Science (or at least press-releases) In The News

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I have fastidiously tried to keep politics out of my blog.  Not because I am not political (anyone of you who knows me is probably laughing out loud by now), but because that is not the purpose of this endeavor.  But, in the past week, there have been two events that all fall into the same category and demand addressing.  In no special order: NASA scientists announced they had found a new life form that uses arsenic (in lieu of phosphate) and  a Scottish enterprise announced a therapy for asthma and other inflammatory diseases.

These items appear unrelated, but that is only for those who are not usually involved in scientific examinations.  As is true for our American (at least MY America) civilization, we no longer seem capable of employing analysis and reflection in our lives.  Everything involves opinions generated in spite of facts that are evident.  This party claims it cares about people and the deficit, that party avers it cares about everyone and the budget.  One would think they care about the same things- but, enough said.

We have a once stellar agency (pun intended) announcing they have found a new life form, one that thrived on arsenic.  However, when you examine the publication, you find several key facts. First, the microbes found employed phosphate in their growth, but survived in arsenic laden waters.  Secondly, the researchers slowly reduced the levels of phosphate and increased the levels of arsenic in the growth media.  Third, the broth was never phosphate-free. And, finally, the analysis of DNA was performed in such a way that arsenic may or may not have been incorporated, but would show up in the testing.  (You do not have to take just my word for it.  Here is another responses to this revelation.)  It’s not that I don’t believe such a microbe exists- it;s that the method of research really proves that the Mono Lake microbes are capable of mutation to arsenic, not as primary growth media. (I do appreciate the humor in the microbial designation, GFAJ-1 as in “Get Felisa [Wolfe-Simon] A Job”.) (Our research has done many similar things; see patent 4290891, among our first forays in this area.)

The BBC (among many others) report about Marthasterias glacialis (the spiny starfish to us regular folk) and its ability to preclude inflammatory conditions (such as asthma and arthritis) intrigued me as well.  Yes, it is true that the starfish found off the west coast of Scotland produces a special coating that precludes things from adhering to it.  And, you know that biofilms (and their destruction) are among our research interests. It’s just that these folks have found nothing yet (or at least reported nothing yet), unless one considers a patent that was applied for in 2000 (and granted in 2006).

We need to stop science revelation by press release.  It is perfectly acceptable to discuss new developments AFTER publication or presentation to a peer-review audience.  But, to announce items prematurely only destroys the 90+% regard people have for scientists.  (Yes, that’s a real number).  One only has to consider how far Johnson & Johnson (once the most revered of medical companies) has fallen this year alone due to its failed diligence.

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6 thoughts on “Science (or at least press-releases) In The News”

  1. hi!This was a really fabulous blog!
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  2. I suspect that the “new bug’s” origins are phosphate based life forms, which rules out the suggestion that the life form is indeed new.

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