Fungi--good and beautiful?

David C., one of your classmates, brought this first article to my attention. A potential very good use of a fungal product. What do you think? Would you drink out of a cup made of fungi (extracts)?

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/this-could-be-big-abc-news/more-mere-magic-mushrooms-154207424.html

The second link was given to me by a colleague here at COC. Her daughter is 3, and loves "germs", fungi (likes to let stuff rot and then look at in under a microscope), and insects. She's 3!!! This link shows fungi as art, what do you think? Revolting or beautiful?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2012/04/14/150494837/revealing-the-revolting-beauty-of-food-waste?sc=tw

The looming threat of Influenza

Based on what we covered in lecture, your text, and after reading through the resources in BB on Influenza (in the Lectures section) post your comments on the following questions regarding Avian flu H5N1:

1. Do you think a global pandemic of H5N1 will occur?

Go to the following article:
http://www.nature.com/news/the-risks-and-benefits-of-publishing-mutant-flu-studies-1.10138


2. Do you think that the mutant flu studies should be published? Justify (give reasons) for your opinion.

This is the trailer for the movie FLOW. It looks very compelling and water is a huge issue for public health and infectious disease around the world. I hope you are able to see it!

http://youtu.be/LGd9D4J0lag

Parasites!!

Parasites! Who doesn't love, or least respect, the wily world of parasites. We can talk creepy stories all day, or about how to combat them on their own terms. Here are some great articles, creepy, and full of possibilities.


These articles talk about advances in treatment and vaccine development for Leishmaniasis. I haven't read anything about this disease in a very long time. There has been a movement to study some of the forgotten diseases that are devastating in parts of the world, but not in developed countries.

http://www.jgid.org/article.asp?issn=0974-777X;year=2010;volume=2;issue=2;spage=177;epage=185;aulast=Kedzierski

http://esciencenews.com/articles/2012/02/03/potential.new.treatment.identified.leishmaniasis

http://www.asianscientist.com/tech-pharma/idri-vaccine-clinical-trial-visceral-leishmaniasis-2012/

This article is regarding advances in malaria vaccines.

http://www.cnn.com/2011/10/18/health/trial-malaria-vaccine-africa/index.html


And here's one on the brain eating amoebas! Try this link and scroll down to the article:

http://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/


Finally, here is the article on the interesting implications of the relationship between algae and the apical complex (apicoplast) of Plasmodium and how this could be Malaria's undoing.

http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2011/08/31/140069350/a-remnant-from-algae-in-malaria-parasite-may-prove-its-weakness?sc=fb&cc=fp

Comment: Has the information you've learned in class helped you understand these articles? And do you think these efforts will lead to reductions in these diseases--why or why not?

The purpose of this blog is to give you, the students, the opportunity to share your thoughts, assignments, and projects with each other and perhaps the world. It is a classroom blog to begin with, however if you want to start your own blog we can certainly talk about that! The blog will be the hub of collaboration and sharing for our class. You will also comment on the work of your classmates. Finally the blog will become a repository of your good ideas.

We will learn some cool easy Web 2.0 tools to help you complete assignments and projects. You may already know some and can teach me! Eventually, with your own blog or using something like Google docs, you can begin to create an eportfolio of your work. This blog is different from our BB site because it allows you to embed projects, comment directly on other's work, read postings from guests, and more. There will be plenty of guidelines for you to follow and information on how, when, why, etc. So don't freak out! We will ease into it and I promise it will enhance your learning and not just take time away from your studies.

Take the survey on web tools (posted on BB) and watch the following video. Go to the "Tips for Blogging" page here and then share your thoughts (via comments below) on your reaction to using a blog in our class by answering the following questions: Have you blogged before? How do you think it might be helpful? What is your biggest concern? What might be fun about blogging here?

Let's get started!

Blogs in Plain English:

Patient Zero

If you saw contagion, if you remember me mentioning Typhoid Mary in class, if you are curious as to the origin of HIV, if you are interested in more epidemiology, or if you wonder how an idea might spread....take a listen to this week's Radiolab. Add Radiolab to your podcasts on your smart phone, it's always interesting, really!

http://www.radiolab.org/2011/nov/14/

Maybe there will be extra credit on the final......

Malaria vaccine on the horizon?

I've said many times, and hopefully showed several examples, of how important cell surface chemistry is. Here is another example! Please note the phrase in the article, "a single receptor for a protein that is critical for the parasite to gain entry into red blood cells".

http://www.foxnews.com/health/2011/11/10/malaria-finding-points-to-possible-new-vaccine/

Here is an article about the GlaxoSmithkline vaccine also mentioned in the above article.

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/2011-10-18/glaxo-vaccine-cuts-malaria-in-african-children-by-more-than-half

I think these advances are very promising. They seem to be the most progress made in a very long time against malaria. If the vaccines are successful, what might some continuing issues be in order to rid the world of Malaria?