THE CRUX
Internal medicine
(excluding subspecialties)
Internal medicine
(including subspecialties)
Family medicinePediatric medicineOpthamologyDermatologyNephrologyEmergency medicineNeurologyPsychiatric specialtiesRadiation oncologyDiagnostic radiologyObstetrics and gynecologyUrologyGeneral surgeryOrthopedic surgeryOther surgeryNurse practitionerPhysician assistantPodiatry$0 $50 $100 $150 $200 $250 $Gifts No gifts25.7%
39.9% No gift
Large gift
30.3%
Small giftAVERAGE COST OF PRESCRIPTION20 DISCOVERMAGAZINE.COMTRENDING
BY LACY SCHLEYDoctors Wined and Dined
Ever wonder how drug marketing plays into what your doctor
prescribes? A team of researchers found that D.C.-based health care
providers who got gifts — including cash, meals and ownership
interests — from pharmaceutical companies prescribed more drugs
per patient, wrote more expensive prescriptions and were more
likely to recommend brand names. And the pricier the swag, the
more likely doctors were to do these things.Building Blocks
Incredible, Edible Corn
Just because E. coli has a bad reputation doesn’t mean
it’s not useful. Experts at Rutgers University-New
Brunswick in New Jersey have found a way to boost
corn’s nutritional value by inserting a gene from the
bacterium. The key was getting the grain to naturally
produce enough methionine, an amino acid essential
for an animal’s growth and tissue repair. Currently,
farmers add synthetic methionine to corn seed, which
is costly and can hamper its growth. But the Rutgers
team genetically engineered corn plants to include
an E. coli gene that produces a specific enzyme. This
tweak increased the grain’s methionine production by
57 percent, all without stunting the plant.Killer Wave
Experts claim skull fragments found in Papua New
Guinea may be from the world’s oldest tsunami victim.
The remains were unearthed back in 1929 and had
been dated at roughly 6,000 years old. However,
researchers recently compared the geological
sediment from the layers where the skull was found
with that of a tsunami event that took place there in
1998, and they now suspect the person was killed by
a tidal wave or was buried shortly before one struck
the coast. According to the study’s authors, their work
could spur researchers of other coastal archaeological
sites to take a closer look at the soil that preserved
their finds.Enemies Unseen
Just when we thought the ozone layer was safe,
it faces another threat. A recent study reveals the
chemicals dichloromethane (used in things like
adhesives and aerosols) and 1,2-dichloroethane
(used to make PVC) are breaking down our planet’s
ultraviolet radiation buffer. Three decades ago,
when nations drafted the Montreal Protocol, the
international treaty that spurred regulation of
chemical emissions that degrade the ozone layer, they
skipped over these two because scientists didn’t think
the chemicals stayed stable long enough to amass
and do damage. But new research reveals East Asia
emits massive quantities of these chemicals. And
when weather patterns blow the resulting buildup
into tropical areas, the hot air lifts the emissions high
enough into the atmosphere that they can break
down the ozone layer.Noggin Prodding
In the never-ending quest to understand the brain,
researchers have developed a neural probe that’s
smaller yet more sensitive. The new tech measures
10 millimeters long and 70 micrometers by 20
micrometers wide — thinner than an average piece
of human hair — and boasts roughly 100 sensors per
millimeter in length; other probes usually only have a
few dozen sensors total. To top it off, because these
probes are so thin, researchers can use more of them
across the whole brain to get a better picture of how
different regions talk to each other, something other
probes and electrodes couldn’t really provide.AVERAGE
PRESCRIPTIONS
PER PATIENT
Gift recipients: 8.
Non-gift recipients: 6.AVERAGE PROPORTION
OF BRANDED PRESCRIPTIONSSMALL GIFT:
worth $7-$LARGE GIFT:
worth >$AVERAGE COST
OF PRESCRIPTION
Non-gift recipients: $
Small gift recipients: $
Large gift recipients: $THIS PAGE AND OPPOSITE: ALISON MACKEY/DISCOVER. PHOTO: ALENA OZEROVA/SHUTTERSTOCKSource: “Influence of pharmaceutical
marketing on Medicare prescriptions in the
District of Columbia,” PLOS One, 2017.