I am a professional scientist in the biological arena, and the fundamental goal of my profession is to seek truth, understanding, and knowledge. We don’t always get it right, but we always strive to reach the absolute truth even if progress is slow and incremental. We are taught to follow the evidence wherever it takes …
The Gut-Brain Connection
Our gastrointestinal system is teeming with diverse bacteria that collectively comprise our gut microbiome. These bacteria contribute to our digestive capability as well as more broadly influencing our overall health and wellbeing. As the bacteria in our gut digest our food they produce and excrete their own biomolecules that we call metabolites. Bacterial metabolites can …
COVID-19 Update – Variations on a Theme
The news is filled with alarming stories about new variants of SARS-CoV-2 that were isolated in recent weeks. These variants are versions of the original SARS-CoV-2 virus that have acquired mutations. Mutations are a natural and regular occurrence that happens when the parental viral genome replicates during the process of making progeny viruses. In an …
Famous Virus Tales of Christmas Past
To start December here are some versions of Xmas tales that only a virologist would love. Happy holidays to all! “Twas the Night Before Coronavirus” - Santa isn’t the only thing sneaking into the house this winter! “A Christmas Calicivirus” - A crotchety old man discovers that it is better to give than receive (viruses that …
COVID-19 – Are We Nearing the Endgame?
I suspect that everyone has heard the highly encouraging news this week from two vaccine manufacturers, Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna. Both companies released the first phase 3 trial preliminary results this week and based on these early data each of their vaccines is highly effective after 2 doses. In the case of Pfizer’s vaccine, the initial …
Nobel for CRISPR
I just wanted to add my congratulations to the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry winners, Drs. Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier. Only the 6th and 7th women to receive the Chemistry Nobel Prize, Doudna and Charpentier received the award for making the bacterial CRISPR/Cas9 system into the most powerful genetic tool of the 21st century. …
Human Gene Editing – Is the Future Now?
Many human diseases are the result of genetic errors, commonly called mutations. You can think of the four nucleotides (A, C, T, and G) that comprise our DNA as the letters of our genetic alphabet with these nucleotide letters making up our genes which are the “words” of our genome. Mutations result from changes in …
In Other Viral News
While SARS-CoV-2 continues to dominate our news and daily lives, research on other important viruses continues unabated in research labs around the world. An important recent paper in Nature Communications used multiple approaches to decode the genome of herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1). HSV-1 causes oral lesions commonly known as “cold sores” or “fever …
On a Hot Summer Night ….
It’s August, and if you live in Texas like I do it’s the season to sweat. Unfortunately, along with sweat comes odor, particularly in the armpit (the axilla region). Certain hairy regions of the body, such as the armpit and groin, contain apocrine glands whose physiological function in humans remains poorly understood. The apocrine glands …
COVID-19 Update – The Kinase Connection
Vaccines are a critical factor for stopping the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic as vaccines will help protect uninfected individuals, contribute to herd immunity, and restrict the spread of the virus. However, even after successful vaccines are developed it could take years to manufacture hundreds of millions of doses, to distribute them throughout the world, and to vaccinate …
How Likely Are Intelligent Aliens?
As the COVID19 pandemic surges into the summer months with no end in sight, it’s sometimes nice to forget about the virus completely and ponder other subjects, like the possible existence of intelligent alien life forms in our galaxy. As both a scientist and a long-time science fiction fan, I’ve often wondered about sentient alien …
