Informed Consent

“Informed consent involves three components: information, comprehension and free will. Individuals vary in their ability to comprehend information relevant to their consent, which minimally includes the nature of the procedure and the implications of their participation in a research study. Thus, providing necessary information and subsequently establishing comprehension are both essential aspects of obtaining consent. The final component of informed consent is free will.”
[Nature Methods 6(2):111 (2009)]

Discovery is Joy

Discovery is one of the main sources of joy in life. What makes a good trip, well, good? Discovering new places, new people, unique items (yes, shopaholics are good discoverers too), new foods, etc. Even within one's own city, ambling about and then discovering a little known (or simply unknown to you) nice spot gives one a memorable feeling of discovery. Discovery is why researchers, especially scientists, describe their jobs as being so much fun. And it's not just about personal discovery. Some of the most happy times in life include when observing someone you care about discover a surprise -- the look on their face when walking into a surprise party, or the joy they experience when unwrapping a gift. And let's not forget one of the biggest joys in life: children and pets. Observing a child or a pet discover the world never fails to make anyone smile. So, are you convinced yet? Discovery equals joy. But please don't take this as an endorsement of the Discovery Channel...

The Problem with Much Biology Research Today

The argument: we would have a better chance of truly understanding cell function (or any other complex biological system) if biologists worked more like engineers. Here is the argument very eloquently presented by Yuri Lazebnik in his 2002 article in the journal Cancer Cell. Although this article is almost 1.5 years old, it was just brought to my attention recently.

Automated Scientists and Inventors?

Can science be automated? The scientific method is, after all, simply an algorithm that could be programmed. However, I doubt that scientists are going to become obsolete any day soon; well, except for maybe geneticists!

And what about the creative art of invention? One would think that this is only something a human could do: our advanced intellect and logical thinking working in synergy with our intuitions, memories and emotions. It turns out that an artificial neural net can become an excellent inventor as well when it is disrupted by a little bit of noise. It makes you wonder about the accuracy of the "nutty inventor" stereotype; it may not be such a silly typecast after all. A noisy brain can be a good thing!

Fear of Terrorism Potentially Choking Scientific Research in the U.S.A.

As a result of 9/11, both the U.S. government and researchers are debating how to strike a balance between the long-held tradition of keeping science research open, and worries that terrorists could exploit such research for nefarious purposes. There currently are no U.S. federal guidelines dictating what types of research should be kept secret, but attempts to impose restrictions on academic initiatives have met with criticism and refusal: Some major universities have rejected government contracts and grants because they came with the proviso that research required federal approval prior to publication. For more on this trend, read this article.

Gene Therapy 101

In the media these days we often hear of "gene therapy" and its great promise for the future of medical treatment. I have never taken the time to look up how it actually works until now.

----- [ From the Human Genome Project ] -----
Gene therapy is a novel approach to treat, cure, or ultimately prevent disease by changing the expression of a person's genes. The field is still in its infancy, and current gene therapy is still primarily experimental, with most clinical trials only in the early stages.

Gene therapy can be targeted to somatic (body) or germ (egg and sperm) cells. In somatic gene therapy the recipient's effective genome is changed, but the change is not passed along to the next generation. In germline gene therapy, the parents egg and sperm cells are changed with the goal of passing on the changes to their offspring. Germline gene therapy does not seem to be actively investigated, although a lot of discussion is being conducted about its value and desirability.
----- [ end quote ] -----

A common gene therapy strategy is to deliver "good" DNA material to cells via a carrier virus. A commonly used virus is the adeno-associated virus, which does not cause any known diseases or trigger immune responses such as inflammation. In the lab, most of the virus’s own DNA is removed and replaced with therapeutic DNA. Then it’s injected into the patient’s tissue, where it does what it does best: infect cells. Because the virus is coated with specific marker molecules, the DNA material carried by the virus eventually gets into the cell nuclei. From there it is expressed like any other DNA in a cell nucleus. None of the "bad" DNA is replaced or changed by this method, a common misconception for those unfamiliar with gene therapy (view a Macromedia Flash animation of gene therapy by this method here, courtesy of MIT Technology Review).

In most diseases the root problem is either a lack of production of a particular protein (perhaps due to a specific gene not being turned on), or a particular protein being produced incorrectly (perhaps due to incorrect DNA coding). In both these cases, with the type of gene therapy outlined above, the newly added DNA material will supplement the cell's genome with an independent piece that correctly codes for the production of the protein in question. An example of a disease that could be potentially cured by gene therapy strategies is cystic fibrosis. People who suffer from cystic fibrosis produce a faulty cellular transport protein called cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator, which results in the build-up of mucous in their lungs.