[NEWS] Setback for Nigeria's Polio Fighters

[TIME] Setback for Nigeria's Polio Fighters

"Health workers in Nigeria fear they're on the verge again — of collapse. When the World Health Organization and the Centers for Disease Control revealed in early October that 69 Nigerian children had been paralyzed by polio virus since 2005 — and had contracted the illness through exposure to the live virus found in the oral vaccine drop — it was the nightmare situation public health workers had been dreading: the rare vaccine-related outbreak that could spark renewed paranoia and permanently halt eradication efforts."

這是今天上課老師提到的新聞，在 Science 期刊上也有，聽到的時候一直在想 Polio 的中文是什麼，原來是小兒麻痺。那 smallpox 呢？我知道疫苗是用 vaccina virus 做的，大家小學的時候都打過，手臂上會有一小塊疤，那是打什麼的？中文一直想不起來，腦海中只一直冒出「小兒痲痺」四個字，想說到底 smallpox 和 Polio 哪個才是小兒麻痺？厚，smallpox 是天花啦！

牛痘疫苗有很貴嘛？老師說現在美國都沒在打的，因為他們認為 smallpox 已經絕種了，但是其實…嗯，還是有爭議的吧！不過美國認為打疫苗不重要，而且沒在打，讓我覺得很不可思議，老師也覺得難以理解，疫苗很重要的阿！台灣的新生兒應該出生沒多久，每個都什麼能打的疫苗都打了吧！

[NEWS] Study to probe whether acne drug can slow MS

[CTV.ca] Study to probe whether acne drug can slow MS

"Researchers in Calgary are preparing to begin a new study to see whether a commonly available acne medication could help delay the crippling effects of multiple sclerosis.

The medication, called minocycline, has been available for over 30 years. If it's proven effective in delaying the progress of MS, it could offer an inexpensive option for the treatment of early stages of the disease."


舊藥新用，治痘痘的藥，可以拿來治療MS(multiple sclerosis)？

好用線上資源

online nucleotide concentration convertor

1. ng/ml to pM (vice visa): http://www.ambion.com/techlib/append/concentration_calculator.html
2. weight to mole (vice visa): http://molbiol.edu.ru/eng/scripts/h01_07.html (很多單位大小可選)

[NEWS] HPV Vaccine

原來HPV Vaccine 用的只有viral proteins，而不是viral DNA，
所以專家 Dr. Murphy 說她很安全，更多資訊在：

[CBC] Your Interview: HPV Vaccine

Dr. Murphy 是加拿大多倫多大學(Univ. of Toronto)的教授。

[NEWS] Nobel Prize 2007

今年的諾貝獎嗎？什麼時候出來的？

A Knockout Award in Medicine

去年是RNAi knockdown，今年換knockout mice。

[NEWS] HIV Vaccine

愛滋疫苗上個月公佈失敗的新聞。

從PubMed 的連結點進去會看到這則新聞公告：
Clinical Alter: Immunizations are discontinued in two HIV Vaccine trials

其他相關新聞：

Clinical Alter: Immunizations are discontinued in two HIV Vaccine trials

[NIAID] Q&A: HVTN 502 and HVTN 503 HIV Vaccine Clinical Tirals

[SciAm] HIV Vaccine Hopeful Fails

[Science] Building an HIV-Proof Immune System

[Science] AIDS Research: Promising Prevention Interventions Perform Poorly in Trials

[Science] AIDS Research: Promising AIDS Vaccine's Failure Leaves Field Reeling

其實在我看到這則公告之前，都不知道有人在研究愛滋疫苗，畢竟研究藥物就困難重重了，沒想到卻有人致力於這個部份，心想真是不得了，雖然沒有成功，但總是一個嘗試。