A couple of linky links:

I'm disappointed to learn that Cambridge University's primate lab has been approved. As I get older, inevitably I'm interested in living longer, but I don't want it give up my compassion to do so. It's especially uncomfortable because I fear that the research is less about helping people to live longer, but more about cashing in on the significantly wealthy "greying population".

Of course, the value of research into monkey brains was questioned by animal rights groups, saying "the science is flawed because the monkey and human brains differ in vital respects, making many experiments worthless." Obviously many are, but others aren't. Understanding the more general aspects of a primate brain do teach us more fundamental principles and it's disingenous to believe otherwise. For me, the University's poor record on welfare is far more of a problem.

Anyway, understanding the complexity of the brain is important, but we probably have much further to go than we thought. Even the basics are only just being unraveled. One biotech company in the US has produced a detailed protein interaction map which charts 20,405 interactions between 7,048 proteins in a fruit fly's metabolic system. Think about how every thought and action we make is dependant on complex protein interactions and it's clear that there's a lot of research ahead before we get anywhere with the human metabolism.

Connections, interactions, the great internety-web of life... What biological molecule are you then?

I'm DNA: "You're a smart person, and you appear
incredibly complex to people who don't know
you. You're incomparably full of information,
and most of it is useless."


Which Biological Molecule Are You?
brought to you by Quizilla (found at Amberbamberboo)

[Update: then again, maybe not for the monkey lab.]