New tool to fight viruses?
A new device caught my eye this week. Marketed by Aethlon Medical, it claims to treat HIV and other viral infections by removing viral particles from the blood. Aethlon claims the device could be used against HIV, hepatitis, and biological warfare agents such as Ebola and smallpox. Great news, but it sounds too good to…
Nutrition at the extremes of life
The Rank Prize lecture yesterday afternoon was a very interesting romp through the world of public health nutrition with Professor Ricardo Uauy. A difficult name to pronounce for many of us non-Spanish speakers (he’s originally from Chile), but a clear message at least. Nutritionists need a common vision, a common mission to work towards. Together.
‘Wage war on obesity – not the obese’
Professor Jeffrey Friedman has spent well over a decade researching the biological basis for obesity and has come to the conclusion that we should be fighting a ‘war on obesity, not the obese’. His, name has become synonymous with the hormone leptin the topic of this year’s prestigious Boyd Orr lecture this afternoon at the…
F is for….
Firefighters…fishermen…or farmers? What do you think these three groups of professionals might have in common? All of them save lives, of course. Or they could be doing, as a result of new data presented yesterday in a satellite symposium held as part of the Nutrition Society’s 2008 Summer Meeting. Experts meeting to discuss the latest…
A word to the wise (Aspergillosis)
As I accidentally breathed in the blood, fish & bone powder I was feeding my plants yesterday, I was reminded of a case which made the front cover of The Lancet last week entitled: gardening can seriously damage your health. It highlighted a case report of an unfortunate man who succumbed to aspergillosis, a fungal…
Is this really the future of food?
A few weeks ago we were discussing beer – or rather the lack of it expected as a result of climate change. This week, Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden has unveiled a new superfood. Even less appealing than no beer, this rather unappetising dish is the Swedish equivalent of tempeh and was brewed up…
Come up and look at my genes
While most geneticists may have a hard time convincing non-scientists to look at DNA gels, a company is offering DNA art portraits which allow customers to show off their own DNA bands to anyone. The “DNA portraits” point to bands which the company says are associated with particular characteristics as follows: “• Sport: Show off…
Biodiversity – The more the merrier!
May 22nd is the International Day for Biological Diversity 2008. This year’s theme is ‘Biodiversity in Agriculture‘. According to the Convention on Biodiversity who are co-promoting the day’s festivities along with such luminaries of food and nutrition as the FAO, modern food production is responsible for both increasing and decreasing biodiversity. One of the things…
Be KIND to nettles
AS an avid reader of fairytales in my youth, I was always intrigued by the story of the seven ravens. Seven princely brothers condemned to be ravens by day can only be rescued if their beautiful sister is prepared to pick nettles, barehanded, spin them into thread and weave the lot into seven shirts. Unfortunately…
Easier being green…
Last Saturday, I cycled to Tesco’s*. It’s around five miles away from where I live, so wasn’t a huge effort and, to be fair, I could use the extra exercise. I stress this because I’m about to mention the environment. Before you head off to the ‘post comment’ box below, I must stress that my…