Discovering Biology in a Digital World

Profile

I am a microbiologist and molecular biologist turned tenured biotech faculty turned bioinformatics scientist turned entrepreneur. My passion is developing instructional materials for 21st century biology (Geospiza Education).

Search this blog

Learn about DNA with molecular models

Exploring DNA Structure

Subscribe to Geospiza Education News

e-mail digitalbio at gmail.com

DigitalBio Favorites

Molecular Momentos

Rotating Blogroll

Science Education Groups

Science Blogs School Fundraiser

December 28, 2007

Digital Biology Friday: Who were those molecules anyway?

Category: molecular structures

Two molecules are locked in a tight embrace. Who are they?

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:12 AM • 0 Comments •

December 26, 2007

Hello Kitty! or Don't Eat Me, I Study Genetics!

Category: Conservation biology

Genetics textbooks abound with stories of European royalty and the hazards of having children after you've married one of your cousins. It struck me as an interesting parallel that the lion is such a popular symbol in so many royal coats of arms. Like the royal families of Europe, certain lion populations have also suffered from a few too many...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:25 AM • 1 Comments •

December 24, 2007

What's that taste?

Category: Microbiology

This wasn't in the lab, but it was an accident, and it was funny later on. Normally, I wouldn't think twice about storing bacterial cultures in a refrigerator. After all, bacteria on a petri plate, inside of a plastic bag, are kind of stuck. They can't get out of the plates, and even if they did, they certainly can't crawl...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:00 AM • 10 Comments •

December 23, 2007

The Twisted Chipmunk Christmas Song

Category: Humor

You're not likely to see the Twisted Chipmunk Christmas Song on the big screen this weekend. But, if you liked White Trash Christmas, you'll enjoy this irreverent holiday video. From the Seattle animators, formerly known as ToonedIn, now Global Wonder Entertainment....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:00 AM • 1 Comments •

December 22, 2007

I'm dreaming of a ....

Category: Humor

White Trash Christmas. This is the perfect antidote to the Frosty, Rudolph, and The Little Drummer Boy overdose. From the Seattle animators, formerly known as ToonedIn, now Global Wonder Entertainment....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 12:55 PM • 0 Comments •

December 20, 2007

If you have free time over winter break...

Category: Darwin Day

You can get a jump on the Darwin Day festivities. Once again the Alliance for Science is sponsoring an essay contest for Darwin Day. If you download their suggestions for good essay writing, you can get your essay done over winter break and have a good crack at winning on those cash prizes! The Alliance for Science is pleased to...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 9:29 AM • 0 Comments •

December 19, 2007

Hunting for huntingtin, part II: In which we're reminded that database searches are experiments

Category: sequence analysis

In which we're reminded that database searches are experiments, too. One of the trickiest things with bioinformatics experiments is repeating them. This challenge isn't related to the validity of the original results, the challenge is that, unless you made your own database and kept it in the same state, the database that you'll be using at a later time, sometimes...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 9:13 AM • 0 Comments •

December 18, 2007

Hunting for huntingtin, part I

Category: Classic Digital Bio

How do you go about researching a genetic disease? This multi-part series explores how digital resources can be used to learn about Huntingtin's disease. Reposted and updated from the original DigitalBio. A bit of background Alice's Restaurant is a movie with an unforgettable song that mostly revolves around Arlo Guthrie hanging out with his friends. Somewhere in the movie, the...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 9:45 AM • 1 Comments •

December 17, 2007

More ideas for geeky gifts

Category: Science gifts

No, you can't have a glow-in-the-dark kitty. But never fear, the SciBlings and I have other ideas for holiday gifts....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:55 AM • 2 Comments •

December 16, 2007

..while visions of gingerbread danced through their heads

Category: Arts & Crafts

Maybe there's something a little bit odd about having a gingerbread construction contest to raise funds for researching juvenile diabetes. Maybe these gingerbread houses aren't environmentally proper or particularly sustainable. But they are impressive. If you're in Seattle over the holidays, you can see them at the Sheraton Hotel until Jan 2nd and even help fund research on juvenile diabetes....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 6:44 PM • 1 Comments •

December 14, 2007

Digital Biology Friday: Free to evolve? - the answer

Category: Digital Biology Fridays

Last week I posted an image with two molecules (below the fold), one protein and one nucleic acid, and asked you about the probability of finding similar molecules in different species. You gave me some interesting answers....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:33 AM • 4 Comments •

December 13, 2007

GloFish® really glow!

Category: Biotechnology

GloFish for the cloned "glow in the dark" kitties.

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:00 AM • 9 Comments •

December 12, 2007

By request, the glowing cheeseburger LOL cat

Category: Arts & Crafts

Well, some of you asked for this...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:40 PM • 5 Comments •

Korean scientists clone cats that glow in the dark!

Category: Cats

This is a-mewsing. (Photo Credit: Gyeongsang National University) When Genetic Savings and Clone shut their doors it looked like wishful cat owners were going to be out of luck and short of kittens....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 9:01 PM • 21 Comments •

December 10, 2007

I dreamed I was memed

Category: Miscellany

And I was. It was the dreaded Seven Random and Weird things meme! It's on the loose and I've been tagged. The rules are: Link to the person that tagged you and post the rules on your blog. Share 7 random and or weird things about yourself. Tag 7 random people at the end of your post and include links...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 12:35 PM • 1 Comments •

December 9, 2007

And speaking of dogs

Category: Dog

These people have dogs and won the contest. What contest? I suggest you take a look....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:32 AM • 3 Comments •

December 8, 2007

Let's not forget the pets!

Category: Holidays

Holiday gifts for your animal companions

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:14 AM • 1 Comments •

December 7, 2007

Digital Biology Friday: Free to evolve?

Category: molecular structures

This is a fun puzzle. The pink molecule is a protein and the other molecule is a nucleic acid....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 9:30 AM • 17 Comments •

December 6, 2007

Greg Laden may love Linux, but nothing beats Mac and PC

Category: Humor

If this is so funny, can it really be wrong?

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:11 PM • 3 Comments •

You could always give your loved ones the flu

Category: Holidays

or E. coli, or perhaps a little Giardia (just to loosen things up, of course), or maybe even Herpes. All these scary pathogens become works of art, when Infectious Awareables puts the images on neckties. And what could be funnier than a pair of boxer shorts full of Gonorrhea?...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 11:35 AM • 4 Comments •

No more mystery meat!

Category: Bioinformatics

If you like ham and bacon, you might be interested in this. GenomeWeb reports that researchers at the University of Barcelona have developed an assay that tests 46 SNPs and can be used to trace the origin of your pork dinner. According to GenomeWeb, the test identifies both the breed and origin of the animal. The university and the company...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 1:00 AM • 2 Comments •

December 5, 2007

Science Cliches: what are your favorites?

Category: Humor

The perpetual science student's contribution to modern language.

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 4:33 PM • 30 Comments •

Recent updates to the geek shopping list

Category: Holidays

Do you wonder what the SciBlings drool over during the holiday season? Here are some gift ideas from Janet, Shelley, Greg, Ed, Mo, the Bleimans, and me. And you can probably guess what Steve suggests....

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 12:05 PM • 1 Comments •

December 4, 2007

Physical chemistry in the kitchen

Category: Chemistry & Biochemistry

How do you use science outside of the lab? People say that transferring knowledge and skills from one subject to another represents one of the highest levels of learning. They also say that it hardly ever happens. Perhaps this explains some of the more astounding things that we hear from Nobel Prize winners, like when Francis Crick proposed that Earth...

Read on »

Posted by Sandra Porter at 10:22 AM • 6 Comments •

December 3, 2007