Human Genetic Variation Alters Anthrax Toxin Sensitivity
Martchenko, Candille et al., PNAS
Researchers at Stanford University School of Medicine show that genetic variation affecting capillary morphogenesis gene 2, or CMG2, dramatically alters toxin sensitivity in humans. In its analysis, the team reports on "a CMG2 single-nucleotide polymorphism occurring frequently in African and European populations [that they found] independently altered toxin uptake." The group goes on to suggest "testing of genomically characterized human cell populations may offer a broadly useful strategy for elucidating effects of genetic variation on infectious disease susceptibility."
Applying Chemistry to Pecans
November 25, 2009
The title of Derek Lowe's blog post is "Applied Organic Synthesis: Chocolate Pecan Pie" and to us that sounded like a great way to put chemistry to use. Just follow his protocol to get some tasty pecan pie. He's helpfully converted the measurements into the metric system for non-US readers, but you can also pretend you're still at the bench. "Note that this product has an extremely high energy density — it's not shock-sensitive or anything, but make the slices fairly small," Lowe adds.