Agriculture the worst mistake ever and why you should eat dirt

I have so far read two chapters of Jared Diamond's Guns, Germs and Steel and highly recommend them (I anticipate the rest of the book will also be worth reading). Diamond puts an interesting perspective on human history. Here's a sample of some of his other ideas:

• Why eating dirt might be good for you
• The evil that is agriculture
• The human appetite for mass extermination
  

Translational regulation, Innate immunity

A few recent papers I came across with maybe some implications for understanding translational regulation. Also an interesting one on a new role for a mitochondrial protein in innate immune signalling. Not that I've read them...if anyone does be sure to give me the low-down!

• Regulating Gene Expression through RNA Nuclear Retention. Kannanganattu et al., Cell.
• Higher-Order Substrate Recognition of eIF2α by the RNA-Dependent Protein Kinase PKR. Dar et al., Cell.
• Mechanistic Link between PKR Dimerization, Autophosphorylation, and eIF2α Substrate Recognition. Dever et al., Cell.

• Identification and Characterization of MAVS, a Mitochondrial Antiviral Signaling Protein that Activates NF-κB and IRF3. Seth et al., Cell.

Panda-Dover trial

For those who follow this trial, about whether creationism should be taught in science class you'll get a kick out of this article. It seems that after failing to demonstrate that creationism could be considered a scientific theory, they decided to change the definition of a theory. Under this new definition hopefully flyingspaghettimonsterism will be tought to our children.

Nature Podcasts, RNA Wars and Scary Medicine

• Nature now has a free podcast. Check it out.
• Are microRNAs ancient remnants from an RNA-world arms race? Viruses produce miRNAs to manipulate the host cell during infection. Likewise cells can make miRNAs of their own as an anti-viral defense. The latest findings are reviewed in Molecular Cell.
• Just in time for Halloween - vintage drug ads! Very entertaining in a sci-fi horror kind of way.
  WARNING: SOME IMAGES MAY CAUSE ANXIETY, HALLUCINATIONS AND/OR NIGHTMARES.

Canadian Research at its Best

What can a canadian scientist with depressed rats, a bag of weed and too much time on his hands do? Well publish in JCI! I knew all along that it made your neurons grow man ... oooh cheetos!

Speaking of Evolution...

This paper in PNAS about evolution of antibodies Vs. HIV is dope!

Hot Papers

If you want to check out the most cited papers on a monthly basis check out this site. Always a fun read!

Trivia Night

The new season of Trivia is upon us. I will host the first trivia night on monday Oct 24. Brace yourself for some really geeky questions as usual...

IA updates

uh huh,
IA updates

Cancer stem cells and Drosophila tumour suppressors

• Induction of tumor growth by altered stem-cell asymmetric division in Drosophila melanogaster
• Epithelial cell polarity and proliferation control: links from the Drosophila neoplastic tumor suppressors
• Asymmetric localization and function of cell-fate determinants: a fly’s view
• A cell initiating human acute myeloid leukaemia after transplantation into SCID mice
• Human acute myeloid leukemia is organized as a hierarchy that originates from a primitive hematopoietic cell
• Neural Stem Cells and the Origin of Gliomas
• Stem Cells and Brain Cancer
  
• Isolation of cancer stem cells from adult glioblastoma multiforme
• Cancerous stem cells can arise from pediatric brain tumors
• Prospective identification of tumorigenic breast cancer cells
• Tumour Stem Cells and Drug Resistance
• Multiple Drug Resistance in Cancer Revisited: The Cancer Stem Cell Hypothesis
• A distinct "side population" of cells with high drug efflux capacity in human tumor cells
• Cancer, aging and the optimal tissue design
• The paradox of response and survival in cancer therapeutics