Monthly Archive for October, 2006

A Step Closer to Personalized Cancer Cure

Published on October 29, 2006 in News and Science. 0 Comments

An article published in the September 6 issue of Science Express discusses the breakthrough achieved by the Johns Hopkins Kimmel Cancer Center scientists who have completed the first draft of the genetic code for breast and colon cancers.

[The study] identifies close to 200 mutated genes, now linked to these cancers, most of which were not previously recognized as associated with tumor initiation, growth, spread or control.

Because no two patients are the same with breast and colon cancer, therapies are very hard to administer. Ultimately, once we know enough about all of the implicated genes, it will be possible to find out which of a particular patient’s genes are affected and treat only those genes. From the BBC Article:

Dr Anna Barker of the National Cancer Institute said: “Maximising the numbers of targets available for drug development in a specific cancer means that patients will ultimately receive more personalized, less toxic therapies.”

She also said: “In the future, scientists hope to be able to tailor plans for preventing or treating cancer to each person’s individual genetic profile. Studies like this can help us to accomplish this goal.”

Read more:

Saturday Night Puzzle: Birthday Sharing Party

Published on October 28, 2006 in Puzzles. 1 Comment Tags: , , , .

And we have an right answer! Thanks to both Eddie and John for their right answer. Very well done!

You are at a party with a friend and 30 people are present including you and the friend. Your friend wants to make a wager with you if there are two people that share their birthday date, he will give you 100$, however, you shall give him 100$ if nobody shares their birth date. Would you accept the wager ? Explain why.

Thursday Morning Puzzle: The Counterfeit Bill

Published on October 25, 2006 in Puzzles. 1 Comment Tags: , , .

I’ve had a couple of suggestions for the solution of this puzzle. Thanks to Heather, Eddie, and John for trying to solve the puzzle! I’ve just posted the solution in the comments. You can access the comment page of this article by clicking on the ‘comment’ label under the title.

A shop manager bought a box of chocolate for 2$ each; he sold the chocolate for 2.50$ each. One day, a person comes into the shop and buys this kind of chocolate with a 50$ note; the manager didn’t have enough change and so the manager went to the shop next door and swapped the note with some changes. He gave that costumer the chocolate with 47.50$ of change and the costumer left. Few minutes later, the shop assistant next door found the manager and told him that note is a forgery, he asked the manager to return 50$ and so the manager did. How much has the manager lost altogether?

I will post the answer to this Puzzle in exactly 4 days (Sunday, October 29). I hope to get some guesses for the correct answer by then. Stay tuned because I will be publishing a couple of my favourite puzzles in the next couple of days.


coolphotoblogs Photo Blog Blogsbonuel at flickrvfxy W