Tag: HIV

Dexter’s Laboratory

As Eva described at Science Studio, it turns out that The Offspring’s Dexter Holland has gone back to working on his PhD in molecular biology after taking some time off to be a rockstar. His thesis is looking at the use of microRNAs by HIV during infections. Holland now as the unofficially required first author paper (PDF link; authored as Bryan Holland) needed to be allowed to defend.


Not only is the name “The Offspring” probably inspired by biology, but the famous lyric “keep ’em separated” was inspired by an experience Holland had pouring plates in graduate school, which you can hear Dexter describe in an interview about his music and science on The Nerdist Podcast.

HIV: Cancer Killer?

Photo by Samantha Celera
Photo by Samantha Celera

Recently, I saw an article referencing a young girl’s leukemia being fought by HIV viral transformation. The headline was surprisingly restrained, but the mere mention of HIV (a pathogen surrounded by fear and misinformation, like AIDS denial) risks leaving many readers thinking an HIV infection cured a young girl’s leukemia (not true!). So, I headed to the scientific literature to see if this flashy headline’s mention of HIV was really warranted. Continue reading “HIV: Cancer Killer?”