Beyond pharmacy blog
All posts by Footler PJ
Microbes that modify mercury
Researchers in Cape Cod, Massachusetts, have studied the way microbial action transforms mercury in waste water into more mobile, more toxic forms. The water treatment site surveyed, which was operational from 1936 to 1995, created a 3km plume of contaminants that were found to travel at about 200m a year through the aquifer to accumulate in a coastal saltwater pond.
Pioneering food scientist
William Bate Hardy, born on 6 April 1864, was a biologist and food scientist whose work also greatly advanced physical chemistry. He was educated at the University of Cambridge, where he later lectured in histology, colloid chemistry and biophysics.
How two wrongs may make a right
The controversial process of hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) involves injecting wells with large volumes of water containing various additives at high pressure to crack open deep shale deposits and extract natural gas trapped in the rock. One contentious issue is that up to 30 per cent of the water returns to the surface, bringing up high levels of salts, naturally occurring radioactive materials such as radium, and metals such as barium and strontium.
Useful social amoeba
The amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum lives in the forest litter of temperate regions. It has a curious life cycle. As a single cell it feeds on bacteria and divides by splitting into two daughter cells. But if food is insufficient the cells aggregate to form a fruiting body of about 50,000 cells. This latter form gives the organism its other name, the social amoeba.
Virologist and Nobel laureate
Renato Dulbecco was born on 22 February 1914 in Catanzaro, southern Italy, but grew up in the northwest of the country. Although he had a strong interest in mathematics and physics, he chose to study medicine at the University of Turin. Among his fellow students were Salvador Luria and Rita Levi-Montalcini. All three were destined to win Nobel Prizes in Physiology ...
Hibernating primates
THE only primates known to use hibernation as a survival strategy are three species of dwarf lemur found in Madagascar.
Gentle chemistry
For five years researchers at the University of Copenhagen have been working on new ways to manipulate proteins and peptides. Protein-based drugs, a rapidly growing class of pharmaceuticals, are already used to treat some serious conditions such as cancer, diabetes, leukaemias and sclerosis.
Jiggers or chiggers?
Pharmacists pride themselves on being available to offer advice and answer questions. These questions may be disconcerting (“What is taking so long? It’s only a few pills!”) or they may be unexpected. “Do birds have taste buds?” is one I recall. (They do, but relatively few).
Food faddist and pioneer of chemurgy
Henry Ford was born 150 years ago on 30 July 1863 into a farming family in Michigan.
Preserving voice quality
Presbyphonia is a term used to describe changes in voice quality with age. The voice may sound quieter or more breathy, it may become hoarse or it may have a reduced pitch range.
Peril in a cola bottle
A case study presented at a recent European Society of Cardiology meeting in Athens provided evidence of the potential health problems associated with excessive consumption of cola.
Pharmacy comic opera
Carlo Goldoni, born in Venice in 1707, was a prolific playwright and librettist. He wrote some of Italy’s best-loved plays and made significant contributions to the then new genre of comic opera. He is thought to have been an apothecary’s son, and one of his works was set in an apothecary’s shop.
View results 10per page20per page50per page
