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The Forever Fix gang: Corey Haas with book, surrounded by mom Nancy and dad Ethan Haas, Ricki Lewis on left next to Lori and Hannah Sames. At book signing 3/24/12, Barnes + Noble, Albany NY.
Glenn Nichols, surrounded by his hospice team. The author is in yellow.
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May 13, 2012
Tags:
homeotic, Drosophila melanogaster, Michael L. Cunningham, Ricki Lewis, American Journal of Human Genetics
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3D CT scan of child with ACS. Lower jaw is small and malformed (left); same aged child with normal jaw (middle); lower jaw of child with ACS inverted over upper jaw of normal skull (right). (Credit: Image courtesy of Seattle Children’s).
Body-Altering Mutations – In Children and Flies
I became a science writer, circa 1980, because I didn’t think flies with legs growing out of their heads – my PhD research – had much to do with human health. So when I spied “A Human Homeotic Transformation” way down on the Table of Contents in the May issue of the American Journal of Human Genetics, I was as riveted as a normal person would be getting a copy of People with a celebrity on the cover. (more…)
May 5, 2012
Tags:
HIV, gene therapy, Ricki Lewis, Don Kohn, Jim Wilson, The Forever Fix:Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It, T cell, virus, gp 120, anti-retroviral, gene transfer
HIV on a human lymphocyte.
Buried somewhere beneath the long-awaited announcement of the birth of Jessica Simpson’s baby on May 2 was encouraging news about HIV infection: gene therapy appears to be safe.
Anti-retroviral drugs (ARTs) have been remarkably successful, but they require daily doses and have adverse effects. Gene transfer is an alternative approach that gives selected cells the genes to manufacture proteins necessary to counter a particular disease. Gene transfer (which technically becomes gene therapy once it works) to treat an enzyme deficiency, for example, provides genetic instructions for the missing enzyme. To treat an infection or cancer, gene therapy bolsters immune system cells.
(more…)
May 2, 2012
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vaginal microbiome, penile microbiome, skin, Ricki Lewis, Human Microbiome Project
I'm reposting this 2-year-old blog about the various bacterial outposts in the human body, in celebration of today's publication of the microbiome of a very special, intimate place. (I can say no more because it is embargoed until 2PM, when I will be traveling.)
Yesterday I committed a terrible crime. I walked away from a treadmill at the Y without scrubbing the handles.
“Ricki, get back here,” admonished the attendant as I headed for the elliptical. “You forgot to wipe down!”
“But I’m not sweating, and I never get sick. I won’t pass along (more…)
April 26, 2012
Tags:
G-spot, The Journal of Sexual Medicine, Ricki Lewis, Adam Ostrzenski, EurekAlert
First published in Scientific American (blogs), 4/25/12
When cosmetic gynecologist Adam Ostrzenski, MD set out to discover the elusive G-spot, the part of a woman’s anatomy supposedly responsible for orgasm, he followed a flawed premise – but his finding announced today will undoubtedly generate frantic media coverage.
The discovery of the G-spot in a lone elderly corpse and the lack of information on just what Dr. O dissected are obvious limitations of the paper in the Journal of Sexual Medicine, a peer-reviewed publication from Wiley. Less obvious is trouble with a different G – the guanine in genes. (more…)
April 22, 2012
Tags:
The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It, Corey Haas, Hannah Sames, giant axonal neuropathy, Leber congenital amaurosis, Ricki Lewis, gene therapy
Corey Haas and Hannah Sames sign their photographs in "The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It."
Yesterday I had two very special guests at my book talk and signing at the Schenectady library: Eleven-year-old Corey Haas, who is “the boy who saved gene therapy” in the metaphorical phrase in the book title, and eight-year-old Hannah Sames, who will have gene therapy.
Corey and Hannah represent gene therapy’s immediate past and future. They put faces on a once-moribund biotechnology reborn after a series of tragic errors and failures. They are also remarkable children: bright, poised, aware, and charming. They are making history. (more…)
April 19, 2012
Tags:
mossy foot, podo, podoconiosis, Charles Rotimi, Ricki Lewis, Fasil Tekola Ayele, Center for Research on Genomics and Global Health, National Human Genome Research Institute (NHGRI).
Podoconiosis is painful and isolating, affects millions, and is completely curable -- with shoes.
This blog was first published at Scientific American blogs
In Fasil Tekola Ayele’s native Ethiopia, the people call it “mossy foot.” Medical textbooks call it podoconiosis, non-filarial elephantiasis, or simply “podo.”
The hideously deformed feet of podo result not from mosquito-borne parasitic worms, as does filarial elephantiasis, nor from bacteria, like leprosy. Instead, podo arises from an immune response to microscopic slivers of mineral that penetrate the skin of people walking barefoot on the damp red soil that tops volcanic rock. Podoconiosis means “foot” and “dust” in Greek. (more…)
April 11, 2012
Tags:
cellulite, rare diseases, Ricki Lewis, The Forever Fix, Today Show, Cellulaze, NORD, CheckOrphan, Canavan Research Illinois, Cystinosis Research Foundation, Hannah's Hope Fund
“Next, news that all women will want to hear!” teased the commentator on the increasingly imbecilic Today Show.
Soon I learned that, finally, we womenfolk need no longer suffer from the “horrible, dimpled ‘orange peel’ skin” of cellulite. The new miracle cure sounded like “cellulase,” an enzyme that breaks down wood.
Googling, I soon discovered that “Cellulaze” is instead a new laser technique that “pinpoints and disrupts dimpled pockets of herniated fat” and melts away the collagen cords that hold in place the vile lipid, while promoting formation of new collagen and elastin. It joins a long list of cellulite remedies, including sound waves, radio waves, massage, retinol, red algae patches, and extracts from licorice roots, horse chestnut, and kola. The market is $2.3 billion. (more…)
April 3, 2012
Tags:
whole genome sequencing, whole exome sequencing, Ricki Lewis, Bert Vogelstein, Science Translational Medicine
Comparing whole genome (or exome) sequencing to predict common diseases or identify rare single-gene diseases is like comparing the proverbial apples to oranges.
The news is being trumpeted everywhere – whole genome sequencing won’t help the average person predict common illnesses.
This isn’t exactly astonishing to anyone who has taken a genetics course, but the Johns Hopkins team, in Science Translational Medicine, provides elegant evidence to back up the long-held idea that the so-called “complex," common diseases result from so many intertwined inherited as well as environmental threads that using a DNA sequence as a crystal ball just won’t work – at least until more data accumulate. (more…)
March 28, 2012
Tags:
osteogenesis imperfecta, brittle bone disease, Ricki Lewis
In osteogenesis imperfecta, the whites of the eyes are bluish-gray. Many genetic diseases are pleiotropic, affecting more than one body part.
A challenge of living with a genetic disease, especially a very rare one, is that the mutation may affect different body parts. A health care practitioner may not consider a patient’s inherited condition, especially if the most recognizable symptoms don’t fall into his or her specialty.
Shirley Banks discovered the importance of seeking a second, specialized opinion when the doctor she’d been seeing for many years had a disturbing reaction to a question.
The Long Road to a Diagnosis
The Banks family has osteogenesis imperfecta, (OI) which affects 1 in 20,000 live births. (more…)
March 25, 2012
Tags:
teacher, Drosophila, Genetics Society of America, Stony Brook, Indiana University, Elof Carlson, Ricki Lewis, Hermann Muller, teaching assistant, University of Southern Indiana, Bloomington Indiana
In Praise of Mentors
I found him on Linked In, an unusual but familiar name among the many that the networking website had somehow deduced I should connect to. Elof Carlson, a blast from my past.
Back in fall 1975, when I was at SUNY Stony Brook, he taught Bio 101, and enlisted senior biology majors as his teaching assistants. Dr. Carlson, author of 14 books and a beloved teacher of many, was the first person to teach me how to teach. (more…)
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Book Club Reader's Guide
Many challenging questions to stimulate thought and discussion. Instructor's Guide
38 discussion questions to get students thinking and talking about gene therapy, including the science, ethical issues, and the drug approval process. Narrative science
The Forever Fix is the uplifting true story of 8-year-old Corey Haas, who was cured of hereditary blindness just 4 days after gene therapy. College Textbooks
A spectacularly-illustrated, clearly written human anatomy and physiology textbook, used in pre-health profession programs throughout the U.S.
A highly engaging, clearly written, beautifully illustrated introduction to the science of human genetics for the non-scientist. Now in its 10th edition. Nonfiction
DNA reflects who we are -- but it isn’t the whole story. |
The Ann Parillo Schenectady Today Show, April 17, 2012TV segment on "The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It"
Are DNA Patents Doomed? Scientific American blog 4/3/12A brief history of patenting genes, current controversial cases, and a look ahead
"The Roundtable" WAMC Albany, NPR station, March 15, 2012Joe Donahue interviews Ricki Lewis about "The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It"
New Hope for Gene Therapy: A Young Boy's Fight Against BlindnessA short video about Corey Haas's gene therapy -- the subject of my book, "The Forever Fix: The Boy Who Saved Gene Therapy"
Publishers Weekly starred reviewfirst advance review for The Forever Fix
Corey Plays Little LeagueA wonderful video of the family at the center of The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It
http://www.nxtbook.com/nxtbooks/rpi/2011fall/#/20Article on leptin and Jeffrey Friedman in RPI alumni magazine
http://facebook.com/rickilewisauthorThe Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It
Alden March Bioethics Institute blogAlden March Bioethics Institute blog
Authors GuildAdvocates for published authors since 1912
Authors Guild DirectoryA compendium of member websites |
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