Hardened truth about immunity

Call it an immune system double-cross. The same proteins that fight germs may also help fat and cholesterol clog our arteries, new research shows. Understanding this deadly duality could eventually lead to new drugs to ward off heart disease.

http://www.oxfordjournal.com


HOW IS OUR WORLD CHANGING?

An answer to this question is not simply that we now face global competition and hence have to work harder to educate more people. My reading of the innovation literature [8-11] suggests that the major factor to address is the increasing rate of change.

Not so many years ago, companies could come up with an innovative idea for a product or service and gradually refine it for 25 years or more. People could develop particular kinds of expertise and be successful for a lifetime. This made it possible for educational institutions (e.g., community colleges, four-year institutions) to teach job-specific skills and knowledge and know that most of this would still be useful in the workplace.

Today, innovation cycles are often very short and educational systems are often insufficiently nimble. As educators, we may end up training students in specifics that are no longer useful once they reach the workplace. Some suggest that preparing people for change highlights the need to emphasize the adaptive features of expertise.


Oxford journals, The crisis of human survival
http://www.oxfordjournal.com/html/diary/showlog.vm?sid=66&log_id=237