Yesterday I was reading an article (Clicky) in the New York Times about a new genetic service that is being offered in America. There is a company called 23andMe that will analyse your DNA via a saliva sample and then use this information to genotype your chromosomes and determine your SNPs (Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms).
For the laymen out there (sorry if I sound pretentious, but I work in the molecular biology field), it’s basically a service where you can google search your genes and figure out which mutations you have and what those effects may be on you. An example of this is that there may be a certain mutation in a gene that is linked to taste. People with this mutation may therefore enjoy a certain food more than those without it (for me its definitely sugar). Other genetic predispositions that can be screened for include weight, IQ and health.
An odds calculator can also use your genetic information to determine which medical conditions you may be likely to face in the future and which ones you may pass onto your children. Another feature of this service include the global similarity map which determines how genetically similar you are to people around the world. It can even give you information about how you may related to people in areas such as history, favorite foods, music, languages, and even pets.
Possibilities similar to 23andme’s services are seen in the sci-fi movie Gattaca and it’s genetic application’s like this that originally got me excited about science in the first place. Anyway the article’s very well written and is easy to understand so give it a read. Unfortunately it’s only available in the States at the moment but it’s probably only a matter of time before you can order a saliva kit (mmm tasty) and use this service over here.
Read this story today and thought it was pretty cool.
http://www.theage.com.au
Bascially it’s about a patient who came into hospital suffering from Anti-freeze poisoning. They would normally treat this by using pharmaceutical grade alcohol. However since their supplies had run out the doctors just decided to use a case load of commercial vodka instead. Get this man some vodka, STAT! They ended up hooking him up to a drip which feed him 3 standard drinks per hour for a total of 3 days.
Maybe i’m just an alcoholic but I usually go through more than 3 drinks an hour while drinking but it still sounds like a sweet deal anyway. Here I am using my mouth like a chump. No if only they could augment some food into that drip then I would be set for life.
The big rumour is that Ben Cousins has been sacked from West Coast for next season. Collingwood have been looking into acquiring Ben for next season and this is the reason Judd picked Carlton for next season as he wants to distance himself from Ben. Only time will tell if this has been a Pennies exclusive or just incorrect information.
Actually the title of this post should be Letterman does Paris.
I stumbled across this on digg.com and Trendy posted it in a comment and it really does deserve it’s own post.
Sit back and enjoy Letterman at his finest as he destroys Paris Hilton in this interview. She takes it pretty well (I’m sure we’ve all seen the videos) especially when Dave doesn’t let up.
God bless you Dave. If only all of your interviews were like this.
Well this is pretty cool, the intro to Episode 1 Season 19 (can you believe it?!) of The Simpsons pretty much picks up from where the movie finished. Very clever and well done.
On a side note, does anyone still watch The Simpsons? Is it worth getting back into as I haven’t really watched a full season in years.
It’s been getting a little too highbrow round here lately so I thought I’d bring it back with some platinum youtube so please enjoy this dog on a skateboard.
It’s for your own good. Trust me.
Stu’s Film Festival Site
Hi all just a quick post to say that my very own film festival starts tomorrow night. If you know my address you are welcome to come over and enjoy the films that will be showing. I will add the showing times to the film festival web site so keep an eye out for updated showing times. On my site you can read about the film, check out the trailer and we will have reviews once the movie has been watched.
We kick the festival off tomorrow night with Reign Over Me this will start at 7:30 hope to see you then.
http://suprnova.org/
It is back need I say more.
Quick shout out to see if anyone has photos from Inverock 05.
I seem to have pictures from 04 and then jump straight to 06. I know Inverock is normally a pretty hardcore drinking fest and loss of memory is a common occurrence but to not have any memories of the whole thing?! ‘cmon!
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