Update from the Belly Button Biodiversity Team

This blog is an update for those who have been following my posts on the Belly Button Biodiversity Project. I hadn't heard anything further from the team, until I received the email below. Now the important question:  Did I put my new address on my request?


Dear Belly Button Biodiversity Enthusiast,

Great to hear from you!

We've had a tremendous amount of interest in our project, and well, because we're a team of humans and not robots, we've been overwhelmed by the sheer number of requests we've received for sampling kits.

Rest assured, we have your contact info and will be sending out sampling kits as soon as we can, most likely within the next few weeks. We appreciate your patience, as we're just as excited to learn about the microbes living in your navel as you are!

While you're waiting, check out some of the exciting articles and news affiliated with belly buttons and the other wildlife inhabiting our homes and bodies: http://www.yourwildlife.org/ And don't forget to like our Facebook page!

Best,
The Belly Button Biodiversity Team
http://www.wildlifeofyourbody.org/

Post-move update: New home and randomness

Sunset over the lake

Having neglected my blog for most of last week, I thought I'd fill you in on what is happening in my life. (Which means this blog will be a bit more personal than usual; I reserve the right to do this occasionally.) I keep waiting for things to slow down, but it never seems to happen. That isn't a complaint. While I wouldn't mind a few more quiet moments here and there, my life is busy because it is full and fulfilling.

Our move is almost complete. Most of the remaining delay is lack of time without toddler assistance. (Though the endeavor has not been aided by assorted colds and tummy troubles.) A few items remain at the apartment, but we're gradually clearing those out as opportunity presents to take a trip here and there. Unpacking continues at the house. At the current rate, I estimate at least a month before we dismantle the mountain of boxes. Even that may be optimistic. We take a bit of time each day just to appreciate the beauty of our new home, like the view of the sunset over the lake.

Fun in the back yard

My son is starting to settle in too. He has gone a couple of nights without waking and being unable to go back to sleep. (His parents are extremely grateful.) He delights in playing in the back yard and has taken to going to the back door asking, "ide? ide?" in the cutest little chirp of a question when he wants to go outside. Once out, he gleefully flings sand and water (from his Sand & Water Table), takes walking excursions into the back yard (stopping to wave and say "bye"), and splashes happily with the hose and bucket. He keeps up a running chatter as he points out various things, with appropriate words/sound effects. Examples: a doggy fetch stick—left out from visits by my sister's German Shepherd—ducks, people walking on the trail, and dogs. 

Fortunately, my packed weekend started on Friday. While waiting for the shop to finish repairs to our secondary vehicle, hubby and I used our primary vehicle to ran errands that resulted in the purchase of a couple of ottoman/table combos for the living room and elements for my son's new space-themed room. We also completed his Halloween costume and found bigger footie pajamas. I took my son to Sabbath School and my cat to the vet. I enjoyed an all-too-brief visit from my siblings and their families, went grocery shopping, and a stopped by the apartment for my vacuum cleaner and carefully-wrapped wedding gown.

I'm limping along on my old computer, which happened to be the one accessible when we set up our Internet, and planning to dig out the newer computer this weekend.

Currently reading:







A quote for thought, from the first-listed book above:



"...writing is all about getting happy. Writing is never a hobby. Neither is it a dilettante activity for which we salvage some leftover time from our otherwise busy days. Writing feeds those days. On the days when I don’t write, I underperform as an employee and as a human being.  



In fact, I think my boss or the U.S. government should pay me for the time I spend at home with my morning coffee and my journal. That—not the conference-room pep talks—makes me a happier, more focused employee.  



I write. Therefore I work. Simple as that."

The beginning of the end for the flu virus?

Vaccines have been the weapon of choice against viruses, and I have talked about them here on several occasions. Now research is exploring a new therapy: an antiviral drug called Double-Stranded RNA Activated Caspase Oligerizer (DRACO). Catchy name aside, what does DRACO do? It targets cells that have been infected by a virus, hunting the signature mechanism by which viruses reproduce.

The majority of viruses reproduce in four steps:

1. Fixation and entry of the virus into the targeted cell.
2. Copy the genes of the virus using the cell’s power.
3. Bundling of virus particles.
4. Emergence of many copies of the new virus to spread the infection to other cells.

Dr. Todd Rider and his colleagues from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, are targeting the second step in the viral reproductive process. When their genetic material is copied inside the cells, the virus produces a structure called “double-stranded RNA”; because this unique structure is missing in non-infected cells, a protein tied specifically to the double-stranded RNA allows for the specific targeting of the cells containing the virus. By combining this protein with another protein that triggers cell death through apoptosis, it becomes possible to eliminate the infected cells without any side effects on the healthy cells.

Still with me? In short, DRACO targets cells with long strings of double-stranded RNA, causing them to commit cell suicide while ignoring the other healthy cells.

Dr. Rider's research has been tested on 15 different viruses, including H1N1 influenza, and it was effective against them all. The possible catch is that this research was primarily conducted on mammalian cells cultured in a lab, which leaves the possibility that the drug might not work on living animals. More recent work on the drug's effect on mice infected with influenza has continued to yield promising results.

If perfected, DRACO could revolutionize the treatment of viral diseases. Vaccines are effective, until the virus mutates. An antiviral drug could continue to work when vaccines fail. More research and time is needed to determine whether the new treatment is safe and effective for treating viral infection in humans.