For those who have been too distracted by swine flu to notice: shares of the
biotech company Sequenom have plummeted by 77% after the company announced
that the extremely promising initial results for its SEQureDx Down syndrome
test - which is designed to detect Down syndrome fetuses using blood samples
from pregnant women - were "questionable" and had been mishandled by
employees.
GenomeWeb Daily News reports:
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If you don't want to smell, the FDA has a recommendation: use an
over-the-counter cold remedy that contains an intranasal zinc solution. You
won't smell. Possibly ever again:
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A key component of health-care reform -- and saving our ass from going
bankrupt and sick from spending too much on lousy treatments -- is
establishing comparative effectiveness measures, otherwise known as "actually
knowing WTF works and what doesn't."
This idea terrifies companies who don't want such objective measures. It also
generates a lot of fear, partly via confusing or intentiona... (more)
Will wonders never cease? A recent story about how "homeopathic" Zicam
managed to slide through a loophole in which the FDA doesn't require evidence
of efficacy or safety for medicines labeled as homeopathic has been
percolating through the blogosphere based on a recent warning that the FDA
issued. It turns out that the zinc in Zicam can mess up your sense of smell,
causing a loss of the... (more)
Here we go again.
You may have noticed that I've been laying off that repository of quackery,
autism pseudoscience, and anti-vaccine nonsense, The Huffington Post. I
assure you, it's not because things have gotten much better there. Oh, sure,
occasionally someone will try to post something resembling science and
rationality, but it's impossible for so few to overcome so much history and ... (more)
Swine influenza virus (referred to as SIV) refers to influenza cases that are caused by Orthomyxoviruses that are endemic to pig populations. SIV strains isolated to date have been classified either as Influenzavirus C or one of the various subtypes of the genus Influenzavirus A. The 2009 swine flu outbreak is the spread of a new strain of H1N1 influenza virus that was first detected by public health agencies in March 2009. Local outbreaks of influenza-like illness were detected in three areas in Mexico, but the presence of this new strain was not discovered for a full month. 
Arjun Rudra
Vincent Kadar
Jill Starr
Christophe Dufourmantelle
Hovhannes Avoyan
Josh Powell
Pawel Plaszczak
Bob Little
Shai Quest
Bob Snyder
