According to estimates by the World Health Organization, in 2013 on the order of 35 million people were infected with HIV worldwide (http://www.who.int/gho/hiv/en/). Globally, about 1.5 million people are believed to have died from AIDS-related diseases in that...
Iron is a critical metal for essential cellular processes, such as respiration, in both human and microbial cells. Thus, in the context of infection, iron is a high-value cellular commodity and an evolutionist might reasonably expect a metallic tug-of-war between...
An article published online at the Nature web site on November 24 (Chou et al., 2014) presents a fascinating study of examples in which bacterial genes have found their way to a number of distinct eukaryotic lineages including ticks and mites, gastropod (e.g.,...
Recently, I heard the latter portions of the radio version of a play, “Lucy” by Damien Atkins, relating to autism and produced by L.A. Theatre Works. “Lucy” was originally performed and reviewed as long ago as November of 2007, but I was not aware of it until...
After posting my last commentary on the ongoing Ebola outbreak in West Africa, I listened to the netcast, This Week in Virology (www.twiv.tv), for September 14, 2014. TWiV sessions, hosted by Vincent Racaniello, a well-known virologist at Columbia University, are...
