But how about the benefits of early detection? Alas, they did not materialize. Very large trials (including the PLCO study, with over 75,000 participants) showed that routine PSA screening did not prevent any deaths. The only study to show any benefit, ERSPC, had serious flaws, as explained by Ian Haines and George Miklos in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

Colonisation ultimately has to be accompanied by a ‘policy of elimination’, as Patrick Wolfe calls it. Without a policy of elimination the exercise cannot succeed. There will be resistance. Colonialism is ultimately about the bottom line, material gain. Or in the case of Israel’s settler-colonialist project in Palestine, in the service of the goal of establishing and securing an exclusively Jewish state in the whole of historic Palestine. As many colonisers throughout history have learned the hard way, colonialism can backfire. When too many resources have to be diverted to quashing resistance, it can end up in a loss rather than gain for the coloniser. The dynamic of resistance is at the heart of the success or failure of colonial projects. An effective policy of elimination is therefore crucial for colonial success because it tackles the problem of resistance directly.

When it comes to people like Nathan and others like him, I think it’s important to confront them with one question only, blunt and clear: “Do you believe that it’s OK to hurt other people for the Jewish people to survive?” I am sure the answer would be yes. Hell, Benny Morris said so as clear as day a decade ago or more. This is the end of the discussion for me. You cannot debate with people who believe that the world is only a nasty place, that Jews are always at risk of annihilation, and that therefore universal morals and values do not apply. I left this cult a long time ago and have nothing to say to these people.

This is prototypical in the Jones era – when you have as much speed on the edge of the field as England possess, you create opportunities to use that speed as directly as possible.

Platelia Toxo IgM (Bio-Rad) is a qualitative test used for the detection of IgM antibodies against T. gondii via capture of IgM in the solid phase (the microplate wells are coated with anti-human μ chains). A mixture of antigens and the monoclonal anti-T. gondii antibody labeled with peroxidase is used as the conjugate. In the present study, values ranging from >0.8 to <1 were considered equivocal, while values of ≥1 were considered positive according to the manufacturer’s instructions.

Although this blood test is still experimental, the company must have some idea about how much it thinks it will charge if it ever gets into clinical use. Another way the release could have addressed cost, absent an estimated cost for this test, would be to comment on the cost of a PSA, other similar blood tests this company has developed for other conditions, or even the cost of a biopsy that in theory could be avoided.

Peter Gibson works as a doctor who cares for people with respiratory diseases and as a clinical scientist investigating the mechanisms and treatment of asthma, Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), cough, and other airway disorders.

Johnson, M. D., Gold, L. I. & Moses, H. L. Evidence for transforming growth factor-beta expression in human leptomeningeal cells and transforming growth factor-beta-like activity in human cerebrospinal fluid. Lab. Invest. 67, 360–368 (1992).

Piper, R. C. & Katzmann, D. J. Biogenesis and function of multivesicular bodies. Annu Rev Cell Dev Biol 23, 519–547 (2007).

To whom do you consider offering PSA screening for prostate cancer? Is this article likely to change your practice?

“Jewish kinship”? It reeks to me of desperation. ‘You have to be a Jew, kid, everybody else hates you’. There’s an implicit assumption in all of this that if everybody else didn’t hate us, we would all immediately abandon the religion.

I hope that fellow Engineers recognise the outstanding combination of skills, abilities, knowledge, application, systems analysis, experience and experiences -I could and we all should go on…that are ALL aimed at excellence. Advances in materials, computing skills, taking each aspect to the ultimate to achieve success, optimization of knowledge and its integration to create world-beating situations: many of these not even known let alone used at the start of my career -55 years but still counting. Here it comes, I hear you say! Mike is going to draw a comparison. Indeed he is! There is a pivotal aspect to the proper advance of our society and Nation -the election and control of our ‘leadership- which last altered its ‘ways’ about 300 years ago: and as we have all recently been a party to -still believes that a cross on a paper written by a pencil (tied to the booth?) and hand counted is the best way to advance Britannia. Words like Rip Van Winkle come to my mind? Take the skill, and courage of these sporting based giants and put such to make other elements of our society ‘fit-for-purpose’ and who knows what may result. The shams certainly do, because they see the end of their absolute control happening overnight! I read recently that the Palace of Westminster -crumbling, decrepit, outdated, poorly maintained, botched, you get the idea is a perfect analogy (simile? metaphor -we are only simple Engineers) of the political process that still clutters up its ‘halls’ Cromwell had the right idea: “be gone!” and I hope our profession says the same and soon.