George Goedesky

George Goedesky Leader in sales, marketing & strategic development specializing in the IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics) industry.

I have extensive knowledge and experience in the field of Infectious Disease Diagnostics.

Sometimes there's just nothing like a nice walk in the woods at home.
10/29/2018

Sometimes there's just nothing like a nice walk in the woods at home.

Looking back on a wonderful evening in Indianapolis!
10/18/2018

Looking back on a wonderful evening in Indianapolis!

Another favorite city - Chicago and doing some exploring with Emily.
10/02/2018

Another favorite city - Chicago and doing some exploring with Emily.

Emily and I trying a food truck on the North Shore of Oahu, and checking out some turtles.
09/27/2018

Emily and I trying a food truck on the North Shore of Oahu, and checking out some turtles.

The World's Largest Wind Chime was made by Jim Bolin, weighing over 8 tons and standing over 55 feet high.
09/18/2018

The World's Largest Wind Chime was made by Jim Bolin, weighing over 8 tons and standing over 55 feet high.

4H Prizes, Meat allergies and why microbiology is the coolest science!I got to see a lot of the local 4H fair this year,...
09/14/2018

4H Prizes, Meat allergies and why microbiology is the coolest science!

I got to see a lot of the local 4H fair this year, as my oldest grandson (Thomas) raised and showed pigs for the first time. At the end of the fair, they auction off the livestock and being a good grandparent, we bid on and won the auction for his barrow (305 lbs). Said barrow is now residing in my freezer, and it was the first time, aside from lobsters, that I have met my food. I don’t have an issue with that, as I will eat anything that is dead or moving slow, but another mind worm happened which is around meat allergies.

There was a very interesting article on the rise of meat allergies, and what the root causes are:
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/07/24/magazine/what-the-mystery-of-the-tick-borne-meat-allergy-could-reveal.html

These are (1) changing habitats, leading to (2) increase in the deer population, leading to (3) increase in ticks, and (4) potentially changes in our or the ticks' gut microbiome that are contributing to the rise in meat allergies. For what the distribution of the lone star tick associated with this allergy is, see the map in this article:
https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/06/25/621080751/red-meat-allergies-caused-by-tick-bites-are-on-the-rise

Given how delicious bacon is, I am really going to be doing some checks for ticks after being outside!

Toxic Algae Blooms We have all seen the pictures on the news about the algae blooms in Florida, including the images of ...
09/11/2018

Toxic Algae Blooms

We have all seen the pictures on the news about the algae blooms in Florida, including the images of dead fish and mammals on the shore. What is algae and why does this happen? Surprisingly, there is not one accepted definition of algae, and included in the group would be seaw**d; for more details on this, see an excellent Wiki page: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Algae

Kelp and other “seaw**ds” are not the problem, but rather toxin producing cyanobacteria are. Cyanobacteria are also known as blue green algae and obtain energy via photosynthesis. They have the capability to produce different toxins that can affect the liver, kidneys or the central nervous system. (This link describes the various toxins that can be produced: http://www.greenwaterlab.com/algal-toxins.html) And some cyanobacteria can produce multiple toxins. Veterinarians see cases of either companion or food animals suffering from toxins after drinking from a rural pond.

Determining which species of algae is important, and there has been work using MALDI-Tof to accomplish this (https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0135337). They used a Bruker system to develop a rapid identification method which is pretty cool.

Secondly, why do these happen? One thought is that these blooms are occurring due to changes in the environment, including urbanization, fertilizer runoff, and increased water temperatures.

Personally, when we moved into our house our pond had an algae and w**d problem and we hired a group (Pond Champs) to remediate it. This is a picture of the results of their work.

Spring Break at the Silos in Waco, TX
09/06/2018

Spring Break at the Silos in Waco, TX

Book Review: Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling our Modern Plagues by Dr. Martin Bl**erI have ...
08/31/2018

Book Review:
Missing Microbes: How the Overuse of Antibiotics is Fueling our Modern Plagues by Dr. Martin Bl**er

I have mentioned the microbiome in other articles, and this book is intended for a general audience and discusses how we are affecting our microbiome, as well as the implications thereof. This is a very good book!

Anyone who ever had a kid with an ear infection screaming in pain (and your own subsequent sleep deprivation) understands asking the doctor for a bottle of the pink stuff - but there are consequences for our overuse of antibiotics. A changing microbiome due to antibiotics or use of PPI (proton pump inhibitors) like Prilosec or Prevacid for gastric reflux does change the composition of your gut flora. Associations have been made on implications of the microbiome changes contributing to a rise in asthma, obesity, diabetes and food allergies.

Maybe one day, we will be using microbial cocktails instead of antibiotics (“take two strep and call me in the morning”). Not that far-fetched — think about the fact that one of the best treatments for C difficile is a stool transplant to re-establish the microbiome.

Blueberries causing mind worms?I was listening to NPR and was thrilled to hear a shout out for New Jersey which is known...
08/20/2018

Blueberries causing mind worms?

I was listening to NPR and was thrilled to hear a shout out for New Jersey which is known as the Garden State. Most people whose only image of NJ is from the Soprano opening credits would go, “Whaaat??” But many varieties of tomatoes were first bred there, and as listed in this NPR article, so were blueberries: https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2015/08/04/428984045/how-new-jersey-tamed-the-wild-blueberry-for-global-production

But the article also caused what I call a mind worm which is something that nags at my brain until I can connect the dots. Dots connected were that this is another case of reducing the variants of a species available, due to the needs of large scale farming. Fewer varieties mean that if a disease were to crop up in them, the impact is greater – with the Potato Famine being one horrific example. I would always see this statue in Boston when I went to see my son at work.

The book, Never Out of Season by Rob Dunn is a great review of both the consolidation of farmed species and the potential impact of a plant disease on our global food supply.
https://www.amazon.com/Never-Out-Season-Having-Threatens/dp/031626072X
Monoculture is not a dis of our farmers by any means but rather a larger societal issue.

The other mind worm is that we sometimes hear about the dangers of gene editing technology (CRISPR) in terms of human pathogens and terrorism, but is there a risk of impact on our food supply if a new strain of plant pathogen were to be developed???

Old Union Oyster House Inc, Boston. Sitting in the booth that Jack Kennedy sat in.
08/17/2018

Old Union Oyster House Inc, Boston. Sitting in the booth that Jack Kennedy sat in.

My wife and I at Grandparents Day with Abbiegale and Ben in San Antonio.
08/14/2018

My wife and I at Grandparents Day with Abbiegale and Ben in San Antonio.

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