNA to current viral DNA they dated it to to 19 million years ago. This places the  genomic infection in animals by hepadnaviridae which also include the hepatitis B virus  much earlier than thought. The hepadnaviridae also include the infamous hepatitis B virus, or HBV."Read the report by Iddo Friedberg

Credit: Daniel D. Baleckaitis, From: wikimedia commons

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Profiles in Science

Posted by Jennifer Eidelman | 6 Sep, 2010

http://profiles.nlm.nih.gov/PD/

"Daniel Nathans was a molecular biologist whose work with restriction enzymes provided one of the keystones of "the new genetics". His work in this area quickly became one of the essential tools of molecular biology, and in 1987 he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for this crucial work. This collection from the National Library of Medicine's "Profiles in Science" series brings together some of his research papers and related documents. The materials are divided chronologically into periods that include "Choosing Research, 1955-1962" and "New Directions: Growth Signals and Cellular Responses, 1980-1999". The site also contains a list of further readings and a glossary of terms". From the Scout Report

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Tiny pieces of RNA may turn cells to the dark side

Posted by Jennifer Eidelman | 26 Aug, 2010
By Tina Hesman Saey

August 28th, 2010; Vol.178 #5 (p. 18) ScienceNews

"When tiny hairpin-shaped molecules act up, they don’t rebel loner-style like James Dean. Instead they take on the persona of Darth Vader, crushing proteins under their command and turning acquaintances to the dark side as well. In this case, though, the fight is for control not of the universe, but of the body. And a dark-side victory could end in cancer" Read more.......

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