Imagine if we had no female Doctors. Do you think we might be in a bad way? Well, the fact we have any at all is partly due to Elizabeth Blackwell (1821-1910) who was showing the boys that the Sisters could do it at a time when female suffrage was regarded as a quaint joke, and slavery was still widely practiced in the United States.

What’s remarkable about Elizabeth was her all-consuming energy. In the course of a long life her ferocious will was applied to most of the progressive Reform and Progressive causes of her day. Like Garrison, Stowe and many others, she was a product of that remarkable culture of Protestant Christianity that rooted in New England in the seventeenth century. It generated many offshoots and heterodox subsets-Blackwell was a doyenne of both Congregationalists and Unitarians at different times-but all were united in their aspiring, hopeful lives, which prized Duty way above individual greed.

The roll call of her achievements is too long for this tiny blog. First female medical graduate 1847 (hats off to Geneva College, NY for this one!) Founded New York Infirmary for women 1857. Deeply involved in medical work in Civil War 1961-1865 (she hated slavery) Flits across the pond to Britain where she founded the National Health Society in 1871. A prescient title indeed. Then came retirement, when most of might choose to spend our days in beer and skittles. But:

Her greatest period of reform activity was after her retirement from the medical profession, from 1880 to 1895. Blackwell was interested in a great number of reform movements – mainly moral reform, sexual purity, hygiene and medical education, but also preventive medicine, sanitation, eugenics, family planning, women’s rights, associationism, Christian socialism, medical ethics and antivivisection – none of which ever came to real fruition.^[6] She switched back and forth between many different reform organisations, trying to maintain a position of power in each. Blackwell had a lofty, elusive and ultimately unattainable goal: evangelical moral perfection. All of her reform work was along this thread. She even contributed heavily to the founding of two utopian communities: Starnthwaite and Hadleigh in the 1880s.^[6] [1]

She wasn’t right on everything (nor were Darwin and Einstein) and she quarrelled with some equally remarkable people including Florence Nightingale. Such are the occupational hazards of a life lived at the cutting edge. But, man or woman, before you sink into apathy and self satisfaction with your accomplishments, ask yourself: have I lived my lfe as well as this?

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabeth_Blackwell

#women #feminism #medicine #protestant #new england #reform #progressive

It’s another day in the office here at LSS. And in between watching the trains coming and going from East Croydon Station, we thought we’d showcase a nice little article from the Daily Mail about a new test for the prostate cancer.[1] A new testing technology will massively improve screening for this disease, saving thousands of lives. And anyway, haven’t we always been big champions of preventive medicine here, or what?

And then we looked again and found the hidden message. Get these extracts

British medics have been working to evaluate the test, developed by Indian firm Datar Cancer Genetics.

Researchers in India collaborated with Imperial College and Guy’s Hospital in London on the study, which is published in the journal Cancer Medicine.

India? Collaborated? Were these words really used in the Daily Mail? Have they just confessed that working with other people across borders might actually produce some useful results? That Foreigners might know something we plucky British do not?

Unfortunately, it seems the answer is “yes.” Our second exhibit is this little piece from Nature [2] which looks at Covid-19 research back in 2020. The authors conclude, overwhelmingly:

Collaborations are essential — we need diverse teams to tackle global problems such as pandemics, and to help navigate social and geopolitical challenges. COVID-19 has provided a timely reminder that it can be done — and of the enormous rewards it can bring.

And what’s true for biomedical research is true for work in IT, astronomy. food sciences and every other discipline that works to ameliorate the lot of humankind. Thanks, Mail, you’ve proven the case. We’re better together.

[1]https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11793975/New-highly-accurate-blood-test-gives-hope-doctors-soon-able-screen-prostate-cancer.html

[2]https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-021-01581-z

#prostate cancer #testing #preventive medicine

Why do we all go around labelling ourselves “Left wing” and “Right Wing“? An anthropologist landing from Alpha Centauri would find a bewildering variety of tribes: Hard Left, Soft Left, Centre Left, and so on all the way out again on the other side to something called the Hard Right. It’s more like one of those pH charts that chemists use to measure acidity and alkalinity than a rational description of political economy. How did we get here? According to Evan Andrews of the History site:

The split dates to the summer of 1789, when members of the French National Assembly met to begin drafting a constitution. The delegates were deeply divided over the issue of how much authority King Louis XVI should have, and as the debate raged, the two main factions each staked out territory in the assembly hall. The anti-royalist revolutionaries seated themselves to the presiding officer’s left, while the more conservative, aristocratic supporters of the monarchy gathered to the right. [1]

Hang on. 1789? Wasn’t that rather a long time ago? And hasn’t rather a lot happened since then, such as Industrialisation, De-industrialisation, Feminism, the Interweb and a few other Broad Societal Trends, to use a term beloved of economic historians? Well, yes they have. So does this “Left” “Right” stuff really map on to a society standing on the verge of quantum computing, biological engineering and a five hour working week?

We think the split is , and always has been, between Progressives and The Other Lot (confession: we can’t think of a name for them yet). Down the years, Progressives have gone by various monnikers, including Whig, Liberal, and New Labour in the UK-you can create your own list for homework if you wish. Haltingly, and at great distance, we dare to detect a few common themes: that Justice supersedes Order. That change can lead to better things. That the more people you include, the more potential your society has to grow. And that information should flow as freely as possible.

Of course there are arguments for The Other Lot, some of them very good indeed. But they are deeply fractured (see The Kronenbourg Question, LSS 7 2 2022), whereas none of the Progressive beliefs cancel each other out, and can actually be mutually reinforcing in certain circumstances

A new coalition built around progressive beliefs would include businessmen anxious for a well fed, well educated work force, scientists and professionals, the educated, the young, workers of all classes, and groups whose historical legacy is to be excluded and alienated, such as women and minorities, all united by the beliefs we have espoused above. A coalition of Opportunity, in fact.

https://www.history.com/news/how-did-the-political-labels-left-wing-and-right-wing-originate

#Left #Right #French Revolution #progressives

Why did I do that? It’s a question that has plagued humankind since Adam and Eve discovered a fruit diet wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. Anyone who has had a hangover, had a row with a partner or cast a wrong ballot has asked it at some time. How do we make decisions, and on what basis? Especially dreadful ones?

In the eighteenth century Whigs and other Enlightenment folk told themselves that they had the answer. The human mind would use its intelligence to look at the best available facts, and by use of reason, arrive at the optimal outcome. It’s a nice theory and it sometimes works on a good day, but its really only for the top 5% and then only sometimes. In the nineteenth century certain Marxists riffed on it by saying classes would make rational decisions based on economic circumstances. And look what happened when that was applied in practice.

Unless you stretch the meaning of self interest so far that its no longer a useful concept, you have to admit people may vote against their best interests. Not a few, but millions at a time. To take one small example, from one small country: why does England vote Conservative in such large numbers? Adam Ramsay examined this for Open Democracy[1] back in 2020, but it’s still relevant today, for it reveals the deep ancient bedrocks of the English psyche. In particular:

………………….But the double helix in the DNA of these issues is sentimentality about the empire, and support for the monarchy, especially as the House of Windsor completed its transition to TV and tabloid monarchy.

It’s this feeling that makes England Conservative (even if not generally conservative): the Tories are the party of Anglo-British nationalism and Empire, the party of the ruling class. And the underlying message in much of Anglo-British nationalism is that posh people – and the monarchy first of all – ought to be in charge. That is, after all, who ran things when Britain was ‘great’.

This is why David Cameron and Boris Johnson were considered ‘prime ministerial’ while John Major, Gordon Brown and Ed Miliband weren’t

A deep psychological yearning for lost status trumped any calculation of rational economic interest. And it will be the same across the entire world, especially as we deal with groups whom are older, less well educated and economically precarious. “The mass of men lead lives of quiet desperation” observed Thoreau. Unless progressives recognise these forces as ineluctable fact, we will lose, and the future of the planet with us.

[1]https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/opendemocracyuk/why-does-england-vote-tory/

#nationalism #identity #religion #nostalgia

Note: For security reasons, Cocktail Night has been cancelled this week

stories that caught our attention this week

She’s a woman  Good news for the feminist cause. The UK is about to get its first female Chief Scientific Officer. Just in time for the next pandemic, which could be the ultra dangerous H5N1 flu strain, which is starting to find its way into humans, as we explain below. Meanwhile, here’s Nature

Angela McLean, a mathematical biologist who helped to steer the country’s response to COVID-19, has been appointed as the UK government’s next chief scientific adviser. She will take over from clinical pharmacologist Patrick Vallance, who gained a high profile for his unflappable appearances in frequent televised pandemic briefings. McLean will need to “step back from the immediate aftermath of that crisis and look afresh at how well our system is working”, says research-policy analyst James Wilsdon.Nature | 3 min read

Sorry, what were you just talking about? Appalling animal husbandry and a feckless desire to put profit over science has nurtured appallingly dangerous strains of influenza. You haven’t heard the last of this story, gentle readers, but here’s the latest, today from the Independent

https://www.independent.co.uk/asia/southeast-asia/cambodia-girl-bird-flu-dead-b2288808.html

One Year of War It’s been 365 days since Russian Dictator Vladimir Putin launched his invasion. Today we present a series of expert views on how we got here and what might happen next

Jonathan Este looks at how things have gone in the actual fighting, which hasn’t been nearly as one sided as Putin daydreamed it would be

https://t https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-how-have-vladimir-putins-narratives-survived-a-year-of-reality-checks-199907?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20fromheconversation.com/ukraine-recap-how-the-conflict-stands-after-12-months-of-bitter-fighting-200611?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%20from%20The%

Why has Russia done so badly? Putin rose from a gangster background and  presides over a gangster regime. The result? Corruption and graft are rife, but spare at least a thought for the poor Russian recruits who are forced to fight for the regime. Here’s Frank Lewidge

https://theconversation.com/ukraine-war-why-russia-has-had-such-a-disastrous-12-months-and-what-to-expect-next-200299?utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Latest%

Lie machine Of course it helps if you are holding a gun to the population’s head, but Putin lies like a horse coper as .well, to get them to go along with this war. Precious Chatterjee Doody makes clear

And China? Their actions in the next few days could shape human history for decades, if not centuries to come. If there is to be any human history, that is. Here’s Ian Williams for the Mail

If China supplies weapons to Russia our whole world will change FOR EVER, writes author IAN WILLIAMS | Daily Mail Online

America has its idiots too   Yes, Putin miscalculated. But don’t forget George W Bush, whose Iraq blunder arguably broke the world order and gave dictators everywhere the green light to invade who they wanted, when they wanted

https://www.msnbc.com/opinion/msnbc-opinion/george-w-bush-was-worse-remember-rcna71216

thanks to P Seymour

And our view? Western countries are not entirely angels, and we can see why some people in other lands are suspicious or even want to cheer on Putin as “the underdog”. But for us there is a line of right and wrong here. In 1994 Russia took control of all Ukraine’s Nuclear weapons, guaranteed its frontiers and agreed to refrain form aggression against it. The UK and the USA signed up to the Budapest Memorandum too; at the time, it was seen as an important step to prevent nuclear proliferation. By his action on 24th February 2022 Vladimir Putin tore up that treaty, and has unleashed a terrifying peril. He would not have done so if Ukraine had retained those weapons. The message is clear: if you want to be safe, get nuclear weapons as soon as possible. That is why his action was not just evil, but irresponsible at an almost adolescent level. He must be stopped.

#avian flu #ukraine #vladimir putin #russia #china #aggression #NATO

Going up against a wild animal must have been incredibly dangerous. Especially if you just had stone knives or spears, making your kill close and personal. So if you could find a way of doing it at a distance it would have been an incredible evolutionary advantage to your group. That’s why it’s important to find out who first invented and deployed bows and arrows, and a team in France think they have the answer.[1] according to Nature Briefings:

The first Homo sapiens to arrive in Europe might have hunted with bows and arrows, around 10,000 years earlier than was thought. In a 54,000-year-old-cave in southern France, alongside a H. sapienstooth and tools, researchers found hundreds of stone points resembling arrowheads — the smallest of which were so tiny that they would have had enough force to kill an animal only if they were shot with a bow. The technology could have been unique to humans: Neanderthals might have inhabited the area at the same time, but there is no evidence that they also took up archery.Nature | 4 min read
Reference: Science Advances paper

The report raises some intriguing questions. There are Neanderthal remains below and above the Homo sapiens remains at the site. How big are the gaps in time between the occupations, and did they ever meet? Secondly, this is an aberrant and isolated appearance of Homo sapiens, way beyond the range of their species at that time. Why were they there? Had some sudden change of climate, perhaps, given them a shor- lived advantage? And what is the evidence for archery in other populations of H. sapiens at this time, especially in their African homelands?

This is intriguing research, but like all the best discoveries it raises more questions than it answers. Perhaps that is a good thing. One of the more intelligent people we know usually proceeds by asking questions rather than making statements. And that has to be the only safe way to proceed in a contested field like human paleontology. And maybe many others.

#human paleontology #neanderthal #homo sapiens #archery

We set up LSS as antibiotics blog. Because we think that the growing shortage of antibiotics presents a clear and present danger to us all, at least equal to nuclear weapons or global warming. And to create a site to showcase the latest stories, ideas, other therapies, trends and so on. If we cover other things, like climate change or womens’ rights, it’s because we think all progressive causes are  intertwined, and progress in any one of them should help our own idée fixe, antibiotic resistance. Plus no one wants to read about the same thing all the time. But it’s still an antibiotics blog.

Most of our themes come from the media. Those indefatigable journalists slaving away at institutions as diverse as the BBC, the Daily Mail, El País and a host of others who make the whole thing interesting and give us hope.  Our aim is simple:  relay their efforts, to keep the general reader up to speed.

But there’s another community who come across us: students and researchers in the field who want real time information on the latest published papers, pre prints and raw data. And, by George, Higgins, we think we have found it: Nature Portfolio [1]  A marvellous clearing house of everything you need to know which should be a jumping-off point for every serious practitioner in the field. And clearly written and edited by top-gun professionals and journalists, making their stuff about as reliable as you’ll find anywhere.( Declaration: No, we don’t get any money, credit or anything- we don’t even know these people. Disinterest is our middle name, as our most loyal readers will know)

So if you’re a pro in the field and have stumbled across us by chance, Nature Portfolio should make a profitable next port of call. And good luck with everything.

[1] Antibiotics – Latest research and news | Nature

#antibiotic resistance #antibiotics #mucrobes #medicine #research #Nature

Could designed proteins be the biggest game changer of all time, right up there with stone tools and the Industrial Revolution? According to American scientist David Baker it might be, at least according to this interview with Nuño Domínguez of El País.

Last year Google’s Alphafold programme made an astonishing breakthrough, as long-standing readers of our little blog will recall. Suddenly it can predict the structure of all proteins as they emerge from the DNA coding template. A task that had hitherto eluded the best minds on the planet for nigh on fifty years.

David and his team will take the next step. Using their RoseTTAFold algorithm they hope to design proteins for specific jobs. Want to block your nasal receptors from attacks by the flu virus? Want to cure Crohns disease? Theoretically, they design the protein. Then back calculate to the necessary DNA sequence, which they run up and splice into a handy bacteria. After which mass production is a cinch. Baker likens it to the change in stone tool technology from random bashing to specifically designed stone tools, with all the  possibilities  which that opened up. Quite a claim!

Our thoughts? Read it for yourself. (warning, you’ll need your translator software if you don’t speak Spanish. We are always cautious about big claims, but, yeah, this one has real potential to improve our lives. If only we spent more money on things like this instead of invading each others’ countries.

https://elpais.com/ciencia/2023-02-19/david-baker-bioquimico-hemos-creado-una-tecnologia-que-nos-lleva-mas-alla-de-las-posibilidades-de-la-biologia.html

#alphafold #protein #dna #rna #medicine #biotechnology

Have you ever heard someone say “I thought my cancer was in remission, but now it has come back”? It’s one of the saddest things you’ll hear. Or heard how suddenly someone’s cancer has suddenly become resistant? And why do tumours spread so quickly, and so suddenly, sometimes-and other times not? The answer may be Extrachromosomal DNA or ecDNA as it’s called in the business.

According to Robin McKie of the Guardian [1] ecDNA can be thought of as free floating lumps of DNA which can dodge in and out of the main chromosomes almost at whim. And they can carry oncogenes, which seem to be the key factors in cancer genesis. And get this from Robin’s key paragraph:

 “………We have now discovered that, in some of the most aggressive forms of cancer, the oncogenes aren’t where we thought they were. They are actually on extrachromosomal DNA,” said Mischel.“The vulnerable gene had quickly disappeared when threatened by cancer drugs and was hidden in ecDNA. Then it reappeared once it was safe for it to start causing damage again.”

Who Mischel is, and why he said it is down to you to discover, gentle reader, by reading the article. You should: Robin’s an excellent science writer.

Our thoughts? Well for what it may be worth, these ecDNA johnnies sound little bit like viruses, the way they can jump in and out of genomes and all that.(spoiler alert: we are not microbiologists) And what has all this to do with satellite regions, non coding areas, epigenetics and multiple gene copies, and that whole mish mash of stuff where microbiology meets information theory? But these researchers are definitely on to something. We hope.

https://www.theguardian.com/science/2023/feb/18/bond-villain-dna-could-transform-cancer-treatment-scientists-say

#cancer #tumour #ecDNA #oncology

this week’s interesting points

Falling Life Expectancy We’ve taken a rising life expectancy for granted for a long time. For too long? Despite all the many advances in things like medicine and nutrition, there’s evidence that it may have started to fall again. Why? Dunno. You tell us why-but is this like the story of the canary in the mine? with thanks to P Seymour

https://www.popularmechanics.com/science/health/a42940614/global-life-expectancy-decline-mega-event/

Hittites took the hit for Climate Change Old hands on LSS will recall our advocacy of the theories of Professor Harper and how it was climate change (with a few epidemics) that did for the Romans. Well, looks like the Hittites may have gone the same way, according to this:

https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-023-00390-w?utm_source=Nature+Briefing&utm_campaign=45822a2504-briefing-dy-20230217&utm_medium=emai

Why Harry Kane and not the bloke next to him? Why are some people, just a few, so very good at what they do, be it sports, music, painting or whatever? After all we all have pretty much the same brains, nervous system and skeletons. Yet one of us ends up as Bryn Terfel, and the rest of us can’t hit a note in the shower. This article looks at footballer Harry Kane and the psychology of stepping out and performing consistently at the highest levels.

https://theconversation.com/harry-kane-is-tottenhams-top-goal-scorer-sports-scientists-explain-his-brilliance-199838?utm_medium

Will India ever reach the top? Until now most outsiders welcomed the rise of India. What was not to like?A post colonial democracy-of-sorts that will become the most populous nation on earth some time this year between the FA Cup Final and the 5th Test at The Oval. Or are they developing issues already, around things like openness and transparency which could nip this ascendancy in the bud? Judge for yourself:

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2023/feb/18/narendra-modi-hindu-nationalism-india-gautam-adani

Could vaccines prevent diabetes? Remember all those antivaxxers who marched through London to storm the BBC, only to discover it had moved? Looks like they had it wrong twice, according to this:

https://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-11749827/Now-scientists-claim-youre-likely-develop-DIABETES-youre-unvaccinated-against-Covid.html

Don’t throw away that old Car.….reuse it. Our researchers loved this initiative from British firm Lunaz. Their aim is to put electric engines in old frames made for the days of diesel. At the moment they are concentrating on lorries and commercial vehicles, but how long before your prize Cadillac gets a new electric engine, and you still know where to put your coffee cup?

https://www.electrive.com/2021/12/02/lunaz-announces-new-ev-conversion-facility-in-buckinghamshire/

Those we have loved Fifty years ago, an elderly member of our editorial board, then 15 years of age, sneaked into a cinema in Ealing, West London to see A Clockwork Orange “It had an X certificate, meaning only people 18 and above were allowed,” he recalls, “but I put on a suit and tie, affected a breezy confidence I did not feel, and bluffed my way into the afternoon matinee. They probably needed to sell some tickets, so I got away with it” Wendy Carlos (nee Walter) reworked a lot of famous tunes in the electronic mode so in vogue back then. Here’s her take on Purcell’s Music for the funeral of Queen Mary, which of course opened the film

https://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=clockwork+orange+theme+music&&view=detail&mid=1513EFF1A9C67AEC88E61513EFF1A9C67AEC88E6&

#life expectancy #population #health #excellence #bryn terfel #sports #india #modi #a clockwork orange #electric vehicles