Donated blood is routinely screened for dangerous pathogens – things like HIV and Hepatitis – to make sure there is no threat to the recipient’s health during a transfusion. But a case study just published in The New England Journal of Medicine suggests that viruses are not the only hazards lurking in the collection bag.
Read MoreWhen public health officials track the outbreak of a virus, like H1N1, it takes time to get the story right. They have to collect and assemble data from institutions scattered across the country, a process that can be, well, slow.
Read MoreIn 2007/08, the work of Nicholas Christakis and James Fowler revealed that human behaviors, and even states of mind, tracked through social networks much like infectious disease.
Or put another way, both obesity and happiness worm their way into connected communities just like the latest internet meme, the best Charlie Sheen rumors, or the workplace gossip about Johnny falling down piss-drunk at the company’s holiday party.
Read MoreIn 2004, a group of researchers – some from academia, others from industry – took stock of the future of genetic research. The Human Genome Project had been completed the year prior, and at the time they communicated their thoughts to the journal Genome Research, roughly 200 species already had their complete genomes sequenced, with another chiliad still under investigation in laboratories across the country.
Read MoreThere is a cool article in the June issue of The Atlantic by Quinn Norton about the rise of niche biotech/drug development outfits. And while I think the title (“The Rise of Backyard Biotech”) is misleading, especially because it features Hugh Rienhoff, who is a trained physician and clinical geneticist – by all means a wee bit more advanced than a garage biohacker who’s trying to make genetic medicines – there is a well-articulated message within the story: it’s time for BigPharma R&D to step out of the limelight. The future of biotech discovery and development will be crafted in these specialized, small, startup companies. I couldn’t agree more*. But I’d take the argument one step further: This isn’t something that may happen in the future, but rather, I think that time may already be upon us.
Read MoreA huge boost to treatment for the Hepatitis C virus (HCV) is on the horizon, as two pharmaceutical companies are set to release new drugs to market. And with development complete, the marketing war begins. Forbes reports that Merck has won FDA approval for Victrelis, and the drug, which costs $35,000 for the course of treatment, will hit pharmacies' shelves by next week, along with the company's targeted marketing campaign.
Read MoreMalcolm Gladwell has a homerun piece in this week's New Yorker, looking into the lesser-known facts of the Silicon Valley tall-tale of how Steve Jobs "stole" the idea for the computer mouse from PARC Xerox. Painting the Apple exec as a thief is a misnomer, and unfair in many ways, Gladwell attests. Jobs was merely doing what Jobs does best: identifying a great concept and making it even better. The article explains how in the days following his meeting at Xerox PARC, Jobs enlisted Dean Hovey, one of the founders of a design firm that would become IDEO to draft concepts for the first personal computer and mouse, while the engineers at Xerox PARC, some years later, went on to make their own revolutionary product, the laser printer.
Read MoreThe Economist has a good story on the continued popularity of Lego, the children's toy with the now iconic interlocking plastic bricks first introduced in 1949.
While many of its competitors struggle to compete or are stymied by tainted supply chains from toxic scares in manufacturing centers in China, Lego is catapulting forward, capturing 5.9% of the global toy market and surpassing $1B in sales for the first time.
Read MoreMy latest story for Wired Playbook discusses recent research from a group that analyzed 46 seasons of professional German soccer league data to determine that firing a coach mid-season -- a tactic clubhouses use to jump-start a fledgling team -- has absolutely no effect on the squad's performance.
Read MoreI'm a little late posting this one here, but last month I wrote a story for Wired Playbook on how athletes, much like musicians, seem to have brains that are beefier in certain areas
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