Rebecca Skloot's Blog, page 4

Agoraphobia Service Monkey Lawsuit Rejected; Seizure Alert Ferret Kicked Out of Mall

[image error]Today was a big day for non-canine service animal news, which I keep tabs on here as part of ongoing follow up to my New York Times Magazine article, Creature Comforts, about the use of non-canine service animals (which include ducks, monkeys, horses, goats, and at least one kangaroo).  The biggest news is that a court in Missouri has rejected the discrimination case filed by Debby Rose, who I featured in my story. She was forbidden to bring her Macaque monkey Richard into local businesses, d...

Today: Nobel Prize Awarded for Telomerase Discovery, and the 58th Anniversary of Henrietta Lacks's Death

[image error]It's fitting that today -- the day after the 58th anniversary of Henrietta Lacks's death -- the Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak for the discovery of how telomeres and the enzyme telomerase protect chromosomes from degrading over time.  In the late eighties, a scientist at Yale used Henrietta's cells (aka HeLa, pictured left) to discover that human cancer cells contain telomerase, which regenerates their chromosomes and prevents ...

The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks Gets Starred PW Review and a Shiny New Cover

[image error]Lots of excitement here at Culture Dish:  The final cover for The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks has arrived (see left). And ... <drum roll> ... the the book's first pre-publication review has hit the press:  In the issue coming out this Monday, Publishers Weekly gives The Immortal Life a starred review, calling it, "a remarkable debut ... a rich, resonant tale of modern science, the wonders it can perform and how easily it can exploit society's most vulnerable people." (wOOt!) Full review ...

International Talk Like a Pirate Day

It's that time again: Today , September 19th, is International Talk Like a Pirate Day, Japanese Respect for the Aged day ... and my birthday. It also happens to be the day Giles Corey was
"pressed" to death by villagers who stacked increasingly large rocks on
him because he'd been declared a witch in the famous Salem Witch Trials
(1692). It was the day women were finally allowed to vote (1893) and
Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid committed their first robbery
(1900). It's the anniversary of...

Not Dead Yet ...

[image error]Yes, that's right, we here at Culture Dish are actually STILL ALIVE! Though you wouldn't know it from our feed.  <brushing off cobwebs> ... After a bit of down time, Culture Dish is back.  The last several months have been jam packed with pre-publication craziness with my book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks, which is coming to a bookstore near you on February 9th (and is already available for preorder on amazon!).  In coming weeks and months, I'll be posting about the publication proce...

Patent Dispute Prevents Patients From Getting Promising Drug for Lou Gehrig's Disease

Speaking of the debate over patents interfering with medical care, there's a story in today's New York Times that mentions the drug Iplex, which has shown promise for treating Lou Gehrig's disease -- a deadly and thus far untreatable degenerative disease (also known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis). 

From the article:


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New Breast Cancer Gene Lawsuit Aims to End to All Gene Patenting. Will it Succeed?

[image error] Earlier this week, the American Civil Liberties Union and several other groups filed suit against Myriad Genetics -- the company that holds the patent on the breast cancer gene.  They're hoping to get the breast cancer gene patent revoked, but more than that, they're aiming to stop gene patenting all together. 

Today, in my new column in Slate's Double X Magazine, I go into the story of the breast cancer gene and the impact the ACLU claims it's had on science and patient care (a hint: it's not

Just in Time for Swine Flu season: Designer Respirator Masks!

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Yes, that's right folks, the end of the world is near, but at least we won't look silly wearing our N95 respirator masks.  No.  Thanks to Flu Fashion Respirators, we can now avoid swine flu and other plagues while looking like ... bandits from cheesy western movies! Or ... better yet ... hippie bandits!  And we can even get designer swine flu respirator masks for the family dog (never mind that dogs can't get the swine flu -- we wouldn't want them to feel left out). What could possibly go bette

Skloot's Tips for Successful Book Reviewing

[image error]After seven happy years serving as a vice president, I have just finished my second term on the National Book Critics Circle board of directors.  While I was on the board, I put together a document  of tips for breaking into book reviewing called, Strategies for Breaking in and Staying in:  Getting started as a critic, building your reviewing portfolio, going national, and keeping editors happy.  It's no longer available on the NBCC's website, and I've gotten quite a few requests for it recently

"Seeing Eye Horse" - Good Morning America Segment on Non-Canine Service Animals Misses Key Issues

[image error]Today, in their segment called "Seeing Eye Horse Shocks Store Patrons," Good Morning America featured a woman riding her full sized "Seeing Eye horse" through the grocery store (pictured left). In doing so, it made one of the most common media mistakes: focusing on the quirk factor (woman riding horse in store!) at the expense of the issues involved.  The result is a classic oversimplification of a complex story that's pretty misleading about the use of horses as service animals:  Most non-canin