| Science News in Brief
Scientists at Harvard have dramatically expanded the list of potential drug targets for AIDS with an announcement yesterday of the discovery of 273 proteins required for survival of the AIDS virus in humans.
Prior to the study, researchers had identified only a few dozen molecules needed by the virus to infect human cells. Because AIDS progression hinges on their presence, targeting them could slow infection.
The authors found the proteins by using an emerging research method called RNA interference that eliminates individual proteins and elucidates their role by measuring the effect of their absence.
The eight Harvard researchers urged use of the technique for other human pathogens as well, writing that their experiment had demonstrated the “power" of RNA interference to find new forms of treatment.
An Elephant never forgets good nutrition
Ed Bauman gives a lecture on how you and your loved ones can avoid cancer through nutrition and medicinal herbs from 10 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. Saturday at Elephant Pharm in Berkeley. Dr. Elson Haas teaches the ins and outs of theDetox Diet for the New Year from 7 to 8 p.m. Jan. 23. Learn how to develop a home yoga practice with Jeffrey Levin, certified yoga teacher from 11 a.m. to noon, Jan. 26. All classes are free. At 1607 Shattuck Ave. Call 510-549-9200 or visit http://www.elephantpharm.com. Alta Bates Summit Medical Center The Alta Bates Summit Medical Center hosts a mind-body oriented workshop for cancer survivors and those touched by a cancer diagnosis. Workshops meet from 1:15 to 2:30 p.m. the second and fourth Tuesdays of each month and is a series of four classes.
Antigua worth knowing
ENGLISH HARBOUR, ANTIGUA: The island with 365 powdery-sand beaches, one for each day of the year, is one of the least-known Caribbean islands to most Americans. But two Brits, Adm. Horatio Nelson and guitarist Eric Clapton, were and are very familiar with Antigua, a former British colony that is popular with yachters and the the nautical crowd. Nelson commanded the British naval base and shipyard at English Harbour on the island's southern coast in the 1780s. His dockyard no longer caters to naval ships. Instead, it serves sailing ships and yachts. Clapton has built his $8 million house along the rocky southern shore not far from English Harbour, as well as a drug and alcohol rehabilitation center. Antigua has been a second home to Clapton. English Harbour is one of the top tourist hubs on Antigua, along with Dickenson Bay on the north coast.
GOP VIPs ponder David Iglesias fallout
Damron from the ticket last year in favor of John Dendahl. Dendahl wound up receiving little support from the state party and stumbled to a historic defeat, then left the state with a less-than-generous benediction. "The Republican Party is mortally wounded," Cargo, who sits on the party's central committee, said. "But once Bill (Richardson) leaves and these indictments come down, there may not be much left of the Democratic Party either." For now, at least, Democrats seemed happy to watch the unfolding battle in their opponent's camp. Matt Farrauto, the executive director of the New Mexico Democratic Party, said he had little to add to what had already been reported, but did his best. Brutally parodying an episode last year in which Domenici was seen at his Capital Hill office wearing what were described as pajamas - Domenici said they were actually hunting pants - Farrauto said it was increasingly clear the venerable senator was vulnerable.
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