Scientific MOOCs follower. Author of Airpocalypse, a techno-medical thriller (Out Summer 2017)


Welcome to the digital era of biology (and to this modest blog I started in early 2005).

To cure many diseases, like cancer or cystic fibrosis, we will need to target genes (mutations, for ex.), not organs! I am convinced that the future of replacement medicine (organ transplant) is genomics (the science of the human genome). In 10 years we will be replacing (modifying) genes; not organs!


Anticipating the $100 genome era and the P4™ medicine revolution. P4 Medicine (Predictive, Personalized, Preventive, & Participatory): Catalyzing a Revolution from Reactive to Proactive Medicine.


I am an early adopter of scientific MOOCs. I've earned myself four MIT digital diplomas: 7.00x, 7.28x1, 7.28.x2 and 7QBWx. Instructor of 7.00x: Eric Lander PhD.

Upcoming books: Airpocalypse, a medical thriller (action taking place in Beijing) 2017; Jesus CRISPR Superstar, a sci-fi -- French title: La Passion du CRISPR (2018).

I love Genomics. Would you rather donate your data, or... your vital organs? Imagine all the people sharing their data...

Audio files on this blog are Windows files ; if you have a Mac, you might want to use VLC (http://www.videolan.org) to read them.

Concernant les fichiers son ou audio (audio files) sur ce blog : ce sont des fichiers Windows ; pour les lire sur Mac, il faut les ouvrir avec VLC (http://www.videolan.org).


Amira Willighagen's Got Talent

"The mosaicism of our #brain DNA is far greater than anticipated"

"Our Final Invention" by James Barrat


The Real Privacy Problem

Bio Careers® - The Leading Online Job Board and Career Service for Post Graduate Life Scientists Santa Cruz, CA

Pharma Showing Interest in Open Systems for Drug Discovery

A medical matryoshka doll...new potential approach to triple neg breast cancer

"Wrangling data from a huge variety of gadgets"

"Digital Health and the Frankenstein Syndrome" (Halloween post)

MIT Wristband Could Make Air Conditioning Obsolete

"Here’s a scary statistic: In 2007, 87 percent of households in the U.S. used air conditioning, compared to just 11 percent of households in Brazil and a mere 2 percent in India. Another one: By 2025, booming nations like those are projected to account for a billion new consumers worldwide, with a corresponding explosion in demand for air conditioning expected to arrive along with them. Keeping indoor spaces at comfortable temperatures requires a huge amount of electricity–especially in sweltering climates like India and Brazil–and in the U.S. alone it accounts for a full 16.5 percent of energy use."

New Google Glass is on the way

A #biotech that could save millions of lives, cheaply & efficiently, all over the world

"A sweeping new synthetic vaccine platform that poses infinite possibilities for researchers and could produce novel preventive and therapeutic drugs is a quintessential example. In this interview with The Life Sciences Report, Cox delivers a single name that holds the potential to save lives on a mass scale, cheaply and efficiently, in both the developed and developing world—and deliver health and wealth to investors' portfolios as well."

Coming soon"The Creative Destruction of Lab Medicine" #CDoM

Disney villains get the “Chicago” treatment

OpGen and Hitachi High-Technologies to Develop Human Chromosome Mapping Service

Interested in Genetics and Molecular Biology? Think MOOC - the best one

Couldn't agree more... Lots of work, though, and not only Sunday morning...

Ensuring Latin America is full partner in genomic medicine revolution

Genomic Musical Hitting Broadway!

https://www.facebook.com/possessus
How well do you know your genes, and what do you know about the major discoveries about the human genome? Think gene sequencing, gene therapy, computer programming to translate RNA (the messenger of DNA) into protein sequences, 3D bioprinting -- that is, printing out of a 3D printer, human biological material -- and bioinformatics and DIY bio are science material that has nothing to do on stage on Broadway?

Well, don't be so sure... Oh, and by the way...

Do we own our own body (and genes and organs?)

Medicine and science are enhancing and transforming mankind (homo sapiens). We read about this in the paper everyday, worldwide. It's happening now, right under our feet...

The musical about the Human Genome Project I'm working on is about people and who owns them, about cyberpunks, bio hackers, DIY Bio, biotechs and "pig" pharma. Digital devices, sensors, big and small data, genomics, 3D printing, bioengineering, organ replacement technologies (and donation and trafficking): what do WE THE PEOPLE have to say (and sing) about this?

 Possessus, from the Latin word meaning both possessing and possessed.

This Facebook page "Homo Possessus" is aimed at knowledge sharing for all and by all, so your contribution is welcome and wanted!

Screwed up scientists, really? A Crick and Watson behind-the-scene story


The sugar-phosphate backbone is on the outside and the four different bases are on the inside of the DNA molecule.
Kind of fascinated by that Crick and Watson story, as MIT PhD Eric Lander tells it in his MOOC lectures... I'm talking about MIT 7.00x MOOC "Intro to Biology: The Secret of Life".

Actually those two guys, Crick and Watson, were outsiders, regarded by their academic collegues as total idlers. They were thought of as unreliable kids, screwed up scientists, good enough for talking at any great length and making ridiculous models and achieving nothing but this one thing in particular: annoying and annoying further serious scientists working hard on their serious experiments... Academic insiders are the real thing, you see... Not those idle kids who will take nothing seriously... Except that Crick and Watson got famous for their achievements in genomics... They've discovered the molecular structure of DNA (the double helix), which got them a Nobel Prize.

http://petapixel.com/2013/10/29/honored-photograph/
"Doesn’t look like much, does it? But, depending upon your definition, this photograph, a team effort by 9 men, is the most honored picture in U. S."

This photograph has been taken by 9 "screwed up pilots" whose story reminds me of Crick and Watson's... A misfit crew, made of nine perfect army rebuttal examples, each in its own style, and their DIY plane went on the deadliest mission ever (without proper authorization, by the way, just like Crick and Watson working on the double helix of human DNA), in South Pacific in the early days of World War II...

The Most Honored Photograph

Ohio State Marching Band Stuns With Movie-Themed Choreography

Superman, Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter, Jurassic Park

Superman at 2:04 my favorite (fanfare is
 just not my thing, though)...

"La langue française est morte ce matin : le Larousse explique que digital est un synonyme de numérique"

"La langue française est morte ce matin : le Larousse explique que digital est un synonyme de numérique"

Pour Larousse, Digital est bien «synonyme» de Numérique

The Guide to the Future of Medicine white paper by @berci is coming out this week

Scientists Can Now Genetically Modify Facial Features

The future of aesthetic surgery: genomics?

Cardiologist says: "The remedies are in our own back pockets"


Qiagen Acquires CLC bio

'Born-to-die' technology

Billautshow: "Professionnels de santé proposez donc des services en ligne à vos patients !"

http://billaut.typepad.com/jm/2013/10/connaissez-vous-richard-good-from-lyon-tuotempo-professionnels-de-sant%C3%A9-proposez-donc-des-services-e.html
 Voir l'interview de Richard Good -- tuOtempO -- par Jean-Michel Billaut :

http://billaut.typepad.com/jm/2013/10/connaissez-vous-richard-good-from-lyon-tuotempo-professionnels-de-sant%C3%A9-proposez-donc-des-services-e.html

"Pourquoi doit-on communiquer avec les personnes en état végétatif ?"

http://moviehypesa.blogspot.fr/2012/01/beetlejuice-2-in-development.html
Par Renaud Perronnet

http://www.evolute.fr/relation-aide/communiquer-etat-vegetatif

Plein d'idées pour Tim Burton et son (très attendu) Beetlejuice II... ;-)

Is This Robotic Surgeon Broken Beyond Repair? (ISRG)

A kidney for $10,000? Paying donors actually pays off, new study finds


Achieving ultimate geekdom

The Genetic Code: a pretty looking look up table

Straight Out of the Resource Boxes of MOOC MIT 7.00x "The Secret of Life, Intro to Biology" Eric Lander PhD.

Integrative genomic and transcriptomic analysis of 775 human cancer cell line

Abbott says FDA approved heart valve medical device

This video is what real #breastcancer awareness looks like #thinkbeforeyoupink

Google Wants You to Live 170 Years

Steampunk Girl

Steampunk Michelin

Steampunkenstein

The $40 Indian tablet that could help bridge America’s digital divide

Eric Topol MD: "Digitizing life:hardware=proteins|cells; software=DNA"

J. Craig Venter: "gene patents are not a question of ethics but unaltered natural genes should not be patentable."
  • Thomas Goetz
    co-founder at iodine
    I'm interviewing Craig this Friday in Berkeley. What questions should I ask?

  • Innovation Geek, Marketing Assistant & Writer
    Well I'm curious about India... Seeing wonderful stuff there: they're printing good quality and cheap medicine out of 3D printers (!!), plus word is spreading that sequencing one's genome will soon be cheaper than car parking... Very curious about price of DNA sequencing in the US (23 and me and co.) and about these DIY bio garages booming worldwide... Are biohackers gonna disrupt big pharma? Will we use our DNA structure as signature (bank)?, like so: http://ethictransplantation.blogspot.fr/2013/08/the-gringotts-wizarding-bank-and-dna.html But I must confess I just started reading "Life at the speed of light", so... not sure about which questions I'd like to ask at this stage, sorry...
    Linked In, Digital Health group, Discussions about "Life at the Speed of Light: From the Double Helix to the Dawn of Digital Life" - J. Craig Venter

"Facial features are fine-tuned by noncoding DNA"

"Can Mobile Health Technologies Transform Health Care?"



Atul Gawande, MD: "Future of Healthcare Requires Constant Reinvention"
"there are multiple obstacles to the acceptance and widespread utilization of mHealth technologies. Foremost are the complexities of the health care system, especially the current drivers of reimbursement. In addition, clinicians are concerned about the possible further weakening of the patient-physician relationship and the possible increase in their workload. Also, and somewhat paradoxically, the unbridled enthusiasm of the mHealth technology development community, coupled with consumers’ appetite for alternative health and wellness resources, can create challenges to the appropriate use and validation of mHealth technologies. For example, there are tens of thousands (estimates vary between 30000 to more than 90000) health care–related apps available for download, in contrast to the US Food and Drug Administration estimate of the approximately 100 it has reviewed. This lack of oversight is worrisome and contributes to the increasingly high likelihood of useless and possibly even dangerous apps being downloaded by unsuspecting consumers. (...) To move beyond that, in this Viewpoint we offer examples of how mHealth technologies can transform health care by addressing inefficient practices and challenges faced by consumers and clinicians in the current system." In: "Can Mobile Health Technologies Transform Health Care?" Authors: Steven R. Steinhubl, MD; Evan D. Muse, MD, PhD; Eric J. Topol, MD.

http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleID=1762473

the top 10 most exciting stories in #3dprinting

100Kgenomes will position UK as a leader in genomic medicine by demonstrating clinical utility

"This 'Ending Cancer' stuff, while a laudable goal, is sending a wrong message to public "

See the reactions and comments on Twitter... Very interesting!

New Blog Post on Nanomedicine: Using ‘tiny little FedEx trucks’ to target breast cancer tumors

NextCODE raises $15M for clinical genomics tech from Polaris and ARCH

"Obtenez une seconde opinion médicale" avec SOmedical

http://www.somedical.com
L'avis de Catherine, amie Facebook, sur ce site :

"Je ne sais pas quoi penser de ce site ? Nécessaire cependant.
Ayant expérimenté très récemment, à ma plus grande sidération, toutes les failles du 'fameux système de soins français' à l'occasion de la maladie terminale d'un proche.
  Être malade, et puis un jour mourir, c'est une chose. Mais pas dans ces conditions. Pas en 2013.

'Obtenez une Seconde Opinion Médicale.
Êtes-vous certain d’être soigné par l’un des meilleurs médecins ? Les erreurs de diagnostic n’arrivent pas qu’aux autres ! Votre médecin n’est pas infaillible, il ne peut pas tout savoir sur les innovations thérapeutiques. Obtenir un second avis médical par l’un des meilleurs spécialistes mondiaux de la maladie qui vous concerne, c’est augmenter vos chances face à cette maladie !

C’est le rôle de SOmedical : identifier les meilleurs spécialistes en France, en Europe et partout dans le monde, pour vous. Ces Champions dans leur spécialité vous donneront leur diagnostic, et vous pourrez bénéficier des toutes dernières avancées médicales.'"
 

http://www.somedical.com/

Santech, éditeur de plateformes de e-santé

http://billaut.typepad.com/jm/2013/10/connaissez-vous-christophe-lorieux-from-paris-santech-.html

Interview de Jean-Michel Billaut, président de l'Atelier BNP Paribas

Interview de Jean-Michel Billaut, président de l'Atelier BNP Paribas qui s'est vu décerner le Prix du Promoteur lors du Prix des Technologies Numériques 2011.

"How healthcare will drive semiconductors"

Women: Here’s Your No. 1 Killer

The completion of the 1000 Genomes Project


"Access to Patient-Level Trial Data — A Boon to Drug Developers"

It is ironic that the organizations that most resist wider access to data are the ones that stand to benefit so much from greater transparency.

http://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp1310771

Brain decoding: Reading minds

"By scanning blobs of brain activity, scientists may be able to decode people's thoughts, their dreams and even their intentions."

ILLUSTRATION BY PETER QUINNELL; PHOTO: KEVORK DJANSEZIAN/GETTY
http://www.nature.com/news/brain-decoding-reading-minds-1.13989

"Despicable Me 3? The MinION access programme is coming in November"

Scripps Translational Science Institute received $29M grant renewal to explore genomics, wireless tech and bioIT

Angelina, la science du génome humain et la théorie de la démocratisation de la santé


A mon avis, faudrait Angelina Jolie pour expliquer ceci (entre autres) aux Français : préférez-vous donner vos organes ou vos données génétiques ? Moi, c'est mon prof de génomique qui me l'a expliqué au MIT à Boston, USA, avec l'exemple de la mucoviscidose :

Would you rather donate your data, or your lungs? 

http://ethictransplantation.blogspot.fr/2013/10/would-you-rather-donate-your-data-or.html

Angelina, première preuve de la démocratisation de la santé, selon Eric Topol, cardiologue et généticien américain, auteur de l'ouvrage intitulé "The Creative Destruction of Medicine"

E Topol: "Angelina Jolie is the exemplar case of democratizing medicine." 

http://ethictransplantation.blogspot.fr/2013/10/e-topol-angelina-jolie-is-exemplar-case.html

Pendant ce temps, en France, il est interdit au citoyen lambda de demander le séquençage de son génome ... A mon avis (et à écouter mes profs au MIT), Angelina a eu des infos que les Français n'ont pas ... Et moi, à force d'écouter mes profs au MIT (et à la Harvard Medical School, les deux établissements d'enseignement ne sont pas très éloignés l'un de l'autre, tous deux dans la région de Boston, MA, USA), je commence aussi à avoir des infos que les Français n'ont pas ... Mais ...

1) Je ne suis pas Angelina Jolie
2) Je ne vis plus en France

Euh ... quelqu'un a-t-il une connexion avec Angelina Jolie ? (sa "petite" famille vient en France pour les vacances, je crois ...)

"Are We Puppets in a Wired World?"


Are We Puppets in a Wired World?


The Beard-ome

From the science-for-fun department:

NIH-funded researchers show that "different Cancers Can Share Genetic Signatures"

NIH-funded researchers: "Even when cancers originate from different tissues, they can show similar features at the DNA level."

http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2013/10/22/different-cancers-can-share-genetic-signatures/
From the NIH Director's Blog: NIH-funded researchers recently compared the genomic fingerprints of tumor samples from nearly 3,300 patients with 12 types of cancer discovering that even when cancers originate from different tissues, they can show similar features at the DNA level.

Learn More: http://directorsblog.nih.gov/2013/10/22/different-cancers-can-share-genetic-signatures/

Welcome to the era of "biological teleportation"

http://www.quickmeme.com/meme/3rjdr3/
"Craig Venter has built a prototype of a “Digital Biological Converter” (DBC) that would allow what he calls “biological teleportation”: receiving DNA sequences over the Internet to synthesize proteins, viruses and even living cells, The Guardian reports."

Jean-Michel Billaut, a digital economist: "Hébé ... Cela va loin ... Balader des bouts d'ADN sur le net , imprimer des cellules humaines ou des médicaments ..."

Video Tip of the Week: GenoCAD, computer-assisted design for synthetic biology

"There are a thousand no's for every yes"



http://www.strangeling.com/maritimesunset.html
Amazing Apple this morning (Apple keynote Oct. 22/2013)...

The Unsustainable Economics of Cancer Drugs: “The first physician-initiated revolt" against high cancer drug prices

Your weirdest lab rat session ever

Bringing biotechnology in to the home: Cathal Garvey at TEDxDublin



Cathal Garvey is the creator of the blog Indie Biotech, his personal endeavour to provide tools, materials and learning resources for biotechnology to individuals worldwide. Worldwide, the DIYbio movement is taking hold and generating renewed interest in community biotech. Cathal provides affordable, Open-Source-DNA development platforms, kits and strains for beginners to learn the engineering of bacteria easily, and perhaps later to facilitate engineering of plants and simple bugs such as Sea Monkeys. He hopes to change the face of biotech, and perhaps change some lives for the better in the process.

"The Genomic Oracle", a highly informative article

"The cost to sequence an entire genome is still substantially higher, at several thousand dollars. A few clinics in the United States are starting to sequence the full genomes of patients whose diseases can't be identified by the standard battery of genetic tests, or whose diseases resist conventional treatments."

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/human_genome/2013/10/babyseq_genome_study_will_sequencing_dna_at_birth_change_someone_s_life.html

In India, people are spreading the word that sequencing your genome will soon cost less than parking your car...

Breaking an arrhythmia guided by smartphone ECG

#ionworld2013







Claritas CEO Patrice Milos speaking about gene panels and exome sequencing #ionworld2013

"E Topol: Angelina Jolie is the exemplar case of democratizing medicine."

The famous #ionbus at #IonWorld2013 #Boston

"We have discovered the secret of life!"

Leonor Fini, Lithography.
"Watson, on the 28th of February, about 10 o'clock in the morning, comes into the lab and starts taking the models of the nucleotides that have been cut for them by the machine shop and starts putting them together in different ways and gives up on the like-by-like, and instead begins combining different with different, and sees that at equal spacing, you can make the Ts fit with As and get two hydrogen bonds.
And you can make the Cs fit with Gs, and get three hydrogen bonds.
And they would fit perfectly into a double helix if the two strands were running in the opposite direction, and would nicely reproduce the spacing evident in photograph 51 and the dyad symmetry present in that.
And Crick comes into the lab about an hour later.
Watson shows it to Crick, and Crick instantly realizes, this feels like an answer.
Not this other thing you were doing a few days ago, Jim.
This feels good.
Watson is still cautious-- because they've already blown it before in producing the wrong structures-- and really wants before they tell anybody to have the machine shop build a careful model of DNA to show that the whole thing will really work.
And as partnerships go, they go to lunch at the Eagle Pub.
And although Watson says, let's not tell anybody yet, Crick sits down at the Eagle Pub and announces to anyone who will hear, 'we have discovered the secret of life!'.

And as it turns out, they had.

Because it turns out that when the model was carefully built, the model checks out."  7.00x Intro to Biology- The Secret of Life  Eric Lander PhD. "DNA Structure: the Race".

Crick and Watson's DNA molecular model, 1953.
http://www.anselm.edu/homepage/jpitocch/genbio/doublehelix.JPG
Crick and Watson write a paper for "Nature". It is one page long. And it's probably the most famous paper in the 20th century. It starts, "we wish to suggest a structure for the salt of deoxyribonucleic acid, DNA. This structure has novel features which are of considerable biological interest." Second paragraph, "a structure for nucleic acid has recently been proposed by Pauling and Corey (...). "But without the acidic hydrogen atoms, it is not clear what forces would hold the structure together, especially as the negatively charged phosphates near the axis will repel each other." "So second paragraph is dismissing Pauling's model. And then it goes on and it explains the dyad symmetry and all this and gets down to the bottom of the page and, well, why is this model so good?

Why is this model so good?

It isn't just that it explains the X-ray crystallographic data. It isn't just that it explains Chargaff's Rules (A-T and C-G having same ratios). A model that has A matching T, G matching C, Cs matching Gs, Ts matching As-- a model that does that has one amazing property. It explains something.

It explains heredity.

It explains heredity because each of those strands alone is a complete template for the other strand. If I give you one strand, AGCTAAGG, you can fill in the other strand. If I separate these two strands, each can be used as a template to make a copy of that information. That is a stunning observation. Suddenly, the whole notion of how you can replicate information is clear. You replicate information by having a double helix where the information is fully specified on either of the two strands. You peel them apart, and you can put together two double helices. This is how chromosomes will replicate. This is what mitosis and meiosis must be about-- the transmission of genetic information. That's why Chargaff's Rules matter.

That's why Crick goes into the Eagle Pub and he says, 'we've discovered the secret of life!'."

7.00x Intro to Biology- The Secret of Life  Eric Lander PhD. "DNA Structure: the Race".

Breast Cancer Is Not a Facebook Status Game

"Girl smuggled into Britain to have her 'organs harvested"

Biosensor overdose in baby monitoring

The Cancer Drug Racket

New drugs could extend cancer patients’ lives—by days. At a cost of thousands and thousands of dollars. Prompting some doctors to refuse to use them.

"Adrian, humain 2.0" par David Angevin et Laurent Alexandre

Amazon
 4.0 étoiles sur 5 Angevin - Alexandre : les nouveaux Boris Vian ?

"L’Europe bioconservatrice est devenue un 'Jurassic Park industriel', ruiné par la crise. Le 'G2 transhumaniste' Etats-Unis-Chine règne sur la planète grâce à son avance dans les 'NBIC' (Nanotechs, biotechs, informatique, sciences cognitives). Et, dans l’ombre, un 'Prince des ténèbres' tire les ficelles : l’überpatron de Google, Sergeï Brin." Libération, 12 mai 2013. Cette fiction au langage cru, façon tripot, rappelle étrangement le propos du livre "Les Morts ont tous la même peau" écrit par Boris Vian en 1947. Cet ingénieur avait fait le pari de "pondre" un chef d’œuvre en 48 heures ... Situé dans une Amérique raciste et faussement puritaine, le roman intitulé "Les Morts ont tous la même peau" raconte l'histoire de Dan, un sang-mêlé (un noir à peau blanche) ayant réussi à se faire une place dans la société des blancs sans que ceux-ci ne sachent rien de ses origines. Sa vie était parfaite jusqu'au jour où un homme disant être son frère vient lui réclamer de l'argent en le menaçant de raconter aux gens ses vraies origines. Menacé, Dan assassinera 'son frère', allant au-devant de graves ennuis et d'autres crimes. (Source : Wikipédia). Dans les deux cas, les auteurs font les vendanges du sordide afin de tendre l'ultime miroir (grand cru vendanges tardives) à une société en faute : celle prônant le racisme (sous couvert de puritanisme) aux USA durant la première moitié du XXème siècle ; celle condamnée à suivre les Google et autres Amazon faute d'alternatives, tant il est universellement reconnu que l'Europe n'est pas la panacée des startups ou de l'innovation ... Les anglicismes foisonnent chez "Adrian, humain 2.0" à l'instar des obscénités de bordel "underground" dans "Les Morts...". On comprend que "l'exception culturelle" de l'Europe en général et de la France en particulier (ayant fini par crever de son principe de précaution inscrit dans sa constitution), c'est du "bullshit". De là à ce que les auteurs viennent cracher sur le tombeau d'une Europe qui a raté tous les virages, celui de l'innovation, du progrès humain ... et que ces crachats éclaboussent quelques transhumains dégénérés au passage ... il n'y a qu'un pas, que le tandem Angevin-Alexandre franchit, tout comme l'avait fait Boris Vian à son époque. Voulons-nous comprendre le message ? Non. Nous ne voulons pas comprendre que le généticien Laurent Alexandre crache sur les fossoyeurs de l'innovation. On imagine à quel point le chef d’œuvre de Boris Vian, "Les morts ont tous la même (couleur de) peau" a fait scandale lors de sa parution en 1947 ... En 2013, l'Europe en général et la France en particulier boudent l'innovation. Sous couvert de puritanisme. Cela fait les choux gras des Google et autres Amazon. Faut-il vous faire un dessin ? Eh bien, il me semble que c'est ce que fait ce livre, non ?

PS aux deux auteurs : la couv' de votre bouquin est nulle à chier ... vous vous êtes fait avoir par votre éditeur papier (typique : lisez donc Ape de Guy Kawasaki et vous comprendrez pourquoi).

Rochelle and the Keystone Cops

Former French President Sarkozy and President at present Hollande
"Pas triste la e-santé en France : un monde de lobbies 1.0 que je pense les Américains vont faire exploser ..."Jean-Michel Billaut.

Er, since you're asking, yes, I'm French...but I'm leaving my country...
http://www.deviantart.com/art/Monster-High-Rochelle-Goyle-323601184

"DNA Structure, the Race"

http://boingboing.net/2012/11/08/the-turn-of-the-screw-james-w.html
"And so began the race to understand DNA structure. It involved a 25-year-old ornithologist from Indiana and a 35-year-old rather talkative physicist, a Brit, who had worked for the admiralty during World War II.
The ornithologist--erstwhile ornithologist in college-- one James D. Watson, and the physicist, working in the admiralty during World War II, Francis Crick.
And Watson came over on a fellowship to the Medical Research Council labs in Cambridge, England, and was there to work on structures of things with Francis Crick, who knew a lot of crystallography, knew mathematics and crystallography.
And they were incredibly well known around the Medical Research Council because they talked a lot and did very little. They did a lot of talking. And they had big ideas about what they were going to do, including this DNA thing. They knew this was really important.

They weren't supposed to be working on DNA.

They were supposed to be working on something else. The distinguished head of the lab, Sir Lawrence Bragg, didn't want them working on DNA because King's College down in London was supposed to be doing the DNA stuff. But you know how kids are. They really wanted work on this DNA stuff. And they made some models. And they were kind of crazy models. And some of them were kind of embarrassing models in 1952 that they were making that anybody could have seen they had it wrong and so on. They began going down to King's College and talking to Rosalind Franklin, who was working on crystallizing and doing X-ray diffraction patterns on DNA, invited there by Maurice Wilkins.

The two of them didn't get along.

Rosalind didn't really have anybody to talk to about her stuff, and there was a bit of tension between them due to a bunch of misunderstandings. Crick and Watson came down and made a pain of themselves.
And they talked back and forth. And Rosalind Franklin hated all this abstract models stuff. She wanted hard data. Crick and Watson loved models. And you had this tension back and forth there.

Rosalind Franklin, at one point, was sure, based on her data from one form of DNA, that DNA was certainly not a helix, she even published a death announcement, a black-rimmed paper saying the death of the helix, saying that it certainly wasn't going to be a helix.

And it was back and forth.
And it was sort of comic.

At the beginning, in 1952, it had a feeling of Keystone Cops to it in a way.

And you've got to read Jim Watson's autobiography The Double Helix because he tells these stories." 

7.00x Intro to Biology- The Secret of Life, Eric Lander PhD.

"New iPad publishing system Prss sets out 'to make print feel stupid'"

Validation of @FoundationACTG #cancer sequencing approach of 287 genes in 2221 patients

Dr Arnold Munnich

"If French isn’t a problem for you I suggest reading Le Point’s (October 17th) special on genetics/genomics. One black spot, the interview of Dr Arnold Munnich, head of the department of genetics of the Necker-Enfants malades hospital. A response to Dr Munnich’s opinions here."

http://pgandyou.wordpress.com/2013/10/20/dr-arnold-munnich/

Genia Aims to Build the iPhone of Gene Sequencing

Declaration of Helsinki Ethical Principles for Medical Research Involving Human Subjects

"People like your daughter are invisible to pharma" - The $99 DNA Revolution

http://www.fastcompany.com/3018598/for-99-this-ceo-can-tell-you-what-might-kill-you-inside-23andme-founder-anne-wojcickis-dna-r
Adoptive mother of five-year-old girl finds out her daughter is at high risk for Alzheimer.

"People like your daughter are invisible to pharma. The way these research studies are typically done is they bring in people with Alzheimer’s, give them a drug, and see what happens. Do they get better? Like a number of other brain diseases, the Alzheimer’s process starts before you start having symptoms, so the changes in your brain are happening before you are actually manifesting dementia. Most of pharma’s trials have failed, and the key takeaway is a) they may have been targeting the wrong molecule and b) they were intervening too late. So now what pharma wants to do is new trials in people who are at high risk, who are like 60 and e4 carriers. But what’s hard for pharma is this: How do you find people who don’t yet have Alzheimer’s and aren’t sick? They’re not going to a doctor. Well, we have 65,000 people in 23andMe who are e4 carriers, and we have 6,000 people in 23andMe who have the same genotype as your daughter’s."

"Since then, my daughter has been matched with handfuls of young Ethiopian adopted children whom 23andMe has identified as her third to fifth cousins. With every match, her web of connection grows another strand stronger. I choose to think of this as a potentially beautiful new world opening up for her--but one that requires an extraordinarily thoughtful bravery from all of us."
http://medcitynews.com/2013/10/genetic-testing-mean-adoptive-parents-look-inside-23andme-one-parents-soul-searching/