Francis Collins

Yesterday, Francis Collins gave a talk here titled the "Promise and Peril of the Genomic Revolution". It was a general audience talk, so it wasn't anything I hadn't heard before, but Dr. Collins is a very good speaker. But it made me think this fall will mark 20 years since the publication of the discovery of the gene for cystic fibrosis . It was the first gene found by positional cloning . This was back before we had a human genome sequence or the HapMap . Human genetics has come a long way in 20 years. But I'm even more excited of where its headed .

I'm glad I don't live in South Carolina

South Carolina (along with Michigan) now have an unemployment rate over 10% . Unfortunately, I think other states are not far behind. But what is the Governor of South Carolina doing? Rejecting the federal stimulus dollars . And he' not the only one.

Several GOP governors, including Rick Perry of Texas, Bobby Jindal of Louisiana and Haley Barbour of Mississippi, have said they would reject a portion of the money that would expand unemployment benefits to those not currently eligible to receive them. Sanford says he will also reject those funds, but he has threatened to go much further, requesting a waiver to spend some $700 million targeted for education and other programs to pay down some of the state's debt instead.

Republicans piss me off.