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Postdoc: USDA Bacterial Foodborne Pathogens and Mycology Research unit
The Bacterial Foodborne Pathogens and Mycology Research Unit at USDA-NCAUR in Peoria, Illinois, has two postdoctoral associate positions available. The successful applicant will study comparative genomics of Fusarium in order to elucidate genetic mechanisms that have given rise to the current diversity and distribution of secondary metabolite and pathogenicity-related genes in the F. fujikuroispecies complex.  For a more detailed description of the position and information on how to apply, please go to https://www.usajobs.gov/GetJob/ViewDetails/361765700or contact Robert Proctor (robert.proctor@ars.usda.gov; tel. 3...
Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics - March 11, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Jason Stajich Tags: postdoc fusarium mycotoxin USDA Source Type: blogs

Dr. Condic Explains Why Reprogrammed Cells Are Not Embryos
This is a great read for anyone who worries about the various reprogramming techniques for creating stem cells. I would include myself in that category. Dr. Maureen Condic, Associate Professor of Neurobiology and Anatomy at the University of Utah School of Medicine, makes an excellent case at Public Discourse that stem cells are not embryos.  She highlights the important distinction between true "totipotency" that can give rise to a developing organism and the common usage of "totipotent" which is often employed to describe a cell that can differentiate into all the different tissue types including...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - March 11, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells Source Type: blogs

9 Steps About How to Disappear From The Internet
There is a very interesting and instructive step-by-step guide about how to delete yourself from the internet and disappear completely online. I’m not encouraging you to delete your profiles online, but there are a few details in the guide which might come handy in some cases such as how to ask Google to remove a search engine result posting information about you. (Source: ScienceRoll)
Source: ScienceRoll - March 11, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Google Medicine Medicine 2.0 Web 2.0 Source Type: blogs

Smartshoes Help Blind People Navigate
We are truly living in the era of wearable revolution. Here is a new reason why. These smartshoes are connected to a smartphone and when the user tells the smartphone where he/she wants to get, based on GPS, it will calculate the right route, moreover, the shoe will vibrate when a turn must be made in the given direction. Obviously, these shoes don’t do it all. If you’re blind, you’ll still need to watch out for random objects in your path and be cautious at intersections. But they’re a step in the right direction! The shoes also work as a pedometer and help you measure the number of calories burned...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 10, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Source Type: blogs

Exoskeleton For Paralyzed Patients Gets FDA Approval
Last year at the Singularity Europe Summit, I saw with my own eyes how exoskeletons such as the one from Ekso Bionics let paralyzed patients walk again. Now ReWalk just received FDA approval. Great news, important steps towards a much better world. After his first few surgeries, when he regained use of his arms, he did what many of us would do in times of uncertainty — he turned to the Internet to research. He came across The ReWalk, a robotic exoskeleton developed by Argo Medical Technologies in Israel. Its inventor, Dr. Amit Goffer, was a quadriplegic who was searching for a better alternative to the wheelchair. ...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 10, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Future Innovation Invention Medicine exoskeleton Source Type: blogs

Genetically Modified Food: Bad; Genetically Modified Humans: Good
In the November 2012 elections, voters of Washington state had to decide on Initiative 522. I-522 would require food sold in the state to be labeled if any of its components were produced by genetically modified organisms (GMOs).Proponents made a necessary distinction between selectively bred plants and animals and those that are GMOs. Selective breeding has been standard practice in agriculture since man began herding animals and growing crops. GMO plants and animals are those that have a genetic makeup that would not occur naturally through normal breeding. For example, a plant that has had a gene inserted that gives it ...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - March 10, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Genetic Engineering Source Type: blogs

The Medical Futurist: Weekly Introduction
As a medical futurist, I work on bringing disruptive technologies to medicine & healthcare; assisting medical professionals and students in using these in an efficient and secure way; and educating e-patients about how to become equal partners with their caregivers. I publish a daily newsletter about the future of medicine, and share related news almost every hour on Twitter. Scienceroll.com is updated on a regular basis about the future of healthcare with an emphasis on social media. Here is my white paper, The Guide to the Future of Medicine. I’m the author of Social Media in Clinical Practice handbook;...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 9, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Medicine Source Type: blogs

Human Longevity Inc. Launches To Make Us Live Longer
When Google launched Calico last year to find new solutions against aging, people thought that might be the ultimate attempt. Now, here is Human Longevity Inc., which has a much more scientific background for doing the same. Human Longevity Inc. (HLI), a genomics and cell therapy-based diagnostic and therapeutic company focused on extending the healthy, high performance human life span, was announced today by co-founders J. Craig Venter, Ph.D., Robert Hariri, M.D., Ph.D., and Peter H. Diamandis, M.D. The company, headquartered in San Diego, California, is being capitalized with an initial $70 million in investor funding. I...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 8, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Genome Innovation Source Type: blogs

Barcoding Human Embryos
  (Image from New Scientist)I have never worked in manufacturing but I can imagine inventory and quality control are important parts of the process. Keeping track of inventory and making sure the right parts get to where they are needed would be a priority. The barcode has surely revolutionized the manufacturing industry.The barcode is certainly finding a home in the human manufacturing plant, also known as the IVF clinic. Scientists from Barcelona have announced in the journal, Human Reproduction, that they now can place a barcode tag directly on an embryo to make sure you end up with the right kid. Because mix-ups d...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - March 4, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: IVF Source Type: blogs

How I Completely Re-Wired My Digital Life: 16 Tips
I’ve been massively active online for at least 10 years therefore I have built networks focusing on my favorite topics leading to a point where I invest my time into human intelligence instead of checking hundreds of article titles every day. Although, as others, I often face the problem of being efficient time-wise online as receiving thousands of social media messages a day makes it a real challenge. Now I share with you the experience I’ve had in the last 6 months as during that time I have completely re-wired how I use the internet for professional purposes and how I manage my digital life. Dealing with e-...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 4, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Facebook Health 2.0 List Medicine Medicine 2.0 twitter Web 2.0 activity Blogging cognitive e-mail google online rewired social media Source Type: blogs

Oklahoma House Votes to Ban Research Destroying Human Embryos
Last week the House of the Oklahoma State legislature overwhelmingly passed the Protection of Human Life Act of 2013. This act prohibits the destruction of human embryos for research and prohibits research on cells that were obtained from the destruction of a human embryo.HB2070 reads:No person shall:1. Knowingly conduct nontherapeutic research that destroys a human embryo or subjects a human embryo to substantial risk of injury or death;2. Transfer a human embryo with the knowledge that the embryo will be subjected to nontherapeutic research; or3. Use for research purposes cells or tissues that the person knows were obtai...
Source: Mary Meets Dolly - March 3, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Tags: Stem cells, Embryonic Source Type: blogs

Computers are better at diagnosing?
A new study analyzing the role of IBM’s supercomputer named Watson in medical decision making was just published in Artificial Intelligence in Medicine. While the most acclaimed medical professionals might keep some studies in mind, Watson can check millions of them quickly. Instead of fighting them, doctors should realize we need to include such solutions in the everyday medical decision-making processes. Using 500 randomly selected patients from that group for simulations, the two compared actual doctor performance and patient outcomes against sequential decision-making models, all using real patient data. They fou...
Source: ScienceRoll - March 3, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: Computer Medicine Medicine 2.0 Healthcare ibm watson Source Type: blogs

Postdoc: Fungal Comparative and Population Genomics
The Corradi Lab is currently seeking a Postdoctoral Fellow in the field of Fungal Comparative and Population Genomics. The research will be led by Dr. Nicolas Corradi and carried out in a CIFAR (Canadian Institute for Advanced Research) – affiliated laboratory located in the Department of Biology of the University of Ottawa, Canada. The position will be initially funded for one year, with the possibility of renewal for up to three years depending on performance. The candidate is expected to contribute to several ongoing projects that focus on the population genomics of two evolutionary unrelated groups of fungi:...
Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics - February 28, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Jason Stajich Tags: postdoc AMF comparative genomics microsporidia population genomics Source Type: blogs

Postdoc: Systems-Biology and Bioinformatics
A postdoc in systems biology / bioinformatics working in the Millennium Nucleus in Fungal Integrative and Synthetic Biology is available. The position is in the laboratory of Dr Luis Larrondo at P. Universidad Católica de Chile. The Postdoc announcement  has additional details. (Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics)
Source: Fungal Genomes and Comparative Genomics - February 28, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Jason Stajich Tags: postdoc chile neurospora systems biology Source Type: blogs

Being in The Top 10 Internet-Smart Doctors in the World
It’s a great honor to be included again in the list of the top ten Internet-smart doctors in the world. Here is the full list and here are the details! Doctors are increasingly using the internet, to communicate, to educate, and to use sometimes as medical devices. And now docs are tackling social media, which a few of the Top Ten do, in spades.   The Top Ten come from all over, from Australia to the Bay area.  There is one from the Netherlands, one from Hungary,, and one from Australia.  The other seven are Yanks.  And they are all MDs. 1) Eric Topol MD 2) Daniel Kraft M.D. 3) Berci Mesko MD 4) Mike Cadogan MD 5...
Source: ScienceRoll - February 28, 2014 Category: Geneticists and Genetics Commentators Authors: Bertalan Meskó (MD, PhD) Tags: List Medicine Medicine 2.0 Web 2.0 Source Type: blogs