Science « Biofortified

Apocephalus borealis, a new threat to honeybees?

by Joe Ballenger on 10 January 2012

If you’re not a long time reader of Biofortified, you might not know that I study parasitoid wasp physiology when I’m not armchair-quarterbacking head louse treatment studies. It’s not often that parasitoids end up on the news, so when they do I get super-excited. I’ll be writing this from the perspective as a parasitoid biologist. A shorter article which does an excellent job of tackling misconceptions about this paper discussed here can be found at Biodiversity in Focus.

When I was an undergraduate, I spent about a year or so working as a beekeeper. It was a fun job, and I learned all sorts of fun facts about bees. By this time I had been interested in parasitoids for nearly a decade and a half, having raised parasitic wasps out of caterpillars since I was five. Naturally, I attempted to see if there were any parasitoids which attacked Apis mellifera but I always ended up empty handed and disappointed. This always confused me because there were parasitoids which attacked ants, termites and caterpillars living in ant nests. I never understood why parasitoids had never been documented attacking honeybees.

This changed earlier this week, when a description of a parasitoid fly which attacks bees was published in PLOS ONE: A New Threat to Honey Bees, the Parasitic Phorid Fly Apocephalus borealis by Core et al. Unfortunately, the authors tried way too hard to connect the fly to Colony Collapse Disorder, but I’ll discuss that later. First…

Why did The Atlantic publish this piece trying to link miRNAs and GMOs?

by Guest Posts on 10 January 2012

Editor’s note: republished with permission from The Biology Files.

By Emily Willingham

A study from a Chinese group led by Chen-Yu Zhang of Nanking University and published in Cell Research, has uncovered the fascinating result that when people eat rice, they can absorb microRNAs (miRNAs)–tiny sequences of RNA–from the rice into the blood. These rice-originating miRNAs turn up in blood and tissues of people who eat rice and…here’s the kicker…one type of rice miRNA interacts with human proteins that are responsible for removing LDL (“bad” cholesterol) from the blood (!). It’s the first report of plant miRNAs ending up in people by way of diet and the finding that at least one of them alters an important process in the body.

The implications could extend in many a direction, but not as far as writer Ari Levaux would like to take them in this remarkably confusing article published on the Atlantic Website. Before taking on the errors and the overstretch that are that piece, let’s look at something far more interesting: miRNAs themselves.

Diane Rehm Show on GE labeling

by Karl Haro von Mogel on 3 January 2012

This morning on Tuesday, from 11 to noon EST, the Diane Rehm show on NPR will be discussing the issue of GE labeling, and I encourage you to tune in, and call in as well. Here is the show listing:

Environmental Outlook: Labels for Genetically Modified Foods

In 1992 the FDA ruled against requiring labels for genetically engineered foods. Join us for a panel discussion on the rationale for that decision and why some are urging the FDA to reconsider its stance.

Thomas Redick: Global Environmental Ethics Counsel

Gardiner Harris: Science reporter for The New York Times and author of the mystery novel “Hazard.”

Gary Hirshberg: President, Stonyfield Farm, Inc.

The development of the roster of guests was rather interesting, and bears mentioning. It has gone through numerous rounds of change. Initially, Val Giddings, President of Prometheus Agricultural Biotech, was going to be on the show, and then they also decided to add Doug Gurian-Sherman from the Union of Concerned Scientists. Then they switched to inviting our own Pam Ronald from UC Davis, and for a brief time period her name was also on the website. I heard from Pam last night that they decided that they did not want to have a science section on the show, and canceled that part of it.

Do OTC Head Louse Treatments Work? Part 2: Questionable treatments

by Joe Ballenger on 1 January 2012

Editor’s note: Thanks to Joe for Biofortified’s first post of 2012! Here’s to a great year of science blogging!

I like to think of myself as a skeptical blogger. I like to engage in critical thinking about scientific issues because this is an important aspect of my job as a graduate assistant. When I move into the workforce, I’ll still need some basic skills to parse evidence because this is my job as a scientist. Mythbusting is a great opportunity to do this, and I enjoy discussing things which may help people who read my posts whenever I can. Being an entomologist gives me some rather interesting opportunities to do this, which is leading me to discuss head lice of all things.

In my last post, Do OTC Head Louse Treatments Work? Part 1: Mechanisms, I explained how the most commonly used FDA-approved treatments worked. In addition to those science-based products, there are many products that have no evidence of efficacy behind their claims, and that rely on fear to make a sale. What I’ve seen deeply concerns me not only as a scientist trying to make the world a better place, but as a parent trying to raise my daughter the best that I can. In this post, I’ve taken a few commonly sold products and listed some ways in which I think they play fast and loose with their claims.

Do OTC Head Louse Treatments Work? Part 1: Mechanisms

by Joe Ballenger on 23 December 2011

I think it’s safe to say that most folks have had experiences with lice. Every entomologist I’ve ever met (including myself… buy me a few beers and I’ll tell you) has at least one entertaining pubic louse story. Head lice are a childhood rite of passage, with most kids being infested at one point or another. They’re generally harmless with the occasional secondary infection, but infested kids are prone to teasing and other forms of exclusion by classmates. Distraction due to constant itching can also be a problem. Since schools don’t want children being infested for obvious reasons, kids are sent home because of infestation, resulting in parents missing work. Even though lice are mainly nuisance pests, they’re still a pretty big economic pest and account for billions of dollars per year in lost productivity.

When lice strike

Head lice are something almost everyone has to deal with, and head lice treatments are something someone buys every once and awhile. These are big business in and of themselves. Because they’re big business, many firms have started popping up offering louse treatments with varying degrees of effectiveness.

A while back, I went through my own head louse ordeal with my daughter. Treatment was complicated by a family member who didn’t realize they were infested. We originally thought the lice were resistant to treatment, so I had to get a second treatment. Since then, I’ve become curious about what is for sale in stores for Over The Counter (OTC) head louse treatments and generally take a look at whatever treatments I can when I get the chance. Over the years, I’ve become surprised at how many dubious treatments are offered for sale (although perhaps I shouldn’t be) and how many of these use questionable advertising techniques mostly built upon fear rather than science. Many treatments offered for sale over the counter are either unproven, or have been proven not to work.

First, let’s discuss some headlouse biology. Then, let’s discuss how the treatments currently FDA approved work. In Do OTC Head Louse Treatments Work? Part 2: Questionable treatments, I’ll discuss the dubious treatments.