WTF is that? Part 1

I meant to post this rather interesting thing about geckos and the incredible detaching tail some time ago but never got around to it. Reminded me of snakes, in that if you decapitate one the head retains a biting reflex for a while, and the main body can still lunge. A former colleague of mine and I used to joke about getting hit by a bloody stump... Instead, today my attention was drawn to this rather jolly article on Wikipedia: WTF is that? Seriously?

Seems like the sort of thing you'd find from the stories of HP Lovecraft. If you find a match with any of those creatures, let me know!

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.

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...