I’ll have the gralefrit please. Followed by the balm carousel.

Obviously the death of Michael Jackson is very sad. For three young children to lose a father is a tragedy, and one must feel for them and the remaining Jackson siblings. It is sad to note that they appear to want to lay blame somewhere (which may or may not be justified, and may or may not lie with his doctor) when I can’t help but feel if Jackson had received help from his family 25 years ago then his might have been avoided.

What I found interesting was a story I found in the Metro this morning, suggesting his grapefruit intake may be responsible in a way. This is not the first instance of such a thing, either. The mechanism of action is interesting, and one that has been of great interest to the pharmaceutical industry for some time: grapefruit juice, or at least one of its components, is a potent cytochrome P450 inhibitor. The P450 enzymes are heavily involved with one of the major pathways of drug metabolism, and make up a substantial part of the screening cascade.

The triazole antifungals were the drug family that first brought the P450 enzymes to people’s attention (if memory serves). Several studies were carried out looking at fluconazole and voriconazole and their breakdown pathway (P450, needless to say) but interestingly voriconazole (Vfend) also activates the P450 pathway, that is to say it contributes to its own clearance. Studies with Vfend and grapefruit juice show that the half life of Vfend is greatly improved.

Antifungals are not the only drug class that are affected. Various HIV drugs, the antiarrhythmic amiodarone, and as is now apparent to the general media, painkillers.

Only a few drugs have this potential interaction highlighted, but surely all prescription only medicines should point out the risks not just of drug-drug interactions but drug-diet as well. Not all drugs would display this, nor would all patients. But if clinical science wants to tailor therapies for the individual then at least the potential risk should be pointed out to everyone given a prescription-only-medicine. It may take the tragic death of one of the most popular entertainers of the late 20th century to bring this about.

And the Gralefrit reference? Fawlty Towers, I'm afraid.

Truly awful.

Words fail me, I'm afraid. The sheer horror and unpleasantness of the situation in Iran fills me with shock and despair. From a comparatively mundane story in the New Scientist pointing out the mathematical analysis that suggests a fraudulent election to a story that points out some truly despicable events in Tehran.

What is ghastly is that some governments have been doing this for decades, centuries even. But now with the internet removing boundaries daily some atrocities are coming to light far quicker than they might have done previously.

I doubt anyone's got time to listen to a whinge by a scientist, but if anyone out there is reading this, can I urge you to wear a green ribbon? Please? The events in Iran must be brought to the attention of the world, and the world must speak out.

How cool is this?

from New Scientist

Beetlejuice Beetlejuice Beetlejuice

How did I miss this story?

Betelgeuse appears to be shrinking quite considerably: 15% in 15 years, all without losing it's intensity. While the behaviour of red giants such as Betelgeuse is not fully understood one possible theory is that it's about to supernova.

I say about to: seeing as it's 640 light years away that means it may already have done so, some 639 years ago.

Needless to say the possibility is starting to alarm some folks; there are those who believe that the Mayan Calendar (due to end in about 2 and a half years) is inextricably linked to astronomy. Although what possible link this has to Betelgeuse going pop is anyone's guess. Damn those apocalypse nuts.

I could go on and mention the potential destruction of a small planet in the vicinity of Betelgeuse and its implications, but there would be little sense to that.

Whatever happens (or has already happened) to Betelgeuse hopefully we'll have a grand view: Herschelle is up and running and hopefully in a prime position to observe some serious boom. No, the other Herschel.

Nurse, please fetch me some sutures, I seem to have split my sides again.

Love Mussel

Just a quickie! Shellfish lovemaking by crustaceans. This put me in mind of one or two questions from days gone by.

1) Name 3 famous crustaceans in London.

Kings Cross Station, Charing Cross Station and St Pancras Station.

Tee hee.

2) What is your favorite crustacean? Which crustacean do you find the most delicious? I hope it isn't the woodlouse. Funnily enough, I have yet to encounter a crustacean that doesn't feed off the bottom of the food chain. I can't think of a single example of a predatory crustacean, they all seem to be very opportunistic.

Yes indeed.

On the same note, VOTE BENDER! BENDER IS GREAT! ALL THE OTHER ROBOTS SUCK!

I saw the Body Works exhibition by Gunter von Creepy at the London O2 a couple of months ago, and was suitably fascinated and freaked out in equal measures. It was very impressive, although the ghoulish nature of the exhibition really does make the skin crawl. The exhibition was memorable for two things, the first rather obviously the bodies, the second was the indiscreet release of gas by my wife in the gift shop. Nicole, if you’re reading this, I’m sorry to remind you of that fart, but I do find it rather amusing.

Anyway, the reason I’m writing about this is the article I read in a recent New Scientist about growing hybrid hearts. In a nutshell, an excised heart is “decellularised” by digesting it with detergent to leave a collagen matrix, which is then seeded with stem cells. The end result is a fully functional heart ready for transplantation. The main benefit is the ex vivo heart can come from one species, e.g. a pig, and the new heart, grown in collago, if you will, grown from stem cells acquired from a different species, e.g. human.

Theoretically speaking, could you strip an elephant heart and seed the matrix with mouse stem cells? I think we should be told.

Curiously, in the same edition of NS was an article from Natalia Alexandrov of NASA written for the 3Rs committee, outlining the development of a “virtual twin” which could model an individual, thus eliminating the need for animal models and concurrently tailoring a therapy to suit an individual rather than a blanket treatment designed to treat entire populations. Could the combination of the two techniques lead to some bizarre future where there is more than one Ewan McGregor or Scarlett Johansson?

Therapies for obesity

Orlistat (Xenical) is the current big thing in obesity (if you'll pardon the pun). So it's no surprise that other Pharmas are trying to tap into this field. Cetilistat is interesting, not least because the side effects seem to be fewer compared to Xenical, and the efficacy seems to be the same.

This is obviously some years away from market, but it will be doubtless hailed as the answer to all our problems, just like lipitor was. *Ahem*

[mode=soapbox]

I'm all in favour of aids to weight loss, but the fact of the matter is that diet and exercise are the answer. If you don't redress the balance between intake and output you will get sick.

[/mode]

The problem I have with the whole Xenical / Alli thing is that it doesn't address the appetite question. One or two people I know have started taking Alli and they claim that they now feel justified in eating whatever the hell they like. Oops.

Personally when I started on the Prozac I also took the decision to listen to a lot more Radiohead. I thought it couldn't possibly do me any harm. I was wrong.

Ho ho.

This boy is a genius!

http://news.therecord.com/article/354044

Just when you thought your grant was secure...

All hail the Lord of the Night (flikr.com)

It would appear that changes are afoot in the world of science, at least in the UK at any rate.

A couple of years ago the Labour Government set up a department of science and higher education, which was generally received well, if a little cautiously. Now, however, it is being scrapped and science and education policy is to be under the remit of one Lord Mandelson. During the recent reshuffle dear Mandy was given the rather important role of chairing the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. So science, including academic research, is now under the catch-all business group.


If one purely looks at this from an industry point of view then the move makes sense. Well, it would, if the pharmaceutical industry wasn't in dire straits. Another possible outcome to this is a reduction in the amount of independent research going on in the UK as the various lobbyists and businesses have greater say over what goes on in academic groups.

To me this reeks of poor planning - are our young graduates and postgrads more likely to be swallowed up by Big Pharma and Arms Engineering (arguably the two biggest scientific businesses in the UK, both with a question mark over their ethics) or are they going to be trapped into doing research that suits big business rather than charitable work, e.g. the British Heart Foundation or Cancer Research UK to name two medical examples?

Time will tell, but one can only hope that the next government looks at this development very carefully and then consigns it to the skip.

The full story is here.

But I thought Cap'n Bob's body was recovered...

Oh, my sides. I really shouldn't say this, because a) it's in bad taste, and b) it's untrue. But it would appear that some of the late Robert Maxwell's remains have been found.

But seriously, how long will it be before a bunch of crazies suggest that it's false? They've already added their own unique spin on Ida, apparently the poor lamb drowned in some catastrophic flood or something. As yet it's unclear whether she had any of the Mirror Group Pensioners' money.

Hmm, I seem to have switched over into political satire. I do apologise.

Creationist Museum

I'm sorry to say this: coffee actually came out of my nose.
I heard of this about a year ago, but now even the BBC are drawing attention to these poor, misguided fools.

I always had one argument ready that I was fairly sure was watertight: if the universe was created 6000 years ago, then the furthest point in the universe must be no more than 6000 light years away from us. Yet we can measure with some degree of accuracy the distance of some stars. Here's one, the Pistol Star, identified nearly 20 years ago. It is a mere 25000 light years away. But unless Einstein et al. are horribly wrong, 25000LY is impossible because the universe can only be 6000 years old... and nothing travels faster than light... and... but...

Thank goodness god invented willow bark. My head hurts.

Actually, the name "Pistol Star" is pretty fantastic. But not as good as "Just Another Kinase". Or Sonic The Hedgehog, or Human Ether-a-go-go... Or all the other wacky genes / proteins that folks discovered 20 or so years ago. Biochemists have more fun, I reckon. Or they have too much time on their hands.

Goodness gracious me!

What's all this fuss about anatomy? I'm not too bothered that so few people seem to know where their heart is, that's what we have doctors for after all. But is this story actually a criticism of educational standards? Or is it an implicit encouragement for folks to do their own self-diagnosis? Personally I learned at an early age that I had a rubber band connecting my knee and ankle. This valuable information has stayed with me ever since...

Not so Flabulous

I'm rather interested in what Ben Goldacre has to say about stuff. I bought his book earlier this year, and can recommend it to just about everyone. Read it or die.

It's sad to note that many of the issues he deals with tend to be what makes the pharmaceutical industry and NHS the grand institutions that they are.

I do get a bit cross about some things.

This kind of thing in particular.

Everyone's got to start somewhere.

Right, here we go. Just what the Blogosphere needs: another anonymous bitter and twisted individual ranting about the injustices of everything and how nobody understands me and o god im so dprsd lol (sic).

Anyway, all this lol pwnd rofl stuff is not me, not me at all. I'm going to try and keep this as coherent as possible, and in so doing collect a bunch of interesting things that generally have a science theme. I'm a big admirer of Pharmagossip and PharmaGiles but I'm not here to do that. No way, no way at all.