Vaccine For Ebola Virus?

There was a time in my life (ya, it was high school) when I was really into level 4 pathogens. I mean, really, really into them. I would gobble up any book I could find on the subject and for a few moments I thought it might be more fun that paleo. Then I realized that the study of these viruses are typically to discover a "cure" and to me, as harsh as it might seem, we need these viruses (and I am not always a huge fan of the general human population as it is). I think of them as mother nature’s way of trying to curb our worlds population, which is already somewhat out of hand. Not trying to be cold hearted or mean, it’s just a fact. And if I ever catch the plague and die, I will realize that this is just the way it is.

Anyway....this leads me to the topic of this blog posting, a story that caught my eye the other day. A cure for Ebola? One of the most gnarly and harsh pathogens we have out there, is it a good idea to have a "vaccine" that we inject people with so they can work in "hot zones." Sounds like the set up for your typical zombie movie (think 21 Days Later or I am Legend). I think it is just a mater of time before we manipulate viruses to much and it all backfires on us (more sci-fi fun from The Stand, The Andromeda Strain, Outbreak, ect…I can’t remember them all right now). Time for another extinction event?

by Terra Daily Staff Writers
London, UK (SPX) Mar 31, 2008

"One of the world's deadliest diseases, caused by the Ebola virus, may finally be preventable thanks to US and Canadian researchers, who have successfully tested several Ebola vaccines in primates and are now looking to adapt them for human use....

So far, there have been over 1500 cases of Ebola haemorrhagic fever in humans. Illness starts abruptly and symptoms include fever, headache, sore throat, weakness, joint and muscle aches, diarrhoea, vomiting and stomach pain. A rash, red eyes and bleeding may also occur. Ebola haemorrhagic fever can have a mortality rate of around 90% in humans.

Because Ebola virus is so dangerous, producing and testing a vaccine is extremely challenging for the scientists. One significant factor slowing down progress has been that there are only a very limited number of high containment facilities with staff capable and authorised to conduct the research.

"Ebola virus is a Biosafety Level 4 threat, along with many other haemorrhagic fever viruses", says Dr Sanchez. "As well as the difficulty in getting the right staff and facilities, vaccines for viruses like Ebola, Marburg and Lassa fever have been difficult to produce because simple 'killed' viruses that just trigger an antibody response from the blood are not effective. For these viruses we need to get a cell-mediated response, which involves our bodies producing killer T-cells before immunity is strong enough to prevent or clear an infection."

The researchers have now used several different recombinant DNA techniques, which have allowed them to trigger a cell-mediated response and produce a vaccine that is effective in non-human primates. One of the candidate vaccines is about to be tested on people for the first time, after entering Phase 1 clinical trials in autumn 2006.

"Ebola virus infection of humans can be highly lethal but monkeys rarely survive the infection and have been very useful as animal models. Ebola vaccine trials using nonhuman primates have provided unambiguous results and have allowed the development of protective vaccines to progress rapidly", says Dr Sanchez. "Successful human trials will mean that we can vaccinate healthcare workers and other key personnel during outbreaks of Ebola haemorrhagic fever, helping us to protect their lives and control the spread of the disease"...."

Read the entire article here [link]

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Drat!

The rat has been adopted. Glad he found a home. Now I will know more details next time, should I see one in need of a home. Thanks!

Rats!

I am thinking about adopting one. Does anyone out there know anything about keeping one?

This particular rat could no longer be cared for by his family, so he was looking for a new home at PetCo today. And he looked sad. His name was Templeton (appropriate). I am a sucker for homeless animals and would take them all home with me if I could. I have really missed the absence of Teebo (my guinea pig) and Whitley and Woodstock (my cockatiels). I have wanted to get another bird for a while now, but realize I should wait till I am moved to do that. I also really (really!) want a dog, but we need to wait till we have a place with a yard. I am terrified of mice, but a rat is larger and more like a guinea pig with a tail (right?). I worry that Kelty, my cat, might enjoy it to much, but she was always nice enough to Teebo.

So, my question to you readers is this: are rats good pets? Level of easy needed in care? What do they eat? Are they nice or pissy?

Thanks for the advice ;)

LOL Star Wars

Since I am on a LOL kick this weekend, why not throw in some Star Wars pictures [link]. I know Travis will at least appreciate these.

LOL Faults

Reposted from here & here. While I am not a structural geologist, I still find the humor here. Translate your own speak into LOL here.

Dancing Bears

More research by the Glacier National Park USGS group! I was able to see an early presentation on this work back in 2005 when I worked in the park. You can read more about the Northern Divide Grizzly Bear Project here and more information on the Grizzly Bear DNA Project here.

By Jeanna Bryner, LiveScience Staff Writer

posted: 03 April 2008 08:15 am ET

".... Between 2005 and 2007, Kate Kendall of the U.S. Geological Survey and her colleagues took video footage of black and grizzly bears doing what looks like the go-go at their favorite "rub trees." They also got film of bears lumbering beneath stretches of barbed wire used to snag hair samples.

The research is part of a larger study to estimate the population size and distribution of bears in northwestern Montana using genetic analyses of the bears' hair samples.

Scientists think bears shimmy their backs against trees in a kind of bump-and-grind to scratch hard-to-reach spots and to communicate their presence to other Ursus kin.

"It's probably primarily a form of chemical communication," Kendall said. "Often bears will sniff the trees before and after they rub on them."

Though Kendall has yet to pinpoint exactly what makes for a bear-loving rub tree, both grizzlies and black bears seem to agree on the specs. "Multiple bears are using the same trees, including within the same day black bears and grizzly bears," Kendall told LiveScience."

...read the entire article here
Video Link



Great minds think alike...

Arkansas Tornados

Its that time of year again! It's times like these I miss living back down south where they get real weather! Not that tornadoes are always a good thing, but I find them to be pretty cool at time. I grew up in central Oklahoma/Texas and later in western Arkansas/Eastern Oklahoma, so I have dealt with tornadoes my entire life.

Yesterday central Arkansas got hit by some gnarly storms [video of storm destruction]. My dad and several friends live in the area so I was worried when I heard (not till noon today however, the press is not really covering it, internet wise). My dad and friends are all ok. My friend Erica and her husband made it safely though the storm, although it pass about a block from their place from the sounds of it. My dads church lost part off its roof (it had lost more of the roof earlier this year in high winds, they had just replaced it). The storm took out a bank just north of my dad's house (less than a mile, you can see it from the back yard) and part of the roof off the wal-mart near it. Sounds like it really trashed the airport. I guess it was only a F3 though.

I have many memories of tornadoes growing up where I did. The first one I remember was probably when I was 4 or 5 and we had to go hid in the basement of our church in Ponca City. I remember looking up in the sky wondering when the giant tomatoes were going to fall, since I thought my mom had said "tomato" not "tornado!" I remember sitting on my grandmas' porch and watching on go through a field out in the distance when I was probably 5 or 6 in northern Oklahoma... Seeing one go past northern Oklahoma City when we went to pick my mom up from work when I was a kid.... I remember when one came through Van Buren, Arkansas, in 1996(?95?) over Mothers Day weekend. The movie Twister premiered that weekend, so it was rather ironic. They decorated the theater with real tornado debris. There is one scene in that movie where they fly over an area that was hit by a tornado, and it happens to be a city in Oklahoma where my parents first lived after getting married. You could still see their old place. We use to chase after tornadoes when I was in high school for fun. I have ton's of tornado stories, but I will stop boring you now.

Glad everyone made it though alright. I am sure we will have more over the next few months (just not here in the land-o-gray)!

CNN news story

Fossil Friday

Todays fossil: Cryolophosaurus ellioti
This is the animal that I work on at Augustana College! While most of his remains that have been recovered are prepared, we still have several blocks of unprepared material, and this is what I work on.

The name Cryolophosaurus means "frozen crested reptile." The characteristic feature of this dinosaur is the large crest on the top of the skull, above the eyes. The nasal bones extend toward the back of the skull as ridges, and then join with the lacrimal bones to form a grooved crest which extends perpendicularly from the skull. Cryolophosaurus was discovered in the Jurassic Hanson Formation in the Transantarctic Mountains and represents the only theropod dinosaur to be found in Antarctica.
Read more about Cryolophosaurus: Transantarctic Vertebrate Paleontology Project website.
See more of my Cryolophosaurus pictures here.

Triceratops cranial epi-ossifications

Fresh from the newest issue of JVP:

Ontogeny of cranial epi-ossifications in Triceratops. John R. Horner and Mark B. Goodwin. 2008. Journal of Vertebrate Paleontology 28(1): 134-144.

Abstract: "Historically, the scarcity of non-adult Triceratops fossils collected from Upper Cretaceous sediments of North America limited our understanding and promoted controversy with regard to the morphology, and presence or absence of cranial epi-ossifications in the widely known horned dinosaur. The recent discovery of several exceptionally well preserved juvenile and subadult Triceratops skulls and numerous juvenile, subadult, and adult cranial elements, from the Hell Creek Formation of eastern Montana, confirms the ontogeny and morphology of epi-ossifications: epinasal, epijugal, epiparietal, and episquamosal. We describe the ontogeny and timing of the fusion of each of these epi-ossifications and the rostral from a cranial growth series. Although the timing is variable, the epinasal fuses first, followed by the rostral, the epijugals, the episquamosals, and lastly by the epiparietals. Co-ossification of the epinasal, rostral, and epijugals unites several of the anterior (rostral-nasal-premaxillae) and lateral (jugal-quadratojugal) skull elements. In combination with forward directed postorbital horns and massive fan-shaped frill, cranial epi-ossifications may have enhanced visual display and species communication in Triceratops."

Abstract reproduced with the permission of the Society of Vertebrate Paleontology. Picture from Hatcher, Marsh and Lull 'The Ceratopsia.'

Starting them early

I'll admit that I am an internet junky. I have often wondered what adults did before the internet, other than talk to each other and read books ;) I know I am in a generation of people who are pretty connected to technology, if they want to be. The oldest person I know on Facebook is my mom and another person her age. But they are never on there (maybe once every two or three months). Same with Myspace. But being on the internet when your older if different than being on the internet when you are, say, three! So how old is to old to start letting your kids be online?

It seems like toy marketing people have figured out how to suck kids in to the internet world even earlier. I had never heard of such a thing as a stuffed animal that comes with a code for the internet where, once entered, it comes "alive" until my friend tried to explaine what one was to me around Christmas. I just sort of discarded the information, but recently stumbled upon an article that tells me more. They are called "Webkinz" and
"...Each bear or tiger comes with its own code, which its kid companion/caretaker enters into the Web site. Next, the kid decorates his pet's house by earning points in inane game-playing followed by even more inane shopping." [link]

It sounds like Facebook crack for a three year old! So, would you let your kid have one of these? Of is it to much to ask that kids play with normal stuffed animals and use their imaginations. Heaven forbid we take away their personal DVD players and make them look out a window on car rides! Sure, I am obviously not a parent, and I'll be the first to admit I do not know anything about kids. But has that much changed in the past 25-30 years?

I'm off to read a book and use my imagination now.....