National Lab Day

National Lab Day

Students and teachers at Northwestern’s oncofertility academy Today is National Lab Day. As part of this initiative, thousands of researchers in the US are reaching out to their communities to help teach children from kindergarten through grade 12 about science. National Lab Day is not just a day—it’s a long-term program spurred by the White House, launched last year. Partner organizations include the National Institutes of Health, the American Chemical Society and the MacArthur foundation. You can read more here at Naturejobs. Anyone have any plans for the day? In honor of the initiative I assembled a few educational outreach  … Read more

It ain’t over till it’s over

It ain't over till it's over

Swine flu seems to be ebbing in much of the Northern Hemisphere, according to the World Health Organization (WHO) and the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). But health officials maintain that the pandemic is far from over, and they are continuing to urge people to get vaccinated.  Read more

Swine flu denialism

Swine flu denialism

A deadly strain of distrust has infected leaders in Poland this flu season. The country’s prime minister and the health minister have said that the government will not import swine flu vaccine. “If I had a 100 percent certainty that the vaccine was a panacea for the swine flu, I would certainly buy it," said health minister Ewa Kopacz, in an interview, according to this report. She added that she felt drug companies were “covering up” some information about the vaccines. Prime Minister Donald Tusk, meanwhile, has said that he will not buy from producers that will not take responsibility  … Read more

Bye-bye Dr. Beetroot

Bye-bye Dr. Beetroot

South African President Jacob Zuma marked World AIDS Day today by recognizing the gravity of the HIV/AIDS epidemic in his country, and announcing a new policy to treat all HIV-positive babies under the age of one. He also said that drug treatment of pregnant women would begin earlier, in line with new treatment guidelines issued only yesterday by the World Health Organization.  Read more

Shooting safety

Shooting safety

Researchers have been particularly watchful for signs of Guillian-Barre syndrome (GBS), a disease that afflicted approximately 1 out of every 100,000 people in the US who received vaccines for the 1976 Swine flu (the flu that never materialized.) A report from the Washington Post this weekend examines what researchers know (not much) about the trigger for the condition, which most often arises after infection with Campylobacter jejuni, a bacterium that causes food-borne illness.  Read more

Waiting it out

Waiting it out

Blame the chicken The lines are long, and people have been turned away in droves. Only the lucky and persistent—including the Obama girls—have got their swine flu shots in the US. The vaccine is late, and in short supply—just at the US epidemic may be hitting its peak (see this ominous interactive map from the Wall Street Journal.) But there is no shortage of blame: slow-growing viruses, chicken shortages, and, according to one opinion piece, higher doses of vaccine going to women than they may need. So, why not add another culprit to the mix: the lack of adjuvants. These  … Read more