According to a news item found in BioSpace: "A new gene therapy has been found to temporarily cure mice of diabetes by triggering cells in the liver to produce insulin and other hormones, according to a new study released Sunday."

"Researchers led by Dr. Lawrence Chan, a professor of medicine and molecular and cellular biology and also the chief of the division of diabetes, endocrinology and metabolism at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Tex. said this new treatment offers a great deal of promise in managing a chronic illness."

So now, in addition to islet cell transplantation, researchers have another potential arrow in their collective quivers for dealing with diabetes.

Inspiring news!

-Tim
4:26:45 PM    

There was a great article today on TiVo in the Style section of The New York Times. The article claimed TiVo owners are like cult members as they a small percentage of the population, but fanatical in their belief.

As someone who has owned a TiVo for three years, I can vouch for the fact TiVo has dramatically changed my television viewing habits. For instance, I used to be a slave to the football schedule. I wanted to bolt home from church to see the opening kickoff of my beloved Green Bay Packers. Now I can accompany my family to the bookstore after church, knowing that I can start the game whenever I want to have it start. I can do this because, unlike videotape, TiVo allows me to start watching the beginning of a program while it is still recording the end.

The biggest allure of TiVo is power. Programmers want us to watch more commercials, so they manipulate their shows to achieve this objective. TiVo lets you take that power back, plain and simple. Not only can you skip commercials, you can skip parts of the programming that are less interesting. For instance, I skip all the time in between plays in a football game. In total, I can watch a game that normally take 3+ hours in 2 hours and not miss any of the action.

TiVo is even better for baseball. I'll record a San Francisco Giants game just to see the four or five Barry Bonds plate appearances. Purists will howl, but, really, who has four hours to watch a baseball game? I think of TiVo as my own personal ESPN Sports Center.

TiVo works great for things that have already happened. What I would really like to see is a version of TiVo that would record things that are to happen in the future. After a few days' worth of CNBC, I'd be all set!

Can you tell I've drunk the Kool-Aid?

-Tim
12:19:26 AM