I wrote a couple more scientist profiles for the scientific journal Nature. Neuroscientist Leopoldo Petreanu published a paper describing a new technique for mapping neuronal connections in the brain (story by subscription). And Luke Harmon did a laboratory experiment modeling how different fish species can influence pond ecosystems (story by subscription). Both stories carry an element of surprise and seredipity, as is so often the case in science. In Petreanu's case, early experiments were useless because all the neurons were lighting up -- until he figured out a way to isolate only functional connections between neurons. In Harmon's case, early experiments clearly showed the effects of different fishes -- but a pattern of effects only emerged when researchers measured the physical properties of the water, such as light penetration and dissolved organic matter.

Moving on to February...

I reported on a new study ranking antidepressant drugs for the Los Angeles Times. Researchers compiled data from more than 100 clinical trials and concluded that two antidepressants -- Zoloft and Lexapro -- bested the rest. Another study found that antidepressants were largely equivalent in their therapeutic effect. More damning is a third study that used internal FDA documents to prove that published studies exaggerate the benefits of antidepressants by publishing only those trials with positive results. The take home message (and my favorite quote, thanks to UCLA psychiatrist Lon Schneider): "They may be comparing a relatively ineffective drug with another relatively ineffective drug."

In Nature (access limited to subscribers), I profiled ecologist Simon Lewis, who has studied tropical forests in Africa and thinks that they absorb and store more carbon dioxide than has ever been realized -- enough to affect atmospheric concentrations of the greenhouse gas. In a recent study, Lewis used data collected by the forest service of a number of African countries to monitor the growth of forest trees over four decades.

I've fallen terribly behind on posting my stories. Here's my first effort at catching up.

I wrote about genetically engineered animals for the Los Angeles Times in January, soon after the US Food and Drug Administration decided how they should be regulated. Essentially, these are farm animals to be raised for food or to produce biologic drugs. The engineering of genes are a high-tech way of breeding animals with certain desirable traits, such as fast-growing salmon that reach market weight much faster or pigs that make heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids -- nutrients not usually found in pork. My Q&A article explains how genetic engineering is done, what products are under development, and what exactly the FDA will regulate -- and what it won't.

For Nature (subscription only), I profiled German scientist Marcel Kuypers, who discovered a new dynamic among gases, bacteria, and fishes in deep ocean waters. When oxygen levels drop -- as they do with algal blooms -- hydrogen sulphide levels can rise, poisoning fish and crustaceans in the vicinity. In Nambia, where the discovery was made, natives have long known that the smell of rotting eggs means that lobsters will congregate on the beach. Kuypers measured high sulphide in the absence of any surface smell or discoloration, and further analysis of his samples showed that unusual bacteria were feeding on the sulphide and thereby shielding it from animals that live in the surface waters, as well as from human detection. His finding suggests that sulphidic events are probably much more common and widespread than previously thought.

Can you avoid exposure to cold and flu germs? What preventative measures really help? Such a simple question prompts a very complicated answer from science -- mostly because it's not clear how the viruses travel from one person to the next. One paper I read while researching my two-part story for the Los Angeles Times was entitled: "Rhinovirus transmission: One if by air, two if by hand."

In another story for the Los Angeles Times, I wrote about some rare but serious side effects linked to the osteoporosis drug, Fosamax.

For Nature (subscription only), I profiled a scientist who studies AIDS vaccines in animal models. Dan Barouch was in the midst of a three-year long study in monkeys when an important human vaccine trial was called off because it wasn't working. Barouch's vaccine was of a similar type (based on an adenovirus), but his method was different enough that he stuck with his experiment -- to a positive end. While much remains to be learned about vaccinating against HIV, this work shows that the regimen is as important as the vaccine itself.

Eating fish is good for you and bad for you at the same time. Omega-3 fatty acids are brain food for fetuses, babies and children, and they promote cardiovascular health in adults. But fish also are contaminated with mercury, a toxin which interferes with the development of the nervous system in those same fetuses and babies. I wrote about the science behind a controversy brewing between two federal agencies that regulate fish for consumption -- the FDA and the EPA -- in a two-part article for the Los Angeles Times.

After carbon dioxide, methane is the second biggest contributor to the greenhouse gases involved in global warming. A new natural source of methane was identified by a monitoring station in Greenland during freeze-up in the fall of 2007. Results were published in Nature earlier this month and I interviewed the lead author, Torbin Christensen of Sweden, about the story behind the story (subscription only) for Nature's Authors Page.

I wrote about the movement towards broader testing for HIV for the Los Angeles Times. In the past, the test was only offered to people in high-risk groups, such as i.v. drug users and gay men. Now, everyone between the ages of 13 and 65 should be screened, says the Center for Disease Control and Prevention. Age 13, you say? So did I, as the mom of a 12-year-old. Think of it as a necessary education in today's world. AIDS isn't going away soon, and as teens contemplate their sexuality and parents do their best to talk to their teens, a doctor saying, let's test for cholesterol and HIV, will drive that point home.

For the Author's Page at Nature (subscription only), I profiled Barry Trost, a medicinal chemist who found a shortcut to a complex chemical structure -- one that may pave the way for new anti-tumor drugs. Trost believes chemistry and development of synthetic tools is the key to improving the quality and the diversity of leads pursued by the pharmaceutical industry.

I explored a rather grim topic for the LA Times Health section -- whether suicide might increase as the economy falls. Two recent deaths in Los Angeles were seemingly triggered by large financial losses (in one case) and home foreclosure (in the other). In fact, people rarely, if ever, commit suicide over one bad event. Studies have shown that some 90% of suicides occur in people with mental disorders (which makes them preventable by treating mental illness).

I told a scientist's story on the Nature (subscription only). While studying a factor involved in immunity, Peter Creswell discovered one pathogen -- food-borne Listeria -- that turns the factor into a traitor, benefitting bug over host.

For Skidmore's alumni magazine, I found out why seven alums work in the same office at NYU Langone Medical Center. One of them, boss Andrew Rubin, has found Skidmore grads to be his best source of motivated, ambitious employees. By recruiting at Skidmore, Rubin has also found a way to give back to his alma mater.

For the Authors page of Nature this week (by subscription only), I profiled Gerard Evan of the University of California San Francisco who has a research paper in the same issue. Evan shared the story behind the research -- about an anti-cancer mechanism which was too good to be true -- giving credit to a postdoctoral fellow in his lab who had a cool tool and the initiative to apply it.

I wrote several articles for Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Medicine, which included profiles of new faculty members, a patent for screening new vaccines, and a new NIH-funded center for research on allergic diseases. A back-page story featured two researchers who collaborate on campus, but took time off this summer to explore different paths: one hiked across England, the other biked across America.

Translational research was the focus of a feature I wrote for Nature Reviews Drug Discovery (you have to register, but it's free for now). New funding in the UK and the US is meant to build the infrastructure to support the human experimental work necessary to "translate" promising basic research into medical practice. That infrastructure is less about facilities and more about career structure that rewards teamwork and sharing the cost burdens of clinical research.

For Nature, I reported on a diversity in science program at the University of North Carolina that's unusual in two ways: it's been around for 30 years and it supports postdoctoral fellows rather than graduate students. The program's express intent is to groom postdocs for academic research positions, to help universities (especially those in North Carolina) diversify their faculties.

I profiled Marja Makarow, a Finnish scientist who is now leading the European Science Foundation, for Nature. In doing so I learned the word sisu. It refers to a Finnish personality trait -- think resiliency -- that means "the ability to move through stone." Makarow has it. Shouldn't everyone who works in policy?

I wrote several articles for a Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine newsletter. I profiled six "new recruits" for the Dean's Discovery Report (click Spring 08 for PDF), including Steve Negus, a drug abuse researcher I know from my scientist days. I wrote the "patent spotlight," about a chemist who makes marijuana-like compounds and has brought in more licensing revenue to the university than anyone else. And I wrote the "back page," about a faculty member who was once an auto mechanic and now restores vintage cars.

I profiled Dave Tapolczay, the new chief of technology transfer at the UK's Medical Research Council (MRC), for Nature. This is no small shakes, as licensing revenue from MRC intellectual property ran to $92 million last year, and start-up companies based on ideas developed by MRC-supported scientists the (17 in the last two decades) create both jobs and revenue for the country.

I covered a symposium on predictive toxicology, diagnostics, and personalized medicine, all under the rubric of Toxicogenomics for the New York Academy of Sciences. The symposium was fascinating, with five speakers covering a wide array of practical applications of human genetics. For example, using a genetic marker to predict which patients will suffer a serious side effect -- even so-called idiosyncratic ones -- after taking a pharmaceutical. Also in breast cancer patients , predicting who will benefit from chemotherapy and who will not -- and therefore shouldn't be subjected to its side effects. Unfortunately for you NYAS nonmembers, you can only view the opening screen of the web presentation (the e-briefing).

I wrote about artificial sweeteners for the LA Times Health section. My article was a follow-up to a widely reported study in rats that found aspartame-eating rats ate more food and gained more weight than sucrose-eating rats. The study's authors say it's Pavlovian conditioning, a topic near and dear to my heart. I talked to researchers who study obesity in humans for their take on the study and how it might--or might not--apply to us.

I profiled the new head of a new academic consortium in Scotland for Nature. Mike Tyers moved from Canada to lead the Scottish Universities Life Sciences Alliance (SULSA), one of several "pooling" initiatives whereby the universities and the Scottish government fund new research positions and core facilities to foster collaborative research.

My favorite article of the week is Nurturing Women Scientists for Science magazine. It's about institutional efforts to increase the numbers of women in science in both academia and industry. What used to be a pipeline problem (fewer women with science degrees) has become a hiring and retention problem. Women in science is a perennial feature for the magazine and I've read many of them over the years. I was pleased to have the opportunity to write it.

I profiled Sir Leszek Borysiewicz a couple weeks ago in Nature. He's the new head of the Medical Research Council in the United Kingdom (analogous to the US National Institutes of Health).

I covered a scientific conference on Inflammation in the Central Nervous System for the New York Academy of Sciences about the double-edge nature of the immune system. With very different examples, the three speakers described how therapies targeting immune function produce problematic effects, secondary consequences of tinkering with a very complex system. (Only the introductory page is accessible to nonmembers.)

I wrote two stories for my local newsweekly, the Spotlight. One piece was about online dating (but it's not available online!). It was part of a package on finding love; the reporter I partnered with, Jennifer Farnsworth, wrote about speed dating and other offline ways to meet people. A second piece profiled a military catholic boys school here in Albany: the Christian Brothers Academy. I spoke to Brother Aloysius who has work at the school for 50 years (talk about perspective).