Book Related
rskloot | October 3, 2009
Lots of excitement here at Culture Dish: The final cover for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has arrived (see left). And ... <drum roll> ... the the book's first pre-publication review has hit the press: In the issue coming out this Monday, Publishers Weekly gives The Immortal Life a starred review, calling it, "a remarkable debut ... a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society's most vulnerable people." (wOOt!) Full review here and here:
"Science journalist Skloot makes a remarkable debut with
this multilayered story…
rskloot | September 15, 2009
Yes, that's right, we here at Culture Dish are actually STILL ALIVE! Though you wouldn't know it from our feed. <brushing off cobwebs> ... After a bit of down time, Culture Dish is back. The last several months have been jam packed with pre-publication craziness with my book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is coming to a bookstore near you on February 9th (and is already available for preorder on amazon!). In coming weeks and months, I'll be posting about the publication process, doing some give-aways of pre-publication galleys of the book, and more. I'll also be…
rskloot | May 17, 2009Speaking of the debate over patents interfering with medical care, there's a story in today's New York Times that mentions the drug Iplex, which has shown promise for treating Lou Gehrig's disease -- a deadly and thus far untreatable degenerative disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis).
From the article:
Iplex ... is believed to protect the motor neurons whose
death leads to paralysis in A.L.S. Some patients had persuaded their
doctors to prescribe the drug when the F.D.A. approved it in late 2006
for children with growth deficiencies. "I started on Tuesday," Debbie Gattoni…
rskloot | May 15, 2009
Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups filed suit against Myriad Genetics -- the company that holds the patent on the breast cancer gene. They're hoping to get the breast cancer gene patent revoked, but more than that, they're aiming to stop gene patenting all together.
Today, in my new column in Slate's Double X Magazine, I go into the story of the breast cancer gene and the impact the ACLU claims it's had on science and patient care (a hint: it's not good). I also look at the suit itself, the cases that have come before this one, and what they say…
rskloot | February 6, 2009
Researchers have grown a "Living Doll" that looks like some strange mix between Gumbi and a gingerbread man but is actually made of living cancer cells (see above). Â According to the New Scientist, the technique used to grow the Gumbi Gingerbread Man "could allow drugs to be tested on more complex tissue structures," but they're pretty vague on how it might do that. Â It has to do with the fact that the Cultured Gumbi Gingerbread Man is actually a complex 3-D structure made of multiple cell types, which means it's more similar to a human organ than individual cultured cells are (though it's…
rskloot | January 22, 2009
There's a fascinating story in the new issue of The New Scientist about people's DNA being tested without their knowledge. Suspicious spouses are sneaking DNA samples from their partner's underwear; men and women are covertly testing their children to find out if they're really biologically related, and several companies have cropped up to help them. These tests -- and the companies performing them for a fee -- raise a lot of questions about genetic privacy (and come with some really weird photos) ...
"Test Infidelity is just one of dozens of US companies offering to
test DNA taken…
rskloot | January 14, 2009Yesterday was the first day I was able to post since the ScienceBlogs upgrade because of glitches in the system. Now I'm headed off to Durham, NC, until Sunday. More below the jump:
I'll be visiting a Duke science journalism class and speaking about my book at a Women in Science and Engineering event on Friday. Then Saturday I'll be at the ScienceOnline09 conference talking about
blogging
and breaking into print publication. I'll post from the road if there
are any breaking developments related to the assistance creature story I wrote for the New York Times Magazine, which I've been doing…
sb admin | December 30, 2008Yes, it's true, Culture Dish has found a new (and improved) home. After a long blogging hiatus while I finished writing my book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (see below for details), I'm now packing up shop and moving here to ScienceBlogs (you can subscribe via RSS here, or get Culture Dish updates delivered to your email inbox by clicking here). As a welcome to readers old and new, here's a bit of a Culture Dish history as an introduction:
I'm a science writer whose forthcoming book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells the story of the amazing HeLa cell line and the woman…
rskloot | December 30, 2008Yes, it's true, Culture Dish has found a new (and improved) home. After a long blogging hiatus while I finished writing my book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks (see below for details), I'm now packing up shop and moving here to ScienceBlogs (you can subscribe via RSS here, or get Culture Dish updates delivered to your email inbox by clicking here). As a welcome to readers old and new, here's a bit of a Culture Dish history as an introduction:
I'm a science writer whose forthcoming book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, tells the story of the amazing HeLa cell line and the woman…