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Strange study

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 1:29 am
by Jean
I was looking for the full text of a study about birth monthe related effects in MS (hypothesis about sun exposure during pregnancy), and I found a strange abstract from the same author : "Origins of magic: review of genetic and epigenetic effects". After googlization, I found the full text :

http://www.bmj.com/cgi/content/full/335/7633/1299

Quite funny, but I hope no medical resarch funding has been granted for this...[/url]

Re: Strange study

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:14 am
by NHE
Just skimming through the text, the "paper" (if you could even call it that) shows strong resemblance to a combination of a bad joke and a work of fiction. I can't seriously believe that anyone could possibly take it at face value. But then, maybe if we sacrifice more virgins to the volcano god our village will be spared during the next eruption. :roll:

NHE

Re: Strange study

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:26 am
by NHE
Jean wrote:Quite funny, but I hope no medical resarch funding has been granted for this...
Here are some comments from the author accessible at the bottom of that page.
No medical research funding was used on this work. The paper was written in the authors' own time.

We carried out this research predominantly on long car journeys around the motorway networks of the UK with our three children. The paper is written, in the spirit of the Christmas BMJ, to illustrate genetic concepts to the generalist reader using a light-hearted example. JK Rowling has been widely accredited with encouraging children to read again in this electronic age, and we hoped that we might follow her example by bringing some of the excitement of contemporary genetics to a wider audience.

For details of our funded programmes of research please see http://www.well.ox.ac.uk, http://www.ndm.ox.ac.uk and http://www.npeu.ox.ac.uk.
NHE 8)

Posted: Thu Jan 10, 2008 4:28 am
by Jean
It's surely a good joke for christmas, but it is being published on the US National libreary of Medecine, on www.pubmed.gov !

<shortened url>

This is a "real" paper, with real authors, known for "normal" publications about MS, and I wonder how they could submit it to a serious journal...
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EDIT : ok : I hadn't read small lines in the end (always read the small lines, my mother said). I'm going to sacrifice 25 cats to please the volcano god and repent of my own stupidity.