Comments for Byte Size Biology

Comment on Wikipedia pages on protein function prediction by Iddo

Iddo — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:43:57 +0000

Just remembered: a few years ago, Martin Jambon created a page on Wikiomics. (I should know, we were actually sharing an office when he did it). It's under CC-attrib-sharealike, so I can just copy it over. Thanks Martin!

Comment on Wikipedia pages on protein function prediction by Julian Gough

Julian Gough — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:19:48 +0000

Actually I deserve no credit for what is already there, I did not create any of the meagre content, I just noticed that if you compare e.g. the two pages below, then as a community we are providing much less information than the structure prediction community.

Please compare these two pages:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_structure_prediction
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Protein_function_prediction

The same goes for comparing the Wikipedia pages on CASP and CAFA.

Julian

Comment on Seriously? by Snuze

Snuze — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 01:18:52 +0000

That … I have nothing to say to that.

O__o

Comment on Gut microbes and diabetes by Iddo

Iddo — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:38:58 +0000

Shawn: great question. I am not sure if anyone looked at that. I guess that an epidemiological study is warranted. For example, comparing mostly beef & pork consumers (where antibiotics in the feed are legal, at least in the US), and poultry consumers (which are mostly antibiotic free). However, it would be very hard to separate other factors, such as overall calorie intake (higher in beef & pork than in poultry), associated lifestyle, etc. Perhaps someone else can chip in with suggestions?

Comment on Gut microbes and diabetes by Shawn H Corey

Shawn H Corey — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 15:18:48 +0000

I was wondering how the high levels of antibiotics in animal feed would effect the gut bacteria in humans. Could it lead to the chronic obesity seen in today’s youth? How much antibiotics are present in today’s meat?

Comment on Gut microbes and diabetes by ManWithTypeII

ManWithTypeII — Wed, 11 Jan 2012 14:52:58 +0000

I certainly hope useful therapies are developed from this research. I’ve long wondered about the influence of gut microbes on diabetes. After a being prescribed long courses of a couple of antibiotics to combat a bout of diverticulitis, I went through a period of time when my blood sugar levels were very near normal and very easy to control (even when I ate more and–admittedly–less healthy food). Some years later, however, my blood sugar levels (and insulin resistance) began to climb again. When I was prescribed those antibiotics, I was told they would kill off all my gut bacteria (good and bad), so they placed me on a lactobacillus acidophilus supplement to help rebuild my gut biota. In light of my personal experience, this research is *extremely* interesting.

Comment on Music: The Black Keys, El Camino by CJB

CJB — Mon, 12 Dec 2011 18:30:49 +0000

I really like the songs I’ve heard, too, haven’t hear the whole thing yet.

I read somewhere that the reason for the picture is that they used to tour in a Town and Country. El camino means “the road” in Spanish, so that would fit.

Comment on Circumcision, preventing fraud, and icky toilets. You know you’re going to read this. by Tom

Tom — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 08:49:48 +0000

Carefully, Iddo.
Carefully.

Comment on Circumcision, preventing fraud, and icky toilets. You know you’re going to read this. by Iddo

Iddo — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 14:21:02 +0000

How does one provide a placebo for a circumcision?

Comment on Circumcision, preventing fraud, and icky toilets. You know you’re going to read this. by Hugh7

Hugh7 — Mon, 05 Dec 2011 01:44:51 +0000

“It has been accepted for some time that male circumcision dramatically reduces the rate of HIV infection.” Or rather it has been CLAIMED…

The claim still rests on the very tiny and shaky basis of 73 circumcised men who did not get infected in less than two years, after a total of 5,400 men were circumcised in three non-double-blinded, non-placebo-controlled trials. 64 of them were infected, 137 of the non-circumcised control group, and that difference is the whole “proof”. Contacts were not traced so we don’t even know which, if any of them were infected by women or even by sex. 703 men dropped out, 327 of them circumcised, their HIV status unknown. No attempt was made to compensate for the dramatic effect the performance and results of a painful and marking operation might have on behaviour in the experimental group, but not the control group. So there are many reasons other than circumcision the infection of the 73 may have been delayed (not prevented).

A study in Uganda (Wawer et al., Lancet 374:9685, 229-37) started to find that circumcising men INcreases the risk to women (who are already at greater risk), but they cut that one short for no good reason before it could be confirmed.

In 10 of 18 countries for which USAID has figures (http://www.measuredhs.com/pubs... ), more of the circumcised men have HIV than the non-circumcised. In Malaysia, 60% of the population is Muslim (the only circumcised people in that country) but 72% of HIV cases are Muslim. Shouldn’t that at least be explained before blundering on with mass circumcision programmes?