Double X Science - It's In Your Genes

Search Results for: label/virus

  • Creating viruses to create the vaccines?

    …world had to wait several months for the right virus to be isolated for use in a vaccine. In March, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention published a report indicating that H1N1 vaccination prevented 700,000 to 1,500,000 cases. But the report authors note that more illnesses and deaths could have been prevented if the vaccine had been available earlier. In spite of being a public health threat, the influenza virus holds a major adv…

    Authored by on May 20, 2013

  • HPV and cervical cancer don’t care what month it is

    …).  One thing that cervical cancer awareness overlooks is that HPV causes not only that cancer but also can play a role in penile, vaginal, urethral, anal, and head and neck cancers. In fact,  a recent study found that about 1 in 10 men and almost 4 in 100 women are orally infected with HPV, the most common sexually transmitted virus in the United States, and HPV-related head and neck cancer rates are higher among men. Further, HPV-related oral…

    Authored by on February 1, 2012

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

    …e X Extra: A triglyceride can have up to three different fatty acids attached to it. Canola oil, for example, consists primarily of oleic acid, linoleic acid, and linolenic acid, all of which are unsaturated fatty acids with 18 carbons in their chains. Why do we take in fat anyway? Fat is a necessary nutrient for everything from our nervous systems to our circulatory health. It also, under appropriate conditions, is an excellent way to store up…

    Authored by on June 8, 2012

  • HIV+ doesn’t mean you can’t have children

    …nknown HIV levels near the time of delivery, regardless of whether they were taking recommended antiretroviral drugs during pregnancy. The guidelines state that when there is a low rate of transmission (viral loads lower than 1000 copies/mL), the benefits of a scheduled c-section are unclear. Dr. Levison, an obstetrician/gynecologist at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, TX, says that in her practice, women rarely need a cesarean section. The n…

    Authored by on March 11, 2013

  • Aren’t you curious?

    Source: IFLS By Courtney Williams, DXS contributor Recently my on-line science pal Emily J. Willingham asked on Facebook, “You are a consumer of science. As one, what bothers you about how science is offered to you? What questions do you have? How do you consume scientific information? How do you use it?” She’s going to be blogging on the Forbes network, see her here, and I’m guessing this was the impetus for that particular set of questio…

    Authored by on October 15, 2012

  • The Amazing Antibody and its Therapeutic Potential

    …ll recognize and attach itself to the invader, which is scientifically referred to as an antigen.  When an antibody attaches to an antigen, it signals to our body to get rid of it.  Amazingly, each antibody can only recognize 1 antigen, which is why we need so many different types of antibodies!      To get a better idea of how antibodies work, it is important to learn their basic structure.  Antibodies are ‘Y’ shaped proteins, and have both co…

    Authored by on October 12, 2012

  • Why don’t more girls get the HPV vaccine??

    Double X Science is pleased to be able to repost, with permission, this important piece courtesy of author Kate Prengaman and her Xylem blog, focused on spreading science and new ideas. Why don’t more girls get the HPV vaccine?? Imagine if there was a vaccine that could prevent cancer. Everyone would want it, right? Surprisingly, no. There IS a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer, which, according to the  CDC, affects about 12,000 women ever…

    Authored by on March 24, 2012

  • After Newtown missteps, journalists get guidelines

    Protip: Don’t diagnose based on speculation. by Jessica Wright                Attention journalists: If you’ve been calling people “nuts” or “deranged” in your stories, the Associated Press is recommending that it’s time you stopped. This guideline — along with the common-sense assertion that writers shouldn’t diagnose individuals with a mental illness based entirely on speculation — is part of a new recommendation added to the AP styleboo…

    Authored by on March 27, 2013

  • Selling the flu shot

    …ew bright spots. For most age groups, vaccination rates have been gradually ticking up over the past two decades, or at least holding steady. According to the National Health Interview Survey from the year 2000, approximately 17% of adults age 18–49 received a flu shot. That value had increased to 29% for the 2011–2012 season. Although this isn’t exactly a stellar improvement, a more promising picture emerges when looking specifically at ce…

    Authored by on May 2, 2013

  • Depressing genes

    …ch experience — yet it was obvious he didn’t have the knack for it. This student’s dogged pursuit of a mental health career made me wonder what kind of emotional turmoil he experienced which would make him think, at age 19, that psychiatry was the only vocation worth working towards. Then there were the two graduate students who both worked incredibly hard and were both prone to obsess about their experiments. Each burned off stress in quit…

    Authored by on May 17, 2013

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