Healthcare NBIC

Consolidating this blog at JPowers.IN3.ORG

Caught up in academic fervor over intellectual property in my graduate studies at the City University of New York, I've decided to consolidate my blogs and social media content onto my own server in order to "own my own logs."

For more on digital ownership, listen to Columbia Law Professor Eben Moglen's outstanding talk:

Before and After IP: Ownership of Ideas in the 21st Century, Digital Studies Group, CUNY Graduate Center, November 17. 2010 (audio stream). Download: Ogg Vorbis | MP3

and for a more radical view on who should on what in cyberspace, read Mogeln's classic:

DotCommunist Manifesto

From now on, follow my work at my new blog address:

JPowers.IN3.ORG

Subscribe to JPowers.IN3.ORG via RSS

 

Top Healthcare Conversations of 2008

Many of the great healthcare thinkers and bloggers wrapped up 2008 with end-of-year considerations of the important developments in their fields, and some looked ahead with predictions for 2009. Here are the January 1, 2009 Health Memes from around the web:

Personal Genomics in 2008: the Year in Review  Genetic Future

From 2008 to 2009  ScienceRoll

Finding Venture Capital In 2009 Will Be Tough  Pharmalot

2009 Stem Cell Trendsetters in Neurology and Psychiatry  Brain Waves

The Future of Pharma  Health Beat

The Year in Bioethics: The Highs and Lows of 2008  Bioethics Forum

2008 in Review: Ethnicity Strikes Back  Dienekes' Anthropology Blog

HIT Predictions for 2009 on iHealthBeat  Health Populi

Best of Nanomedicine in 2008  Nanomedicinecenter.com

2009: Predictions Across the Web  ReadWriteWeb

Social Media Trends 2009, TrendsSpotting  ReadWriteWeb

Top 30 Brain Health and Fitness Articles of 2008  SharpBrains

Top 10 In 2008  Health Affairs Blog

Not Exactly Rocket Science Review of 2008 [Not Exactly Rocket Science]  ScienceBlogs Channel : Life Science

Top Health Search Engines of 2008 [Highlight HEALTH]  The Highlight HEALTH Network

The Year in Biomedicine  Technology Review Feed - Biomedicine Top Stories

Health and Health Care in 2009 -- a Year of Managing Risks and Wild Cards  The Health Care Blog

(See the final week of 2008 on the December 29 archive page.)

Nano-Typography for Printing DNA Microarrays

A nano-printing technique developed at MIT could dramatically lower the cost of nanomedical tools for diagnosis and experimentation, potentially making DNA analysis "as common and inexpensive as blood testing," according to an MIT news release. A team of scientists led by Francesco Stellacci describes the process to cheaply duplicate DNA data in an article in the Nano Letters Journal of the American Chemical Society titled Supramolecular Nanostamping: Using DNA as Movable Type.

One important prospective application is the DNA microarray, a silicon or glass chip printed with up to 500,000 tiny dots. Each dot comprises multiple DNA molecules of known sequence, a piece of an individual's genetic code. Scientists use DNA microarrays to analyze a person's DNA or messenger-RNA genetic code. Tests like the early diagnosis of liver cancer, the genetic predisposition to certain diseases or the efficacy of some drug treatments are based on these analyses. The DNA dots in the image at right (click to enlarge), each only about 200 nanometers in diameter, were printed using the supramolecular nanostamping developed at MIT.  Conventional microarrays require hundreds of steps to produce and cost $500 apiece. The new technique requires just three steps and could result in costs as low as $50 per array.