About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

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Three story highlights from related blogs:

All Graduate Student Supervisors Take Note
“This lovely piece has been circulating of late, but Sonke has been kind enough to allow the SCQ to present his “Advice for Potential Graduate Students” as a handy dandy pin-up, suitable for pinning up in some visible area of your lab.”

FDA Interested in Collaborating with Personal Genomics Companies
“[Genetic Future] describes an intriguing twist in the ongoing struggle between the nascent personal genomics industry and regulatory bodies: apparently the FDA is exploring the possibility of collaborating with consumer genomics providers to track adverse drug reactions”…

Increased Secretion in Senescent Cells, and Chris Patil on the Campisi Lab’s New PLoS Biology Paper: Cellular Senescence, Protein Secretion, and the Aging/Cancer Paradox
Chris Patil (Ouroboros) co-authors an interesting new paper in PLoS Biology, and bloggers discuss.

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

This week’s highlights from Around the Blogs include shakes in the lab, confused science journalists and brain tissue from stem cells… (more…)

About the author

Nick Oswald

Nick is a molecular biologist-turned-publisher. After a PhD in Developmental Biology and an eclectic seven years in biotech he is now Editorial Manager of Neuroendocrinology and the founder and Editor-In-Chief of Bitesize Bio. You are welcome to connect with Nick on LinkedIn

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Our highlights from the blogosphere this week include cloning woolly mammoths, the logistics of tissue culture entertainment and Google’s efforts to save the world.

Back from the dead. Sandra Porter at Discovering Biology in a Digital World covers the recent cloning of some long frozen mice by a Japanese group, which could take us one step closer to being able to clone woolly mammoths and such like.

Bursting at the seams. At Biocurious, PhilipJ’s Molecular of the Month is mechanosensitive channels, which help to control osmotic balance in bacteria.

Is there no end to DNA’s talents? Yun Xie at Nobel Intent reports on a nanotech application that uses DNA as the basis for nanowires that can convey information through a clever use of  FRET.

Algae-munching bacteria. Merry at Small Things Considered covers Algicidal bacteria, the big game hunters of the marine bacterial world.

Google will save the world. Alan Cann at Microbiology Bytes has an excellent post about Google’s Predict and Prevent initiative, which combined digital, genomic and IT technology to identify �hot spots� of emerging threats, such as pandemics and environmental catastrophes and provide early warning before they become global crises.

…and finally…

How do you tissue culture? The Black Knight and post commenters at Life of a Lab Rat highlight one of the many little-known trials and tribulations faced by scientists; the logistics of wearing an IPod while doing tissue culture.

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Six highlights from “Around the Blogs”:

Help High School Kids do Genetic Engineering and Make Glowing Bacteria
“Why should professional scientists have all the fun?” Sandra shares stories of cool stuff in the classroom.

Talking Points for NIH Funded Science
Drug Monkey has some suggestions for scientists venturing into politics, amid the height of the US elections.

deCODE: The “Decide to Take Action” Line is Magic, is not Medicine
Drew Yates takes down the publicity approach of a personal genomics company – overhype unsupported genomic information.

An Eye-Opening View of Visual Development
Mo discusses a recent study which observed how early visual experience drives maturation of the visual cortex.

Come One, Come All, and Witness the Molecular MACHINE
Alex admires two papers that describe how proteins are pumped out of cells by the SecA secretory protein.

What Shortage of Scientists and Engineers?
The TierneyLab Blog asks “If the United States really has a critical shortage of scientists and engineers, why didn’t this year’s graduates get showered with lucrative job offers and signing bonuses?”

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Why Do We Care Where We Publish
“How can we assess the competence of a scientist? Past performance is, realistically, the only way to judge future performance. Past performance can only be assessed by looking at their publications.”

RO1s in Decline
The hard data on the decline of federal science funding in the National Institutes of Health.

Open Access Day Video
Video of a talk Jonathan Eisen gave about OA.

George Palade 1912-2008
Alex Palazzo memorializes one of the first scientists to peer into the depths of the cell using electron microscopy (EM).

Microscopists of the World Celebrate – The Nobel Prize Awarded for GFP
“This is a well deserved prize. Flip open any biomedical journal and you’ll see why – Green Fluorescent Protein (aka GFP) is probably the most used gene in the world.”

Obama on Animal Welfare and Animal Rights
This may not be what scientists, doctors, veterinarians and others concerned about biomedical advances want to hear, but it’s a position of thoughtfulness and integrity.

Watching Every Cell of the Developing Zebrafish
“How can I respond to a story about zebrafish, development, and new imaging and visualization techniques? Total incoherent nerdgasm is how.”

Sigma-Aldrich in Second Life
Info on the Aldrich Chemistry Island Grand Opening on October 19-25.

On the Hardness of Biology
What makes some fields of study “hard” and other fields “soft”?

About the author

Nick Oswald

Nick is a molecular biologist-turned-publisher. After a PhD in Developmental Biology and an eclectic seven years in biotech he is now Editorial Manager of Neuroendocrinology and the founder and Editor-In-Chief of Bitesize Bio. You are welcome to connect with Nick on LinkedIn

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Around the blogs this week: anti-social scientists, science grads who don’t know what a theory is and a system for handling difficult seminar questions…

How drug prices get high. Mike the Mad Biologist gets really mad about the way drug companies set drug prices.

Social networking – are we social enough? Jonathan Gitlin at Nobel Intent ponders whether scientists will buy into social networking, a timely article in light of the recent launch of the Small Worlds project.

Scientists who don’t know science. WritEdit at Medical Writing, Editing & Grantsmanship comments on a shocking study that showed a poor understanding of the basic principles of science among a group of graduates from an English university.

Aquoria victorious. Alex at The Daily Transcript was one of a few bloggers who picked up on the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry to the scientists who discovered GFP, but his excellent run-through of what makes GFP great makes this an article not to be missed.

and finally…

How to survive seminar questions. RMP at Evolgen came up with an excellent (funny) flow chart to help you when you get stuck with a question in your next seminar, inspired by the Sarah Palin debate flow chart apparently.

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

COME AND GET IT! Hot blog posts around the intertubes, served up from the feed reader.

More classroom science blogs: the collection continues
Calling all scientists and science-fans: you can help with science education by letting students know you’re interested. How? Go and comment on classroom blogs and wikis.

Emerging Model Organisms
A new book is coming out from Cold Spring Harbor Protocols, of the same title.

Author’s initial entry: Autism’s False Prophets
Finally, science pushes back against antivaccine lunacy.

Gaze into the crystal ball – Nobel Prize Predictions
Who do you think will win?

David Goldstein on the failure of genome-wide association studies

Varmus on “The Cure” for Cancer
Some of the Nobel Laureate’s thoughts on an oversimplification of cancer biology.

A bacterium’s-eye view of life
An informative post on E. coli‘s major life challenge: living life at low Reynolds’ Number.

Whirlpool of scientific thought
Stream-of-consciousness whirlpools emerge from a grant-writing process.

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

It’s Friday again, so what do you say we hit the feed reader and see what’s goin’ on Around the Blogs…

We Are Science
There is no “Science.” There is no “Academia.” These things do not exist as coherent entities, any more than “The Market” does.

Linkage and the Antibiotic Resistance Problem
New data show that antibiotic resistance genes travel together, at least in E. coli isolated from farms.

Science Writers Need Science History
…science writers need to recall some history. [...] In other words, scientists already knew fifty years ago that some segments of DNA that did not encode proteins were useful.
[But be sure to check out SciPhu's counterpoint for this specific instance.]

Altruism in Bacteria? Allowing Yourself to Die for the Good of the Species
A recent study by Ackermann, et al in last month’s Nature, shows a form of altruistic behavior being practiced by Salmonella typhimurium.

Marketing Science in the Public Square
Just this week, the Washington Post’s Monday science �page� was reduced to a 1/2-page feature article, plus a 1/2-page ad. This science feature article will appear only every second week.

David Goldstein on the failures of genome-wide association studies
In the New York Times yesterday, Nick Wade profiles highly-regarded geneticist David Goldstein of Duke University, who provides the most sober assessment I have yet seen in the mainstream press about the outcomes of the genome-wide association study frenzy:

About the author

Nick Oswald

Nick is a molecular biologist-turned-publisher. After a PhD in Developmental Biology and an eclectic seven years in biotech he is now Editorial Manager of Neuroendocrinology and the founder and Editor-In-Chief of Bitesize Bio. You are welcome to connect with Nick on LinkedIn

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Highlights from the blogsphere this week include 25 million year beer, googlising your lab culture and, of course, the LHC rap.

Careers talk with Mr Big. Jonathan at Working the Bench shares some enlightening, and somewhat sobering, excerpts from a recent conversation he had with an industry leader on science careers.

Old beer. Aminopop covered recent work in which a 25 million year old yeast was revived, and then used to make beer. Yum!

Research Posters 2.0. Berci at ScienceRoll picked up on a new addition to SciVee, the science video sharing site. Now you can upload your research poster and make a postercast video to talk people through it.

Googling your lab. At Mario’s Entangled Bank, Mario outlines the lessons he thinks academic labs could take from Google’s famously generous work culture.

…and finally…

We couldn’t go through this week without at least mentioning the LHC project. Nobel Intent highlighted the excellent LHC rap, that explains what the project it all about.

About the author

Dan Rhoads

Dan is a postdoc working at the University of Cyprus in developmental biology. He has a BSc in molecular biology and a PhD pharmacology and biochemistry.

To enable tagging you will need to register on Bitesize Bio. We're sorry for the inconvenience, but it's free, only takes a few seconds, and it will enable you to view our seminars for free, ask questions from the professional community, and take part in the lively community of Bitesize Bio

Should I hire a postdoc or a technician? – Thoughts about managing an academic research lab.

Animal Rights Extremists kill at least a dozen mink – “….by releasing them from a mink farm. This is what happens when you set animals free without regard to the consequences.”

Used Postdocs – “Please dispose thoughtfully of your used postdocs.”

The Ends Justify the DNA – Informative post on Next Generation Sequencing and its applications.

10 Things about GE crops to scratch from your worry list (Sorry – link corrected) – As John Tierney points out, many consumers worry about things that are not actually a threat to human health or to the environment.

Useful RNAs? – “If more than 90% of the genome is ‘junk’ then why do cells make so much RNA from it?”

Evolution as the Recycler of the Cell’s Tools – Part 2 of a 3-part series on issues raised by the book The Plausibility of Life.

How to get scientists to adopt web 2.0 technologies.