I hadn’t realized the degree to which CRISPR has revolutionized disease treatment. And the possibility of treating sickle cell would be a huge medical boon to the black community.
Category Archives: Health
Nerve Repair
Researchers have figured out how to get mice to do it. Seems like the same thing should work in humans. Between this sort of thing, stem cells, and brain-controlled exoskeletons and prosthetics, it’s a much better world for those paralyzed. Faster, please.
A New Antibiotic Weapon Against Superbugs
This development looks promising. and this is the best part:
SNAPPs appear to pose no threat to healthy tissue, they only attack bacteria. This is in marked contrast to antibiotics that are known to have unpleasant side-effects under certain conditions because they damage both bacteria and healthy tissue. Why do the SNAPPs leave healthy tissue alone? Because the SNAPPs are too big to interact effectively with mammalian cell tissue. They’re like big dogs that attack other big dogs to establish dominance while ignoring tiny dogs that are beneath their notice.
SNAPPs appear to have the potential to work as a substitute in cases where AMR makes treatment with antibiotics ineffective. This is a very good thing, but is it also another short-term solution? Will the bacteria mutate and develop resistance to SNAPPs the same way they have developed resistance to antibiotics?
Lam and her team examined this question by exposing 600 generations of a colistin-resistant superbug to SNAPPs. The superbug the researchers used is known to mutate and acquire antibiotic resistance rapidly but the SNAPPs killed the 600th generation as effectively and easily as they did the first. The researchers speculate that the bacteria are unable to develop resistance because there are so many ways the SNAPPs can kill them.
Faster, please.
Fixing Fractures
With 3-D printed bone. Faster, please. Why should it wait five years for human trials?
National Coffee Day
This is the only reason I choke down the swill every morning. It’s totally on faith.
It’s also worth noting (as I’ve long suspected) that there does seem to be a genetic component to its effects, which is probably why I a) don’t like the stuff and b) it has no discernible effect on me.
Rejuvenation
What happens when you sew a young mouse to an old one so they share a vascular system?
Herpes
A vaccine breakthrough? That would be great news, particularly if it’s also therapeutic.
It’s Not Just Big Sugar
A lot of other food producers profited from the demonization of fat. This is the biggest health disaster in history, I think.
[Update a while later]
There is no reason to even consider eating reduced-fat cheese. Same with all dairy, including milk. Low-fat milk is a nutritional abomination.
It’s almost impossible to find whole-milk mozarella, at least shredded. Fage won’t produce a whole-milk Greek yogurt; best you can do is two percent. And Costco only sells fat-free. Fortunately, Trader Joe’s has started selling its own brand, in whole-milk, at a lower price, so that’s our new yogurt.
Mars
What we need to know before we send people there. And they don’t even discuss the gravity issue.
[Update a few minutes later]
Eric Berger says that Elon is between a rocket and a hard place. I don’t think that taxpayer money should to go build giant rockets, whether by SpaceX or Boeing.
Cryonics
A very nice, but long piece on the current state of the art, over at Gizmodo.