Global Warming Perks...

so lets be realistic...global warming is a big deal and is a problem. i do believe that the earth's global climate fluctuates as is observed via CO2 levels in ice cores, but i also believe that the human population is causing an increase in the rate at which global warming is occurring.

if you haven't checked it out already, i highly suggest going to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Control [IPCC] website and checking out some of the science behind my above mentioned beliefs.

i do realize that many people don't care about the gory details of the science on the IPCC website, so when i found this picture i thought it would be an easy way to get my point across, while at the same time pointing out a little thought about positive regarding global warming.


so as you can see there has been a distinct "s" curve relating the temperature of the earth and the size of women's lingerie. i [being a scientist] plotted this data to make it easier to see.

using the latest in computer technology, i was able to use molecular modeling software to determine how the underwear has progressed from 1800 through today and thus use this information to determine what size it will have in 2200.

as you can see it no longer exists as of 2025.

after an exhaustive study, it was also concluded that the stated results also apply to women's bathing suits as seen in these two photographs used in data collection.

circa 1890

circa 2007

so to all those male scientists who are always hating on global warming, pause for a moment and appreciate some of the perks...in 18 years the planet will be full of naked women.

and then, just maybe then, you [we] will actually have a chance with a real-life women...YAY!

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B is the new C

i ran across this article on collegehumor and needed to share.

to set the scene:

its final exam time and you have an exam...you didn't study...you get the exam and knowing that you have no idea for any of the questions you just put down C for all of the answers. Life is good you will probably get a 25% or so...oh well that is all you need to pass.

what you don't expect is this:


accompanied by an email from your professor:

Dear Michael,

Every year I attempt to boost my students' final grades by giving them this relatively simple exam consisting of 100 True/False questions from only 3 chapters of material. For the past 20 years that I have taught Intro Communications 101 at this institution I have never once seen someone score below a 65 on this exam. Consequently, your score of a zero is the first in history and ultimately brought the entire class average down a whole 8 points.

There were two possible answer choices: A (True) and B (False). You chose C for all 100 questions in an obvious attempt to get lucky with a least a quarter of the answers. It's as if you didn't look at a single question. Unfortunately, this brings your final grade in this class to failing. See you next year!

May God have mercy on your soul.

Sincerely,
Professor William Turner

P.S. If all else fails, go with B from now on.

B is the new C

that sucks!

everyone remember...B is the new C!

and remember that on a true and false exam only answers A and B count on a scantron.

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ORDER OF THE SCIENCE SCOUTS OF EXEMPLARY REPUTE AND ABOVE AVERAGE PHYSIQUE

since i received the email accepting me into the order, i have been like a school girl who just got asked to the prom by the high school football team quarterback [yeah i know...poor analogy...i was excited, lets just leave it at that]

i mean this is my kind of group here is what the group is:

For the propagation of an ideal where science communicators can meet firstly, for drinks; secondly, for communicating; and ultimately, for networking.

and member's are:

- not opposed to alcohol.

- fond of IPCC reports (especially the pictures).

- mostly in agreement with the “truth.”

- into badges.

- grieving for the slow and miserable death of the Hubble Space Telescope.

- possibly possessed of supernatural powers.

- not in the business of total world domination

- committed to the constant and diligent presentation of science stories, be it to editors, producers, directors, educators, relatives and/or friends of various ilk, in an effort to lessen the gap that is this thing we call public scientific literacy.

seriously, come on, what isn't awesome about any of the above [nerd, yes i know]


but the best part of being in the order is the badges!

ORDER OF THE SCIENCE SCOUTS OF EXEMPLARY REPUTE AND ABOVE AVERAGE PHYSIQUE: the official badge

The “talking science” badge: if you know me you get this one

The “MacGyver” badge: i have used lab supplies more than once, for uses other than what they should be used for...mostly to escape from meetings with PIs

The “I blog about science” badge: um what they hell are you reading?

The “I’m pretty confident around an open flame” badge: don't question my bunsen burner competence

The “inappropriate nocturnal use of lab equipment in the name of alternative science experimentation / communication” badge: all i have to say is that when you are doing an experiment at 2am some things seem much cooler than they are

The “destroyer of quackery” badge: wanna to debate creationism?

The “sexing up science” badge: crossing and prokaryotic conjugation studies, i have done, but science is already sexy enough...isn't it? actually wait...don't answer that.

The “I can be a prick when it comes to science” badge: debate me regarding something i am passionate about...you'll see

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL I): yeah since i was 5

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL II): dry ice freezes stuff so much faster and all i have to say is sublimation

The “has frozen stuff just to see what happens” badge (LEVEL III): liquid nitrogen might be the reason i became a scientist...seriously...no really

The “I work with way too much radioactivity, and yet still no discernable superpowers yet” badge: radioactive uptake assay anyone?

The “I’ve done science with no conceivable practical application” badge: this one depends on your definition of practical, but i worked with humic acid...thats right you have no idea what that is!

The “I know what a tadpole is” badge: yes i do, plus it looks like sperm and i only know how to collect sperm from one other species [sea urchin] so i can get The “knows how to collect semen from more than one species” badge yet.

The “cloner” badge: i am a biochemist...nuh said.

The “totally digs highly exothermic reactions” badge: i like to blow things up...don't hold that against me

The “science has forced me to seek medical attention” badge: see above badge

The “statistical linear regression” badge: actually that looks like a gaussian distribution

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL I): fire is fun to play with

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL II): fire is fun to play with and there are rules to how it works [combustion principles]

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL III): fire is fun to play with and there are more rules to how it works [thermodynamic principles]

The “I’ve set fire to stuff” badge (LEVEL IV): see the exothermic reaction and medical attention badge

The “works with acids” badge: the easiest badge i achieved

The “has done science whilst under the influence” badge: normally late on fridays

The “what I do for science dictates my having to wash my hands before I use the toilet” badge: i am not touching my stuff with my hands after touching what i was just touching

so there it is...the badges that i am awarding myself!

so to everyone who has ever called me a geek or nerd...yeah i got nothing now...

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Ion Channel Glossary

since officially joining the miller lab four days ago, i have been in ion channel literature hell. all i have been doing for the last four days is reading about the project i am going to be starting and all the necessary background. it really is interesting, but ~every four sentences i have to stop and look up the definition of a word.

it isn't like i am looking up 'dog' or 'pumpkin.' i have to look up words like 'constant field theory,' 'flicker,' or 'microiontopforesis' and i have come to find that these aren't your normal words. so i decided to be nice and put together a glossary for people so hopefully when they search for one of these obscure words they find this!

so anyways, here we go!



Access resistance: the electrical resistance between the inside of the patch pipette and the inside of the cell during a whole-cell recording. Compromises recordings by introducing a voltage-divider error and slowing the response time of the voltage clamp. Access resistance can be reduced by using larger patch pipettes and can be compensated electronically with the patch clamp amplifier.

Action Potential: the electrical signal, which rapidly propagates along the axon of nerve cells as well as over the surface of some muscle and glandular cells. It is the result of a change in membrane electrical potential, the underlying cause of which is a change in flow of ions across the membrane due to voltage-activated ion channels.

Activation: opening of a channel due to the presence of a gating signal.

Anion: a negatively charged particle.

Anomalous Mole-Fraction Dependence: where conductance or reversal potential goes thru a minimum or maximum as a function of the ratio of ionic concentrations. Calcium ion channels and Calcium-activated potassium channels are well-known examples of ion channels where this occurs.

Axon: highly specialized relatively long extension (process) of a neuron used for conduction of electrical messages (i.e. action potentials). Axons are considerably more specialized and therefore easier to understand than other excitable tissues. They contain the "bare minimum" of ion channels necessary for excitability. Larger vertebrate axons are insulated by myelin.

Block: when ion flow thru an ion channel is prohibited due to a physical obstruction within the pore; and can occur due to another ion, a drug or a toxin. Such molecules, which block ion flow, are known as "blocking agents". "Use-dependent block" or "phasic block" occurs when the drug (toxin, anesthetic, etc) blocks only the open form of the channel.

Cation: a positively charged particle.

Charge: the fundamental property of matter that is responsible for electrical phenomena. Charge (Q) is measured in Coulombs (C). Elementary charge, e = 1.602 x 10-19 Coulombs (C)

Conductance: refers to the rate of ion travel thru the channel and is often measured in siemens (S). Ions with high conductances are often said to have binding sites in the channel that are relatively high in free energy compared to an ion with lower conductance (which sticks more tightly to binding sites). Conductance is often designated as current divided by voltage, and since voltage is usually "clamped" in patch clamp experiments, relates directly to current of ions.

Conductivity: the ability of a substance to pass current. For a membrane, the conductivity (Gm) is measured in units of S/cm2 and G=Gm*area. For a cable (e.g. axon or dendrite), the conductivity (G,, for intracellular conductivity) is measured in units of S/cm and G=Gi*length/area (i.e. cross-sectional area).

Constant Field Theory: a theory to describe the permeabilities of membranes to ions. First put forth in the 1940s by Goldman (before ion channels were proven to exist in membranes), it attempts to describe ion movement in terms of simple diffusion thru water-filled "pores" in a membrane. Ions are assumed to move independently of one another and the channel properties. Also called the "independent electrodiffusion model", it has been successful in describing some aspects of ion permeabilities thru certain ion channels. The other major theory used to describe ion channel permeabilities is the "Rate Theory Model".

Current: the rate of charge movement. Current is measured in amperes (A), which is equivalent to coulombs per second (C/s). I = dQ/dt = Coulombs/sec = Amps (A).

Deactivation: closing of a channel due to removal of the gating signal (i.e. the opposite of activation).

Desensitization: closing of a ligand-gated channel despite the presence of a bound activating ligand. For example, glutamate receptors desensitize in the continued presence of glutamate.

Desolvation: where the ion is rehydrated when it moves outward from the ion channel pore into the bulk solution when it exits pore.

Dwell Times: can give information on kinetic processes. The amount of time a channel remains in the closed position. Also used to describe the amount of time an ion spends in an ion channel pore at a particular binding site.

Electro-osmosis: when ions forced to move thru a pore carry with them water molecules. Similar to streaming potential, but just the opposite.

Eyring rate theory: used to help explain what occurs when an ion traverses an ion channel pore. States that relative permeabilities relate to heights of energy barriers (which differ for different ions) and relative conductances relate to depths of the wells (i.e. ion binding sites) in the energy diagram.

Flicker: occurs when molecules other than the ion enter the channel opening and briefly blocks ion conductance. This can be seen on single-channel recordings as squiggly lines during the open time, as well as a lower overall conductance. "Desensitization" is believed to be due to too much ligand, for example acetylcholine and nAChR channels, blocking the channel rather than activating it. For CFTR, NPPB or DPC induces rapid flicker and therefore block pore.

Flux Coupling: a factor, which may reduce the ability of an ion to move thru a pore. It is due to the crowded conditions in the narrow part of the pore. When molecules diffuse within a restricted space, they lose their independence compared to the bulk solvent.

Flux-Ratio Criterion: an important test for whether or not ion channel pores can admit multiple ions at the same time. It was proposed by Ussing in 1949 and can be used to reveal flux coupling. A tracer ion is needed to measure the unidirectional flux across a membrane from both sides.

Gating: process by which ion channels open and close their pores. Some, such as voltage-gated ion channels, open and close depending on the electrical potential of the cell membrane. Others depend on such factors as cell volume, intracellular metabolic state (ATP concentration, etc), intracellular ligand and/or second messenger presence (Calcium, cyclic AMP due to light, etc), and extracellular ligands (neurotransmitters like acetylcholine, GABA). It always involves a change in the shape of the protein (called "allosterism").

Gating current: a current resulting when charged residues within an ion channel protein move through the electric field. In voltage-gated channels, a change in membrane potential causes the protein to move; this movement gives rise to the gating current.

Hodgkin-Huxley Model: developed by work with the squid giant axon, it was the first model to describe the ionic basis of excitation correctly. It had the effect of revolutionizing electrophysiology.

Inactivation: closing of a channel in the continued presence of the gating signal. The term "inactivation" is usually only applied to voltage-gated channels, whereas "desensitization" describes the analogous process for ligand-gated channels.

Kinetics: as applied to ion channels kinetics usually encompasses the study of rate of change ion channels undergo during gating, ion passage, etc. Kinetics is often used in order to uncover specific "mechanisms" channels undergo when changing from one state to another and to explain the phenomena of gating, "jumps", "bursts", "transition times", sub-conductance modes, ligand interactions, etc. Complex mathematical treatments involving the kinetics of ion channels have been undertaken in order to gain insight into how ion channels accomplish this.

Markov model: a probabilistic process over a finite set of states, often used to described channel behavior. Transitions between states are determined by rate constants. A zero-order Markov process has no memory; a first-order Markov process has a memory of one step, i.e., the possible states that a channel can occupy at time t depends on which state it was in at time t-1.

Membrane Potential: the inside potential minus the outside potential. The outside of the cell is often considered to be at ground potential (0 mV).

Microiontophoresis: where, during patch clamping of receptor ion channels such as nAChR, agonist is electrophoresed locally thru the microelectrode where it binds and activates the receptor.

Modulation: anything, which changes or modifies gating can cause "modulation". These can include ligand binding to the channel, post-translational modifications like phosphorylation, or changes in the process itself." Certain neurotransmitters such as GABA, serotonin, nitric oxide, and others can modulate ion channels indirectly by binding to other sites on cell membrane. They do this by influencing GPCRs. By changing the internal ion melieu of the cytoplasm, changes in the cell itself can take place. Fatty acids have been shown to bind directly to ion channels and modulate them.

Multi-Ion Pore: when an ion channel's pore is able to conduct more than one ion at a time. CFTR is believed to by one because of the presence of anomalous mole fraction effects in mixtures of chloride and SCN-.

Ohm's law: describes the relationship between voltage, current, and resistance, V=IR or R = V/I = Ohms (Ω); I = g V or g = I/V = Siemens (S).

Open State Probability (Po): the amount of time an ion channel is in the open configuration.

Permeability: describes how fast ions are able to move thru an ion channel (the rate of movement). The "depth" of the energy well for a particular ion generally determines it's permeability, or conductance. However, if an energy well is too deep, it can slow down the ion's rate of travel. Note: all binding sites for an ion in a channel have energy wells specific to the interaction that takes place.

Pore: part of ion channel, which forms path ions use to move from one side of membrane to other. Often lined with some hydrophilic amino acids. Sometimes filled with water. Pore lengths have been inferred for some ion channels by blocking the pore during conduction experiments using blocking agents with long spacer arms. CFTR's pore is estimated to be around 5.8A at its narrowest point. Narrow pores will necessitate removal of some or all of an ions hydration shell before allowing passage.

Potential Difference: the same as voltage. Another definition is the difference in potential energy experienced by a charged particle in two locations (the work required to move a charge from point A to B). Potential difference (E) is measured in volts (V). E = Joules/Coulomb = Volts (V).

Rate Theory Model: used to describe ion movement thru ion channels by considering ions not in terms of passive diffusion (i.e. electrodiffusion model) but as being able to bind to specific sites within the ion channel. The Rate Theory is an attempt to apply reaction rate theory developed by Eyring for enzymes to ion channels in hopes of gaining insight into particular mechanisms of ion conduction. The ultimate description of ion movement using this theory would involve use of "molecular dynamics simulations" in silico.

Rectification (of channels): characteristic of an ion channel, generally independent of gating, that biases the preferred direction of current flow to either the inward or outward direction. Rectification can be due to an intrinsic property of the channel or be conferred by voltage-dependent block by an extrinsic agent. For example, the relatively high concentration of K+ ions inside a cell can cause outward rectification of some K+ channels, because more K+ ions are available to carry outward current than the number available to carry inward current. This is called GHK rectification. Another type of rectification is caused by polyamines. These charged molecules are only present inside cells and at depolarized potentials they move into the pore of some voltage-gated and ligand-gated channels, thus limiting outward current (i.e. inward rectification). These factors cause the channel conductance to be voltage dependent, thus resulting in rectification.

Relative Conductance: when the conductance for a substitute ion relative to that of a standard ion is determined.

Relative Permeabilities: reflect the ability of an ion channel protein to pull an ion from solution into the "capture volume" within the pore vestibule. It may therefore be highly dependent on hydration energy. Some permeability sequences reflect low-affinity ion-pore interactions (ex: I>Br>Cl>F). The reverse sequence often indicates a high affinity interaction. CFTR has a more complex sequence, which indicates a combination of both low and high field strength interactions (Br>Cl>I>F). For most anions, the relative permeability is determined by the relative hydration energies of the ions.

Resistance: the inverse of conductance. That is, the ability of something to impede current. Resistance (R) is measured in Ohms (Ω).

Resistivity: the inverse of conductivity. Membrane resistivity (Rm) has units of resistivity (Ri) has units of Ωcm.

Reversal Potentials: often abbreviated E(rev). For CFTR (and other anion channels), it is the amount of negative membrane potential needed to be applied to reverse the flow of chloride when the concentration is at standard conditions. For CFTR this value is -30.31 mV. For example, if a particular anion requires a more negative E(rev) than for chloride then it may either permeate or conduct better than chloride depending on which is being determined, permeability (uses Goldman-Hodgkin-Katz equation) or conductance.

Selectivity: used to describe the variability in rate of movement of different ions thru the same ion channel. The "height" of the energy barrier of an ion channel's selectivity filter will help determine ion it let thru. Often, the term selectivity is not properly defined and can refer to either of the two processes of permeability or conduction. The distinction should always be made.

Selectivity Filter: a distinct part of an ion channel involved in selecting the type of ion it lets thru. First described by Hille in 1971, it is thought to be situated in the narrowest part of the pore, because this is the part of the channel where the protein and ion would presumably interact the most.

Siemens: a measurement of current conductance (often abbreviated "G") thru ion channels and is abbreviated "S". Is equal to the ratio of current (measured in amps) divided by voltage (measured in volts; note: this comes from ohm's law). It also equals 1/R. One picosiemen equals 10^-12 siemens and is convenient to use for ion channels. For example, the ion channel gramicidin has a conductance of 30 pS for cations. This is equivalent to 6.28 X 10^6 ions per second per applied volt of conductance of cations thru the pore when the concentration of cations is equal on both sides of the membrane.

Single-channel Conductance: a measure of the current that flows thru an open channel in response to a given electrochemical driving force.

Solvation: occurs at the mouth of the pore. During ion permeation, where ion is partially or fully dehydrated and therefore stabilized by interactions with the pore wall.

Streaming Potential: a measurement of ion channel permeability to water molecules. Osmotic gradients are set up and membrane potential simultaneously measured while changing potential. Used to predict water to ion ratios. When water is forced to flow thru a pore by setting up osmotic or hydrostatic pressure differences, they may drag the ions as well. This creates an electric potential difference called the streaming potential.

Subconductance: when conductance is less than what is usually seen. Probably due to subtleties in kinetics of gating and are yet not fully understood. For example, GABA(A) and glycine receptor ion channels appear to have multiple subconductance levels and it is therefore believed that direct transitions between the states can be reached from the closed state. It is believed by some that all channels have subconductance levels, but most are not as obvious as in GABA(A) and glycine receptors.

Tail current: current that flows during the repolarizing phase of an action potential or voltage command. K+ tail currents can be used to determine the reversal potential of voltage-gated K+ currents. In a physiological context, tail currents are often carried by Ca2+ ions and result from the increased driving force as the action potential repolarizes.

Translocation: describes the process of ion transit thru the channel. It is highly dependent upon the driving force for anion permeation and reflects the strength of interaction between the anion and each binding site. More tightly binding ions have a reduced rate of current flow (conductance) due to longer dwell times at any of several possible binding sites within the pore.

Valence: a term to describe the charge of a particle. Na+ and Ca++ have positive valence, while Cl- has negative valence. Moreover, Na+ is monovalent, and Ca++ is divalent. In the Nernst equation and the GHK voltage equation, valence is represented by the variable z.

Voltage: the force created on a charge caused by the separation of charge. Voltage (F) is measured in volts (V). Voltage is equivalent to potential difference.

Voltage-Clamping: a procedure used during study of ion channels, which has the effect of keeping the voltage, produced on a membrane (due ion movement) unchanged. Allows the experimenter to measure only current produced by the ion movement thru the channel. Requires use of a second electrode to measure cell potential. Allows a direct measurement of ionic current across a membrane. This in turn allowed ion channel "kinetic" studies to begin.




i did use two websites a lot so here are the links to the original sites: CFTR Review Page and the Brown University Wiki.

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Happy Birthday [to my car]

i received this email from the hyundai dealership where i bought my car last year...

Dear Elantra:

"Happy Birthday" from your friends at Herb Chambers Toyota Hyundai of Auburn!

I hope you and Kene are getting along well and that Kene is taking good care of you. If you have any bumps and scratches, aches or pains, just come in and see us. We are here to care for you. As always if there is anything I can do, please call me at Herb Chambers Toyota Hyundai of Auburn at 508-832-8000.

I hope you and your owner have an excellent day!

Respectfully,
Chuck Wolfe
Sales Manager
Herb Chambers Toyota Hyundai of Auburn

how priceless is that...i guess anything they can do to get me into the dealership to spend some money.

what i want to know is what are they sending my car for a present?!?!

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6 freaking months...so sad right now...

so David Ng of The Science Creative Quarterly and The World's Fair fame wrote a piece entitled: "Hypothetical question of the day: How long do you figure your post graduate degree would've actually taken if everything you did, worked?."

needless to say i am extremely depressed with his results.

Several years back, myself and some colleagues (all in the molecular biology genre) had a discussion about this over some drinks. Specifically, we tried to calculate how long our doctorates would have actually taken, if we assumed that all the experiments we did in our theses worked right off the bat. Always with the first time success, reproducible results in triplicate no problemo, no troubleshooting required, or literally, a case where we had "magic fingers" for the entire length of our graduate career.

And so, if we assumed that taking courses was not factored in, and that we would have about 3 months to actually write up the damn thing, we all agreed that our Ph.D. would have taken somewhere in the 6 month range to complete. 6 freakin' months!

Anyway, in the end, I took just over 5 years, which means for the 3 months or so of "thesis bound" results, there also existed about 54 months of "non-thesis" bound results. And that is like a 5% success rate - which ultimately means that, really, you just have to work one day every three or so weeks, and as long as you pick the right day, you'll still get your degree in the normal length of time.

so this means that in my 5years of graduate school career [i hope?] about 3 months will be the actual work that gets me my PhD, awesome, freaking awesome...

i love how in science this is completely accepted...can you imagine another career in which a 5% success rate is allowed?



"i am sorry we only deliver 5% of babies successfully."

"i am sorry i only win 5% of my cases."

"i am sorry i only make 5% of my customer's meals."

"i am sorry only 5% of my products work."

"i am sorry only 5% of my buildings stay standing."

"i am sorry only 5% of my students graduate."



oh science, i don't know if this is why i love thee or hate thee...well actually it depends if it is a "magic fingers" day or not!

well here's to 54 months of crap intertwined with 3 months of genius...yay grad school!

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Roger Clemens' New Star[t]ing Role...

so i found this great post on boston dirt dogs [one of my daily reads]:

"Now the Yankees are just kind of pathetic. These days, their game plan seems to be simple. The Boss is old and getting older. They need to win and win now. Do something, anything, everything. They’ve already used five rookie starters, and that didn’t work. Now they’re turning their lonely eyes to a guy who was a rookie two years before Phil Hughes was born. How desperate are they? This is the baseball equivalent of purchasing a mail-order bride from Outer Mongolia." -- 5.8.07, Gerry Callahan, Boston Herald

now i don't think that the sox really needed Clemens, but it still smarts...i mean i do have an autographed photo of Roger and i, when i was about 7, showing our cowboy boots together...damn you roger...damn you!

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academia and industry; what about the grad students

Gershom Edwin Samuel wrote a great article over at The Science Creative Quarterly about the interface between academia and industry [ACADEMIA-INDUSTRY - ALLIANCE AT WHAT COST?]. in it he discusses the implications of the fusion of these two cultures and the benefits and risks for each.

Samuel brings up some interesting points such as the key differences between the two cultures:

In the academic world, there is a traditional rule; for career advancement (to obtain tenure and receive full professorship), one has to secure research grants and publish papers. Thus, the old saying “publish or perish” is a reality...In contrast, for pharmaceutical industry, the vital thing is the new-drug application to the FDA. A journal article is worth nothing without the FDA approval. However, publication in prestigious journals along with FDA approval is just like icing on the cake that would influence physicians to prescribe the company’s product. (Bodenheimer, 2000)

he also talks about disclosure, conflict of interest, and the "JAMA Fiasco:"

The lead author — Lee Cohen, director of Massachusetts General Hospital’s Center for Women’s Mental Health, is a consultant to three antidepressant manufacturers, a paid speaker for seven of them and has his research work funded by four drug makers. None of those ties were reported in the study. Dr Cohen and his colleagues maintained that it was not relevant to disclose their ties with industry in the paper in part because the study was funded by the government, not drug maker (Armstrong, 2006). Such incidents ruin the academia’s reputation as independent truth seeker and reduce public trust in research. Henceforth, more often questions will be raised on integrity of research, researchers and science journals.

one key point regarding the fusion of industry and academia that Samuel doesn't talk about is the rock and the hard place that graduate students can be put in.

for example, if there is a discovery by a graduate student, which greatly benefits the company that is funding the work, the company will most likely not want the data published, for then it becomes part of the public domain and more importantly available to competitors. the PI might have signed a contract before the work was started, stating that the work will not be published for three years if the company feels that it has future implications for monetary gain, but what about the grad student?

this poor student busted their ass trying to get results just to have them withheld from being published because industry funded their work. since in most grad programs publications are what get you out faster and determine where you get a post doc or job after finishing your PhD this student's career may be damaged before it begins since their current and any future work on this project is no longer publishable. never mind the fact that three years is half of the time you are in grad school and about three quarters of the time you are actually working on your thesis project.

in the simplest terms, the grad student is being punished for doing good science.

i do understand the monetary crunch and how funding via industry can be beneficial to both the PI and the company, but i plead with the PIs out there, who do accept funding from industry, to think about your grad students and make sure that if you put someone on an industry based project, that it will be amicable to their career as well as yours.

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it's Miller time

so my tenure as a roton [rotator] is coming to a close. one more full week of lab work followed by my final chalk talk [i can't even express to you how excited i am to sit in the audience while the new first years give their presentations next year]! this means i have to choose a lab to reside in...which i have done and more importantly the lab has accepted me!

i have joined Chris Miller's Laboratory of Horrors [Chris if you read this i am just kidding don't take it out of me...please?!]. Chris is a HHMI Investigator and was recently [yesterday] elected into the National Academy of Sciences. his work focuses on the basic mechanisms by which ion channels and pumps work along with the workings of other membrane transport proteins. much of Chris' work focuses mostly on CLC type Cl- channels and pumps.

needless to say i am extraordinarily exited about joining Chris' lab because i have a feeling that if he doesn't kill me, i will be a much stronger scientist in the end [and yes there is a distinct possibility of being killed].

for the next week i am mentally preparing myself to be the lowly new graduate student in the lab because i have a feeling that as a roton i was cut some slack, but now as a full fledged member of the lab i am going to have no slack being cut. i am ready to be destroyed.

Chris can rebuild me. he has the technology. he has the capability to build the world's first bionic scientist. kene piasta will be that scientist. better than he was before. better, stronger, faster.

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