Curiosity has landed on Mars!

I should have been working on a talk for a conference, but I nerded out and watched the awesome landing of Curiosity on Mars!  Check out its first pic!

First picture by Curiosity, taking a picture of its shadow on Mars.  Way to stick the landing! 10.0!  (image courtesy NASA)

Gene Therapy to block HIV

The other day, I posted about Truvada, which is a drug that blocks HIV from replicating inside an infected T cell.  This can help uninfected people reduce their risk to become HIV positive by preventing it from making copies of itself and spreading to other T cells at a very early stage, so that the immune system still has enough cells to combat an attack against HIV, get rid of its sick cells and keep the person HIV free.

Here's an alternative way to stop HIV at yet an earlier step: prevent it from getting inside the host T cell by getting rid of the receptors HIV exploits on those cells.  Check it out!

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/07/16/156846209/how-hiv-hijacks-the-immune-system?ps=cprs

http://news.sciencemag.org/sciencenow/2011/09/gene-therapy-may-thwart-hiv.html

Truvada: the first FDA approved drug to reduce HIV risk

Dear readers,

Sorry I've been MIA from my blog.  1st year postdoc is not the easiest job for sure, but there's a lot of interesting new research directions I'm exploring that's kept me busy.  I will follow up on my new year's resolution and share my thoughts on the Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks and the recent exciting news on the possible Higgs-like boson soon, so stay tuned!

Today, the news media reported the FDA approved Truvada, the first drug that significantly reduces the risk for HIV infection for uninfected people, when taken daily.  http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/07/16/156850747/fda-approves-first-drug-to-prevent-hiv-infection.  

Curious about how Truvada functions at the molecular level, I found this video through the makers, Gilead Sciences, that implicate this drug blocks HIV from replicating its RNA genome by inhibiting its reverse transcriptase activity to make a copy of its genome into DNA (that the virus then exploits the human host's cell machinery to make more copies of).  Check it out!
http://www.truvada.com/pat115_how_works_video.aspx

For those readers out there who want more insight to what entails getting approval of any drug by the FDA, I found this recent post by Science Magazine that highlights the lengthy discussion over this drug.  In short, the key to make this drug effective is that users must take the drug daily and without using other HIV treatment drugs, otherwise HIV resistance may form over time.  This is from its previous and current use as an anti-HIV drug in infected patients.  Some members in on the discussion worry that it may mislead prescribed users to assume this drug will protect them and engage in more risky behaviors.  This drug reduces HIV infection risk in uninfected folks, but does not completely block it. 

2012 New Years resolution

Dear readers,


Happy new year!  In reflecting on 2011 and what's to come in 2012 over the holidays, I admit that I'm not the best blogger out there.  As such, one of my 2012 new years resolutions is to adhere to my blog's mission statement and keep you informed about science!  To make the resolution achievable, I plan to give myself 'homework' due at the end of each month and pick 12 topics (1 for each month) that I think are worthy of discussion with you.  

To give you a taste of what's to come, January 2012 will cover the the issue of bioethics and insights to the personal side of scientific investigation, as I am currently reading Rebecca Skloot's The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (2010).  After hearing about its release in 2010, I spent a long time at the 2010 American Society of Cell Biology's Annual Meeting in Philadelphia searching for a copy to buy in publisher's row in the big poster session room.  With no luck.  That surprised me because cell biologists are one of the largest users of HeLa cells, and this is a story about the woman and family behind those cells.  By the time I found a copy of the book in 2011 at the local bookstore and got swept into reading the first half of the book, I got sidetracked in April to write my Ph.D. thesis.  So, months later, I've started from scratch to read the book again (it's a compelling non-fiction story) and I'll share with you the life of Henrietta Lacks and the heartbreaking story of her family in the aftermath of the birth of HeLa.  Maybe some of you will read the book with me!  I also hope to open a discussion about bioethics in science.


In February 2012, I will go outside of my biology comfort zone and discuss the current search for Higg's boson and particle physics, which I got intrigued by at a network meeting for my postdoc research fellowship in November.  I'll do my best to summarize what I learn about the current state of particle physics, and what makes gravity so hard to reconcile with the rest of the forces of the universe.  It's an issue that stumped Einstein himself!


If you have any suggestions for topics to cover for the rest of 2012, please let me know!


Cheers,
Saori

A sweet lesson on ligand-protein binding affinities

When I was learning biochemistry in college (from good ol' Lehninger's Principles of Biochemistry), the section on protein function, protein binding affinities and dissociation constants with pKas and Kds being thrown around was a little hard to follow without good examples.  I thought this story on the miracle berry's 'magical' effects might help any of you out there who are trying to learn about protein function and binding affinities:

Miracle Berry’s Sour-Sweet Mystery Cracked


Then ask yourself:
- Does the miraculin or sugar has a higher binding affinity?  
- Which one has a higher Kd?
- If miraculin can only activate its receptor, hT1R2-hT1R3, at a low pH, can you guesstimate the pKa value is of the amino acid(s) on miraculin responsible for activating the hT1R2/hT1R3 receptors?


For the science nerds, here's the free, open-access original article out in PNAS that's out early ahead of the print date:
Human sweet taste receptor mediates acid-induced sweetness of miraculin

Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know

Hi folks,
Just got this neat article; some ladies everyone should know more about.  Especially Rosalind Franklin, if you want to know the real story behind the discovery of the structure of DNA.
Enjoy!

Ten Historic Female Scientists You Should Know

To keep going in science, or not to keep going in science...

that is the question on the minds of many young and talented grad students and postdocs in science these days.


It's a sad day when one of your own decides to leave the business.  Especially when it's a good friend who's a great scientist, one who I envisioned being a colleague of mine in the future, chattin' about our labs and reminiscing about the good ol' days at the bench.  But this is the reality of academic science these days, and Jen's blog post is really well spoken.  Hope this gives you some perspective of what it's like.  


Once a Scientist, Always a Scientist by Jen