A Sampling of Clips for June 29, 2011

* UCSD faculty and staff may obtain a copy of an article by e-mailing the University Communications Office

Research Sheds Light on Cause of Brain Deficits in HIV Patients
U.S. News & World Report, June 28 -- Some HIV patients experience memory loss and other neurological deficits, despite treatment, and new research suggests that the reason why is because the virus weakens the blood-brain barrier by infecting a small group of supporting brain cells called astrocytes. (Quotes Igor Grant, an expert in HIV-associated neurocognitive impairment at UC San Dieg.) More

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MSN.com

Doctors Offer Unapproved Stem Cell Therapies
USA Today, June 28 -- Doctors in the U.S. and abroad are now providing untested and unapproved stem cell therapies for ailments ranging from heart disease to emphysema to cerebral palsy. And they swear by them. Experts liken stem cells to the seeds from which many body tissues grow. If scientists can harness stem cells in healing, researchers say, they can revolutionize medicine. Embryonic stem cells — those derived from human embryos — hold special appeal because they can give rise to every cell type in the human body. More recently, researchers have raised the possibility that "induced" stem cells created from skin cells may have the same potential. (Quotes Larry Goldstein, head of stem cell research at UC San Diego.) More

Los Alamos Nuclear Lab Under Siege From Wildfire
AP, June 28 -- A wildfire burning near the desert birthplace of the atomic bomb advanced on the Los Alamos laboratory and thousands of outdoor drums of plutonium-contaminated waste Tuesday as authorities stepped up efforts to protect the site from flames and monitor the air for radiation. Officials at the nation's premier nuclear weapons lab gave assurances that dangerous materials were safely stored and capable of withstanding flames from the 93-square-mile fire, which as of midday was as close as 50 feet from the grounds. UC San Diego's engineering institute located at the Los Alamos National Laboratory is seen as flames rise from a wildfire in Los Alamos, N.M., on Tuesday. More

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San Diego Union Tribune

UC Fears Talent Loss to Deeper Pockets
Los Angeles Times, June 28 -- UC San Diego faced a losing battle recently when it tried to hang on to three star scientists being wooed by Rice University for cutting-edge cancer research. The recruiting package from the private Houston university included 40 percent pay raises, new labs and a healthy flow of research money from a Texas state bond fund. Another factor, unrelated to Rice, helped close the deal: The professors' sense that declining state funding for the University of California makes it a good time to pack their bags. The imminent departures of [Jose Onuchic, Herbert Levine and Peter Wolynes] — all members of the prestigious National Academy of Sciences — has unsettled leaders of the UC system. Officials say a worsening UC budget picture is emboldening other schools, particularly top private institutions, to recruit UC faculty and may prompt other professors to leave. (Quotes Suresh Subramani, UC San Diego's executive vice chancellor for academic affairs.) More

San Diego Marine Protected Areas Considered
KPBS, June 28 -- California approved three marine protected areas for Southern California last December, including an area off San Diego's coast. The State Fish and Game Commission is expected to decide when those protected areas will go into effect. Ed Parnell, a marine ecology research scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego, said the idea is to allow fish species to thrive while being off limits to fishing. More

A New Era for Stem Cell Institute
San Diego Union Tribune, June 29 – (Editorial) This editorial page was among the many newspapers, medical, scientific, business and other groups to endorse the Proposition 71 and its new California Institute for Regenerative Medicine. Nearly seven years later, there is plenty of evidence that CIRM’s research has indeed been important, though there has not been a blockbuster breakthrough of the kind that proponents in 2004 seemed to imply was just around the corner in terms of converting research into applied medical treatments and cures. San Diego County has much at stake. Of CIRM’s 434 research grants to date, totaling $1.2 billion, 105 of them, totaling more than $287 million, have gone to a dozen research institutions here. UC San Diego alone has received 43 grants totaling $93.7 million. More

More Evidence SSRIs in Pregnancy Boost Birth Defect Risk
Medscape, June 28 -- A study from Finland provides more evidence that exposure to selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) in the first trimester of pregnancy increases the risk for major congenital anomalies, particularly cardiac defects. (Quotes Christina Chambers, PhD, from UC San Diego.) More

Author Naomi Oreskes says climate change deniers spread confusion
Times Colonist, June 28 – [Naomi Oreskes’] research, which traced the study of climate change back to the 1950s, shows that the scientific community was in agreement with climate change leaders in the 1990s. There were just a select few people, many connected to think tanks, that employed a "strategy of doubt- mongering," she said. "I feel strongly that when people understand the history, it helps them understand the science," said Oreskes, a historian of science from UC San Diego. Oreskes [was] named the 2011 Climate Change Communicator of the Year. More

When Science is Hidden Behind a Smokescreen
The Guardian, June 28 -- Robert Proctor, of Stanford University, coined the term "agnotology" in 1992, when he realized we are much more interested in producing knowledge than in the way society propagates ignorance. "In the US a substantial share of the population – as many as half according to some studies – has the impression that there is a lot of debate in the scientific community as to the reality of climate change caused by human activities," says Naomi Oreskes, science historian at UC San Diego, and the author, with Erik Conway, of “Merchants of Doubt.” The advocates of ignorance have gained a new ally in the form of the internet. "Once arguments have been injected into the net, there is no stopping or countering them," says Oreskes. More

Weird But True
New York Post, June 29 – (excerpt) Saying television stinks will soon take on a whole new meaning. Researchers at UC San Diego have created a prototype device that can be installed in a TV and generate some 10,000 different odors on cue. More

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