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return false;" href="#" onmouseover="return displayOnMouseOverText(this);" title="Bookmark"><img title="Bookmark" class="nomargin borderNone pad2px" src="/scitable/natedimages/icon_bookmark.gif"/></a> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="blogInnerContent"> <div class="view-tab-content marginbot20px"> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="blogNoLanding_1" class="fontSizeChange marginbot20px "> <input type="hidden" id="blogEntryId_1" value="230681" /> <div class="clearfix botbordergrey padbot2px"> <div class="fleft bold"> <span class="marginright5px bold"> November 29, 2015 </span> <span class="marginright5px">|</span> <span class="bold">By: </span> <span class="bold">Luke De</span> </div> <div class="fright padright5px"> </div> <div class="fright hide hideForPrint"> <ul id="topicPgRightPanelLnks" class="topicDetailsRight"> <li><a href="#" onClick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/email.gif" alt="Email" /></a><a href="#" onClick="" class="inlineLinks">Email</a></li> <li><a name="shareLink" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/share.gif" alt="Share" /></a><a id="" name="shareLinkTRAnc" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="" class="inlineLinks">Share</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="fright padtop15px hideForPrint"> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize11')"><span id="sizeNo1" class="px11 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize15')"><span id="sizeNo2" class="px15 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize20')"><span id="sizeNo3" class="mousePointerHand lh22 px20">Aa</span></a> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="blogParas_1" class="padtop5px botbordergrey padbot4px clearfix margintopn26px" name="blogParas"> <a id="showBlogPost" name="showCmntBlogPost" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/sound_controls_mind_optogenetics" class="inlineLinks px15"> Sound Controls Mind: Sonogenetics </a> <div class="articleContent"> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="contentSection"> <div class="sectionParas"> <div class="para toWrapLongWord"> <span id="docs-internal-guid-4dacf339-5457-6818-20d0-2335a9a7cdd5"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Based on a paper published in Nature Communications</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150915/ncomms9264/full/ncomms9264.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Sonogenetics is a non-invasive approach to activating neurons in Caenorhabditis elegans</span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150915/ncomms9264/full/ncomms9264.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 10.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Stuart Ibsen, Ada Tong, Carolyn Schutt, Sadik Esener, Sreekanth H. Chalasani</span></a></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/465026a.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> was a revolution, it’s true. It was the CRISPR/CAS9 of a few years ago. It forced mild mannered scientists everywhere to bacchanal parties. The 2010 Nature Method of the year allowed scientists to trigger brain cells in a new way. After the original hype, however, scientists to start using ethanol for DNA precipitation again and acknowledge its shortcomings. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Why were scientists performing acrobatics? Why was </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/465026a.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> so cool? It allowed scientists to precisely control the activation of select neurons. Previously, scientists commonly used injections and implanted electrodes to control neurons. This was definitely a step up from some of the previous studies like lesioning. Metaphorically, lesioning is like trying to figure out the job of an individual ant in a colony by hitting the colony with a car and seeing what stops working. You end up affecting way too many ants. Electrodes and improved surgical techniques improved the resolution but were still fairly dull. Imagine now hitting the colony with a sledgehammer. </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/465026a.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> got us down to the sun powered magnifying glass. Unfortunately, like the magnifying glass and sun, the procedure disturbed the day to day operations of the ants.<div class="imageSet Right marginleft10px"><div><img src="/scitable/content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883004/2_1.png" mce_src="nated/../content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883004/2_1.png" isthumbselected="false" thumbsrc="content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883004/2_1.png" orgwidth="932" orgheight="503" paraelementcaption="Optogenetics" paraelementlegends="Optogenetic||#|$||mouse." paraelementcopyright="Some||#|$||rights||#|$||reserved." imageinsertyr="2015" legalowner="Public||#|$||Domain" termsofuse="This||#|$||material||#|$||is||#|$||either||#|$||public||#|$||domain||#|$||or||#|$||Nature||#|$||Education||#|$||has||#|$||received||#|$||permission||#|$||from||#|$||the||#|$||owner||#|$||to||#|$||make||#|$||it||#|$||available||#|$||to||#|$||all||#|$||users||#|$||without||#|$||restrictions.||#|$||You||#|$||may||#|$||reuse||#|$||this||#|$||material,||#|$||with||#|$||modifications,||#|$||in||#|$||print,||#|$||electronic||#|$||or||#|$||any||#|$||other||#|$||form,||#|$||for||#|$||commercial||#|$||or||#|$||non-commercial||#|$||purposes." copyrightflag="N" licensetypepk="3" displaycopysymbol="Y" displaylegalowner="Y" displayimginsertyr="Y" displaytermsofuse="Y" displaycopydesc="Y" height="181" width="335" align="right" imgtype="FIG"></div></div></span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">While </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/465026a.html" style="line-height:||#|$||1.38;||#|$||text-decoration:||#|$||none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> allowed precise control of certain neurons, it still required a slightly invasive intervention. </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/news/2010/100505/full/465026a.html" style="line-height:||#|$||1.38;||#|$||text-decoration:||#|$||none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> requires brain surgery and leaves the patient with implanted fiber optic cables. The resulting mouse resembles Medusa at a rave with glowing tentacles protruding from the skull.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">In comes sonogenetics. . . </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Earlier this year, February 2015, scientists at the Salk Institute in La Jolla published a </span><a href="http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150915/ncomms9264/full/ncomms9264.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">proof of concept paper</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">. </span><span style="font-size: 24px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: 700; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">They controlled neuronal firing with focused sound. </span><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Though this was done in a worm, it attempts to solve the problem of surgery and protruding wires. </span><a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ana.21801/full" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">In 2009 a group of scientists used focused sound waves to “surgically” destroy small amounts of brain tissue.</span></a><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> Though destruction of neural tissue isn’t the desired goal, the paper shows that the sound waves can be focused and that they can get through the skull.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Experiment<div class="imageSet Right marginleft10px"><div><img src="/scitable/content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883048/brainwave_regen_poster_colour_2_1.jpg" mce_src="nated/../content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883048/brainwave_regen_poster_colour_2_1.jpg" isthumbselected="false" thumbsrc="content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/140883048/brainwave_regen_poster_colour_2_1.jpg" orgwidth="1312" orgheight="2000" paraelementcaption="Mind||#|$||Control" paraelementlegends="Mind||#|$||Control" paraelementcopyright="Some||#|$||rights||#|$||reserved." imageinsertyr="2015" legalowner="Public||#|$||Domain" termsofuse="This||#|$||material||#|$||is||#|$||either||#|$||public||#|$||domain||#|$||or||#|$||Nature||#|$||Education||#|$||has||#|$||received||#|$||permission||#|$||from||#|$||the||#|$||owner||#|$||to||#|$||make||#|$||it||#|$||available||#|$||to||#|$||all||#|$||users||#|$||without||#|$||restrictions.||#|$||You||#|$||may||#|$||reuse||#|$||this||#|$||material,||#|$||with||#|$||modifications,||#|$||in||#|$||print,||#|$||electronic||#|$||or||#|$||any||#|$||other||#|$||form,||#|$||for||#|$||commercial||#|$||or||#|$||non-commercial||#|$||purposes." copyrightflag="N" licensetypepk="3" displaycopysymbol="Y" displaylegalowner="Y" displayimginsertyr="Y" displaytermsofuse="Y" displaycopydesc="Y" height="511" width="335" align="right" imgtype="FIG"></div></div></span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Beam</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The first steps in the sound gun experiment were concentrated on the ability to focus the beam. In previous experiments, sound waves were difficult to focus and ended up heating the tissue. By using lower frequency waves for short periods of time, the scientists found that they could hit the worms without any behavioral changes, indicating that the sound beam would not affect normal tissue. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Receptor</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Suspecting a stretch sensitive ion channel, TRP-4, as the receptor sensing the ultrasound beam, the group found that animals lacking TRP-4 had reduced responses to the beam. The group then focused on two different neurons, both of which cause worms to reverse their direction. By creating transgenics that misexpressed TRP-4 in these sets of neurons, AWC and ASH, the scientists found that the transgenics increased their reversal behavior in response to the ultrasound beam, further indicating that TRP-4 was necessary to sense the ultrasound beam.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Just for kicks, the group then misexpressed TRP-4 in neurons with previously unknown function and used the sound beam to figure out what they did. They wanted to show that sonogenetics could be used to figure our the functions of previously uncategorized neurons.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Bubbles</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">In a series of steps the scientists showed that they could use perfluorohexane microbubbles to amplify the effect of the sound beam. They theorized they could inject these microbubbles into the vasculature of the brain, increasing the reach of the sound beam without having to increase the energy it delivers. . . this translates into more reach without cooking the brain.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Take Home Message</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">There are a lot of things I left out, and there are clearly some hurdles that sonogenetics has to overcome, but this paper aims at producing a method of neuronal stimulation from outside the brain. That is what they did. Most current techniques require drilling into the skull, sonogenetics does not. Since the TRP-4 receptor isn’t present in mammals, it could hypothetically be introduced without interfering with existing brain circuitry. The ultrasound beam is steerable and it doesn’t damage tissue at low energies. If these low energies are not enough to activate TRP-4, microbubbles can be used to help amplify the sound.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">This technique would still require generating transgenic organisms and steering and focusing the beam will still take some work. I couldn’t figure out whether or not the microbubbles would permeate the blood brain barrier, so I don’t know how easy it would be to amplify the signal. Sonogentics also has a long way to go to catch up to optogenetics. Using optogentics you can very precisely cause a neuron to fire. Using different colors and different receptors you can cause the same neuron to react in opposite ways. Again. . . precise control is the exciting thing about optogenetics. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">But at the end of the day. . .</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">This is cool.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">As with many others, the ability to stimulate remotely stimulate neurons is key to my plans of world domination. In fairness, it is important for others with similar plans. Sonogenetics allows for that type of remote stimulation. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Final Thought</span></p><span style="font-size: 14.6667px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">In a discussion with one of my former students, currently at MIT, Michaela Ennis suggested the possibility of creating synthetic circuits. Imagine using sonogenetics to get a neuron to fire and glow green. This green light could then use optogentics to get a second neuron to fire which would then glow yellow. . . </span></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <div class="fright"> <a id="showCmntInBlog" name="showCmntInBlog" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/sound_controls_mind_optogenetics#commentsId" class="inlineLinks hideForPrint"><span class="bold marginright5px">1  Comment </span></a> </div> </div> <div class="cleartboth"></div> </div> <hr class="thinGreyBlog"/> <div id="blogNoLanding_2" class="fontSizeChange marginbot20px margintop20px"> <input type="hidden" id="blogEntryId_2" value="227709" /> <div class="clearfix botbordergrey padbot2px"> <div class="fleft bold"> <span class="marginright5px bold"> July 02, 2015 </span> <span class="marginright5px">|</span> <span class="bold">By: </span> <span class="bold">Luke De</span> </div> <div class="fright padright5px"> </div> <div class="fright hide hideForPrint"> <ul id="topicPgRightPanelLnks" class="topicDetailsRight"> <li><a href="#" onClick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/email.gif" alt="Email" /></a><a href="#" onClick="" class="inlineLinks">Email</a></li> <li><a name="shareLink" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/share.gif" alt="Share" /></a><a id="" name="shareLinkTRAnc" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="" class="inlineLinks">Share</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="fright padtop15px hideForPrint"> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize11')"><span id="sizeNo1" class="px11 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize15')"><span id="sizeNo2" class="px15 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize20')"><span id="sizeNo3" class="mousePointerHand lh22 px20">Aa</span></a> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="blogParas_2" class="padtop5px botbordergrey padbot4px clearfix margintopn26px" name="blogParas"> <a id="showBlogPost" name="showCmntBlogPost" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/herbal_supplements_myths_smoked" class="inlineLinks px15"> Herbal Supplements: Myths Smoked </a> <div class="articleContent"> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="contentSection"> <div class="sectionParas"> <div class="para toWrapLongWord"> <p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3947c90e-4f57-37f2-e588-c30be8556fad"></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"> Edited by Allie Logerfo (Georgetown University)<span style="line-height: 1.2;"> </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"> <span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 12px; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent; line-height: 1.2;">Herbal supplements are really popular. Some of my crunchier friends swear by them. My Mother is constantly asking me to eat strange Bengali roots and pills claiming that my liver, kidney, ear. . . needs a good cleansing. But there is danger in the supplement world and I thought I would take the time to explain it.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Herbal Supplements Have Changed The World</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Herbal supplements get a bad rap. Many of them have grown out of century old remedies. </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Willow bark for headaches gave rise to Aspirin, arguably one of the best medicines of all time.</span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> Very potent therapies for diseases like cancer and diabetes have also grown out of the Pacific Yew Tree and chinese remedies respectively. (Just a reminder, hemlock and heroine also have natural origins; not all things natural are good.)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">It’s Extremely Difficult to Figure Out What an Herbal </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supplement Does<div class="imageSet Right marginleft10px"><div><img src="/scitable/content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/135633287/2_1.jpg" mce_src="nated/../content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/135633287/2_1.jpg" isthumbselected="false" thumbsrc="content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/135633287/2_1.jpg" orgwidth="640" orgheight="426" paraelementcaption="Leaf||#|$||to||#|$||Pill" paraelementlegends="Plants||#|$||can||#|$||be||#|$||completely||#|$||destroyed||#|$||in||#|$||the||#|$||pill||#|$||making||#|$||process." paraelementcopyright="Some||#|$||rights||#|$||reserved." imageinsertyr="2015" legalowner="Public||#|$||Domain" termsofuse="This||#|$||material||#|$||is||#|$||either||#|$||public||#|$||domain||#|$||or||#|$||Nature||#|$||Education||#|$||has||#|$||received||#|$||permission||#|$||from||#|$||the||#|$||owner||#|$||to||#|$||make||#|$||it||#|$||available||#|$||to||#|$||all||#|$||users||#|$||without||#|$||restrictions.||#|$||You||#|$||may||#|$||reuse||#|$||this||#|$||material,||#|$||with||#|$||modifications,||#|$||in||#|$||print,||#|$||electronic||#|$||or||#|$||any||#|$||other||#|$||form,||#|$||for||#|$||commercial||#|$||or||#|$||non-commercial||#|$||purposes." copyrightflag="N" licensetypepk="3" displaycopysymbol="Y" displaylegalowner="Y" displayimginsertyr="Y" displaytermsofuse="Y" displaycopydesc="Y" height="223" width="335" align="right" imgtype="FIG"></div></div></span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">But controversy surrounds the herbal supplement business. </span><span style="font-size: 7.199999999999999px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">1, 2, 3</span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> GNC, Target and Walmart all carry an arsenal of herbal supplements, and we are inundated by advertising for these supplements. For example, </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(7, 55, 99); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><a href="https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&es_th=1&ie=UTF-8#q=natural+supplement+treats+and+scientists+don%27t+want+you+to+know" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“Natural Cures They Don’t Want You to Know About!”</span></a><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 14.666666666666666px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(7, 55, 99); background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Then, you run in to a headlines like this: </span><a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/05/science/herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem.html?_r=0" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">”Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem”</span></a><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> and </span><a href="http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/02/03/new-york-attorney-general-targets-supplements-at-major-retailers/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">“New York Attorney General Targets Supplements at Major Retailers.” </span></a></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 24px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Recently the NY Attorney general set up a little experiment to see if Herbal Supplement suppliers were being honest about what they were selling. </span><span style="font-size: 14.399999999999999px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">4,5</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Experiment: A Simple Experiment Reveals Major Problems with Herbal Supplements</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Attorney General selected 4 popular stores as their source of these supplements: Walmart, Walgreens, Target, and GNC. The AG, Attorney General, went to multiples of each stores: Three NY Target stores, 4 NY GNC stores, 3 Walgreens, and 3 Walmarts. The AG’s office selected GInkoa, Echinacea, Saw Palmetto, and St. John’s Wort off the shelf purchased them and then analyzed them.</span><span style="font-size: 7.199999999999999px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">I was unable to find the actual lab results, but according to the AG the samples were then sent to a lab which then DNA Barcoded the samples to see if they carried the plant they claimed to carry. DNA Barcoding is essentially just PCR and sequencing of a segment of DNA. The sequence of that segment is then compared to a database which will identify the code as a certain organism. (It’s been used to show that tuna in NYC isn’t always tuna)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Each of the samples was tested 5 times. I was unable to determine whether the samples were sent to different labs or if the barcoding results were similar across all 5 trials. (</span><a href="http://www.documentcloud.org/documents/1532311-supplements.html" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); background-color: transparent; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Cease and Desist Documents</span></a><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">)</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Results</span><span style="font-size: 9.6px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); background-color: transparent; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">5</span></p><div dir="ltr" style="margin-left:0pt;"><table style="border:none;border-collapse:collapse;width:624px"><colgroup><col width="*"><col width="*"><col width="*"><col width="*"></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><br/></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DNA Matched Product Label</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tested Positive for Biological Contaminants</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No Plant DNA</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">GNC</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">22%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">33%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">45%</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walmart</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">4%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">40%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">56%</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Walgreens</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">18%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">45%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">37%</span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Target</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">41%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">21%</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">38%</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">What does this mean? </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DNA Matched Product: If the tablet contained the plant it was supposed to contain then you would find that the DNA matched the product label.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Tested Positive For Biological Contaminants: DNA of other plants was found in the tablet. These plants were not listed in the ingredients. </span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">People can be allergic to these plant contaminants making the product unsafe. </span><span style="font-size: 7.199999999999999px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">6, 7, 8, 9</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">No Plant DNA: This does not mean that the plant was not added to the pill. For example, this does not mean that there was no garlic in the garlic pill. It is possible the pill-making-process destroyed the DNA of the ingredients in that filling, or the ingredients were never added. </span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:17pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">DNA is an extremely robust compound. </span><a href="http://www.pnas.org/content/110/39/15758.abstract" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A quick search revealed that scientists at Max Planck have used DNA that is over 100,000 years old.</span></a><span style="font-size: 7.199999999999999px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">10 </span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You can freeze DNA, dry it, chew it, boil it, or stick it in your pocket and go for a walk on the beach. Heck, my freshman students manage to extract their own DNA all the time, and they are GREAT at destroying things. The point is simply that in order to complete destroy DNA, one has to work pretty hard or use chemicals/enzymes which specifically destroy DNA.</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">This is CRAZY: Why Doesn’t Anybody Do Anything About This?</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">You, my friend, are correct. This does seem crazy. Below is the law.</span></p><br/><ol style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The FDA is a federal regulatory agency that evaluates drugs and medicines. A medicine is a compound that is used to treat a medical condition.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The IDC determines what negative health states are considered a medical condition.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If somebody claims that a compound or procedure can treat a medical condition, the FDA will evaluate that statement. Meaning they can test the product and hold the producers to a high standard.</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">If a natural product claims to have health benefits, without saying that it treats a medical condition, it does not require FDA approval</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The supplement manufacturer is responsible for making sure that their OWN products and statements are truthful and not-misleading (Not the FDA)</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; background-color: transparent; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Supplement manufacturers are not responsible for batch to batch consistency. </span></p></li></ol><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The Future</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">To be clear, the FDA is not dropping the ball. These supplements, which are regulated in a similar manner as fruit, are simply not under their purview. If the FDA suddenly began testing all supplements, it would be a gargantuan (not just massive) undertaking. </span><a href="http://www.forbes.com/sites/davidlariviere/2013/04/18/nutritional-supplements-flexing-their-muscles-as-growth-industry/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forbes says that this industry is generating at least 32 Billion dollars a year.</span></a><span style="font-size: 7.199999999999999px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: super; white-space: pre-wrap;">11</span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The FDA already has an incredibly difficult task of balancing the need to get health restoring products out to the public as quickly as possible with the caution it must show while testing these products to make sure they are safe.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Decision Time: How Relates to You</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="http://www.fda.gov/downloads/AboutFDA/CentersOffices/OfficeofFoods/CFSAN/CFSANFOIAElectronicReadingRoom/UCM328270.pdf" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">From this evidence I am extrapolating that not all dietary supplements are safe</span></a><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">, </span><a href="http://www.fda.gov/Food/DietarySupplements/" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">some are outright dangerous.</span></a><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> However, it would be unfair to say that all dietary supplements are unsafe. </span><span style="font-size: 16px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(127, 96, 0); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">The question is HOW DO YOU TELL THE GOOD SUPPLEMENTS FROM THE BAD SUPPLEMENTS? </span><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> The answer, unfortunately, is that you can’t. Not unless you can do some barcoding of your own. Please be moderate when you are using these supplements and make sure that you tell your doctor about the fact that you are using them. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/2015/03/30/us-gnc-subpoenas-idUSKBN0MQ17920150330" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">As of March 2015, GNC has agreed to exceed FDA safety guidelines.</span></a><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> THEY are promising that their supplements are safe and verifying this by testing their products in-house and by external companies.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 12px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">My question is simply, what will everyone else do? . . . and perhaps more importantly, what should they do?</span></p><p></p><p> </p><p><span id="docs-internal-guid-3947c90e-4f57-37f2-e588-c30be8556fad">Citations<br/></span></p><ol style="margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nytimes.com,. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Retailers Are Warned Over Herbal Supplements.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.nytimes.com="" interactive="" 2015="" 02="" health="" herbal_supplement_letters.html=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">O’CONNOR, A. Herbal Supplements Are Often Not What They Seem. </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nytimes.com</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2013). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.nytimes.com="" 2013="" 11="" 05="" science="" herbal-supplements-are-often-not-what-they-seem.html?_r="0"></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Schneiderman, A. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A.G. Schneiderman Asks Major Retailers To Halt Sales Of Certain Herbal Supplements As DNA Tests Fail To Detect Plant Materials Listed On Majority Of Products Tested</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> | www.ag.ny.gov. </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ag.ny.gov</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.ag.ny.gov="" press-release="" ag-schneiderman-asks-major-retailers-halt-sales-certain-herbal-supplements-dna-tests=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ag.ny.gov (Attorney General of NY),. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">A.G. Schneiderman Announces Agreement With GNC To Implement Landmark Reforms For Herbal Supplements</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> | www.ag.ny.gov. (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.ag.ny.gov="" press-release="" ag-schneiderman-announces-agreement-gnc-implement-landmark-reforms-herbal-supplements=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Documentcloud.org,. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">NY Attorney General Cease and Desist Documents</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.documentcloud.org="" documents="" 1532311-supplements.html=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fda.gov (Food and Drug Administration),. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dietary Supplements: FDA Consumer Advice on Products Containing </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Ground Cumin with Undeclared Peanuts. (2015). at <http: www.fda.gov="" food="" dietarysupplements=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fda.gov (FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION),. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Energy "Drinks" and Supplements: Investigations of Adverse Event Reports</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.fda.gov="" food="" recallsoutbreaksemergencies="" safetyalertsadvisories="" ucm328536.htm=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Food and Drug Administration,. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Voluntary and Mandatory Reports on 5-Hour Energy, Monster Energy, and Rockstar</span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">. </span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">(U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2012). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.fda.gov="" downloads="" aboutfda="" centersoffices="" officeoffoods="" cfsan="" cfsanfoiaelectronicreadingroom="" ucm328270.pdf=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Fda.gov (FOOD AND DRUG ADMINISTRATION),. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">FDA Consumer Advice on Products Containing Ground Cumin with Undeclared Peanuts.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2015). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.fda.gov="" food="" recallsoutbreaksemergencies="" safetyalertsadvisories="" ucm434274.htm=""></http:></span></a></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Dabney, J. et al. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Complete mitochondrial genome sequence of a Middle Pleistocene cave bear reconstructed from ultrashort DNA fragments.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> </span><span style="font-style: italic; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">110, 15758-15763 (2013).</span></p></li><li dir="ltr" style="list-style-type: decimal; font-size: 12px; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; vertical-align: baseline;"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.9636363636363636;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:9pt;"><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Forbes,. </span><span style="font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;">Nutritional Supplements Flexing Muscles As Growth Industry.</span><span style="vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"> (2013). at </span><a href="about:blank" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap;"><http: www.forbes.com="" sites="" davidlariviere="" 2013="" 04="" 18="" nutritional-supplements-flexing-their-muscles-as-growth-industry=""></http:></span></a></p></li></ol><br/><br/><p></p> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <div class="fright"> <a id="showCmntInBlog" name="showCmntInBlog" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/herbal_supplements_myths_smoked#commentsId" class="inlineLinks hideForPrint"><span class="bold marginright5px">0  Comment </span></a> </div> </div> <div class="cleartboth"></div> </div> <hr class="thinGreyBlog"/> <div id="blogNoLanding_3" class="fontSizeChange marginbot20px margintop20px"> <input type="hidden" id="blogEntryId_3" value="225915" /> <div class="clearfix botbordergrey padbot2px"> <div class="fleft bold"> <span class="marginright5px bold"> March 17, 2015 </span> <span class="marginright5px">|</span> <span class="bold">By: </span> <span class="bold">Luke De</span> </div> <div class="fright padright5px"> </div> <div class="fright hide hideForPrint"> <ul id="topicPgRightPanelLnks" class="topicDetailsRight"> <li><a href="#" onClick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/email.gif" alt="Email" /></a><a href="#" onClick="" class="inlineLinks">Email</a></li> <li><a name="shareLink" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="return false;"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/share.gif" alt="Share" /></a><a id="" name="shareLinkTRAnc" href="#" rel="nofollow" onclick="" class="inlineLinks">Share</a></li> </ul> </div> </div> <div class="fright padtop15px hideForPrint"> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize11')"><span id="sizeNo1" class="px11 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize15')"><span id="sizeNo2" class="px15 mousePointerHand lh22">Aa</span></a> <a class="padright10px" href="javascript:resizeFontScitable('fontSize20')"><span id="sizeNo3" class="mousePointerHand lh22 px20">Aa</span></a> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div id="blogParas_3" class="padtop5px botbordergrey padbot4px clearfix margintopn26px" name="blogParas"> <a id="showBlogPost" name="showCmntBlogPost" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/the_danger_of_remembering" class="inlineLinks px15"> The Danger of Remembering </a> <div class="articleContent"> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="contentSection"> <div class="sectionParas"> <div class="para toWrapLongWord"> <span id="docs-internal-guid-2c9adda6-2951-33b6-17a1-2bac07d268d1"><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Edited by Alexandra Logerfo</span><span style="vertical-align: super; font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">1</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><sup><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Based on an article published in Frontiers in Behavioral Neuroscience in May of 2014 (</span><a href="http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fnbeh.2014.00129/full" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Link to the article</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">)</span></sup></p><p><br/></p><p><span style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 15px; font-weight: bold; white-space: pre-wrap; line-height: 1.38; background-color: transparent;">The Comical Introduction:</span><br/></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The ability to forget and the ability to remember are two seemingly opposing processes. <b><font color="#0000ff">Ask anybody about the two and they will generally say that they would like to forget less and remember more.</font></b> The strength of a memory is sometimes coupled to the strength of the emotions tied to it: stronger emotion, stronger memory. This concept is what led me to write about an article discussing the relationship between memory and emotion</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">.</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"><sup>2</sup></span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"> </p><div dir="ltr" style="margin-left:0pt;"><table style="border: none; border-collapse: collapse; width: 624px;" class="mceVisualAid"><colgroup><col width="*"><col width="*"></colgroup><tbody><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px" class="mceVisualAid"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Memory</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px" class="mceVisualAid"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Emotion </span></p></td></tr><tr style="height:0px"><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px" class="mceVisualAid"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"><b><font color="#0000ff">What if you were unable to forget every single bad thing that your best friend did to you? </font></b> Though you tried to forgive, every time you see his face you remember that time he puked Mudslides all over the floor of a certain Washington University residence hall because he decided funneling them would be a good idea, and left you to clean it up</span></p></td><td style="border-left:solid #000000 1px;border-right:solid #000000 1px;border-bottom:solid #000000 1px;border-top:solid #000000 1px;vertical-align:top;padding:7px 7px 7px 7px" class="mceVisualAid"><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.2;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The memory itself wouldn’t be that horrible if it didn’t come with emotion, the fear that you were going to get caught, the irritation that he couldn’t help you, and of course the stomach turning that accompanies a task like that.</span></p></td></tr></tbody></table></div><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Background and the Real Problem:</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">While the situation above is completely made up</span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"><sup>3</sup></span><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">, and somewhat comical, it highlights the relationship between memory and emotion. Traumatic experiences such as rape, abuse, or shell shock result in what is called “aversive learning.” This aversive learning can result in cue or context based expression of fear. This means that items and/or sounds associated with the event (cues) or similar situations (contexts) can trigger the expression of fear. It can be debilitating, forcing people to experience the terror of an already horrible incident over and over again. This is one of the key aspects of post-traumatic stress disorder (<a href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/posttraumaticstressdisorder.html" mce_href="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/posttraumaticstressdisorder.html" nated_pk="http://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/posttraumaticstressdisorder.html">PTSD</a>). People experience intense fear/anxiety when exposed to cues and contexts.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The </span><a href="http://www.g2conline.org/2022" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">hippocampus</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> is a part of the brain that is often associated with memory, and the </span><a href="http://www.g2conline.org/2022" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">amygdala</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> is a part of the brain that is associated with the emotion of anxiety. Neuroscience is all about finding the connections between parts of the brain and that is what Dennis Sparta and Jim Smithuis set out to do in an article titled <div class="imageSet Right marginleft10px"><div><img src="/scitable/content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100657/2_1.jpg" mce_src="nated/../content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100657/2_1.jpg" isthumbselected="false" thumbsrc="content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100657/2_1.jpg" orgwidth="2089" orgheight="2331" paraelementcaption="The||#|$||Mask" paraelementlegends="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/26/USMC-120503-M-9426J-001.jpg" paraelementcopyright="Some||#|$||rights||#|$||reserved." imageinsertyr="2015" legalowner="Public||#|$||Domain" termsofuse="This||#|$||material||#|$||is||#|$||either||#|$||public||#|$||domain||#|$||or||#|$||Nature||#|$||Education||#|$||has||#|$||received||#|$||permission||#|$||from||#|$||the||#|$||owner||#|$||to||#|$||make||#|$||it||#|$||available||#|$||to||#|$||all||#|$||users||#|$||without||#|$||restrictions.||#|$||You||#|$||may||#|$||reuse||#|$||this||#|$||material,||#|$||with||#|$||modifications,||#|$||in||#|$||print,||#|$||electronic||#|$||or||#|$||any||#|$||other||#|$||form,||#|$||for||#|$||commercial||#|$||or||#|$||non-commercial||#|$||purposes." copyrightflag="N" licensetypepk="3" displaycopysymbol="Y" displaylegalowner="Y" displayimginsertyr="Y" displaytermsofuse="Y" displaycopydesc="Y" height="374" width="335" align="right" imgtype="FIG"></div></div>“</span><a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/24834031" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Inhibition of Projections from the Basolateral Amygdala to the Entorhinal Cortex Disrupts the Acquisition of Contextual Fear</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">.” Catchy title, huh? Well, shame on you for judging it. It’s a great article that describes a pretty powerful experiment.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Before I can get into the heart of the article and the research findings, I need to explain two things: the process of experiencing a traumatic memory and the technique of optogenetics. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The process of experiencing a traumatic memory involves two basic parts. Let’s use the example of a mugging. You first have to gain the information; that is termed acquisition. Seeing a masked man, experiencing fear, and then storing the experience and the paired emotion of fear in your brain is acquisition. The second part, expression, might involve you seeing a completely different masked man and then stopping in your tracks because of that fear. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64X7vHSHOE" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Optogenetics</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> has been around for a little while now, but its usage is permeating more and more of neuroscience. This technique allows a scientist to put a light sensitive switch in a specific subset of neurons. </span><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I64X7vHSHOE" style="text-decoration:none;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; color: rgb(17, 85, 204); text-decoration: underline; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">By shining light on these specific neurons, scientists can stimulate the neuron or shut it down.</span></a><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"> It is a step forward in solving one of the toughest problems in neuroscience: resolution. Before optogenetics, shutting down neurons involved using direct injections or lesioning parts of the brain. Neither of these are terribly accurate and affect neurons in the magnitude of thousands - a large section of neurons is damaged and the role of specific neurons cannot be established. Metaphorically, this would be like knocking out a school, seeing that graffiti in an area decreased and then concluding that schools are responsible for graffiti, when in reality, only a couple of kids are responsible for the graffiti. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">The Experiment</span></p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">This experiment attempts to identify a specific connection between fear/anxiety (Basolateral amygdala, BLA) and memory (hippocampal formation) through a brain region called the entorhinal cortex (EC). Specifically, the authors, Sparta and Smithius, inhibit the BLA-EC pathway to look at its role in both the acquisition and the expression of contextual fear.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">They start by virally “installing” the optogenetic channels into the BLA. This will allow them to control neurons. The two channels they installed, halorhodopsin and channelrhodopsin-2, were attached to a yellow fluorescent protein (YFP). Halorhodopsin allowed the scientists to shut the neurons down and <div class="imageSet Right marginleft10px"><div><img src="/scitable/content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100559/2_1.jpg" mce_src="nated/../content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100559/2_1.jpg" isthumbselected="false" thumbsrc="content/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/ne0000/132100559/2_1.jpg" orgwidth="1728" orgheight="2592" paraelementcaption="Brain||#|$||Gate" paraelementlegends="http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fd/BrainGate.jpg" paraelementcopyright="Some||#|$||rights||#|$||reserved." imageinsertyr="2015" legalowner="Public||#|$||Domain" termsofuse="This||#|$||material||#|$||is||#|$||either||#|$||public||#|$||domain||#|$||or||#|$||Nature||#|$||Education||#|$||has||#|$||received||#|$||permission||#|$||from||#|$||the||#|$||owner||#|$||to||#|$||make||#|$||it||#|$||available||#|$||to||#|$||all||#|$||users||#|$||without||#|$||restrictions.||#|$||You||#|$||may||#|$||reuse||#|$||this||#|$||material,||#|$||with||#|$||modifications,||#|$||in||#|$||print,||#|$||electronic||#|$||or||#|$||any||#|$||other||#|$||form,||#|$||for||#|$||commercial||#|$||or||#|$||non-commercial||#|$||purposes." copyrightflag="N" licensetypepk="3" displaycopysymbol="Y" displaylegalowner="Y" displayimginsertyr="Y" displaytermsofuse="Y" displaycopydesc="Y" height="502" width="335" align="right" imgtype="FIG"></div></div>channelrhodopsin-2 allowed them to activate the neurons. They verified placement in the BLA by looking at flourescence and then by activating the neurons in the BLA and measuring the response in the EC. </span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Once placement was verified, they ran a fairly standard contextual fear acquisition paradigm. On Day 1, two groups of mice were placed in a room and then shocked. The first group had the BLA-EC pathway inhibited, and the second had the pathway activated. The mice were placed in the room for a short amount of time on Day 2 and then again on Day 3, which was a week later. On Day 2, scientists looked to see if the mice froze when placed in the room without being shocked. Freezing indicated that the mice remembered the context, the room, and associated it with fear. They did the same thing on Day 3.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Mice with inactive BLA-EC pathways on Day 1 did not freeze as much as mice with active BLA-EC pathways. This indicated that the non-freezing mice, with inhibited BLA-EC pathways, weren’t associating the room with fear even though they had been shocked.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">I am glad that Sparta and Smithius went a step further. They repeated the experiment but only inhibited the BLA-EC pathway in one of two groups when the mice were RE-EXPOSED to the room on Day 2. Shutting down the BLA-EC at this time would mean that the BLA-EC was removed during the expression of contextual fear and not acquisition of it. To clarify, the BLA-EC was not shut down on Day 1, as it was in the previous experiment.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Both groups of mice froze equally when re-exposed to the room. That means that even mice with inactive BLA-EC froze, which indicates they were experiencing fear to the same degree as mice with the active BLA-EC.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Let’s summarize everything here. If the BLA-EC pathway was blocked when mice were learning to associate the room with shocks (Day 1), then the mice did not express fear when re-exposed to the room (Day 2 and 3). If the BLA-EC pathway was unblocked when the mice were learning to associate the room with shocks, then the mice did express fear when re-exposed to the room. When the BLA-EC pathway was unblocked during learning, but blocked during re-exposure the mice did express fear.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; font-weight: bold; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Discussion</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">Sparta and Smithius demonstrated in their experiment that the hippocampus and the BLA communicate while a subject is learning about or experiencing painful stimuli. This means that fear and visual memory are linked during the storage process. I’m interested to know if the mice with the blocked BLA-EC pathway remembered the room. It is possible that they did not freeze simply because they did not remember the room?</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">As of right now, I haven’t been able to find any optogenetic studies done on humans. I think the FDA would currently frown on injecting viruses into a person’s head and attaching flashlights that shine into the brain. But this type of technology, in which we voluntarily manipulate very specific neurons, is coming.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;">PTSD isn’t the only disease involving memory that could benefit from this technology and additional research using optogenentics. Aspects of addiction also involve very powerful learning. Could there be a soldier in whom we could inhibit PTSD? Could there be criminals who could erase memories of their crimes? I have no clue, but certain things are for sure: Our understanding of the brain is changing with new technologies, and our evolved understanding is going to force us to reconsider how we deal with human behavior.</span></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><font face="Arial"><span style="font-size: 15px; line-height: 20.7000007629395px; white-space: pre-wrap;"><b>Footnotes</b></span></font></p><hr id="null"> <p class="normal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial; color: windowtext;">[1]</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> Logerfo can be contacted at </span><a href="mailto:aclogerfo02@gmail.com"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:#1155CC">aclogerfo02@gmail.com</span></a><span style="font-size:10.0pt">, if you need help with science writing.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p class="normal" style="line-height:normal"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial; color: windowtext;">[2]</span><span style="font-size:10.0pt"> The other reason is that one of my 12th graders presented this article in Journal Club, and I was confused by it. Thanks Elizabeth Krauetler for explaining it to me.</span><o:p></o:p></p> <p dir="ltr" style="margin-top: 0pt; margin-bottom: 0pt;"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;mso-bidi-font-size:10.0pt;line-height:115%; font-family:Arial;mso-fareast-font-family:Arial;mso-bidi-font-family:Arial; mso-ansi-language:EN-US;mso-fareast-language:EN-US;mso-bidi-language:AR-SA"><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; color: windowtext;">[3]</span></span><span style="font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Arial;"> By completely made up I mean that it is a completely true story.</span> </p><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><br/></p><br/><p dir="ltr" style="line-height:1.38;margin-top:0pt;margin-bottom:0pt;"><br/></p><div><span style="font-size: 15px; font-family: Arial; vertical-align: baseline; white-space: pre-wrap; background-color: transparent;"><br/></span></div></span> </div> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clearfix"> <div class="fright"> <a id="showCmntInBlog" name="showCmntInBlog" href="http://www.nature.com/scitable/blog/why-science-matters/the_danger_of_remembering#commentsId" class="inlineLinks hideForPrint"><span class="bold marginright5px">0  Comment </span></a> </div> </div> <div class="cleartboth"></div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <div class="fright hideForPrint"> <ul class="pagelist fright nomargin checkPageList"> <li class="" id="prevCustomBlogPager"> <span class="inlineLinksDisabled px14">«</span> <span class="inlineLinksDisabled">Newer Posts </span> </li> <li class="">|</li> <li class="" id="nextCustomBlogPager"> <span class="inlineLinksDisabled">Older Posts</span> <span class="inlineLinksDisabled px14">»</span> </li> </ul> </div> <div class="adminBarMngCont nopad nofloat margintop5px nomargin hide hideForPrint"> <div class="pagerAdminBar" align="center"> <ul class='pagelist fright nomargin checkPageList'><li class=''> <span class='inlineLinksDisabled px14'>«</span> <span class='inlineLinksDisabled'>prev</span> </li><li class=''>|</li><li class='selectedPagerNo'><a name='pagerAncHj' href='#1'>1</a></li><li class=''>|</li><li class='inlineLinks'><a name='pagerAncHj' href='#2'>2</a></li><li class=''>|</li><li class='inlineLinks'><a name='pagerAncHj' href='#3'>3</a></li><li class=''>|</li><li class='inlineLinks'><a name='pagerAncHj' href='#4'>4</a></li><li class=''>|</li><li class='inlineLinks'><a name='pagerAncHj' href='#5'>5</a></li><li class=''>|</li> <a name='pagerAncHj' id='next2' class='inlineLinks' href='#2'>next</a> <a name='pagerAncHj' id='next1' class='inlineLinks px14' href='#5'>»</a><div class='clear'></div></ul> </div> </div> </div> </div> <div class="clear"></div> <input type="hidden" name="blogSpaceUrl" id="blogSpaceUrl" value="why-science-matters"> <div id="shareWIthOthers" class="shareBox"> <div class="edge padleft90px"><img src="/scitable/natedimages/pointedge.gif" alt="" /></div> <div class="bordergrey"> <div class="clearfix bgTan marginbot10px" style="*margin-bottom:0px!important;"> <h2 class="fleft upper">Share</h2> <a href="#" class="inlineLinks fright" onclick="hideShareLB();return false;">Close</a> </div> <ul class="nolistType marginleft10px marginright10px dispblock"> <li class="clearfix marginbot5px"><span class="fleft"><img class="h16 w16" src="/scitable/natedimages/digg.gif" alt="Digg" /></span><span class="fleft marginleft10px padtop2px"><a rel="nofollow" id="diggLink" href="http://digg.com/submit?url=" onClick="shareWithDiggLink();return false;">Digg</a></span></li> <li class="clearfix marginbot5px"><span class="fleft"><img class="h16 w16" src="/scitable/natedimages/myspace_logo.gif" alt="MySpace" /></span><span class="fleft marginleft10px padtop2px"><a rel="nofollow" id="myspaceLink" href="http://www.myspace.com/Modules/PostTo/Pages/?t=" onClick="shareWithMySpaceLink();return false;">MySpace</a></span></li> <li class="clearfix marginbot5px"><span class="fleft"><img class="h16 w16" src="/scitable/natedimages/gplus-16.png" alt="Google Plus+" /></span><span class="fleft marginleft10px padtop2px"><a rel="nofollow" id="googlePlusLink" href="https://plus.google.com/share?url=" onclick="shareWithGooglePlus();return false;">Google+</a></span></li> <li class="clearfix marginbot5px"> <span class="fleft"> <iframe id="facebookLink" src="//www.facebook.com/plugins/like.php?href=link&send=false&layout=button_count&width=108&show_faces=true&font=lucida+grande&colorscheme=light&action=like&height=21" scrolling="no" frameborder="0" style="border:none; 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As a registered user you can have access to all content in Scitable, interact directly with community members, create a personal locker, start and join groups and discussions, and more"; var signINReqMsgNonLoggedINToolTip = "You have to be logged in to use this feature."; var collapseLabelPage = "View Fewer"; </script> <script type="text/plain" data-cc-script="C04"> var isTopicLandingPageFllg = ''; var topicID = ''; var invToJoinGrpGrpID = ""; var currentPagerItem = 1; </script> <script data-cc-script="C04" data-src="/scitable/nated/natedjs/paginationUtil.js?1098" type="text/javascript"></script> <script data-cc-script="C04" data-src="/scitable/nated/natedjs/articleCommon.js?1098" type="text/javascript"></script> <script data-cc-script="C04" data-src="/scitable/nated/natedjs/swfobject.js?1098" type="text/javascript"></script> <script data-cc-script="C04" data-src="/scitable/nated/natedjs/shareRevokeKeyword.js?1098" type="text/javascript"></script> <script type="text/plain" data-cc-script="C04"> var blogSpaceUrl = "why-science-matters"; var isBlogPageVdoPl = 'Y'; var weblogHandle = '205423'; var fontSizeCookie = 'null'; var postEntryAnchorAuthorAgain = ''; function blogLandingPage() { $(document).ready(function(){ resizeFontScitable(fontSizeCookie); searchPageNav = 'searchpageForBlogLanding'; var list = 'postCmntInBlog,bookmarkTRArtt'; populateLinkList(list); //Added for video - 18-Aug-2009 processVideoFLVBlogLanding(); //Added for audio - 19-Aug-2009 processAudioBlogLanding(); try { formatImgBlogLanding(); } catch(e) {} tabInit(); widgetList = new Array(); widgetList.push("loadOnlineUsers"); loadPageWidgets(widgetList); //Added on 19-June-2009: pager using hijax processCustomBlogPager(); //replaceAncsByLinkInBlogLandingPage(); try { $("div.toWrapLongWord").each(function() { wrapLongWord(this, $("a", this).get(0), 2); $(this).addClass("longWordWrapped"); $(this).removeClass("toWrapLongWord"); } ); } catch(err){} processBlogLinksBlogLanding(); //Added for video - 19-Aug-2009 processVideoYouTubeLanding(); refreshVideos(); try { if(document.getElementById('autoShareEnabledForUser')){ window.setTimeout("checkFBLoginStatus('BLG', '"+weblogHandle+"')", 5000); } } catch(e){} }); } //this function is called to process the custom blog pager links function processCustomBlogPager(){ var htmlStrPrev1 = ''; var hrefStrPrev1 = ''; var htmlStrPrev2 = ''; var hrefStrPrev2 = ''; var htmlStrNext1 = ''; var hrefStrNext1 = ''; var htmlStrNext2 = ''; var hrefStrNext2 = ''; if(document.getElementById('prev1')) { hrefStrPrev1 = document.getElementById('prev1').href; if(hrefStrPrev1.lastIndexOf("#") > 0) { hrefStrPrev1 = hrefStrPrev1.substring(hrefStrPrev1.lastIndexOf("#") + 1); } hrefStrPrev2 = document.getElementById('prev2').href; if(hrefStrPrev2.lastIndexOf("#") > 0) { hrefStrPrev2 = hrefStrPrev2.substring(hrefStrPrev2.lastIndexOf("#") + 1); } htmlStrPrev1 = "<a id=\"prev11\" class=\"inlineLinks\" href=\"javascript:loadBlogLandingPaginationFn('" + hrefStrPrev1 + "')\" name=\"pagerAncHj\">«</a>"; htmlStrPrev2 = "<a id=\"prev22\" class=\"inlineLinks\" href=\"javascript:loadBlogLandingPaginationFn('" + hrefStrPrev2 + "')\" name=\"pagerAncHj\"> Newer Posts</a>"; document.getElementById('prevCustomBlogPager').innerHTML = htmlStrPrev1 + htmlStrPrev2; } if(document.getElementById('next1')) { hrefStrNext1 = document.getElementById('next1').href; if(hrefStrNext1.lastIndexOf("#") > 0) { hrefStrNext1 = hrefStrNext1.substring(hrefStrNext1.lastIndexOf("#") + 1); } hrefStrNext2 = document.getElementById('next2').href; if(hrefStrNext2.lastIndexOf("#") > 0) { hrefStrNext2 = hrefStrNext2.substring(hrefStrNext2.lastIndexOf("#") + 1); } htmlStrNext2 = "<a id=\"next22\" class=\"inlineLinks\" href=\"javascript:loadBlogLandingPaginationFn('" + hrefStrNext2 + "')\" name=\"pagerAncHj\">Older Posts</a>"; htmlStrNext1 = "<a id=\"next11\" class=\"inlineLinks\" href=\"javascript:loadBlogLandingPaginationFn('" + hrefStrNext1 + "')\" name=\"pagerAncHj\"> »</a>"; document.getElementById('nextCustomBlogPager').innerHTML = htmlStrNext2 + htmlStrNext1; } } //this is called to replace the anchor with javascript function when results are shown in default situation function replaceAncsByLinkInBlogLandingPage(){ try { //Code for pager Manipulation Starts var name = document.getElementsByName('pagerAncHj'); for(var i=0; i< name.length; i++){ var pageNo = name[i].href.substring(name[i].href.lastIndexOf('/')+1, name[i].href.length); name[i].href = "javascript:loadBlogLandingPaginationFn('" + pageNo + "');"; } //Code for pager Manipulation Ends } catch (Ee) {} //Code for pager Manipulation Ends } //this is called when pager is changed when results are shown in default situation function loadBlogLandingPaginationFn(pageNO){ url= baseURL + "resource?action=loadBlogLandingPage&blogSpaceUrl=" + blogSpaceUrl + "&pagerNo=" + pageNO + "&hijaxFlag=yes"; AjaxUtil.request(url, { onComplete: function(xmlHttpReq) { var msg = xmlHttpReq.responseText; document.getElementById('blogInnerContent').innerHTML = msg; //Added for video - 18-Aug-2009 processVideoFLVBlogLanding(); //Added for audio - 19-Aug-2009 processAudioBlogLanding(); formatImgBlogLanding(); var list = 'postCmntInBlog'; populateLinkList(list); //Added on 19-June-2009: pager using hijax processCustomBlogPager(); //replaceAncsByLinkInBlogLandingPage(); try { $("div.toWrapLongWord").each(function() { wrapLongWord(this, $("a", this).get(0), 2); $(this).addClass("longWordWrapped"); $(this).removeClass("toWrapLongWord"); } ); } catch(err){} processBlogLinksBlogLanding(); //Added for video - 19-Aug-2009 processVideoYouTubeLanding(); refreshVideos(); } }); } function processBlogLinksBlogLanding() { try { var blogNoInEachPage = "3"; var hrefLink = ''; var title = ''; for(var cnt=1; cnt<=blogNoInEachPage; cnt++) { var divId="blogParas_" + cnt; if(document.getElementById(divId)){ var aList = $("a", document.getElementById(divId)); if (aList != null) { for (var i=0; i< aList.size();i++ ) { hrefLink = aList.eq(i).attr("href"); if(aList.eq(i).attr("id") != "editDraft" && aList.eq(i).attr("id") != "showBlogPost" && hrefLink.indexOf(cleanBaseURL) < 0) aList.eq(i).attr("target", "_blank"); if(aList.eq(i).attr("title")) { title = aList.eq(i).attr("title"); title = replaceSplSequenceWithSpace(title); title = title.replace(/"/g, '"').replace(/&/g, '&'); aList.eq(i).attr("title", title); } } } } } } catch (err) {} } function formatImgBlogLanding() { try { var blogNoInEachPage = "3"; for(var cnt=1; cnt<=blogNoInEachPage; cnt++) { var divId="blogParas_" + cnt; if(document.getElementById(divId)){ var imgList = $("img", document.getElementById(divId)); var alignClass = "Left"; var marginTopClass = ""; var str = ""; if (imgList != null) { for (var i=0; i< imgList.size();i++ ) { if (imgList.eq(i).attr("align") == "right") { alignClass = "Right marginleft10px"; } else { alignClass = "Left marginright10px"; } if (isFirstParaLine(imgList.eq(i))) { marginTopClass = ""; } else { marginTopClass = "margintop5px"; } if($(imgList.eq(i)).parent().is('a')) { if($(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("target")) { str = "<span class='imageSet " + alignClass + "'>" + "<a href=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("href") + "\" mce_href=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("mce_href") + "\" nated_pk=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("nated_pk") + "\" target=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("target") + "\">" + "<img title=\"" + replaceSplSequenceWithSpace(imgList.eq(i).attr("paraelementcaption")) + "\" src=\"" + imgList.eq(i).attr("src") + "\" class=\"nomargin " + marginTopClass + "\"/></a><br/></span>"; } else { str = "<span class='imageSet " + alignClass + "'>" + "<span style=\"background-color: rgb(229, 229, 229);\">" + "<a href=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("href") + "\" mce_href=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("mce_href") + "\" nated_pk=\"" + $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().attr("nated_pk") + "\">" + "<img title=\"" + replaceSplSequenceWithSpace(imgList.eq(i).attr("paraelementcaption")) + "\" src=\"" + imgList.eq(i).attr("src") + "\" class=\"nomargin " + marginTopClass + "\"/></a><br/></span></span>"; } $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().before(str); $(imgList.eq(i)).parent().remove(); } else { str = "<span class='imageSet " + alignClass + "'>" + "<img title=\"" + replaceSplSequenceWithSpace(imgList.eq(i).attr("paraelementcaption")) + "\" src=\"" + imgList.eq(i).attr("src") + "\" class=\"nomargin " + marginTopClass + "\"/><br/></span>"; imgList.eq(i).before(str); imgList.eq(i).remove(); } } } } } } catch (err) {} } function postComment(blogId) { var postCommentLink = blogId + '#commentFormDiv'; location.href = postCommentLink; } function processVideoFLVBlogLanding() { try { var blogNoInEachPage = "3"; for(var cnt=1; cnt<=blogNoInEachPage; cnt++) { var divId="blogParas_" + cnt; var blogEntryIdHidden = "blogEntryId_" + cnt; var blogEntryId = document.getElementById(blogEntryIdHidden).value; if(document.getElementById(divId)){ var videoList = $(".mceItemWindowsMedia", document.getElementById(divId)); if (videoList != null) { for (var i=0; i<videoList.size(); i++) { var align = videoList.eq(i).attr("align"); if(align == "left") { align = "Left"; } else if(align == "right") { align = "Right"; } var mediaSrc = videoList.eq(i).attr("media_src"); var videoStr = "<a name=\"anchEmbedImg_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\"><input type=\"hidden\" id=\"hidEmbedImg_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\" name=\"hidEmbedImg\" value=\"" + cleanBaseURL + mediaSrc + "\" />"; videoStr = videoStr + "<input type=\"hidden\" name=\"hidEmbedPlayerState\" id=\"hidEmbedPlayerState_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\" value=\"uninitedvideo\"/></a>"; videoStr = videoStr + "<span class=\"Photo imageSet " + align + " margintop20px marginbot20px\" align=\"center\" style=\"width: 322px !important; float:" + align + ";\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "<span id=\"spanVideoPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "<noscript>"; videoStr = videoStr + "<object classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8\" "; videoStr = videoStr + "width=\"320\" height=\"220\" id=\"videoPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\" >"; videoStr = videoStr + "<param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "<param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "<param name=\"FlashVars\" value=\"file=" + cleanBaseURL + mediaSrc + "&autostart=false&fullscreen=true&backcolor=0xffffff&stretching=exactfit&javascriptid=videoPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "<embed type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer\" width=\"320\" height=\"220\" name=\"videoPlayer\" src=\"" + cleanBaseURL + "/nated/media/player.swf\" flashvars=\"file=" + cleanBaseURL + mediaSrc + "&autostart=false&fullscreen=true&backcolor=0xffffff&stretching=exactfit&javascriptid=videoPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; videoStr = videoStr + "</embed></object></noscript></span></span>"; videoList.eq(i).before(videoStr); videoList.eq(i).remove(); } } } } } catch(err){} } function processAudioBlogLanding() { try { var blogNoInEachPage = "3"; for(var cnt=1; cnt<=blogNoInEachPage; cnt++) { var divId="blogParas_" + cnt; var blogEntryIdHidden = "blogEntryId_" + cnt; var blogEntryId = document.getElementById(blogEntryIdHidden).value; if(document.getElementById(divId)){ var audioList = $(".mceItemRealMedia", document.getElementById('articleContent')); if (audioList != null) { for (var i=0; i<audioList.size(); i++) { var align = audioList.eq(i).attr("align"); if(align == "left") { align = "Left"; } else if(align == "right") { align = "Right"; } var mediaSrc = audioList.eq(i).attr("media_src"); var audioStr = "<span class=\"Photo imageSet " + align + " \" align=\"center\" style=\"width: 322px !important; float: " + align + "\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<div class=\"nomargin padleft4px pipeblack bold textalignleft\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<object style=\"margin-top:5px;float:left\" classid=\"clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000\" codebase=\"http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=8\" width=\"320\" height=\"20\" id=\"audioPlayer_\"" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"movie\" value=\"" + cleanBaseURL + "/nated/media/mediaplayer.swf\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"bgcolor\" value=\"#ffffff\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"allowScriptAccess\" value=\"always\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"swLiveConnect\" value=\"true\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<param name=\"FlashVars\" value=\"file=" + cleanBaseURL + mediaSrc + "&autostart=false&fullscreen=true&backcolor=0xffffff&stretching=exactfit&width=320&height=20&javascriptid=audioPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "<embed type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" pluginspage=\"http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer\" width=\"315\" height=\"20\" name=\"audioPlayer\" src=\"" + cleanBaseURL + "/nated/media/mediaplayer.swf\" flashvars=\"file=" + cleanBaseURL + mediaSrc + "&width=320&height=20&autostart=false&fullscreen=true&backcolor=0xffffff&stretching=exactfit&javascriptid=audioPlayer_" + i + "_" + blogEntryId + "\">"; audioStr = audioStr + "</embed></object></div></span>"; audioList.eq(i).before(audioStr); audioList.eq(i).remove(); } } } } } catch(err) {} } function processVideoYouTubeLanding() { var align = $("span[name='externalMediaSpan']").attr("align"); $("span[name='externalMediaSpan'] img").remove(); $("span[name='externalMediaSpan']").css("margin", "5px").css("float", align); } </script> <script type="text/plain" data-cc-script="C04"> var gaJsHost = (("https:" == document.location.protocol) ? "https://ssl." : "http://www."); (function (s) { s.src = gaJsHost + 'google-analytics.com/ga.js'; s.type = 'text/javascript'; document.head.appendChild(s); })(document.createElement('script')); </script> <script type="text/plain" data-cc-script="C04"> try { var pageTracker = _gat._getTracker("UA-12063924-2"); pageTracker._trackPageview(); } catch(err) {}</script> </div> </body> </html>