Code for life

Jeremy Farrar, the director of the London-based biomedical research charity the Wellcome Trust, has written an opinion piece in the Guardian newspaper espousing the value of (international) collaborations in the face of Brexit, Britain proposed exit from the European Union. Farrar rightfully highlights the importance of collaborations. Collaboration can be essential for many types of work, and direct interactions … Read More

Science communication takes many forms, even when we limit it to written work. Here University of Cambridge professor Lucy Raymond has worked with children’s illustrator Marta Altes at the Cambridge School of Art at Anglia Ruskin University to make an illustrated book for young children with rare genetic conditions. Part of Professor Raymond’s aim is to give the book to … Read More

While travelling I’ve visited some science-related locations and seen the odd bit of science-related trivia. On a wall of the ferry I took between Swedish the port town Oskarshamm and the walled city of Visby at the Baltic sea island of Gotland was a collection of photographs offering a pictorial history of the shipping company. One delightful photograph highlighted that … Read More

Widely reported today is the research paper by an USA team who edited a gene that causes sudden heart failure in young adults. I’d like to take a different approach, briefly raising just two things that nagged at me while reading this work. Before I do be clear there are real technical advances reported.* I’m not denying or opposing them. Read More

Gene editing could be a big deal. It offers some great stuff. For a few applications it also raises some interesting ethical questions. We might be able to treat some genetic disorders by convert a “broken” gene associated back to the working version of the gene, potentially providing a one-time, life-long fix for the patient. Gene therapy has a surprisingly … Read More

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Or, as it’s informally known: getting past the paywall. Occasionally I write about stuff that might be useful to other researchers, but also lets non-researchers see a little of what bugs some of us researchers! All but a relatively few (biological) science research journals require you to subscribe before you can get the research … Read More

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I’m losing far too much of my writing time to people with misbegotten ideas about vaccines.* I know people are very keen to make their own decisions. It’s understandable, but I wish if they insist on making their own decisions that they’d take equally as much care about the information they’re using to make their decisions — and … Read More

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Below are a few links to resources that people might find useful to share – or read if you want a quick introduction to vaccines for kids. Short takes For really short takes, these brochures—all in PDF format—might be useful. They make key points in few words: Immunization: Get the facts – a Canadian brochure covering 5 key concerns … Read More

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The University of Otago has allowed an anti-vaccine lobby group[1] to screen former-doctor Andrew Wakefield’s advocacy piece, ‘Vaxxed’ on campus. (Wakefield was struck off for research misconduct.) Vaxxed has attracted a number of comments in the media, such as Alison Mau’s If you watch Vaxxed, know you’re buying into the manipulation of a disgraced fraud. I was surprised to learn the university … Read More

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Just out today are the recommendations of a joint science advisory group of the USA National Academy of Science and the USA Academy of Medicine on gene editing. As an alert to any that might be interested I’ve copied their summary of their recommendations below.This post is meant as a simple heads-up, rather than an analysis of this … Read More