Stumbling into Progress

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, the one that heralds new discoveries, is not 'Eureka!' but 'That's funny...'

That's a quote from Isaac Asimov, an author and biochemist at Boston University; and it's true. Most real scientific advances, not pedestrian steps forward but really important progress, do not come about from a linear progression from hypothesis to experiment to result. No, most great advances are stumbled upon somewhat by accident. I had a personal run-in with this myself just this morning. I'm not sure that my observation can be considered a great advance. It may very well be but you can never know that at the time, this is why Nobel Prizes are usually awarded for work that is 20 or 30 years old. So here's an insight into the process of science for you and it's stuff like this that makes me feel like I've got the coolest job in the world.

So you'll need a bit of background. You've got immune cells called macrophages and they're really important in the early fight against infection, including influenza viruses. Removing macrophages from mice and/or pigs will kill them if you then infect them with an influenza strain that typically wouldn't kill. Okay? Okay. Well, influenza viruses don't replicate in macrophages. They can enter the cell but they can't replicate in there and make the macrophage spit out lots more flu particles. Well, that's only half true because I have found that bird flu strains actually WILL replicate in macrophages. That's really important. I have gone on to figure out which gene allows bird flu to replicate in macrophages (it wasn't that hard, there are only 11 genes after all). Well, I took a non-bird flu strain and engineered it to express the bird flu version of that gene. Lo, and behold, that non-bird flu now replicates in macrophages and kills mice with a vengeance.

The next question was 'how does this happen?' The most obvious place to look first was cell death. It's possible that non-bird flu strains (we'll call them seasonal flu) kill the macrophages so quickly that replication never gets underway. The alternative, then, would be that bird flu viruses keep the macrophage alive long enough to make lots of new copies of itself. Well, that actually isn't the case. I was expecting to say 'Eureka!' I've got it! But I did the experiment and instead I noticed some other information lying underneath the surface. I had my 'hmmm, that's funny' moment. What I noticed (this just happened this morning so I'm pretty excited) was that after being infected for 18 hours the macrophages infected with seasonal influenza strains had stopped dividing. Cells normally divide of course and these macrophages had stopped. The macrophages infected with bird flu, however, were still dividing. Apparently, bird flu interacts differently with the macrophage and keeps the cell in its normal cycle of division and this is somehow necessary for the virus to replicate inside the cell. Now I'm excited to get back to work next week and test this hypothesis directly.

So this is how science happens most of the time. I was asking one question (concerning cell death) but I was observant enough to realize that my question was not the right question. Serendipitously, the experiment I ran was set up to provide me the information that has proven vital to moving forward, even without my intending to acquire that information. I love science and you should too because it's awesome and learning to think like a scientist makes you a cooler person. I should mention that the reason I'm so excited about this is that I am not a patient person and I probably miss this kind of information more often than not. So it's quite a rare occurrence that this time I took the time to notice it rather than get discouraged that there were no differences in cell death.

Admit It, You Know You Want to Laugh.

This is a very sad story about a bear.. Everybody should heed the warnings not to feed wildlife because they become dependent and don't forage for themselves any longer. It is such a tragedy to see what has been done to our country's wildlife! The photo below captures a disturbing trend that is beginning to affect U.S. wildlife.

Animals that formerly were self-sufficient are now showing signs of belonging to the Democrat Party. They have apparently learned to just sit and wait for the government to step in and provide for their care and sustenance. This photo is of a black bear in Montana turned Democrat. He's nicknamed Bearack Acorn Obearma. It is believed that he has become a campground organizer.

I had to post this, thanks Ammon. I know it plays on stereotypes and generalizations about the democratic party but those stereotypes are, after all, based in some truth. And besides, if there's even a discussion to be had about what the entitlement attitude has done to this country then it's already too late.

Spring. When Young Men's Hearts Turn To Baseball

Spring has arrived in Memphis. The temperatures have settled nicely into the upper 60s/low 70s and that causes my attention to turn to my beloved baseball. While much of the country still grapples with temps in the 30s and 40s, players are headed off to spring camp and I'm scouting out the teams and players. This year I have an additional reason to keep tabs on who is expected to do what because this year, for the first time, I have joined a fantasy league. We haven't had the draft yet and I'm already excited for this year.

I've gone on ad nauseum in the past about why I love baseball and about why you're foolish if you don't, so let's get right to my 2011 predictions.


AL East - this division is going to be crazier than normal in 2011 given the upgrades made by the Red Sox and Orioles.
1 - Red Sox
2 - Yankees
3 - Orioles
4 - Rays
5 - Blue Jays

AL Central
1 - Twins
2 - Tigers
3 - White Sox
4 - Indians
5 - Royals

AL West
1 - Rangers (barely)
2 - A's
3 - Angels
4 - Mariners


NL East
1 - Phillies - this year featuring the most accomplished pitching rotation that the sport has seen in at least 40 years.
2 - Braves
3 - Marlins
4 - Nationals
5 - Mets - Ha! Remember when these guys were relevant? Yeah, me neither.

NL Central
1 - Cardinals
2 - Reds - they can't possibly repeat what they did last year
3 - Brewers
4 - Astros
5 - Pirates - I'm going out on a limb with this one
6 - Cubs

NL West
1 - Giants - duh!
2 - Rockies
3 - Padres - Adrian Gonzales is a huge loss
4 - Dodgers

ALCS - Red Sox vs. Twins
NLCS - Phillies vs. Giants (a rematch for the ages!)

World Series - Phillies over Red Sox. And I swear if the Red Sox, who I hate with a passion, lose a world series at the hand of my Phillies then I will never complain about anything again, ever, for as long as I live. I will have reached nirvana. This is one of my long-time sports fantasies.

My Pilgrimage

I spent the last week in the Salt Lake area and Provo. The fortuitous occurrence which necessitated my trip was a Keystone Conference on TGF-beta at the Snowbird Ski Resort in the mountains east of Sandy. Every single expense associated with the conference was paid for through a professional development allowance provided to postdocs by St. Jude and a scholarship awarded to me through the Keystone organization. To top it off, Sarah came with me. Really none of this would have been nearly as great if she hadn't been there. I'll admit, my wife is pretty much my reason for existing.

First I'll describe the conference and then I'll give an honest assessment of the state of Utah. The conference was great. It was at Snowbird, up in the mountains. The drive, the setting, and the conference accomodations couldn't have been more spectacular. It was truly gorgeous. I presented our work in a poster format on Saturday night and then as an invited oral presentation on Monday. Both came off very well. The work generated a lot of interest. I got some great suggestions about future experiments and I handled the questions that I received very well. I came away loving my science and excited to get back at it.

Now for the serious stuff. When it came time for me to move out of Utah upon my graduation from BYU I was very excited. This trip made me realize that I'm still very excited about NOT living in Utah. First of all, upon deplaning we realize that the entire Salt Lake valley is enveloped in a very thick smog. I had forgotten how awful the air quality is out there. Visibility couldn't have been more than 1/2 mile, no joke. It was disgusting and only added to the grossness of dirty snow and entire cities (Sandy, South Jordan, Taylorsville, Holladay) constructed of strip malls, big box stores, and chain restaurants. Seriously, if it isn't a chapel or a temple it's either a Del Taco, a Carl's Jr., or a Nordstrom's.

On Monday it finally started to clear up a bit and I could see that there were actually MORE chain stores than I had originally thought. So we went to Temple Square and the Church History Museum. The Church History Museum was faaaaantastic. If you ever get the chance you must go. I had no idea that some of those things still existed. But the coolest item, and by coolest I mean stupidest, was in the gift store. Yes, fellow Saints, it truly is the dispensation of the fulness of times when, for just $60 every member of the church can own their very own Liahona. No, not the foreign language version of the Ensign. I'm talking about a genuine brass replica of the Liahona. If you move it words appear just like on those magic 8 ball toys. Don't believe that the sacrilege of commercial Mormonism could stoop so low? You underestimate the power of commercialist Mormons to denegrate the sacred. They're capable of anything out there:

For only $10 you can buy a cheaper, toy version for your kiddies to play with. I'm sure that Lehi would find peace in knowing that the sacred object provided to him to receive revelation and guidance in the Judean wilderness is now a mere child's play thing. Honestly, I don't know why the church doesn't put the kibosh on crap like this. And then to think that there are suckers out there who will pay SIXTY dollars to have this in their home!!!! Good grief I hope I'm not friends with any of them.

On Tuesday we went to BYU and visited the Museum of Art where the contrast between modern Mormon kitsch (think Greg Olson, personal Liahona, and Captain Moroni action figure) and true spirituality was on full display. We were lucky enough to be there while the museum had on display a collection of Carl Heinrich Bloch's paintings of Christ including 5 of the 8 altar pieces that he painted. This was the first time that those 5 altar pieces have EVER been away from their native sites in Sweden and Denmark. The works were very impressive and spiritual and it made me think that it's quite disappointing that modern Mormons, having a knowledge of the full gospel and the guidance of the gift of the Holy Ghost, can't seem to come up with anything better than these gems: In fact, it's a bit embarrassing and I think it's a bit of a mockery to have such AWFUL art for sale in the same building (Church History Museum) as Joseph and Hyrum Smith's death masks, the original Bible that Joseph used in his retranslation of the Bible, and original pages from the Book of Mormon translation in Oliver Cowdery's handwriting. Granted, these pieces are a sincere expression of the artists' testimonies, and I don't question their faithfulness, but is that enough to qualify it as worthy of mass production and retail sale for distribution in members' homes? Well, I suppose I could go on and on about this topic but it will just get me angry.

BYU was fabulous as always. Well, mostly. Based on the fashions that I saw on at least 50% of the females on campus I suppose it is now perfectly acceptable to wear form fitting clothing if you call them "skinny jeans." That was disappointing. Also disappointing was BYU's lack of green space. The new and beautiful Joseph F. Smith Building (which wasn't completed when I left Provo) has a very large courtyard which offered a great opportunity for green space. Instead it is a humongous space filled in with more concrete. Disappointing, but the overall image of BYU is one of extraordinary cleanliness compared to Ohio State.

The Cougareat still serves awesome salad wraps, and Sugar and Spice (I think that was the name of two of those co-eds in skinny jeans that I saw) still serves the BEST bread and honey butter in the history of the world.

Sarah and I met with our old virology professor, Dr. Brent Johnson. I really like him and he shaped my career. We sat in on one of his classes, a class which wasn't around when I was there. It was a small class (only 6 students) and it met in a boardroom where the students gathered around the table and had an open discussion about the material from the textbook. I thought it was a great format for encouraging critical thinking and scientific discussion. I'm pleased to see that BYU is continuing to offer a stellar, student-centered education. Dr. Johnson even introduced Sarah and me and allowed me to chime in on a few topics.

Lastly, our final two nights in the area Sarah and I stayed at Parrish Place Bed and Breakfast in Sugar House, just 5 miles south of downtown Salt Lake. It is an old historic home owned and operated by a couple very friendly Swedes with beautiful rooms and a spectacular breakfast of muffins, granola, yogurt, fruit, juice, milk, and hot chocolate delivered to your room. If you're ever in Salt Lake I highly recommend that you stay there.

So Utah is still out there. It's still unique. It still has some good points but in general I'm glad to be looking out my window right now onto Memphis, TN.

Best Picture of the Year (Even if it is Only Jan. 5)

A picture of Nancy Pelosi passing her power to another, what a glorious day!! Quite frankly it doesn't matter to me who she passed that gavel to, just so long as it is out of her hands. But look at how badly Boehner wants to give her one solid crack over the head. And who can blame him? What kind of leader says, "We have to pass the bill so people can find out what's in it"?

An Early Christmas Present in Philly

It's been a while since I've posted on here but an event has recently occured that was so shocking that the full weight of it has yet to sink in. What is Troy, you ask. Well it's baseball of course.

The Phillies have brought cheer and warmth to the winter by coming out of NOWHERE to sign Cliff Lee. If you don't know who he is - he's an awesome pitcher, perhaps the best. Lee pitched for the Phils from July - October 2009 before being traded away for the 2010 season so that money could be freed up to sign Roy Halladay (the Phillies OTHER pitcher who just may be the best in baseball). It's a relief to see that the Phillies recognized their error in letting him go by going out and finding a way to bring him back. Then there's Cole Hamels and Roy Oswalt who are also very, very, very good. Put simply, the Phillies pitching rotation is stacked. It's great. I know they haven't played a game of the 2011 season yet but on paper this rotation has the chance to be historically great. Two Cy Young winners, 3 guys who have had 20-win seasons, All 4 have strike-out/walk ratios that are near the top in baseball (and that happens to be my favorite stat, the one that I think is the most indicative of success). The 2011 Phillies are now the prohibitive favorite to go to the World Series next year.

But what pleases me the most is the fact that Cliff Lee didn't follow the dollar signs. Don't get me wrong he'll be getting a HUGE paycheck next year but he took $30 million LESS than his highest offer because he wanted to play in Philly, not in New York. Take it, Yankees! Additionally, the Phils signed him for 5 years out of free agency. The Phillies told Halladay that they wouldn't sign him (Halladay) for more than 3 because that was a trade deal and contract extension and the Phillies don't extend contracts for more than 3 years. Halladay, then could have been put off by the fact that Lee was offered 5 years. The Phillies were up front with Halladay and even consulted him before signing Lee to the longer contract to gauge his feelings. Halladay supported the Phillies move and didn't feel slighted. Halladay and Lee are two of the best ever but they are showing no sign of ego here. Lee taking less money to play for a team that he loves and Halladay being cool with Lee getting the longer contract. The success of the Phillies over the last 4 years has been team chemistry and a desire to win, AS A TEAM, at whatever cost to personal gain. It's on display again. Look out National League.

Some Random Thoughts

Apparently St. Jude is not politically influential enough because it isn't one of the 111 (so far) companies/union groups that are exempted from having to obey the new federal healthcare law for their employees. I thought we believed in the rule of law in America. Apparently not because the federal government has taken upon itself the task of deciding who WILL and who WILL NOT be subject to federal law. If this health care law was supposed to be so great why is the federal government allowing over 100 companies to not abide by it? I see this as an acknowledgement that the law is detrimental to business and to our economy and I recall being told the opposite by this president earlier this year. But what do you expect from a bill that freakin' nobody reads and even our then-Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi admitted "We have to pass this bill so you can find out what's in it"?

In the meantime, as of January 1, my out-of-pocket maximum increases, my ER co-pay increases and my monthly premium increases by 20%. I'd be surprised if the same doesn't happen for you.

Random thought 2 - Sarah Palin makes me want to throw up. Really, it's gotten to where I can't even look at her anymore without having a nauseating physical reaction. The thing about Bristol Palin being on Dancing With the Stars can be explained by the fact that she's young and dumb and she sees an opportunity to cash in on her infamous recognition factor. That's fine, that's what young and dumb people do. But Sarah Palin on a reality TV show? I really wish she would dissociate herself from the conservative movement because she's a huge liability to getting qualified, credible, competent candidates elected who espouse good old-fashioned conservative values. I think she's been corrupted by fame, fortune, and popularity. I think she had potential waaaaaay back in the beginning but as soon as the machine got ahold of her and she tasted one sweet morsel of fame, as soon as she stood in front of applauding and cheering audiences she started saying obnoxious things and speaking in Republican soundbites. She's a quitter. She quit on the people of Alaska and became nothing more than a political cheerleader for anybody who calls themself a conservative. So she tours the country talking about "mama grizzlies" and saying "you betcha" and "by golly" and basically reveling in her own shallow influence. Now she sees an opportunity to make more money and be more famous and loved (by mindless kool-aid drinkers) by having a camera in her face while she fishes and hunts and cooks dinner and whatever else she wants us to see her doing. I'm sure she'll do plenty of talking about God and Bibles on her show. Well I don't have cable so, no, I didn't watch Sarah Palin's Alaska on TLC. I wouldn't have watched it regardless but alot of people did and that's frightening. Why do we continue to validate this type of person in America?