Warren symposium follows legacy of geneticist giant

If we want to understand how the brain creates memories, and how genetic disorders distort the brain’s machinery, then the fragile X gene is an ideal place to start. That’s why the Stephen T. Warren Memorial Symposium, taking place November 28-29 at Emory, will be a significant event for those interested in neuroscience and genetics. Stephen T. Warren, 1953-2021 Warren, the founding chair of Emory’s Department of Human Genetics, led an international team that discovered Read more

Mutations in V-ATPase proton pump implicated in epilepsy syndrome

Why and how disrupting V-ATPase function leads to epilepsy, researchers are just starting to figure Read more

Tracing the start of COVID-19 in GA

At a time when COVID-19 appears to be receding in much of Georgia, it’s worth revisiting the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Emory virologist Anne Piantadosi and colleagues have a paper in Viral Evolution on the earliest SARS-CoV-2 genetic sequences detected in Georgia. Analyzing relationships between those virus sequences and samples from other states and countries can give us an idea about where the first COVID-19 infections in Georgia came from. We can draw Read more
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left-handedness

What’s left when it comes to research?

Cesare Lombroso

In an editorial appearing in a recent issue of The Lancet, Emory Rollins School of Public Health professor Dr. Howard Kushner contends that the connection between left-handedness and a raft of mental and physical disorders has gained currency since the 1980s and ‘90s.

Although Kushner acknowledges a long history of suspicion surrounding left-handedness, he spotlights one Cesare Lombroso, a Turin physician who spent a great deal of time in and around the 19th century pointing a negative finger at left-handedness. Lombroso’s contemporaries mistakenly considered his studies, albeit mere observations, to be cutting-edge science.

Although scientific standards have changed since Lombroso’s time and today’s studies do not portray left-handedness with such profound negativity, Kushner says, “general claims about the pathology of left-handedness persist.” This despite studies showing left-handers displaying exceptional intellectual and creative talents.

So, what are we to conclude about the connection between left-handedness and health? Kushner doesn’t say. Instead, he asks us to consider that despite all the advanced scientific tools we have at our disposal, researchers should keep in mind that these very tools may not enable us to conclusively explain the mystery behind left-handedness and its meaning. Yet, we should not stop trying. After all, he says, today’s researchers are making solid contributions to such research–while raising provocative questions along the way.

Posted on January 26, 2011 by admin in Uncategorized 1 Comment