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."
Bingo!
November 06, 2009
There’s a new game out there and it is attempting to teach people in academia to recognize gender bias, according to this article in the Chronicle of Higher Education. This Gender Bias Bingo allows players, both female and male, to submit their experiences and if they submit at least three, they win a T-shirt. The game comes from the Center for WorkLife Law at the University of California's Hastings College of the Law and the director, Joan Williams, says that “we also want to get a buzz going so other people—department chairs—will secretly visit the site to learn what's going on."
At the Intersection, Sheril Kirshenbaum adds, “Not only does the game highlight the myriad of struggles facing women in the ivory towers, but it serves as a kind of tangible record—a visible means to display the ugly marks left across academia by such behavior.”