I work in the biotech industry (see disclaimer below) in Southern California. My background is in biology & biochem, but I blog about a wide range of stuff (usually biology/biochem-related). I do this in my spare time, which is limited, so I can’t update the blog often, but I’ll definitely try, because I think science is fun and I love sharing information.
I realize you probably all have different backgrounds, so I try to keep it simple and I’ll occasionally take time out to talk about something that for some of you might seem self-evident. It’s just being polite; if I asked you a question about a subject where I don’t know a lot (e.g. electrical engineering, the history of China, etc.), I hope you would do the same for me.
My email address is puffthemutantdragon_at_gmail.com . Just one note: if you want to comment on an article or you want me to correct something, you don’t need to email me! that’s what the Comment feature is for…
Disclaimer
All of the following should be obvious — but in case it isn’t, I’ll spell it out anyway.
This is my personal blog, and the opinions presented here are mine and mine alone. They neither reflect nor are intended to reflect those of my employer, nor is this blog connected with my employer in any way. I don’t discuss any issues directly related to the field in which I work, nor can I comment on any matters relating to my employer’s business, partners or clients.
Many of my posts deal with topics that may have some bearing on health-related issues. When reading these types of posts, you should be aware that I am not a doctor and the information on this blog is NOT intended to serve as medical advice. I am not liable for any consequences that may arise from misuse of the information on this blog. The best source of information on prevention, diagnosis and treatment of disease is and will always be your physician or healthcare professional. If you think you are feeling sick, you should consult a doctor, not a blog.
Delighted to see you highlight misuse of the word “toxic,” which is particularly common among journalists and citizen environmentalists. When I had the good fortune to act as one of several guest bloggers on James Fallows’s Atlantic blog last winter, I made the same point:
http://www.theatlantic.com/technology/archive/2011/03/meet-philippus-aureolus-theophrastus-bombastus-von-hohenheim/72579/
My experience on a troubled environmental cleanup in Sydney, Nova Scotia, convinced me of this. Environmental protests had brought the community to a state of fear bordering on panic out of all proportion to the actual risk. The result was that a badly needed cleanup took decades and hundreds of millions of dollars, when it should have been completed in four years for a fraction of the cost. Societies pay a big price for crazy exaggeration of unfashionable risks and blithe unconcern about much bigger ones.
Parker Donham
Kempt Head, NS
Quite edifying!
Hi MD,
I wanted to let you know that I nominated you for the Liebster Blog Award!
Here’s the post: http://animalwise.org/2012/01/03/liebster-award-and-nominees/.
Regards,
Paul
Great post! This is such an important issue, and yet it gets far too little coverage. My blog on a similar topic did not get as much traction as I would have liked:
http://www.onearth.org/blog/antibiotic-resistance-and-the-bacterial-arms-race
One surprising thing I learned speaking to microbiologists is that not only can resistance genes be passed between bacteria of different species, but that exposure to one antibiotic can select for resistance to other antibiotics of different classes. What this means is that there is no real advantage to restricting antibiotic use in livestock by class or by “importance to humans,” as giving them any antibiotic will lead to increased resistance to all antibiotics across the micriobiome.
Thnx. It’s a difficult topic to cover, isn’t it? because there are lots of caveats, which may be why the news media doesn’t seem to devote as much space to it. It’s easier to cover something if there is a clear black-and-white approach you can take.
Pingback: Rapidinhas da Semana – 15 de Julho « COMCEPT
very interesting articles. please can u also tweet them?
I guess I could, but I don’t have a twitter account…maybe I should set one up, will think about it, I dunno.
love the blog very interesting, ot sure if you take requests but do you think you could do an article on anabolic steroids
Hmmm….I could try and get around to it once we’re done with illegal drugs. But I would really like to write a post on the chemistry of beer.
Nice blog, thanks for setting it up and sharing stuff. I’ll be sure to visit from time to time.
thanks for thanking me! glad you like it
Awesome blog! As a chem/biochem undergrad with some overlapping interest, I have found your articles very entertaining and informative. Thanks, and keep up the great work!
Hey,
Love the blog as a pharm chem undergrad this is very nice to read from a science perspective rather than a position of fear from most places. I was just wondering if you could do something on brominated vegetable oil, as I have seen a bunch of things about the health effects of it at high, obviously toxic, levels, but have yet to see anything about it in levels that are actually used in sodas and other drinks.
Other than that love the blog and will definitely be coming back often(ish).