Hearing on Biotech Medicine Prices: Waxman's Opening

The Hatch-Waxman Act (1984), allows for the availability of safe, reliable generic drugs in place of their expensive name-brand counterparts. Drugs created from biological organisms rather than from chemical synthesis, "biologicals", however, are under no such regulation, forcing consumers to pay whatever price is set by the companies, who are free from competition. This is the opening of a hearing on the problem of biotech's monopoly over biological drugs.

Mad Botanists Plan Vast Forest of Cloned Redwoods

According to this article, only 5% of coastal old-growth forests remain. The Champion Tree Project plants to "rebuild our old-growth forests when we use old-growth forest genetics.”

Biotech

What the hell are we supposed to make of life-techne?

Sacred Weeds Salvia Divinorum Part 1

Candid Camera, Death Is Near

Whatcha gonna do when they come for you?
Happy halloween!

How will I know if I have forgotten what I know?

It's in the blood. "Researchers at Stanford University have developed a potentially pathbreaking blood test that is able to identify patients with Alzheimer's disease - an ailment that has been notoriously difficult to diagnose."

How caffeine works and some other interesting coffee truths

Coffee, though legal, is still a pretty serious drug.

"Caffeine doesn’t keep you awake by supplying extra energy; rather it fools your body into thinking it isn’t tired. When your brain is tired and wants to slow down, it releases a chemical called adenosine. Adenosine travels to special cells called receptors, where it goes to work counteracting the chemicals that stimulate your brain.
Caffeine mimics adenosine; so it can "plug up" your receptors and prevent adenosine from getting through. Result: Your brain never gets the signal to slow down, and keeps building up stimulants."

No room for tired. Must go on...

Who wants to be young till 400

"Cynthia Kenyon, biochemist at the University of California at San Francisco...has increased the life span of tiny worms...up to six times their normal lifespan by suppressing a single gene...This is the equivalent of people living for 400 years, and the good news is that the worms stay young for most of their extended lifespans."

The article goes on to say that, "Diet it seems is a major contributory factor. An experiment with the worms proves that sugar turns on a genetic sequence that increases the amount of insulin produced by an organism, which in turn causes the body to demand more sugar. This increases damage to cells in the body, speeding up the slow degradation of cells that contribute to aging..."

parts of the brain

Mes cours de bio...(Biology class, translation on the right)

Bill Maher - Anti-Pharma Rant