This isn’t the best place to put this information, but I’m taking off for New Orleans early in the morning and won’t be back until Sunday evening. I’m getting lots of email from students, so I’m hoping a few of them will pick up on this and spread the news.
Students are registering for spring term classes, and they’re trying to get into my cancer biology course — it filled up, boom, in a flash, so there are apparently many disappointed people who weren’t in one of the early registration slots. Sorry, but I’m not sending out permission numbers through email. Sign up for the waiting list if you’re still interested! I’ll take a look at the demand next week and decide what to do.
I should have known cancer would be so popular.
So, wait.
Are you saying that your CLASSES get Pharyngulated too?
What’s the matter, PZ, don’t want to grade all those exams?
“Cancer? That’s hilaaarious!”
Not with some people, it isn’t!
I was going to post some witty(!) reply here but…
…as a ‘survivor’ I want, sans overt sycophancy, to thank you PZ, for teaching this course.
Hopefully, one of your students will, in the future, discover a preventative or curative (preferably both!)
This is what makes learning science so fuckin’ ace.
It’s a shame I inherited the ‘artsty-fartsy’ gene from my great-grandmother and not the ‘sciencey’ genes (see, at least I know the technical terms) from my parents.
…or, at least, that it’d experience unconstrained growth.
Only things students can learn from you is how to not be a self-serving charlatan. Scrape the bottom of the barrel, “oh look! It’s PZ!”
I think that it’s my duty to say something regarding the manner in which you should use a decaying porcupine, but I’m off to bed, so I’ll leave its utility to your imagination.
Azkyroth:
Groan.
one interesting cancer treatment innovation that I’ve seen within the past year was the generation of “artificial” HDL molecules with siRNA transcripts inside. The goal was to generate siRNAs to block critical cell cycle genes within cancer cells. The clever part of this therapy was the fact that HDLs are actively consumed by cancer cells to fuel mitosis.
If we could make larger HDL micelles that would be safe for the patient, I believe we should incorporate a suite of apoptosis pathway transcripts in the Micelles to replace lost apoptotic functionality in the abberrant cells. It wouldn’t work on all forms of cancer, but might be something to look into.
mabus strikes again?
link
So did you ever decide on a textbook?
I used to support cancer treatment in a Radiological Physics department. I suspect the underlying popularity of the class has something to do with with the statistics that show how common cancers are. Everyone knows someone who has had to deal with it, and often it is a sad and emotional tribulation. If not that, it’s sometimes a scary and major inconvenience.
It’s a also a topic that needs to be discussed and the understanding of what’s going on with cancer since I assisted in random bombardment of proliferating cells has been a major scientific achievement. I’m grateful for this knowledge. I most likely will my breast cancer survivor wife with me for a long time.
Look YourConscience, admission requirements are set by the university’s admissions office, not PZ. If you’re that upset about your denied application, try upgrading your marks at a local adult-education centre. Or consider a field that doesn’t require high—er, education.
I would be interested in knowing what text was selected as well.
Sounds like it’ll be a rocking good time.
Are you speaking in New Orleans this weekend, or just partaking in our pagan, satanic Halloween festivities?
Mad Tom, Mabus is in court-ordered rehab until December 2nd.
PZ, is there an option to enlarge the class?
Monado
I’m aware Mabus is receviung treatment – I was wondering whether this is an example of his work prior to treatment- the names MikeeUSA and ‘Markus G’ seem to be slightly homonymic of Markuse and the harassment identical.