Still fiction, hopefully science quite soon

The inner workings of a (crowded) cell

A very nice video which explains the inner workings of a cell made at Harvard University.


However a typical cellular protein concentration is 400 mg/ml (400 g/L) so the cell should be much more crowded and less neat, in my view. Have a look at this reconstruction of the cytoplasm of a eukaryotic cell (Dictyostelium discoideum, from Medalia et al, 2002).).

George Bush´s taste in art- found at SlateV

Quite a spectacular misinterpretation of an unspectacular painting.

"Le monde selon Monsanto" - how dangerous is GM milk?

Yesterday I saw a documentary on Monsanto, an agrobusiness, which was aired by the French- German TV channel arte. You can watch the film "Le monde selon Monsanto" in either French or German (if you are currently in either France of Germany). The film was highly critical of genetically modified food.

The use of (recombinant) growth hormone rBST in milk production was criticsed heavily. The use of growth hormone seems to increase milk production, but also causing mastitis. It was claimed that farmers do often treat this condition by giving antibiotics to affected cows. Moreover it was claimed that milk produced this way contained not only elevated levels of antibiotics but also of Insulin like Growth Factor (IGF). IGF drives cell proliferation and can thus facilitate the onset of cancer. rBST treatment is not allowed in milk production in the EU and Canada and basically all developed countries save the USA.

Nontheless, wouldn´t the IGF be denatured and destroyed in the digestive system when taken up orally by humans?

Interestingly, the milk produced by this method seems to be save for humans, but there are aminal welfare concerns according to studies conducted by regulators in Canada.

The documentary failed to mention this; it was more focused on the lobbying side of the regulatory process. What it failed to show is how Americans respond to the whole story: They just buy more rBST free organic milk. Organic diary products were already a 500 million dollar market in 2000. GM food is once again not a very convincing bogeyman.