Amyloid Scandal

Big news in Alzheimer's research. A bunch of studies from 2006 and beyond were shown to include apparently doctored images. It was another case of western blot abuse, which is probably the most common form of data fraud from that era. For those that don't know, western blotting is described by the article's authors as such:

“It uses electricity to drive protein-rich tissue samples through a gel that acts like a sieve to separate the molecules by size. Distinct proteins, tagged and illuminated by fluorescent antibodies, appear as stacked bands.”

The results only have real meaning if all samples are run on the same blot simultaneously. The control/comparisons are done on the same gel at the same time because conditions can change from run to run. However, this amyloid study's authors apparently opened up photoshop and went to town.

Does it mean the whole field has been hoodwinked by the amyloid hypothesis for a decade as a result of this malfeasance? Absolutely not. Derek Lowe gives an excellent account of the history and what this particular research meant. The amyloid research tsunami would have happened anyways and the years would have been wasted regardless.

Hopefully this helps put the nail in the coffin of this failed theory so more federal research money can be allocated to interesting and, hopefully more fruitful avenues of Alzheimer's research.

Wuhan All In Check (Again)

The pandemic has come full circle as the Chinese city of Wuhan was partially locked down in the face of the irrepressible Omicron variant. The flailing zero-Covid strategy will likely carry on through the expected re-selection of Xi Jinping as China's leader at the end of 2022. Until then, we wish everyone in China the best of luck in their lockdown prep.

Three More Plagues

The WHO has officially labeled monkeypox a global health emergency. Thought not an STD, it was initially spread mostly by sexual activity amongst men. As with a more famous scourge from the 1980s, that last detail is not so relevant once it begins spreading beyond the initial group. This is still not on par with a respiratory illness like covid and never will be, but it should at least be an eye-opener for anyone who swaps fluids with strangers.

In other viral news, after having previously been detected in London's wastewater, a guy in New York came down with a case of polio. Officials have theorized he may have contracted it on his travels to eastern Europe. As of now, he can’t walk. If only there were something safe and effective that could have prevented this illness.

Finally, Marburg virus is trying to get some airtime as well. It is very much like Ebola in that it features a 50-88% lethality rate plus plenty of feverish bleeding. Thankfully this spreads slowly, but cases are starting to add up in Ghana. It's definitely a really bad virus, but is effectively no threat to people outside Africa.

California Raisin Cash

A couple weeks ago, Governor Gavin Newsom announced California would be funding its own insulin manufacture to the tune of $100M. There was more than a bit of naivete on display as industry outsiders, such as politicians, seem to have pretty much no clue how difficult and expensive it is to manufacture anything under cGMPs, much less larger molecules. $100M to build, staff and prepare a facility like this? Good luck.

They can always add more money - the biggest problem with the plan is probably going to be attracting expertise from the private sector. Newsom said they would work with contract manufacturers to build a plant and produce the insulin, but if it were that easy, why wouldn’t a profit-seeking drug company have elbowed into this lucrative game about a decade ago? 

Insulin manufacturers do not currently operate anywhere near California, so high-level talent will probably have to be coaxed to relocate from Indiana or North Carolina (3.23 & 5.25% state tax rates respectively), to a state with a 9.3% rate, all while their cost of living goes up massively. Our guess is this will be a slight problem. The $100M will almost certainly be spent, but whether it yields anything is a huge question mark.

Forbidden Baklava

FDA sent warning letters to a handful of companies found to be selling honey spiked with the two most popular ED drugs. They were marketing them as supplements, which is definitely not ok in America. This article links to the offending companies so you can easily go to their websites and make sure you don't buy the offending products.

Fighting the good fight over here.