Pretty much all biology this month. The ongoing pandemic is really giving a big boost to all kinds of biomedical research.
Perhaps the most predictable outcome of our extensive measures to contain the Covid-19 pandemic is that it has also reduced the genetic diversity of known subtypes of influenza. Prior to the pandemic, there were worries that clades of the virus family that causes influenza were drifting apart genetically, making it more difficult to formulate a vaccine that covers all of the strains. During the pandemic it seems that one of the clades has disappeared, though it’s likely that it’s present somewhere but transmission rates have dropped enough that it isn’t seen in circulation. This means that it becomes easier to make a vaccine for influenza again, at least for a while.
The really big news this month is the announcement that scientists from a consortium of labs all around the world have finally sequenced the entire human genome. This is some 20 years since the first drafts of the human genome were first published. The long delay is because the final 8% of the missing genome has been particularly difficult to sequence, such as the centromeres, the points where the arms of the two chromosomes intersect. New techniques had to be devised to deal with these challenging sections but now that the entire genome is complete it will constitute a complete reference with no gaps and that could be very useful to all types of research.
Next is the news that old-fashioned laughing gas, or nitrous oxide, seems to be a viable treatment for a particularly serious form of depression that is resistant to other forms of medication. Most people are likely familiar with the gas as a mild sedative sometimes used by dentists. The treatment here uses a much lower concentration of the gas and seems successful at reducing the symptoms of depression for months at a time. I honestly cannot understand why it wasn’t known earlier as it seems like an obvious thing to try.
Most people should know that long period of physical activity very quickly leads to muscle loss and a drop in bone density in humans. At the same time, we also know that bears hibernate for months at a time yet they don’t seem to suffer from osteoporosis. A new paper describes the mechanisms that make this possible. In particular, the genes that code for bone resorption and apoptosis are turned down during hibernation but then so are the genes that code for the formation of new bone. It seems that all biological processes that changes the structure of the bone are turned off during hibernation. Needless to say, the ability to regulate bone activity in this way is worth investigating to develop a treatment for osteoporosis in humans.
Finally here’s a paper about banded mongooses in Africa are able to maintain a more equal community by having all mothers give birth to pups on the same night. Thereafter they are seemingly unable to differentiate which pups belong to which mothers and so the community cares for the pups as a whole. It makes for an uplifting story but it’s too close to a just-so to ward off my skepticism.
This is considered a thriller film but I think it really should be horror instead, as in old-fashioned Brothers Grimm tales meant to scare children. The villain is so evil that it’s a wonder Robert Mitchum agreed to play him. The film was a failure on release such that it became the one and only film of its director Charles Laughton. Today it is considered one of the all-time greats with lines and shots from it having influenced numerous other films. Personally I could do without the ending that goes the traditional route of trying to impart a moral lesson but otherwise it truly is a very frightening film, surprisingly so for one of its era.
Not being familiar with the music of David Byrne, I thought that this was closer to being a stage musical as it has a directorial credit to Spike Lee. But this really is a filmed concert performance of songs mainly from Byrne’s new album American Utopia and also songs from earlier in his career and maybe a couple from other artistes. It’s hard to develop a strong appreciation for a completely unfamiliar genre of music from one performance alone but this is a fantastic one and it’s also especially energizing due to how overtly political it is.
I thought this was a documentary on Jamaica but it’s a really an experimental art film. It was made by an American filmmaker Khalik Allah to explore his Jamaican heritage. While it’s quite impressive as a sensory experience, there’s no overall narrative here and no real attempt to convey any hard facts about the country. That makes it tough to sustain interest throughout the entire the film even though it’s a relatively short one.
The last time I played a Warhammer 40k videogame was Warhammer 40,000: Armageddon, so I guess take this as proof of how much the setting appeals to me as a turn-based wargame. I think there is a difference in scale between the two games with the older one being a strategic level game while this one is tactical. But in a videogame the difference doesn’t matter as much as you’re pushing units around a map regardless. Here you’re playing on the side of the Space Wolves chapter of the Space Marines, which in practice means there is a lesser variety of units to play around.
This is a film of some renown, directed by the lesser known Stephen Frears but the project was initiated and produced by Martin Scorsese. It won some awards and stars some serious talent. However my expectations that it is a heist film of some kind was completely dashed and indeed everything in it was a complete surprise to me. Yet it is not in my mind a good film as it breaks too many rules of the genre and has a pacing that just feels too off. What a very odd film indeed.
This is an extraordinary South American film that was financed by multiple countries with funds contributed by various institutions but mainly shot in Colombia. It is effectively a case of activism by film, with the cause in this instance being the horrific tragedy of child or teenage soldiers. The film itself is free of ideology and non-specific to any country so it can be said to represent all armed insurgencies which employ child soldiers. Under the direction of Alejandro Landes, it is also very effective and one can only imagine the rigors the cast and crew must have endured to make this.
