The methods of science aren’t foolproof, but they are indefinitely perfectible. Just as important: there is a tradition of criticism that enforces improvement whenever and wherever flaws are discovered.

Every major field has its leading thinkers, and the biology of cancer is no different. What makes their impact heard better is when one of those leaders writes a book about it. Given my interest in molecular biology of cancer, I naturally have my favorite such book on the topic – Robert Weinberg’s One Renegade [...]

This week’s around the blogs focuses on lab life and impacts of science on society. That’s a big area to cover, but there are still only a handful of really noteworthy discussions in the last couple of weeks on the topic. Check ‘em out.

Multi-tasking used to be my favourite way to get ahead. During my PhD I saw others around me working extremely long hours in the lab and not really having much of a personal life and quite early on I made the decision that this was not for me. Although I enjoy my work, having a [...]

Several peer-reviewed articles advocate using microwaves for sterilization, but would you trust microwave-sterilized growth medium?

What is this thing called ‘Life?’ One popular game in the relevant area of philosophy is to provide robust counter examples, which reveal failures in operational definitions of life. Failed attempts include physiological, metabolic, biochemical, genetic and thermodynamic definitions of life, all of which face problems. For example, a metabolic definition finds it hard to [...]

As per tradition, it’s time for the weekly roundup of informative blog posts outside of your regular Bite of Bio. This week, it’s striking that the posts to choose from have an extra supply of posts on the science, and light on the personal or social commentary that bloggers enjoy so much. So this week, [...]

Staying in science – getting funding and getting peer reviewed – is tough. That’s one of my main gripes with creationist simpletons who imply that scientists are uncritical of their peers, and that criticism is directed solely at those who refuse to take their claims at face value. They have no clue whatsoever what they’re [...]

If you have ever worked out the price of an electroporation cuvette you will realise that, at several dollars each, they are worth recycling. Accounts on how amenable electroporation cuvettes are to recycling vary, but I find that as long as you treat them well it is possible to use single cuvette many times. It’s [...]

The Biotechniques journal celebrates 25 years of existence with a series of retrospective articles covering developments in various fields over the same period.