In the most recent issue of Nature there was an interesting opinion piece by Malcolm Dando warning about the possible militarization of biological research. Dando’s letter raises interesting issues about the ethical concerns of militarizing our own brain chemicals. More alarming is the fact that we are still unsure about how some of these chemicals function in our brains and what exactly they are responsible for. One of Dando’s examples is oxytocin—a neurotransmitter commonly referred to as the Cuddle Chemical, the Hug Drug, and a slew of other cutesy names. Not surprisingly, these nicknames have led to popular misconceptions about what oxytocin can and cannot do.

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PLoS—the Public Library of Science—an institution devoted to open-access publishing, recently released its first progress report. PLoS, which has been publishing for six years, continues to argue that open access leads to public understanding of science, improved scientific education, and accelerated scientific discovery. In 2003, before publishing began, the New York Times said, “What will matter this fall, when the new journals make their debut, is how many scientists choose to publish in them rather than in the journals traditionally deemed the most prestigious in their disciplines.” Now with Web 2.0 and science becoming increasingly global, the decision of where to publish is all the more important.

Image via PLoS

Incrementally, the cost of real whole-genome sequencing is coming down. Recently, the New York Times reported that Stanford engineer Stephen Quake had fully sequenced his genome for about $50,000-not exactly peanuts and so still unaffordable for most of us. He adds his genome to the other seven individual human genomes fully sequenced to date, but his has the honor of being the cheapest. While we may not be getting our promised individualized genome chips from our doctor’s office yet, it should still be on our radar. Twenty years ago (even ten years ago) we might have said that the idea of widespread genome profiling was geneticists’ fantasy but (perhaps) not today.

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In my 7 July 2009 blog entry I made the point that cap-and-trade legislation had lost its way during the law-making process and its effectiveness was being diluted. In his New York Times column of Sunday, 9 August, Harvard economics professor N. Gregory Mankiw makes the same point. From an economist’s point of view the most effective way to reduce carbon emissions is a carbon tax. Such a tax would act to align private incentives with social costs and benefits. Revenue from the tax could be used to reduce other taxes and thus keep the total tax load neutral. A cap-and-trade system could achieve the same result if the permits were auctioned off to the emitters. Continue Reading »

Swine-flu vaccine was in the news again. Researchers at Novartis have started testing the vaccine, a necessary step before the public offering. Though the seasonal flu vaccine is proceeding on schedule, the H1N1 vaccine will be delayed until after the regular vaccine is released. By 31 July worldwide fatalities exceeded 1,100, and perhaps the vaccine will prevent the surge expected this fall. As the threat of swine flu slips from the forefront, are public health officials doing enough to stress the importance of vaccinating against the seasonal flu and H1N1?

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The downward economy has taken a toll on our neighboring cultural institution in Princeton, New Jersey. The David Sarnoff Library (DSL) is closing its doors at the end of calendar year 2009. On 31 July the final public tour was given by executive director Alexander B. Magoun. Now the library, archival, and artifact collections will be packed and transferred to several different locations around the country, including the Hagley Museum and Library in Wilmington, Delaware. Continue Reading »