Tag: "genetics"

Marriage by Contract

This is Gary Becker, writing at the Becker-Posner blog.

I have argued several times previously that all “marriages” should be basically contractual arrangements between couples, whether heterosexual or homosexual. These couple-specific contracts would specify the duties of each member, including the conditions needed to terminate their arrangement, so that couples rather than laws and judges would determine the conditions under which they stay together or breakup. These contracts would be tailored to the special needs of each couple, and could even be made compulsory in order to take away any information revealed when a person asks his or her mate for a contract…

If such contracted civil unions became the norm, homosexual unions would not be any different than heterosexual unions. If civil unions obtained all the rights of marriage unions, then the issue of gay “marriage” would turn only on language, although it is emotionally charged language on both sides of the debate.

Posner’s view on homosexual marriage at the Becker-Posner blog.

May 14, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Manipulating The Mind

The electrodes were implanted into the song-generating region of the brain, and he could control them with a wireless remote. When he pressed a button, a bird singing in a cage across the lab would fall silent. Press again, and it would resume its song.

Entire press from The Wall Street Journal worth reading.

Mar 21, 2012 | 3 comments | by

The Virus in Your Genes

Normally, the genes of endogenous retroviruses remain dormant, but—a bit like a computer virus that springs into action on a trigger—something wakes them up sometimes, and actual viruses are made from them, which then infect other cells in the body. The Danish scientists suggest that this is what happens in multiple sclerosis.

More from Matt Ridley in The Wall Street Journal.

Mar 15, 2012 | 6 comments | by

Mad Scientists Creating Monsters?

Just how easy is it to make a deadly virus?

This disturbing question has been on the minds of many scientists recently, thanks to a pair of controversial experiments in which the H5N1 bird flu virus was transformed into mutant forms that spread among mammals…

Over the past decade, more amateur biologists have started to do genetic experiments of their own. One hub of this so-called D.I.Y. biology movement, the Web site DIYbio.org, now has more than 2,000 members.

Read more from Carl Zimmer on the recreation of mutant viruses in The New York Times.

Mar 13, 2012 | 6 comments | by

Our Culture Is in Our Genes

This is Matt Ridley writing in the WSJ:

Dr. Pagel’s calls language “one of the most powerful, dangerous and subversive traits that natural selection has ever devised.”… Language is a “technology for rewiring other people’s minds…without either of you having to perform surgery.” But natural section was unlikely to favor such a technology if it helped just the speaker, or just the listener, at the expense of the other. Rather, he says that, just as the language of the genes promotes its own survival via a larger cooperative entity called the body, so language itself endures via the survival of the individual and the tribe.

Languages evolve, just as genes do, changing gradually over time. But 7,000 different human tongues nevertheless seem excessive. Dr. Pagel’s explanation is that, since language serves the interests of the group, when a new tribe splits off from the rest of a society, the people in the new tribe deliberately differentiate themselves the better to unite.

Mar 08, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Individualized Care

Remember Atul Gawande’s prediction that medicine will become like engineering. Here is the opposite prediction:

Soon a person’s precise genetic data will be augmented by an extraordinary wealth of other digital data (provided by, say, the continuous monitoring of blood pressure, pulse and mood, and a variety of ultra-precise scans). The outcome will be nothing short of a new “science of individuality,” one that defines individuals “at a more granular and molecular level than ever imaginable.”

Full article by Abigail Zuger, M.D. on the genomics revolution in The New York Times.

Mar 02, 2012 | 6 comments | by

A Penchant for Novelty Has Benefits

Do you make decisions quickly based on incomplete information? Do you lose your temper quickly? Are you easily bored? Do you thrive in conditions that seem chaotic to others, or do you like everything well organized? … After extensively tracking novelty-seekers, researchers are seeing the upside. In the right combination with other traits, it’s a crucial predictor of well-being.

Full article on novelty-seeking in The New York Times.

Feb 23, 2012 | 2 comments | by

Can Medicine Be Crowd-Sourced?

Last month, computer gamers working from home redesigned an enzyme. Last year, a gene-testing company used its customers to find mutations that increase or decrease the risk of Parkinson’s disease.

More from Matt Ridley in the Wall Street Journal.

Feb 15, 2012 | 5 comments | by

Are We Over-Diagnosed?

With genetic and prenatal screening now common, patients are being diagnosed not with disease but with “pre-disease” or for being at “high risk” of developing disease. Revealing the economic and medical forces that contribute to overdiagnosis, Welch makes a reasoned call for change that would save us from countless unneeded surgeries, excessive worry, and exorbitant costs, all while maintaining a balanced view of both the potential benefits and harms of diagnosis. Drawing on data, clinical studies, and anecdotes from his own practice, Welch builds a solid, accessible case against the belief that more screening always improves health care.

Review of the soon-to-be-released book, Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health.

Dec 13, 2011 | 7 comments | by

Designer Diets

Researchers at the University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine are studying the theory that nutrition and exercise can be affected by a person’s genetic makeup…The Studies question long-held beliefs about food selection and weight loss. For example, could 1,000 calories of turkey cause more weight gain in some people than 1,000 calories in cashews? If so, could a person lose weight through food selection without cutting calories?

More on genetic makeup and fitness.

Dec 09, 2011 | 5 comments | by
Next Page »