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Genetic tests that claim to help parents identify their kids’ “true” talents were taken to task last week on The Los Angeles Times‘ health blog:
There’s an informational video that the Inborn Talent website urges you to watch “if you end up doing nothing else today,” because the information is “critical” and “will affect and impact both the childhood and the adulthood of your child.” It warns that, without the info the test can provide, “you may be unconsciously forcing your child to do something that he or she really dislikes doing.”
And there is a long, long funny page filled with DNA images and references to the “Drawing Gene” or “Intelligence Gene” or “Self Detoxifying Gene” as well as lots of Visa/MasterCard logos and test-ordering hyperlinks that say things like “Wow, This will be the best christmas gift for my child! I want my child’s report now.”
As genetic testing gets more popular, we’re undoubtedly going to see more and more companies springing up with these sorts of ridiculous claims. (In case anyone didn’t know, researchers have not found any genes for drawing, intelligence, detox, etc…go read Elaine’s great post with more crazy examples.) But these smart, critical responses are exactly why I’m not worried about it.
In fact, when I Google “Inborn Talent” or “Inborn Talent genetic test”, the first articles that show up are critical, such as this one from Psychology Today. It’s hard enough for companies (ie, 23andMe, DeCode) that are built on some actual science to succeed; when a company is built on bullshit, its reputation will quickly plummet, and ultimately it will fail.
The face of the Mona Lisa is probably the most iconic in all of art. The coy, thin smile, the smooth cheeks, the fatty folds underneath squinty eyes.
This week — in what must have been an extremely entertaining lecture — an Italian doctor said that Mona’s features reveal that she didn’t eat too well. From the BBC (via Spoonful of Medicine):
For Dr Vito Franco, from Palermo University, she shows clear signs of a build-up of fatty acids under the skin, caused by too much cholesterol. He also suggests there seems to be a lipoma, or benign fatty-tissue tumour, in her right eye.
Dr Franco says his medical examinations reveal more than artistic viewings… “The people depicted in art reveal their physicality, tell us of their vulnerable humanity, regardless of the artist’s awareness of it,” he [said].
I can’t even put to words how much I adore these cookies. Just imagine me eek-ing. HUGE props to the creator of these beauties, the biological anthropologist/baker at notsohumblepie.blogspot.com!
via Fast Company, an infographic that would make xkcd proud:
This story falls into the category of ‘probably more amusing than it should be’. From the Wall Street Journal:
The list of things to avoid during flu season includes crowded buses, hospitals and handshakes. Consider adding this: your doctor’s necktie.
Neckties are rarely, if ever, cleaned. When a patient is seated on the examining table, doctors’ ties often dangle perilously close to sneeze level. In recent years, a debate has emerged in the medical community over whether they harbor dangerous germs.
Several hospitals have proposed banning them outright. Some veteran doctors suspect the antinecktie campaign has more to do with younger physicians’ desire to dress casually than it does with modern medicine. At least one tie maker is pushing a compromise solution: neckwear with an antimicrobial coating.
Meet ‘The Novack Experience’, a Philadelphia cover band of earnest rockers who, oh yeah, just happen to be doctors and medical students. The energetic lead is Dennis Novack, 63, an internist and an associate dean at Drexel University College of Medicine. All of the bands featured in the clip competed recently in a med school ‘battle of the bands’ concert, covered by The Scientist.
How do they find time to practice?? Here’s what members of one of the other bands, ‘Freaks of Nurture’, said:
Despite the intense pressure of PhD programs and demands of med school, the band members have found support for their music among their academic mentors. After hearing the band play, “the chair said I should spend more time on my music,” laughed [band leader Alec] Schmaier. Being known as the scientist or resident who plays in a band has its benefits, say band members. In the sea of medical school students, having a unique hobby allows you to stand out in the crowd, said singer Ehimare Akhabue. The dual identity can have other benefits, added bass player Rob Fenning. Rather than getting grilled on the difficult questions during med school interviews, questions invariably veer to what it’s like to play in a band, he said.
One night last month, on my way from Penn Station to Brooklyn, I came across two very different types of New York talent. I didn’t think it was possible, but these two made me love my city just a little bit more. Enjoy.
