Author: Ricki Lewis, PhD

About Ricki Lewis, PhD

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.

Category: Uncategorized | Tagged direct-to-consumer genetic testing, exome sequencing, Foundation for Retinal Research, genetic heterogeneity, Leber congenital amaurosis, ophthalmology, osteogenesis imperfecta, retinitis pigmentosa, retinoblastoma, tumor suppressor | 1 Comment

Do Cats With FIV Foretell HIV’s Future?

By Ricki Lewis, PhD
Posted: March 14, 2013

Category: Uncategorized | Tagged cats, evolution, feline immunodeficiency virus, FIV, HIV, SIV | 1 Comment

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.
May 2013

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- A Little Girl With Giant Axons, a Deranged Cytoskeleton, and Someday Gene Therapy May 16, 2013
  “When you hear hoof beats, think horses, not zebras.” So goes the mantra of first-year medical students. If a common disease is a horse and a rare disease a zebra, then giant axonal neuropathy (GAN), with only 50 or so recognized cases worldwide, is surely a unicorn.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Celebrating Gleevec – and Basic Research May 9, 2013
  When 23-year-old Glamour magazine editor Erin Zammett Ruddy went for a routine physical in November 2001, she expected reassurance that her healthy lifestyle had been keeping her well. After all, she felt great. What Erin received, a few days later, was a shock.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Confessions of a D Orbital May 2, 2013
  Organic chemistry has changed! Not the science, but the way it’s taught. SUNY Stony Brook, Fall semester, 1973. 500+ wannabe doctors pack into the lecture hall, squinting as a small figure up front slaps down overheads, scribbling CHNOPS atoms and various dots and dashes, changing the acetate sheets faster than any human brain can register them.… Read the re […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- DNA Day and World Malaria Day: The Sickle Cell/Malaria Link Revisited April 25, 2013
  Today is both DNA Day and World Malaria Day. As I was pondering how to connect the topics, e-mail arrived from my “son,” a medical student in Liberia. He had malaria, again, and this time it had gone to his brain.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- DNA Day and 20 Years of Writing a Human Genetics Textbook April 18, 2013
  This month we celebrate the DNA anniversaries: unveiling of DNA’s structure in 1953, and the human genome sequence in 2003. From now until DNA Day, April 25, bloggers will be worshipping the human genome. Nature.com will offer podcasts (PastCasts) and last week, Eric Green, director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, spoke to reporters, summari […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- A GPS View of the Human Genome April 11, 2013
  Taking cues from global positioning satellites, Yuval Itan, PhD, a postdoctoral researcher at Rockefeller University and his colleagues have created the “human gene connectome” (HGC), unveiled in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. A MAP BASED ON FUNCTION Researchers have been deducing gene lineages for decades, based on DNA sequence similaritie […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Genetic Modifiers: Healthy Mutants Fuel Drug Discovery April 4, 2013
  I’m uneasy counseling a patient for mutations in the BRCA1 or BRCA2 cancer susceptibility genes. Typically, she’ll have a “first degree relative” – usually a mother or sister – with a related cancer, or might even have a test result in hand.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Mayonnaise Taxonomy March 28, 2013
  I had a serious genetics topic all set to go today, but then something more timely and compelling arose. I began to wonder about what, exactly, mayonnaise is, and more importantly, how do the types of mayonnaise differ? My musings started with Passover, and the importance of eggs at this time of year.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Second Gene Causes Retinoblastoma March 21, 2013
  In a list of famous genes, RB1 would probably be #1. It’s the tumor suppressor gene whose “loss of function” is behind the childhood eye cancer retinoblastoma, and that Alfred Knudson investigated to deduce the 2-hit mechanism of cancer. In 1971, the idea that a gene’s normal function could be to prevent cancer was revolutionary.… Read the rest […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD
- Do Cats With FIV Foretell HIV’s Future? March 14, 2013
  Since my January 24 blog “My Cat Has AIDS,” about my two feline immunodeficiency virus (FIV)-positive cats, we’ve acquired a third, the handsome Romeo. He, too, came to us from Orange Street Cats, on Valentine’s Day. Romeo was found in an inner city park where people who can barely afford to feed their families nevertheless care for the burgeoning populatio […]
  Ricki Lewis, PhD

Author: Ricki Lewis, PhD

About Ricki Lewis, PhD

A Little Girl With Giant Axons, a Deranged Cytoskeleton, and Someday Gene Therapy

Celebrating Gleevec – and Basic Research

Confessions of a D Orbital

DNA Day and World Malaria Day: The Sickle Cell/Malaria Link Revisited

DNA Day and 20 Years of Writing a Human Genetics Textbook

A GPS View of the Human Genome

Genetic Modifiers: Healthy Mutants Fuel Drug Discovery

Mayonnaise Taxonomy

Second Gene Causes Retinoblastoma

Do Cats With FIV Foretell HIV’s Future?

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Author: Ricki Lewis, PhD

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