OK, this is a bit off topic. On the way to school today my son put in a cd with rap. Now, I like music, all music, even rap. But, and I know I'm but a candle in a 1000 watt debate, I cannot handle the swearing, genital grabbing, bad ass lyrics proliferating in the genre. Ultimately, I see this as a compensatory reaction to feelings of inadaquacy and powerlessness among America's black youth. If I understand Bill Cosby, he's saying the same thing.

Yet, the rappers are making tons of money - check out the bling. So, are they powerless? Or is this just more exploitation by power hungry punks preying on the frustrations of Black youth? I vote for exploitation.

So, to all you bad ass punk rappers, take your bling and spend it on raising the self esteem of the audience you are so aptly exploiting. Enough already with the poor ghetto stereotyping - use your position for good - thats the real bling.

Research investigating messenger and interference RNA will change the way diseases are controlled within the next ten years. There will be cures for viral diseases such as AIDS and other scourges like Alzhiemers.

But the big game hunt is for "magic bullet" drugs.

Drug makers and researchers have long sought to create drugs that target bad cells while leaving healthy ones alone, hoping to rely less on dangerous, blunt treatments such as chemotherapy.

Now, investors are betting RNA interference will be a powerful tool in customizing drugs.

"There is always a fear that there will be unintended consequences," said Gregory Hannon, an oft-cited RNA interference expert at Cold Springs Harbor Laboratory who has published several major findings in prestigious journals such as Science and Nature. "But even with a few off-target effects, it is still going to be better than any drug currently available. I believe this is revolutionary."

http://www.kron4.com/Global/story.asp?S=1366282

New developments in messenger RNA and RNA interference promise to speed the discovery of new treatments for diseases and genetic defects.

• The ability to target virtually any protein: A key limitation of small-molecule and protein drugs is that they can only target certain classes of protein. Most of the targets for currently marketed small-molecule drugs fall into one of a small number of protein classes: G-protein-coupled receptors, ion channels, enzymes and nuclear hormone receptors. Despite much effort, attempts to find small-molecule drugs targeting other classes of protein have been largely unsuccessful. The range of targets for protein drugs is also limited, mainly to cell-surface receptors or to circulating proteins which bind to them. In contrast, given the availability of the base sequence of the entire human genome, it should be possible to design siRNAs specific for each and every gene/mRNA in the body.
  This opens up the possibility of developing siRNA drugs for the many different proteins that do not fit into the so-called "druggable target classes" for small-molecule and protein drugs but which appear to play important roles in diseases. A number of these "intractable" but well validated targets already exist, and are a focus for initial work on RNAi therapeutics.
  
• Simplified discovery of drug candidates: Identification of appropriate drug candidates can be more straightforward for siRNAs than it is for small-molecule or protein drugs. In contrast to the extensive lead optimization steps required in small molecule
  and protein drug discovery, RNAi drug candidates can be identified using bioinformatics tools to select sequences complementary to the target mRNA. The process of choosing an RNAi-based drug candidate may simply involve the synthesis and testing of a relatively small number of siRNAs, incorporating chemical modifications to confer stability and direct the siRNA to the appropriate tissues and cells, and/or mixing the siRNA with appropriate delivery agents to achieve the same goals.
  

See Alnylam for more details.

Nanotech, biotech, infotech, nutraceuticals, life extension

These are the areas of research that will reshape our lives over the next 10 years. This blog is devoted to bringing you the latest ideas, products and technologies that will impact your life in the near term. Fasten your seat belts and enjoy the ride.

Todays note:
Researchers have identified cancer stem cells that feed tumor growth. These cells will be targeted by new drugs which will stop cancer in its tracks.