Am I detoxing myself? THANK YOU FOR YOUR CONCERN

A number of people have emailed or blogged who are concerned about my health and well-being, having read the National Geo article about my exposure to human-produced chemicals such as PCBs and phthalates. (October issue – see my website for a copy, http://www.davidewingduncan.com).

Quite a few of you have suggested remedies and cures. A woman named Linda emailed me these words: “I cannot or REFUSE to believe you and all others just would have to live with this mess.” This concern and the admonition to do something is deeply appreciated, though as of now, I haven’t done much after I received my results – with one exception. I am eating less large fish, which has high concentrations of mercury. I was rather shocked when I had on board a level of mercury higher than the safety threshold merely from eating two meals of large fish. (Smaller fish have smaller levels of mercury).

Here is my reasoning:

1. Unfortunately, we all have been exposed to most of these chemicals – they are everywhere, and even if one tries to limit exposure, they permeate the environment. Many of these chemicals have been found even in remote places. So even if we purge them, they will come back.

2. The levels I have in me – and you have in you – are so small that no one really knows in most cases if they are dangerous. They are clearly dangerous at higher levels, but the research hasn’t been done for most chemicals at these lower levels. I definitely want to know the dangers – health agencies and the chemical industry need to run the tests and let us know.

3. I am healthy. As a person who tends to be a fatalist about my health, I am unlikely to take action unless I have more proof about the harm. Having said that, some experts believe some of these chemicals may be having a subtle, long-term impact that is as yet unknown. Again, I want to know, but until I do, I’ll not alter my lifestyle dramatically.

4. I want to further investigate some of the remedies you have so kindly suggested. Some seem interesting, others, well, a bit far out. “Official” medicine does not have great methods for flushing these chemicals at tiny levels from the body, but that doesn’t mean your ideas and solutions don’t work. Perhaps a future article?

Again, thanks for the tremendous response!

Thanks for comments ARTICLE ON MY INTERNAL CHEMICAL PROFILE

Thanks to everyone who has sent me notes about the National Geographic article on "chemical body burden", or otherwise commented about the article. In the next couple of days, I'll post some of the responses -- ranging from people who have been exposed to higher than average levels of chemicals to the American Chemical Council, which apparently told a reporter that all drugs listed with the EPA have been tested for toxicity, a claim that seems to contradict what the EPA told me -- that only about 25% of the 82,000 chemicals listed with them have been tested for toxicity. And most of these tests were on animals -- little is really known about the health effects of trace amounts of many chemicals on humans.

Stay tuned for more...!

The Pollution Within: A NEW NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC ARTICLE ABOUT CHEMICALS LANDS ME ON TODAY

In the October issue of National Geographic, I have an article called "The Pollution Within". For the piece, I had myself tested for 320 human-produced chemicals, everything from DDT and PCBs to plasticizers and flame retardants. I then retraced my life starting when I was a boy in Eastern Kansas to see where I might have been exposed to these chemicals. To read about the tests and my results, check out the full story on my website.

Yesterday, I did a bit of a media blitz to talk about the story, including an appearance on Today. I found the attention for the story curious because most of what I write about science doesn't get this kind of press; for many, genetics and the intricacies of chemical this and DNA that is eye-glazing stuff. This is why I did this journalist-as-guinea pig routine, because it humanizes science -- it takes an abstract notion like how much phthalates (a plasticizer) is in the environment and in people and makes it real. I'm a normal (well, mostly normal) person, and I had some blood extracted and tested, and voila! this stuff is inside me, and it might hurt me, or might not, no one really knows.

In 2002 I had similar tests done on my DNA, with scientists testing me for several hundred genetic markers associated with disease. That story was in Wired, and it's also on my website.

So what comes next? One of the hottest areas of bio-science right now is what impact environmental input has on genes -- that is, what happens genetically when someone is exposed to, say, mercury in fish. Some people are very sensitive to mercury exposure, others can take on huge loads and not be affected. Most likely, this difference has a genetic component. As one of the few people -- possibly the only person -- who has ever been tested for both large numbers of gene markers and environmental chemicals, it would be fascinating to cross-reference the two.

In fact, this is one of the components of a new book I'm thinking about writing... but more on that later!

Timely New York Times Editorial: THE CASE FOR IMPROVING SCIENCE EDUCATION IN THE USA

It is an enormous problem in a time of profound new discoveries in life sciences that so many Americans find science dull -- can it be the way we educate our young? Check out this timely editorial in the New York Times from July 3, 2006:


July 3, 2006
Editorial
How to Educate Young Scientists

The United States could easily fall from its privileged perch in the global economy unless it does something about the horrendous state of science education at both the public school and university levels. That means finding ways to enliven a dry and dispiriting style of science instruction that leads as many as half of the country's aspiring scientists to quit the field before they leave college.

The emerging consensus among educators is that students need early, engaging experiences in the lab — and much more mentoring than most of them receive now — to maintain their interest and inspire them to take up careers in the sciences.

Some universities have already realized the need for better ways of teaching. But this means revising an incentive system that has historically rewarded scientists for making discoveries and publishing academic papers, not for nurturing the next generation of great minds.

The Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the country's largest private supporter of science education, is well ahead of the curve, and has been pushing universities in this direction for several years under the leadership of Thomas Cech, a Nobel laureate. The institute recently announced its latest batch of 20 "million dollar professors," who will use their grant money to explore and expand innovative approaches to teaching science.

The institute has also awarded grants to 50 universities aimed at providing richer undergraduate science education as well as mentoring and early research experiences with working scientists. Many of the grants will be used partly to advertise the virtues of scientific study not just at universities but also in high schools and middle schools.

These programs send a powerful message at a time when the country needs to be paying attention to remaking science education. Congress, which has been casting for ways to address this problem, would do well to emulate them.

BioAgenda Innovator at the 2006 Summit: HARVARD'S DAVID SINCLAIR TALKS ABOUT EXTENDING LIFESPAN

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David Sinclair (middle bottom) with his lab at Harvard

At the BioAgenda Summit in March, one of the BioAgenda Innovators, David Sinclair, became ill and was unable to attend. But he has sent me his powerpoint presentation -- which is attached. David startled the entire world a couple of years ago when he announced that he had isolated a molecule that is produced by red grapes that appears in red wine that acts to repair cells and extend their lifespan. The molecule, called resveritrol, is produced when grapes and other plants are stressed -- something that is intentionally done to grapes when they are being grown to use in wine. Plants under stress produce the molecules, called sirtuins, to ramp up cell defenses in plants. Humans and other animals do not produce sirtuins, but we retain the cell machinery that is activated by them. So drink up!

While your sipping your cab or pinot, take a peek at David's slides. I also suggest reading the cover story in Scientific American from last March, written by David and fellow anti-aging researcher Leonard Guarente of MIT, titled "Can DNA Stop Time? Unlocking the Secrets of Longevity Genes".

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Even without reading the article, take a look at David's slides -- you should be able to pick up the gist of his rather remarkable presentation.

Okay, the file for the power point is too big to upload here... I'll break it up and post it in pieces later.

To long life!

A broken health care system for the elderly: DARTMOUTH STUDY SAYS $40 BILLION COULD BE SAVED

The Dartmouth Medical School just released a study that researches how different hospital and healthcare delivery systems handle the elderly when they get sick, and found striking differences. The study concludes that by following guidelines suggested in the report, Medicare could save up to $40 billion. Check out the full report at:

http://www.dartmouthatlas.org/

David co-hosting NPR's "Biotech Nation": GIVE IT A LISTEN

David and Moira Gunn, co-hosts of Biotech Nation on NPR

This week the folks at Tech Nation on NPR are launching a new voice on the Biotech Nation part of this weekly show -- mine! I'm co-hosting Biotech Nation with Moira Gunn, host of Tech Nation. We are starting with a segment called "BioIssue of the Week", where Moira and I discuss a pressing issue in life sciences. I will also conduct interviews and produce other segments as time goes on. Check it out at www.technation.com -- we'll be adding more material about biotech nation and my participation soon. Right now, scroll down on the site to check out my segments.

Biotech Nation airs on 200 NPR affiliates in the US, and in 133 countries and on the Sirius Satellite Network. In San Francisco, the show airs on Sunday night at 10 pm. Short segments of the weekly hour-long show run all week on some stations. Check your local NPR station for air times.

This week we discuss the recent meeting of the Biotechnology Industry Organzation in Chicago -- an anual extravaganza of biotech that is mostly a trade show, but can have some interesting moments. We discuss a keynote speech by former president Bill Clinton about his hopes and fears for biotech and bio-science.

Future shows:

-- The science of extending lifespan and what it will mean to live to be 150 years old

-- The return of malaria as a killer in Africa and tropics, and the development of new drugs to combat these deadly parasites using synthetic biology, which in this case is reengineering microbes to become little factories to produce anti-malaria chemicals

-- How biotech discoveries are financed to become treatments and cures, and some ideas about why the biotech industry loses about $4 billion a year

-- The role of personality in science -- how ego, creativity, quarkiness, and gumption in scientists drive new discoveries

Thanks for listening!

A possible breakthrough for flu vaccines: CAN IT BE TRUE?

We are hearing a great deal about bio-pathogens that may abruptly emerge to strike down millions of people, with one of the most feared and written about being the H5N1 avian flu virus. This virus mostly strikes down birds, but has jumped species into humans in a few cases, with high rates of mortality. So far, H5N1 cannot be easily transmitted among humans, so cases are contained to mostly to a few people in East Asia.

The fear that the virus will mutate into a more human-friendly variety has sparked a worldwide effort to develop detection networks, treatments and vaccines. No one has yet come up with a vaccine for H5N1, but progress is being made, at least in animals tested in labs -- which may or may not mean that a vaccine will emerge that will work in humans. Check out this article in Reuters by Maggie Fox:

Vical bird flu vaccine stops H5N1, maybe others
By Maggie Fox, Health and Science Correspondent
Reuters
Tuesday, May 2, 2006; 8:45 AM

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A bird flu vaccine being developed by San Diego-based Vical Incorporated (VICL.O) protects mice and ferrets against the feared H5N1 avian influenza virus, the company said on Tuesday.

It may also offer potential as a "universal" flu vaccine because it targets parts of the virus that all flu strains have, Vical and researchers testing the shot said.

This so-called cross-protection would mean that new vaccines would not have to be formulated every flu season and could provide a chance to stockpile vaccine ahead of a pandemic.

"A vaccine that provides cross-protection against more than one strain of flu is important for addressing a pandemic flu threat because it is likely that the H5N1 virus could mutate before it becomes transmissible from human to human," Dr. Richard Webby of St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, who tested the vaccine, said in a statement.

Influenza is a virus that makes "mistakes" easily when replicating itself and thus mutates, or evolves, constantly. For this reason the seasonal flu vaccine is re-formulated every year and people have to get new shots regularly.

The H5N1 avian influenza virus does not yet easily infect people but it has spread in birds across Asia, Europe and parts of Africa. It has infected 205 people and killed 113, but if it evolves the ability to spread easily from human to human it would spark a deadly pandemic.

Current vaccines activate an immune response against the most mutation-prone regions of the virus, which is why they must be changed every year. For this reason, experimental H5N1 vaccines being worked on now are unlikely to provide very good protection against a future pandemic strain.

AVOIDING MUTATIONS

But there are parts of the flu virus that are conserved -- that do not change as strains mutate. Experts have been trying to formulate a vaccine that helps the immune system recognize these proteins.

Vical's vaccine uses three bits of DNA -- the "H5" part of the H5N1 avian influenza virus, and genes not so subject to mutation -- the nucleoprotein, or NP, and matrix protein, or

M2.

Mice and ferrets vaccinated with this vaccine and then exposed to H5N1 avian flu virus all survived. Ferrets are considered a good "model" for human influenza because they become infected with it in a similar way to humans.

Mice vaccinated with a simplified version of the vaccine, which only included NP and M2, were also protected from H5N1, the company reported. This suggests but does not prove the vaccine provides cross-protection against several flu strains, the company said.

"Achieving cross-protection is the 'Holy Grail' in flu vaccines, and the current studies provide evidence that such a goal may be feasible using a DNA vaccine targeting conserved influenza virus proteins and formulated with our proprietary Vaxfectin adjuvant," said Vijay Samant, president and chief executive officer of Vical.

Making a bird flu vaccine is big business. The International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations says 31 pandemic avian influenza vaccines made by 15 companies in Australia, Austria, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, Switzerland, Britain and the United States are in human, or clinical, trials.

One, being developed by Merck and Co. (MRK.N), also attempts to be a universal vaccine and focuses on M2.

Research group Datamonitor believes the flu vaccine market could exceed $3 billion by 2010 in the top seven markets alone, against an estimated $1.6 billion worldwide in 2005.

New paperback out today: MASTERMINDS, GENIUS, DNA AND THE QUEST TO REWRITE LIFE

“Duncan turns a scarily bright light on the exploding frontiers of biotechnology and genetic engineering,” - Vanity Fair.

My latest book is now out in paperback...!

For a brief excerpt, scroll down...

Named as one of the SF Chronicle’s “Best Books of the Year”, Masterminds is about the brilliant and sometimes quirky and even unsettling personalities at the forfront of today's genetics and biotech -- scientists who want us to live to be 150 years old, to regenerate our hearts and brains, and to create synthetic lives. For better or for worse, they are about to rewrite life on earth forever.

“Vivid, memorable portraits,” -- James Fallows, Atlantic Monthly.

"Can we trust the geniuses who are pushing into unknwon territories of gene mappiung and modification? An interesting book... clear and helpful" -- Barbara Maddox (The Dark Lady of DNA) in the Times of London

"Two-Hundred-year-old people? E-Mails sent by brain waves? Duncan sketches the (possible) future" -- USA Weekend

The original title for this book was “The Geneticist Who Played Hoops with My DNA”. Check out my website for more reviews and info -- go to http://www.davidewingduncan.com -- and scroll down this blog sitre to find out why I changed the title of this book.

READ THIS FROM THE BOOK'S PRELUDE: An excerpt from the book that sums up my view of this amazing, if slightly unsettling moment we're in as bio-science dashes forward in ways most people are only dimly aware of...

"This creative fire in biotechnology comes after a half-century of biological discoveries and more recent technological breakthroughs, combined with an unprecedented surge of funding from government and the private sector, and supported by a society that loves the gadgets, the medical miracles, and the standard of living afforded by modern science, even if the pace of change sometimes makes us feel uneasy. The outcome of this explosive moment in genetics is anybody’s guess: a brilliant future or, if something goes terribly wrong, a nightmare. Or both. We will cure cancer, vanquish AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, increase lifespan to 300 years, eliminate pollution, and feed everyone on the planet. Or we will create a monster, either inadvertently or deliberately. Maybe we’ll do it all. I believe this is the greatest story of our time, perhaps of all time. A species is developing the tools to redesign itself, to self-evolve in a way Charles Darwin never imagined.

"As a nonscientist enthusiastic about science, I am properly awed by the possibilities. I also wonder, at times, whether I should be afraid. I lean more towards amazement than not, but I am skeptical, too, strongly believing that nonscientists need to do their homework to understand the new science, to be informed enough to be impressed, cautious, or afraid. Most of all we need to stop being mystified, to learn enough to question intelligently and to push our high priests of science to explain what they’re up to."

Welcome to my Blog: HAVE ANY COMMENTS?

The blog is back, and I'd love to hear from you... take a peek at the entries about everything from great cafes in the UK to write in to drug pricing, global health, bioterrorism, publishing, the future of life, bioethics, amazing science, great books I like and recommend, and much more! Also, the paperback of my book goes on sale today -- check out details on my website, www.davidewingduncan.com -- pick up a copy and enjoy!