Daily Archives: January 24, 2013

My Cat Has AIDS

By Ricki Lewis, PhD
Posted: January 24, 2013

Category: Uncategorized | Tagged AIDS, cats, feline immunodeficiency virus, FeLV, FIV, HIV, human immunodeficiency virus | 41 Comments

About DNA Science Blog

Geneticist Ricki Lewis blogs from the cutting edge of genomics, including genetic testing, stem cells, gene therapy and more.

Ricki Lewis is a science writer with a PhD in genetics. The author of several textbooks and thousands of articles in scientific, medical, and consumer publications, Ricki's first narrative nonfiction book, "The Forever Fix: Gene Therapy and the Boy Who Saved It," was published by St. Martin's Press in March 2012. In addition to writing, Ricki provides genetic counseling for parents-to-be at CareNet Medical Group in Schenectady, NY and teaches "Genethics" an online course for master's degree students at the Alden March Bioethics Institute of Albany Medical Center.
January 2013

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- Mitohype: 3-Parent Designer Babies Who Will Change Human Evolution March 6, 2014
  If I turned in a 20,337 word article and the editor decided to replace 37 of those words, would I call her a co-author? Certainly not. So why does replacing 37 genes in a fertilized ovum destined to develop into a sick child conjure up images of ménages-a-trois in Petri dishes and mingling chromosomes?… Read the restThe post Mitohype: 3-Parent Designer Babie […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Rare Disease Day 2014: A Parent Fights to Cure Blindness February 27, 2014
  For Rare Disease Day 2014 tomorrow, I’ve asked Kristin Smedley, president and co-founder of the Curing Retinal Blindness Foundation, to guest post. I introduced her here last year, Rare Disease Day: What 5 Kids With Low Vision Can Do.… Read the restThe post Rare Disease Day 2014: A Parent Fights to Cure Blindness appeared first on DNA Science Blog.
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Exon Skipping: Borrowing from Nature to Treat Rare Genetic Diseases February 20, 2014
  Imagine selecting, copying, and pasting this sentence into a new document, but dropping or adding a word. The meaning might change — in the copy. The same thing – gaining or losing information – can happen to a gene, because like sentences built of words, most genes come in pieces.… Read the restThe post Exon Skipping: Borrowing from Nature to Treat Rare Gen […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Patient-Specific Stem Cells Recapitulate Age-Related Macular Degeneration February 13, 2014
  Stem cell debate and hype continue, with each advance distancing the field from embryos while promising replacement parts as stem cells “turn into” everything from hearts to gizzards. Meanwhile, many researchers have been quietly pursuing the immediate promise of the cells – conjuring the beginnings of diseases in dishes.… Read the restThe post Patient-Speci […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Probing Polar Bodies to Pick Disease-Free Embryos February 6, 2014
  After writing eleven editions of a human genetics textbook, I automatically assign chapter numbers to exciting new findings. But the 3-page case report in this week’s JAMA Neurology on selecting disease-free embryos tangled up my brain with all its connections.… Read the restThe post Probing Polar Bodies to Pick Disease-Free Embryos appeared first on DNA Sci […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Project Prakash: Learning From the Formerly Blind January 30, 2014
  For the past few years, I’ve been dazzled by high-tech treatments for blindness. The first DNA Science blog post was about stem cells to treat Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, and the most recent about gene therapy for choroideremia, with the tales of several children becoming able to see for the first time in between.… Read the restThe post Project Prakash: […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Gene Therapy News: Brain, Skin, Eye January 23, 2014
  Several recent reports on ongoing clinical trials for gene therapies indicate that even preliminary studies with only a handful of patients can yield results with the potential to alter the course of the entire field. So after each description below, I offer a DNA Science “lesson learned” assessment: why the study is important.… Read the restThe post Gene Th […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- SyFy’s Helix: Tired Plot, Bad Science, Fun January 16, 2014
  Last week I trashed Dan Brown’s Inferno for its poor use of science in the plot. But Inferno earns an A- in originality compared to the SyFy TV series Helix that debuted last Friday night, January 10. It’s another escaped-virus situation, but with a less creative setting than Inferno’s eerie indoor lagoon.… Read the restThe post SyFy’s Helix: Tired Plot, Ba […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Dan Brown’s “Inferno”: Good Plot, Bad Science January 9, 2014
  When Dan Brown’s latest novel, Inferno, was published last summer, several people insisted I read it – because it’s about an insane geneticist. So when my local library asked me to give a talk about a book with genetics in the plot, I chose Inferno.… Read the restThe post Dan Brown’s “Inferno”: Good Plot, Bad Science appeared first on DNA Science Blog.
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Diets That Treat Genetic Disease – Three Classic Cases January 2, 2014
  The greatest challenge of majoring in biology in college was mastering the chemical steps that build up and break down the 20 types of amino acids specified by the genetic code. I could memorize the energy pathways with an idiotic mnemonic device – CIA SS F_UCK MY OX – (citrate, isocitrate, α-ketoglutarate, succinyl CoA, succinate, fumarate, malate, oxaloace […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD

Daily Archives: January 24, 2013

My Cat Has AIDS

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