biotechnology:
Workforce shortages are a growing problem in the biotech industry. Communities are concerned that a lack of trained workers will either keep companies away or cause companies to move. If companies do have to move, it's likely those jobs might be lost forever, never to return. According to Robert Reich, former U.S. secretary of labor, now a professor at UC-Berkeley,...
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Posted on May 9, 2008 8:00 AM • 8 Comments •
Bio-Link is accepting applications for this year's National Summer Fellows forum, June 2-6th, in Berkeley, CA. You can get an application at www.bio-link.org I'll be there, doing some kind of bioinformatics workshop. I'll probably be talking about either metagenomics or comparing protein structures and drug resistance, but if you have topic requests, feel free to submit them in the comments....
Posted on March 17, 2008 6:13 PM • 0 Comments •
We often see memorials written about famous scientists, but we rarely see them about the people who work in the background to help people learn the science in the first place. Ron was one of those people whose work inspired teachers and helped spark excitement in science students throughout the world. I just learned last week that Ron passed away...
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Posted on January 10, 2008 12:53 PM • 2 Comments •
Congratulations to George Cachianes (who I've written about before), his amazing students from Abraham Lincoln High School, and collaborators at UCSF! These students, from a public high school no less, placed in the top 6 finalists, along with only one other US team. The other top teams were: Peking University (China), University of Science and Technology (China), University of Paris...
Posted on November 13, 2007 12:15 PM • 0 Comments •
Sequencing the dirt: see how it's done
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Posted on October 27, 2007 7:00 PM • 0 Comments •
We have lots of DNA samples from bacteria that were isolated from dirt. Now it's time to our own metagenomics project and figure out what they are. Our class project is on a much smaller scale than the honeybee metagenomics project that I wrote about yesterday, but we're using many of the same principles....
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Posted on October 26, 2007 2:20 PM • 0 Comments •
It's hard to teach bioinformatics when schools work so hard to keep us from using computers....
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Posted on October 23, 2007 2:04 PM • 14 Comments •
Welcome Bio256 students! This quarter, we're going to do some very cool things. We are going to use bioinformatics resources and tools to investigate some biological questions. My goal, is for you to remember that these resources exist and hopefully, be able to use them when you're out working in the biotech world. I don't believe that bioinformatics is a...
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Posted on October 21, 2007 4:30 PM • 2 Comments •
Some of them work for Bayer.
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Posted on August 27, 2007 2:09 PM • 1 Comments •
I get asked this question often enough and now that's it's come up again, it seems that I might as well answer it once and for all and get it over with....
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Posted on August 22, 2007 9:16 AM • 11 Comments •
What do people in biotechnology do on the job? What can students do with a science degree once they've finished college? Some answers can be found at the "Life Sciences Central web site. Created by the Workforce Development Council of Seattle-King County, this is a wonderful resource for anyone who's considering biotechnology for a potential career. My favorite part of...
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Posted on July 11, 2007 8:32 AM • 4 Comments •
Do you want to learn how to use some cool biotechnology and bioinformatics methods in your college or high school class? If you're on the East coast, the best place to go is the Fralin Biotechnology Conference at Virignia Tech, July 18-21st. (Yes, it's the same Virgina Tech, and that's why I waited to post this announcement). There's something for...
Posted on May 11, 2007 10:05 AM • 0 Comments •
It must be spring. Summer course announcements are popping up everywhere and this site is no exception. Last Friday, I posted an announcement about our summer bioinformatics course in Alaska, June 27-29th. This week, I have a couple more conferences to announce. Naturally, I'll be at both of them, leading hands-on workshops for college and high school teachers in using...
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Posted on March 10, 2007 9:00 AM • 0 Comments •
Ask Dr. Science: yes, I do take requests.
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Posted on January 22, 2007 8:59 AM • 7 Comments •
The bioinformatics classes that I teach use web services and web sites as much as possible, but I still find that it's helpful to have programs on our classroom computers. Here is a list of my favorite desktop programs for those of you who might want to add some bioinformatics activities to your biology courses....
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Posted on January 12, 2007 1:37 PM • 10 Comments •
You've probably heard about enterprising researchers attaching cameras to dolphins, dogs, and other animals, in order to learn how things look from the critter-point of view. Now, some enterprising lab rats have added a new twist to this technique....
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Posted on November 4, 2006 7:22 PM • 4 Comments •
Like sex education in a religious household, lab technique must sometimes be learned from your friends.
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Posted on November 1, 2006 8:00 AM • 7 Comments •
What ethical issues concern people working in biotech?
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Posted on October 18, 2006 11:47 AM • 1 Comments •
Is seeing believing or seeing deceiving?
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Posted on October 11, 2006 3:14 PM • 6 Comments •
No one in a life science-related industry or research lab, in Western Washington, is safe at this time of year. Surely, you're joking! No, seriously, there are teachers and science enthusiasts everywhere looking to sign you up! And don't call me "Shirley." Sign me up? That's right, it's time to prepare for the...
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Posted on October 11, 2006 8:00 AM • 0 Comments •
The Ask a Science Blogger question of the week asks if organic foods are really worth the hype. I'm afraid my answer can't fit into one blog post. Let me start by telling you about my garden. This year my garden has been a home to local wildlife, but during the years that I do garden, I have a semi-organic...
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Posted on September 12, 2006 7:30 AM • 4 Comments •
Trade publications; such as catalogs, technical bulletins, and web sites; are a valuable source of information for students in biotechnology-related courses. Not only do catalogs and technical publications provide current information, but they also contain a wealth of useful facts and physical constants that biologists need on-the-job. Further, using catalogs in the classroom mimics the way that science is carried...
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Posted on July 26, 2006 8:33 PM • 3 Comments •
One of my favorite experiments, in our biotech program at Seattle Central Community College, was when my students sequenced promoters that they had cloned from E. coli . I liked this activity because it pulled lots of pieces together and allowed the students to connect the dots between the DNA sequences that regulate gene expression, the DNA sequences that code...
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Posted on July 25, 2006 8:00 AM • 0 Comments •
A few years ago, the General Biology students at the Johns Hopkins University began to interrogate the unseen world. During this semester-long project, they study the ecosystems of the Homewood campus, and engage in novel research by exploring the microbial ecosystems in different sections of the campus. Biology lab students gather environmental samples from different campus ecosystems, isolate DNA, amplify...
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Posted on July 24, 2006 9:20 PM • 0 Comments •
Many regions in the United States, and the world for that matter, are seeking to entice biotech companies to relocate. As Lorraine Ruff and David Gabrilska describe in their Genetic Engineering News Article, "Metrics for Economic Development," the exhibitors at meetings like BIO work hard to: ".. entice founders and CEOs with a wide spectrum of inducements: institutional and technological...
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Posted on July 12, 2006 11:40 AM • 0 Comments •
Yet another Bio-Link blog post. The San Francisco bay area has experienced phenomenal growth in both the number of biotech companies and the need to find employees. But, no matter how many attractions entice potential employees to move to the Bay Area, they still face the problem of finding a place to live. Housing prices are, well, a bit startling...
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Posted on June 27, 2006 7:00 AM • 0 Comments •
Blogging from Bio-Link, part III High school teachers have different techniques for selling their students on the benefits of science and math. When some high school instructors step in front of a class, the quiet demeanor gets put away and another persona steps out - the USED-CAR SALESMAN SCIENCE EVANGELIST. Science is no longer "science," when these instructors head up...
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Posted on June 16, 2006 8:32 PM • 2 Comments •
"It's all about saving Aunt Millie"
Bob Swanson
Co-Founder, Genentech
More blogging from Bio-Link
These next two posts salute instructors who teach in community college and high school biotechnology programs.
Confronted with the daily routines of doing lab work, or keeping up with latest genotyping techniques or chromatography tools, some of us might forget that there's more to biotechnology than just the science.
There are others who will
never forget.
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Posted on June 10, 2006 2:31 PM • 6 Comments •
Blogging from Bio-Link, part I I am currently in Berkeley attending the 2006 Bio-Link summer fellows' workshop. It's hard to believe that it's been eight years since the first workshop was held. We're still meeting here in the same lovely Clark Kerr Center and I'm still, as every year, awed by the amount of initiative and drive that I see...
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Posted on June 5, 2006 8:29 PM • 0 Comments •
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).
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