Happy New Year 2014!!!!

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I wish you all a Sexy

I hope you had a fantastic Christmas, hopefully surrounded by your family. 

NOW is time for fun with friends!!!

If you are out and about tonight, you will be in full preparation mode about right now, so if you are wondering what are the "chemicals" you put on your face, check out SSS mini series on Chemicals in your Make up.

Later on, you might be tempted by a late night snack such as a little omelet? Maybe you will be wondering if your eggs are still fresh, although this might not be your biggest worry. Anyhow, here is how to know!

Or maybe you'd like a nice piece of toast with some Nutella on it?

To make sure that you are not too hungovered, you might be tempted to finish your night with a cuppa. Find out here what are the effects of caffeine in your body.

Tomorrow morning, you will probably wake up wondering why you feel the way you feel!?! It might be about anything but this article is about 'feeling rough' after a big one!!!

And then will start the usual guilty feelings about not respecting your body, so you will be tempted to start a January Detox programme. Come over here for some tips and how to avoid spending too much money on so called miracle cures!

See you Soon for More Sexy Science,

Merry Christmas

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I wish you a

I hope you have enjoyed this year's So Sexy articles.
And if you are in full Xmas preps and baking your way into your family's get together dinner, you might find the article about the difference between yeast and baking powder interesting or useful or need to know how to make a gorgeous home made mayonnaise.
Also, little tricks here or there about why you cry when you are chopping your onions, but fear not, they are good for your health, check it out over here.
When you'll be all finished in the kitchen and will be preparing yourself, you might wonder if wearing make up is really healthy, this mini-series on Chemicals in your make up will help you make up your mind on the subject. As well as being informative and an excellent conversation topic, check out this mini-series on What's in your Shampoo? with a focus on the infamous SLS and Parabens.

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Banking your baby's umbilical cord

My Dear Sexy readers,

It has become on of those talks you HAVE TO HAVE when you fall pregnant:  

(Please note, I have included a LINK to a Petition that I am supporting. If you are interested, feel free to jump over there first from HERE)

Will I store my baby's umbilical cord?
Why? How? It's gross! and where? In my fridge?
Don't worry, if you do decide to do it, you have a few options and storing it at home is NOT one of them!
A few companies have now set up in the UK to help you store your precious in state of the art containers.
So now to the Why?

Special Amazon offers on baby products ends soon: 

Cord blood contains stem cells which are cells that haven't decided what to transform themselves into.

For example, cord blood contains mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs), haematopoietic stem cells (HSCs) and very small embryonic like stem cells (VSELs), all of which may be usable in stem cell treatment and increase the therapies available to your child. The cord tissue also contains MSCs in addition to unrestricted somatic stem cells (USSCs), vascular endothelial stem cells and perivascular stem cells, which are also expected to have great therapeutic benefit in the future. (Excerpt from Cells 4 Life website)

Cell types produced from MSCs

So with a little help from scientists, those stem cells could be fed with a few nutrients to help them differenciate into a specific cell type.
Those differenciated cells can then be used to treat someone who has a disease or a condition. This is called regenerative therapy because by introducing those cells into our body, it can kickstart the repair programme needed!
This type of therapy is in its infancy but already scientists have witnessed the phenomenal potential that it brings. For example, check out this article about a little girl who was cured using her cord blood stem cells that her parents got stored
Please check out this link to see a list of diseases that are being studied and case studies where stem cells therapies have been successfully applied.

Is it ethical?
It's not controversial at all like it used to be with embryonic stem cells because cord blood stem cells are usually thrown away, there is no life in it, baby used it for 9 months and once (s)he's born, (s)he doesn't need it anymore.
Keeping it could save that baby's life if, by an unfortunate twist of fate, (s)he develops a disease that is, by a fortunate twist of life, treatable with stem cells!

Who do I ask?
Not many women, and nurses/midwives for that matter, know that you can donate your baby's umbilical cord to the UK NHS bank! Instead, your baby's umbilical cord just ends up in the bin! WHAT A WASTE!!! Don't you think?

Even fewer people know that you can keep it for your own use when/if it will be needed!
I myself did it using the company Cells 4 Life. It is relatively non expensive, the price could scare a few I admit, when you add this cost to all the other bills that are required for a newborn!
But if you look at it as an investment, my baby is insured for £100/year for 25 years! And that is Priceless - and quite cheap! Isn't your Sky or phone bill 10x more? Even my house insurance is 3x more!

In London, there is an NHS trust in Barking/Havering and Redbridge that is thinking about refusing private procurement of umbilical cord blood! Why should it be their choice?

Think about all the women living in that area who won't get to decide what to do with their child's umbilical cord!!!! Please do come over HERE and sign my petition against it!!! THANK you for them

LINK to Petition: https://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/barking-havering-and-redbridge-hospital-allow-private-procurement-of-umbilical-cord-blood

What more?
The company I used not only allows you to keep the cord blood but also the tissue, and store it as a whole as opposed to purified and reduced cord blood like other companies do. For more information on this, please do check out their website.
Now, some people might say it could be a lot of money wasted and we don't even know if it's working, there are not many diseases treated by this kind of therapy, etc...
I reply AS YET!
This science is at the beginning, every day scientists are discovering new and exciting facts and the list of diseases and conditions treatable is growing! Imagine in 25 years? In 50 years? When your child will need them? By then the list might be extraordinary, but if you haven't banked those cells at the birth, you or he won't be able to use them in the future!

The opportunities to save lives are there, to potentially save your child's life!

Also, let me take this opportunity to remind you of Cosy Science café as their last talk was about regenerative medicine :)

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

Please note that Although Cells4Life is now a Sponsor of SSS, this article has not been requested and my views are mine only.

Did you Know? #6 - Blond hair are not only found in Europe

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Today we are resuming our "Did you know?" series on a fascinating subject that took its stem in our recent SSS post "The genetics behind hair colours".

 

Natural Blond hair on Solomon islands 

When I was researching the genetic variations behind hair colours and looking through pins on Pinterest to illustrate this, I stumbled upon something I never knew! In Melanesia and particularly on Solomon islands where people have predominantly a dark skin, the occurance of blond hair is almost 10%! Which is as much as in Northern Europe! Contrary to the European genetic complexicity, this blond hair trait is located on a single gene located on chromosome 9 and could account for 50% of all the blond people checked out (reference)!

Did you Know Collection

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

What Mandela did for the Sciences

My Dear Readers,

Nelson Mandela, the man who fought all his life for liberation, one of the greatest leaders of all time, passed away last night.
Now, I realised there's probably not a - adult - soul who hasn't heard of him but what is less known is/was his involvement for the Sciences:

He once said that education was "the most powerful weapon with which you can change the world".
Mandela lent his name to the creation of a new generation of African Institutes of Science and Technology, seen as the beginning of a new generation of African research universities. In Tanzania, Nigeria and soon Burkina Faso. Please do check the Nelson Mandela Institution wesite for more info or hover your pointer over the countries to be redirected to their website.

As well as this, a new secondary school located in Mandela's birthplace Mvezo will be opened on the 17th January 2014 to welcome children up to grade 12. The facilities at the school will include three double-storey buildings housing 25 class rooms and three laboratories – for science, biology and agriculture; a state-of-the-art resource centre with two computer laboratories, an engineering design laboratory and a library; and sports facilities including a netball court, soccer field and sports pavilion.
 

The facilities at the school are world-class. There are three double-storey buildings housing 25 class rooms and three laboratories – for science, biology and agriculture; a state-of-the-art resource centre with two computer laboratories, an engineering design laboratory and a library; and sports facilities including a netball court, soccer field and sports pavilion. - See more at: http://www.discoversiemensafrica.com/topics/big-impact-of-new-mandela-school-of-science-technology-in-mvezo-education-skills-and-jobs/#sthash.8stwTa85.dpuf

The facilities at the school are world-class. There are three double-storey buildings housing 25 class rooms and three laboratories – for science, biology and agriculture; a state-of-the-art resource centre with two computer laboratories, an engineering design laboratory and a library; and sports facilities including a netball court, soccer field and sports pavilion. - See more at: http://www.discoversiemensafrica.com/topics/big-impact-of-new-mandela-school-of-science-technology-in-mvezo-education-skills-and-jobs/#sthash.8stwTa85.dpuf

www.mandelaschool.co.za/

So Sadly,

Cosy Science

My Dear Sexy Readers,

I would like to share with you this amazing initiative by a group of research scientists in London.
Cosy Science is a Science Café where VISP (Very Important Sexy Scientists) come down the pub and talk to us about their science while drinking their beer (oops... I mean coffee)!
Yes this is similar to a previous SSS post on Pint Of Science.
The major difference is that Pint of Science is a festival happening once a year over a few days whereas Cosy Science is a regular monthly event.
One of the founders of Cosy Science is Kinga, a PhD student at Cancer Research UK whom I met at our weekly mummy and baby club :)
She explained to me that she came up with the idea on a Sunday afternoon while lounging in Hyde Park in April 2012. She got some labmates interested in the project and launched their Cosy Science Café. (Note the Science Café concept has been around for many years in UK and all over the world)

Cosy Science presents: Unlocking secrets behind regenerative medicine

Last Tuesday 26th November, I was the happy owner of a ticket to their sold out, yet free, event where 4 prominent scientists from London and Israel were coming down to a Holborn pub to talk to us about regenerative medicine!
WHAT a TREAT!
Passionate, clear, funny, interesting and enriching are a just a few adjectives to describe the messages that those guys wanted to put accross. We were also treated to some pub food, entertained by a super easy and fun game, followed by a session of lively discussion. All this in a non-patronising environment! Brilliant! Loved it!

Check out their FB page for more info on the next event.

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,

So Sexy Sciencey Things on Pinterest #11

My Dear Sexy Readers,

Welcome back on SSS. Today we are looking at a snapshot of Science So Sexy Pinterest board focusing on the beautiful and sexy variety of our hair colour. A quick reminder that SSS latest post is on the genetics of hair colour. A very complex matter which has eluded many scientists so far! If you are interested in our genetics, please check out the Mystery behind the colour of your eyes.You might also be interested in checking up SSS previous post on DNA, genes and proteins.

SSS Pinterest #11

For similar posts, check out SSS Pinterest Collection

See you Soon for more Sexy Science,