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Stem Cell research was hot in the early 2000s. Sadly, 8 years of George Bush effectively eliminated America's competitive edge in the field, primarily in embryonic stem cell research.  Consequently, it is no surprise that there is little emphasis or discussion about stem cell research in the US.  To that end, a recent Gallup Poll was conducted to determine American attitudes and perceptions of stem cell research.  The results of the poll (originally posted the the Assay Depot blog) are shown below.

The poll results suggest that over 50% of Americans surveyed believe that all forms of stem cell research are morally acceptable.  Interestingly, while increasing number of American believe that stem cell research should progress, government funding for it has markedly declined since 2009 even though the ban on embryonic stem cell research was removed.

The take home message is that Bush's 8 year band on embryonic stem cell research has seriously affected American competitiveness in the field and that it is no longer a priority of the US government.  The bottom line: I would not plan a career in stem cell research unless you are willing to relocate outside of the US.

Until next time....

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!!!!

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The New York Times today reported that the average teenager sends more than six text messages in every waking hour. This finding was based on a study conducted by the rating company Nielsen that analyzed mobile phone usage by 13-to 17-year olds from April to June this year. 

The average teenager sends or receives 3,339 text messages per month. Teenage girls averaged a mind-boggling 4,050 text messages per month (substantiating the notion that girls are more verbal (?) than boys). And, over all teenagers send texts twice as often at 18-to 24-year olds, who receive or send only 1,630 texts per month.

Not surprisingly, teenagers are making fewer phone calls and even used fewer minutes than their grandparents, many of whom are uncomfortable using cell phones as compared with landlines.

The findings led one Nielsen executive to quip “Teenagers growing up now don’t even think the phone is primarily for voice. It’s primarily for text.” As the father of three teenagers, I can attest to that. That said, wouldn’t it be wonderful if kids spent as much time studying as they did texting???? Maybe that would help to combat our decreasing competitiveness in math and science!!!

Until next time...

Good Luck and Good Texting!!!!!

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The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has advised GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) to suspend sale of Rotarix, its rotavirus vaccine, because it may contain porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV-1) DNA sequences. The FDA and the company both found traces of PCV-1 DNA in the vaccine. It is not clear whether whole virus is in the vaccine or just pieces of its DNA. Luckily, PCV-1 isn’t known to cause disease in humans and infants vaccinated with the vaccine are not likely to experience any health or medical issues..

The agency insists that this is a temporary and cautionary suspension of Rotarix sales. FDA officials are advising physicians to use Merck’s RotaTeq rotavirus vaccine instead, which is made using a different method and which shows no evidence of PCV-1 contamination. Merck and GSK have been vigorously competing for market share in the US vaccine marketplace.

Unfortunately, things haven’t been going well for the highly regarded GSK vaccines division in the past few years. First, the company had trouble getting its anti-cervical cancer vaccine, Cervarix approved in the US. And the company just recently announced that it may not seek regulatory approval for Synflorix, a new pneumococcal disease vaccine that was suppose to compete with Pfizer’s  (formerly Wyeth’s) second generation 13-valent pneumococcal vaccine called Prevnar.

This isn’t the first time that animal DNA sequences have been found in human biotechnology products. Last June, Genzyme was forced to shut down one of its biomanufacturing facilities to clean up viral contamination that had been slowing down production of two of its main products, Cerezyme and Fabrazyme. The virus, Vesivirus 2117, is known to interfere with the growth of Chinese hamster ovary (CHO) cells and is believed to have been introduced through a cell culture nutrient. The virus doesn’t infect humans, but the shutdown cost the company millions in revenue and caused shortages of Cerezyme and Fabrazyme.

Because many vaccine and biotechnology products are manufactured in mammalian tissue culture cell lines, detection of non-human viruses these products are neither uncommon nor unprecedented. However, the recent spate of high profile, virally-contaminated vaccines and biologics suggests that biomanufacturers must be more vigilant when it comes to virus removal and microbiological testing from these products.

Until next time…

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!!

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When I was working as a recruiter, I always called my candidates a day before a scheduled face-to-face job interview. I did this to reassure them, build confidence and provide them with any insights that I may have had regarding the hiring manager or the job. But, more importantly, I called to insure that they were adequately prepared to go on the interview. I typically talked with them about dress, interview etiquette, cell phone usage, body language etc. Sometimes, when I was concerned about particular candidates, I even sent (via fax or e-mail) an interview preparation checklist. 

Although I am not a big fan of checklists, many people find them useful! To that end, I discovered this . The notion of taking an online interview preparedness quiz may seem silly to many of you, but I can tell you with certainty that I had more than one highly qualified candidate fail to get a job offer because they were poorly dressed, didn’t turn off cell phones or incapable of making eye-contact during their face-to-face. 

The quiz takes about 5 minutes to complete and there are interview tidbits embedded in every answer. You can even take it on your Blackberry, Sidekick or cell phone of choice! It may make the difference between a job offer or not.

Until next time….

Good Luck and Good Job Hunting!!!!!

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