Dimitris Skliros
Dimitris Skliros is a PhD student in the laboratory of molecular biology in the Biotechnology faculty of the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece. His main research field is Marine biotechnology and exploitation of marine organisms, such as microalgae and bacteriophages, for various applications. In the past he has worked with many different organisms including legumes, bacteria, viruses and animals applying different “omics” technologies such as transcriptomics, metabolomics and genomics. He enjoys food more than he should and describes himself as “lazy”. Always available at [email protected]
Articles by Dimitris Skliros:
Nodulation: What Is It and Why Is It Important?
Plants are incredibly organisms. Not only do they provide atmospheric oxygen, but, in the case of legumes, they can transform atmospheric nitrogen gas to ammonia, which can then be consumed by humans. How does this happen, you ask? It’s all thanks to bacteria and the process of nodulation. Deep Breaths Nitrogen is an incredibly important…
Laemmli Buffer: What Is It for Anyway?
Electrophoresis encompasses a wide range of techniques in which charged biomolecules in a liquid, a solid, or a semisolid solution can be separated by size under the application of an electric field. The most common application of electrophoresis for the separation of proteins is SDS-PAGE (sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis), which has been previously covered here. …
De Novo DNA Sequencing and the Special k-mer
The technology for DNA sequencing was developed back in 1977 thanks to Frederick Sanger. It took a bit longer before it was possible to sequence a complete genome. This is because we needed an appropriate mathematical model and massive computational power to assemble millions or billions of small reads to a larger complete genome. Today’s…
The Importance of Metabolomics Research
Metabolomics may sound like a fictional character in the famous comic series “Asterix”, but it is very important in understanding systems biology and in clinical research against various diseases. Metabolomics is the last piece of a puzzle of omics applications following genomics, transcriptomics, and proteomics. It allows us to ask “What has happened and what…
The Art of Bridging the Gap between Scientists and the Public
Communicating your science to a lay audience is different than giving a talk to other scientists. An urban legend says that when Michael Faraday verified the relationship between electricity and magnetism, he was asked to present his evidence to the prime minister of England. So, he had his coils arranged and he just moved a…
Phagebiotics: Part 1
The enemy of my enemy is my friend –Ancient Sanskrit proverb Luna, 20 July 1969. Neil Armstrong set his foot in another world for the first and only time in human history. But this is not a story about space exploration; it is a story about the vehicle they used to do it—the Lunar Module…
Learn-omics! What is that “Omics” I keep Stumbling Upon?
Genomics, transcriptomics, proteomics, metabolomics – words that in 2015 sound very familiar even to a freshman in any biology field. Although most have heard those words before, I keep encountering students or even post-graduates who find it difficult to explain what they are. So, to make things easier here is a peek behind the curtains…
BLAST OFF! The Basic Local Alignment Search Tool Explained
BLAST is the most popular bioinformatics online tool. But in order to properly use it, you have to understand that is not just a search query against a database but something far more complicated, and the information you get back far more…precious!
To boil? Or be boiled? Saving Time With Colony PCR
Applying molecular techniques to unicellar organisms leads to many questions… Did my electroporation work? Is my vector inside my competent cell? Do I have contamination in my liquid culture? Is this the correct bacterial strain the neighboring lab promised me it is? Did the guy from the other side of the world send me the…
