Posted on 03/14/2013 7:08:24 PM PDT by Olog-hai
The National Science Foundation’s March 3 grant announcements includes a $450,000 taxpayer-funded grant to Ohio State University to study the “evolution of venom proteins in sea anemones.” …
The foundation’s budget request for fiscal year 2013 was $7.373 billion—up $340 million from the fiscal year 2012 request. …
(Excerpt) Read more at cnsnews.com ...
With fronds like that who needs Anemones?
it gives Al Gore a woodie.
something else to tout.
maybe stock options.
Finally there is funding for that. All my life I have been facinated by venom proteins in sea anemones. Just the other day, we were all sitting around contemplating venom proteins in sea anemones. If the sequester had cut into this essential study, it would have been tragic.
For years now, I’ve lost sleep wondering how venom proteins evolved in sea anemones. Now I can rest easy, knowing that the US government will research an answer. I sure hope they publish the findings soon!
(sarc.)
This is basic scientific research, with the potential benefit that some of the proteins studied will eventually be shown to have diagnostic or medical value.
Colonel, you better take a look at this.
COLONEL
What is it, son?
JOHNSON
I don’t know, sir, but it looks like a giant—
JET PILOT
Dick!
DICK
Yeah?
PILOT
Take a look outta starboard.
DICK
Oh, my God! It looks like a huge—
BIRD-WATCHING WOMAN
Pecker!
BIRD-WATCHING MAN
[raises his binoculars] Oh, where?
BIRD-WATCHING WOMAN
Wait! that’s not a woodpecker. It looks like someone’s—
ARMY SERGEANT
PRIVATES! We have reports of an unidentified flying object! It is a long, smooth shaft, complete with—
UMPIRE
2 balls! [looks up from game] What is that? That looks just like an enormous—
TEACHER
Wang! Pay attention!
WANG
I was distracted by that enormous flying—
MUSICIAN
Willie.
WILLIE
Yeah?
MUSICIAN
What’s that?
WILLIE
[looks up] Well, it looks like a giant—
COLONEL
Johnson!
JOHNSON
Yes, sir!
COLONEL
Get on the horn to British Intelligence and let them know about this!
I wish people here would stop and think before bashing scientific research.
“venom proteins” are an extremely important area of the search for new and better pain killers, anti-clotting agents, as well as for completely unexpected medical uses which will only be learned from clinical trial and error.
Nobody here is bashing scientific research. What is being criticized here is government spending, which scientific research ought not need be beholden to. The private sector is not short on funds for this manner of research.
Oddly enough, venom evolution is one of the most productive areas of medical research.
For example, Brazil has an enormous number of vipers, and annually a lot of snake bites. Finally someone noticed that the victims all experienced a significant, but not usually harmful drop in blood pressure. Once they isolated the responsible molecule in the venom, and synthesized it, they developed an entirely new class of high blood pressure medicines.
Other good venoms: Deathstalker scorpion venom against brain cancer; honey bee venom against cancer and some neuro-muscular diseases; tarantula venom for Muscular Dystrophy; Brazilian yellow scorpion venom which causes pancreatitis, which is showing the molecular action of how other diseases cause it; cobra venom for arthritis.
Saw-scaled viper venom against one of the most lethal forms of heart attack; Gila monster venom to treat Type 2 diabetes; vampire bat saliva against stroke; and, right now, sea anemone venom in treating autoimmune disease.
Scientists have only thoroughly evaluated some 1,000 types of venom from the estimated 100,000 known types of venomous animals in the world.
And they close the WH tours for kids, can be added to a plethera of criminal goings on in thier government
Well, I’m actually not opposed to this one. Research grants aren’t always a bad thing, and as another poster pointed out, there is a lot of potential upside to this particular area of research. The venom of the cone snail, for example, has shown tremendous potential for a wide range of medicines, including the already in use ziconotide.
I would agree that it would been have been better if private funding had paid for this. Thing is, the private sector isn’t always interested in projects like this. Sometimes research doesn’t have a commerical payoff, but it is still worth pursuing. The physics work done at, say, the Fermi Labs might not have a commercial payoff, but I sure think it is worth having.
Good post!
What....no more money for cow farts? Oh the huge manatee. /sarc
Forget it. This place never reads articles and everything the government does is evil.
This study makes a heckofalot more sense than most of the gov’t funding these days.
Not only is this research relevant, but all of that money trickles down to help high-tech industries stay in business and pays salaries that keep local businesses going. It isn’t like it gets sent to line the pockets of obama’s friends or used to study why lesbians are fat.
CNS News is off base portraying this as wasteful spending - they should focus on research grants given to find why 75% of lesbians are obese - that’s wasteful spending.
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