The flu season is getting worse, and U.S. health officials say it's partly because the flu vaccine doesn't protect against most of the spreading flu bugs.

bummer...stuck for nothing...

CDC: Flu vaccine matches 40 percent of season's viruses - CNN.com

A birthday gift idea for me - apparently, it reads just as one would expect from Craig Venter - however, I also hear that it is a very interesting book.

Amazon.com: A Life Decoded: My Genome: My Life: Books: J. Craig Venter

bucy wrote:

Scientists in Maryland today said they had built from scratch an entire microbial chromosome, a loop of synthetic DNA carrying all the instructions that a simple cell needs to live and reproduce.

The feat marks the first time that anyone has made such a large strand of hereditary material from off-the-shelf chemical ingredients. Previous efforts had yielded DNA strands less than one-twentieth the size, and those pieces lacked many of the key biological programs that tell a cell how to stay alive.

On the basis of earlier experiments, the researchers believe the new, full-length loop would spontaneously "boot up" inside a cell, just as a downloaded operating system can awaken a computer -- a potentially historic event that would amount to the creation of the first truly artificial life form.

Sounds interesting - definitely has potential for both good and bad (as everything in my field these days seems to highlight). What was most interesting to me, however, was the fact that Venter failed to give a figure on how much this project cost - my guess is, it cost a lot! I am very interested to see the results of his competitors, who are coming at this question from a "tweaking" aspect rather than a "synthesis" aspect. It seems like that would be a lot cheaper/easier...

RE: Md. Scientists Create Full Chromosome of Synthetic DNA - washingtonpost.com

Whoa.

Actor Heath Ledger found dead - CNN.com

Genentech Inc.'s discovery of two new genes linked to lupus raised hopes of earlier diagnosis and better targeted treatment of the autoimmune disease, which affects an estimated 1.5 million Americans.

Genentech Finds Lupus-Linked Genes - WSJ.com

Sources at Google have disclosed that the humble domain, http://research.google.com, will soon provide a home for terabytes of open-source scientific datasets. The storage will be free to scientists and access to the data will be free for all. The project, known as Palimpsest and first previewed to the scientific community at the Science Foo camp at the Googleplex last August, missed its original launch date this week, but will debut soon.

Building on the company's acquisition of the data visualization technology, Trendalyzer, from the oft-lauded, TED presenting Gapminder team, Google will also be offering algorithms for the examination and probing of the information. The new site will have YouTube-style annotating and commenting features.

Google to Host Terabytes of Open-Source Science Data | Wired Science from Wired.com

WOW - now *this* is what i want to see at PN - not just a tesla coli - but tesla coils AND crazy people - mixed together....serious fun (and science)!

Photos of Australian Tesla coil enthusiasts - Boing Boing

How is regulating our citizens more staunchly helping against terrorism?

/me starts to file paper work for updating her passport, which will now include an RFID chip:(

The Post-9/11 Driver's License - TIME

Scientists have identified a key mechanism necessary for bird flu to morph from a rare but deadly infection into a pandemic that could kill millions of people.

This is a very important find...with this kind of information, it may be possible to generate a preventative medication against pandemic flu.

Scientists Find Key to What Could Make Bird Flu a Human Pandemic

I am definitely checking back on christmas day just to ensure of its validity. Anyway - a bit of christmas fun:) I love how subtle it is...

And now....time for christmas antics...