User:SteveChervitzTrutane/sandbox

I'm using this page as a TODO list for some (but not all) of the Wikipedia editing tasks on my agenda.

Bioinformatics

Computational genomics discussion

Pertaining to the discussion on the computational genomics talk page re: relationship between it and bioinformatics and computational biology. A few quick thoughts I plan to add after mulling a bit:

Bioinformatics, comp biology/genomics all can apply to quite a range of activities. My view (and I think it's pretty common, though I can't point to any formal survey) is that "computational biology" is synonymous with "bioinformatics", though the stubby comp biology page frames it as being more about modeling and simulation, akin to systems biology (which is not mentioned on the comp biol page, but is noted on the bioinformatics page, pointing to "computational systems biology" which redirects to Modelling biological systems).

Comp genomics or genome informatics then would be a genome-centric specialization of comp biol/bioinformatics, but I agree with Ian that it does not represent a distinct field, it's just genome-focused comp biol/bioinformatics, just like there can be a proteomics-focused area.
And systems biology can be added to the mix of fields whose scope is subject to interpretation.
The underlying issue here is that these are all fairly young, evolving, multidisciplinary fields at present. Workers in these fields may describe what they do in different ways for one reason or another, based on their training background, institutional organizational rules, granting agency study section guidelines, marketing tends, etc.
There may be no universal consensus or authoritative source of field definitions that everyone will agree with. The aim of Wikipedia in areas like as this is not to try to give the final answer, but to frame the issue and cite relevant sources with alternative viewpoints.

Here's my proposal: Dedicate the computational biology page to be a place for describing terms for the various fields related to bioinformatics/comp biol and create a new section in the bioinformatics page called "Bioinformatics subfields" that summarizes and point to it. The comp biol page is currently designed like this already. Comp genomics could then be merged into the comp biol page, simplifying its content, some of which is more appropriate for the sequence alignment page. SteveChervitzTrutane (talk) 09:24, 29 January 2010 (UTC)

I would hope not to spend too much effort arguing about semantics of these terms. I hope we can resolve it quickly, capture the issue (since this is like surface again), and direct our energies at adding useful content about the field.

Some of this is candidate material for the war on cancer page

Cancer genome sequencing

High-throughput DNA sequencing has been used to study the whole genome sequence of two different cancer tissues: a small-cell lung cancer metastasis and a malignant melanoma cell line.^[1] The sequence information provides a comprehensive catalog of approximately 90% of the somatic mutations in the cancerous tissue, providing a more detailed molecular and genetic understanding of cancer biology than was previously possible, and offering hope for the development of new therapeutic strategies gleaned from these insights.^[2]^[3]

Temp refs

^ Pleasance, Erin D.; et al. (2009). "A comprehensive catalogue of somatic mutations from a human cancer genome". Nature. Advanced online publication, 16 December 20009. doi:10.1038/nature08658. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help)
^ Karol Sikora (2009-12-18). "We're winning the war on cancer". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-20.
^ Akst, Jef (2009-12-16). "Cancer Genomes Sequenced". News blog. The-Scientist.com. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

Refs related to recent news on lifestyle risks, particular obesity:

More than 100,000 cases of cancer each year are caused by excess body fat Researchers with the American Institute for Cancer Research looked at seven cancers with known links to obesity and calculated actual case counts that were likely to have been caused by obesity. "It also has a negative effect on survival and can make treatment more difficul scientists hypothesize that excess estrogen released by body fat could be the culprit in cancers such as estrogen-receptor positive breast cancers. Studies have also shown that increased body fat can lead to increased levels of oxidative stress and inflammatory compounds in the blood, which are linked to DNA mutation and diseased cell growth, as is seen in many cancers.

Important criticism of this obesity link:

Glen Weldon, AICR Dr. Linda Bacon, Author "Health At Every Size". Marilyn Wann, member US National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance (and mentioned here)

Heated argument. Agreement that: Eating well, exercising, promoting healthy lifestyle

Some positive Obesity news (13 Jan 2010)

Also of note:

CDC Launches Obesity Website (30 jun 2009)
Phys Ed: Can You Be Overweight and Still Be Healthy? (studies cited in this article say: no)
What if being fat was a choice? (blog)
The Scales Can Lie: Hidden Fat Describes "normal weight obesity" wherein even people of normal weight (based on BMI) can have excess fat, putting them at higher health risk.

Efforts focused on specific cancer sub-types

[Possibly for addition to the WoC 'History' section. Not sure on the subtitle.]

On September 20, 2010, The National Breast Cancer Coalition launched the Breast Cancer Deadline 2020—a call to action for policymakers, researchers, breast cancer advocates and other stakeholders to end the disease by 2020. Refs:

Miscellaneous

A reverse-chronological list of miscellaneous Wikipedia items of interest, including usage issues and potential contributions.

List of MacGuffins

On 15 Feb 2021, the MacGuffin Examples section seemed rather sparse, consisting only of a few examples from Alfred Hitchcock's films. I was going to add a notable example to this section from Twin Peaks (where the MacGuffin is noted in the 'Response' section of that article), but checking the MacGuffin page history, I saw the following recent edit by User:Anita5192:

curprev 19:33, 3 February 2021‎ Anita5192 talk contribs‎ 13,898 bytes −433‎ →‎Examples: Partial revert of previous edits. This section does not need more examples, and, in fact, was recently purged of many unnecessary examples.

This put a damper on my plans to add an example, as it would likely meet the same fate of being reverted. To be fair, there is merit to Anita5192's motivation to avoid bloating the examples section of the MacGuffins article. Yet there seems to be a legitimate desire to document the use of the MacGuffin, as its use could be quite widespread in film and other media. Such a collection would be of cultural interest and a worthy of inclusion in Wikipedia, IMHO.

I therefore propose a "List of MacGuffins" page as an appropriate solution. To get the ball rolling, I'm working on a Draft List of MacGuffins here in my sandbox.

Gallery glitch

I encountered a Gallery template glitch, described there along with resolution (June 2020)

Jack LaLanne image

The goal is to get an image for use on Jack LaLanne's page. It has subsequently been resolved, so these notes are of historical interest only.

On 8 Apr 2008, an image was removed, citing: Only freely-licensed images may be used to depict living people. See WP:NONFREE.
- This page cites this as an unacceptable use of an image: Pictures of people still alive, groups still active, and buildings still standing; provided that taking a new free picture as a replacement (which is almost always considered possible) would serve the same encyclopedic purpose as the non-free image. This includes non-free promotional images. However, for some retired or disbanded groups, or retired individuals whose notability rests in large part on their earlier visual appearance, a new picture may not serve the same purpose as an image taken during their career, in which case the use would be acceptable.
- So using fair-use version of an early image of Jack during his prime would seem to be justified under this policy.
- A free image would be ideal. Will try to get one from Elaine.
Wikipedia's policy on biographies of living persons.
Wikipedia:Deletion of all fair use images of living people

[1] Pleasance, Erin D.; et al. (2009). "A comprehensive catalogue of somatic mutations from a human cancer genome". Nature. Advanced online publication, 16 December 20009. doi:10.1038/nature08658. {{cite journal}}: Explicit use of et al. in: |first= (help)

[2] Karol Sikora (2009-12-18). "We're winning the war on cancer". Telegraph.co.uk. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

[3] Akst, Jef (2009-12-16). "Cancer Genomes Sequenced". News blog. The-Scientist.com. Retrieved 2009-12-20.

[1]

[2]

[3]