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Antibiotic Resistance Week

The week of October 6th is antibiotic resistance week. We will explore how pathogens evolve resistance to antimicrobial agents and how medical professionals and researchers can develop strategies to reduce the evolution of resistance. On tuesday we will discuss 4 strategies for reducing bacterial evolution of resistance. 1) Limiting use […]

Estimated reading time: 3 minutes

Guest Lecturers and Week of 10/6/09

Faculty and students in the biology and anthropology departments are welcome to attend guest lectures for the evolutionary medicine course this month. Roland Cooper PhD will give a lecture for the class on Thursday October 8th at 4pm. Lecture entitled “Evolution of Chloroquine Resistance in Plasmodium falciparum”. Dr. Cooper is […]

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Virulence Recap and Writing Assignment

Thanks to everybody for a lively discussion of the evolution of virulence today; pictured here is a rabbit victim of myxoma virus, the classic example used to promote the idea that pathogens will evolve towards a more benign state. Key points from today: 1) Pathogens do not always evolve towards […]

Estimated reading time: 2 minutes

Evolution of Virulence

Next tuesday we are going to discuss the evolution of virulence, using the mosquito borne dengue fever as an example. (Handout and readings are at the end of this post) The dengue virus causes dengue fever, aka breakbone fever. As the name suggests, sufferers of breakbone fever are typically laid […]

Estimated reading time: 4 minutes

All Stings Considered

The subject of the next lecture 9/22/08 will be evolutionary considerations of venoms, toxins, and antibodies to these molecules. What is the difference between a venom and a toxin? Are biologic toxins different from organic toxins? Who benefits from a toxin?  (not including Phillip Morris ) What if a “toxin” actually can […]

Estimated reading time: 6 minutes

Journal Club

As we discussed in class, journal articles will be assigned to 5 groups of students. Group 1: Adaptive Value of Fever Group 2:Biofilms & the human vermiform appendix Group 3:Factor V Leiden Mutation Group 4:Nausea in Pregnancy Group 5:Osteoporosis If you did not get assigned a group, please contact Melissa. […]

Estimated reading time: 1 minute

Handout for 9/15/09

Pathogen Trap In tuesday’s broad-ranging discussion, I will present a hypothesis that might explain why blood clots and inflammation are inextricably linked, why heart attacks are common in older age groups, and why novel diseases fool the immune system into thinking it is under attack. Joe Alcock MD

Estimated reading time: 24 seconds

Reading for 9/15/09

This is an article of mine that was published last year. It describes a phenomenon in which immune cells are fooled into attacking the body in a variety of disease states. These mimic states look like infections to the immune system. See you tuesday! Hemostatic Containment Joe Alcock MD

Estimated reading time: 24 seconds