Double X Science - It's In Your Genes

Search Results for: label/Helen Free

  • Modern Chemists

    Our next installment of notable women in science brings us to chemists. Many of these women were born in the early part of the 20thcentury and forged their paths in tough times. All are still inspiring others today. Presented in no particular order: Catherine Clarke Fenselau is a pioneer in mass spectrometry.  Born in 1939, her interested in science was apparent before her 10th grade. She was encouraged to attend a women’s college, whi…

    Authored by on April 23, 2012

  • Biology Explainer: The big 4 building blocks of life–carbohydrates, fats, proteins, and nucleic acids

    …molecules themselves break down into a surprisingly small number of building blocks. The proteins that make up all of the living things on this planet and ensure their appropriate structure and smooth function consist of only 20 different kinds of building blocks. Nucleic acids, specifically DNA, are even more basic: only four different kinds of molecules provide the materials to build the countless different genetic codes that translate into all…

    Authored by on June 8, 2012

  • Motherhood Defined: It is in the heart of the beholder

    “Motherhood”: Sculpture at the Catacumba Park, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil Motherhood.  It can mean many things, and our own definition of it is largely defined by our individual experiences.  To one person, motherhood might simply mean the act of raising children; to another, motherhood might be what defines them.   It is not uncommon to generalize the concept of “motherhood” and lump everyone who upholds a singl…

    Authored by on May 11, 2012

  • After Newtown missteps, journalists get guidelines

    …almost twice as likely to say that they don’t want to live or work near a person with mental illness if they read an article about a person with mental illness involved in a mass shooting, according to a study published March 20 in the American Journal of Psychiatry. Interestingly, this tendency is the same even if the article avoids any mention of mental illness. This may be because this link between violence and mental illness is deeply engrain…

    Authored by on March 27, 2013

  • Depressing genes

    Can depression be a matter of genetic fate? by Siobhan Mitchell          [This post is the latest installment in our I Am Mental Illness series.] What if you could know if you were fated to be depressed? With the rise of personal genotyping services such as 23andme, almost can find out what their psychiatric ‘fate’ will be, but what do you do with this information once you have it? When I first considered testing myself for depressio…

    Authored by on May 17, 2013

  • Depression and alcoholism: all in the family

    …be a factor because I had operations within months of each depressive episode. But my genetic load is probably a bigger influence. My family history is full of depression and alcoholism. In 1st-degree (siblings, parents) and 2nd-degree (grandparents, aunts, uncles, nieces, nephews) relatives, 11 of 12 people have been treated for depression and/or alcoholism. If we move to 3rd degree relatives, the absolute numbers get higher but the proportion…

    Authored by on February 15, 2013

  • 10 ways healthcare reform might help people with disabilities

    …ariety of names, including the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), and Obamacare. All of the terms refer to the same federal statute that President Obama signed into law on March 23, 2010. Slideshow: 10 Ways Healthcare Reform Might Help People with Disabilities Click first slide to view….

    Authored by on May 16, 2013

  • A Few Modern Physicists

    …l and mechanical acumen served her well as a group leader at the Fermilab. Dr. Edwards is a team player and insists upon acknowledging the contributions of her colleagues in her and Fermilab’s success. Vandana Shiva in 2008. [Edited, 11/26/12, 14:43 ET]: Vandana Shiva was trained in physics and the philosophy of science and now works as an environmentalist, achieving considerable global prominence. She  was born in 1952 and, according t…

    Authored by on November 26, 2012

  • SCOTUS ruling means cheaper genetic testing

    human genome, BRCA1 and BRCA2. Many people believe that no one should be allowed to patent a gene because the vast majority of people have the same genes and thus no one should “own” them. However, studies have suggested that 20% of the genes in the human genome have been claimed as intellectual property. The unanimous ruling just issued by the Court actually said that isolated DNA or the human genome cannot be patented (as it is a “product…

    Authored by on June 14, 2013

  • Dominants, alphas, and queens: Happy Mother’s Day!

    …mammoths. Here are a few examples: The Queen, surrounded by her supportive workers. Honey bees: Bee colonies are giant matriarchal societies ruled by a single queen—quite literally the “queen mum.” Her offspring (as many as 25,000 at a time) make up the entire clan of female workers and male drones. The queen spends her life tended to by her worker daughters. These workers have underdeveloped reproductive systems, so the queen is the only femal…

    Authored by on May 13, 2013

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