Two New Papers on Integrin Activation
Category: integrins
My first first-author paper and another that I contributed to shed light on the important biological process of integrin activation.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 1 Comments •
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A postdoc by day and a scientific activist by night, Nick Anthis isn't letting his research in protein structure and function get in the way of defending scientific and social progress.
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Recent Posts
- Two New Papers on Integrin Activation
- New Interactive 3D Molecular Images in Scientific Articles
- Health Care Reform: It's a Matter of Convenience
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Ribosome
- Bad Math at The Weather Channel
- 2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Telomeres and Telomerase
- Scientific Diplomacy and the Universality of Science
- An Update from The Scientific Activist
- A Tale of Two Health Care Systems
- The Most Recent Counterfactual Attack Against the Obama Administration
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basic science:
New Interactive 3D Molecular Images in Scientific Articles
Category: scientific literature
Late last week, I received emails from two journals (The Journal of Biological Chemistry (JBC) and PLoS ONE) indicating that they are now incorporating interactive 3D images of molecular structures in their papers. The atomic coordinates of all published biomolecular...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:52 PM • 4 Comments •
2009 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: The Ribosome
Category: Nobel Prize
The prize will be shared equally between Venkatraman Ramakrishnan, Thomas Steitz, and Ada Yonath "for studies of the structure and function of the ribosome."
Posted by Nick Anthis at 12:02 PM • 6 Comments •
2009 Nobel Prize in Medicine: Telomeres and Telomerase
Category: Nobel Prize
Three Americans, Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider, and Jack Szostak, win the prize for the discovery of telomeres and telomerase.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:21 AM • 8 Comments •
Why Swine Flu Is Resistant to Adamantane Drugs
Category: structural biology
All H1N1 swine flu isolates tested to date are resistant to adamantane-based drugs. This post explains the origin of this resistance in light of what we know about the structure and function of influenza proteins.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:49 AM • 33 Comments •
THC Gives Cancer Cells the Munchies Too
Category: biology
The active ingredient in marijuana causes cancer cells to begin to degrade themselves from the inside, leading to programmed cell death.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:12 AM • 27 Comments •
Fine-Tuning Cell Adhesiveness
Category: integrins
The cell adapts to constantly changing conditions by controlling the adhesiveness of the integrins.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:48 PM • 1 Comments •
2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: GFP
Category: Nobel Prize
"for the discovery and development of the green fluorescent protein, GFP"
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:12 PM • 0 Comments •
2008 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: HIV and HPV
Category: Nobel Prize
was awarded for the discovery of HIV and the discovery that HPV causes cancer.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:10 AM • 3 Comments •
Do You Work on E. Coli?
Category: internet
If so, check out EcoliWiki.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:28 PM • 0 Comments •
E. coli, We Hardly Knew You
Category: book reviews
The often unexamined life of E. coli comes alive in Carl Zimmer's Microcosm.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 11:45 AM • 2 Comments •
Water on Mars, Part 2
Category: space science
The second part of an interview with planetary geologist Bethany Ehlmann
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:01 AM • 1 Comments •
Water on Mars, Part 1
Category: space science
The first part of an interview with planetary geologist Bethany Ehlmann
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 11 Comments •
Science for a Brave New World
Category: philosophy of science
Is there a certain suite of legislation that needs to be passed now in order to provide a greater assurance of scientific good in the near future?
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:20 PM • 2 Comments •
Do You Want to Be Able to Crap Gold?
Category: chemistry
That might not be possible, but ingesting isotopically-enriched food would make your waste even more valuable.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:37 AM • 1 Comments •
Why Are Veins Blue?
Category: biology
Here's a hint: blood isn't blue. Ever.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:30 AM • 42 Comments •
An Integrin Is Identified as a Co-Receptor for HIV
Category: HIV/AIDS
Scientists identify the alpha-4 beta-7 integrin as a co-receptor for HIV, offering a potential new drug target.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:23 PM • 3 Comments •
Integrin Phosphorylation as an Off Switch for Integrin Activation
Category: Life of Nick
A tiny modification can make a big difference in proteins involved in cell adhesion and migration.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 3:30 PM • 0 Comments •
Stem Cells from Down Under
Category: stem cells
Awkward? Probably. But, menstrual blood stem cells show some early promise.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 3 Comments •
Embryonic Stem Cell Debate Over; Thousands of Researchers Now Jobless
Category: stem cells
The media mangles otherwise interesting and significant stem cell findings.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:54 PM • 22 Comments •
2007 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: Knockout Mice
Category: Nobel Prize
Awarded for the knockout mouse to Mario R. Capecchi, Martin J. Evans, and Oliver Smithies
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:21 AM • 2 Comments •
Ask a ScienceBlogger: A Sun Ray a Day....
Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger
Although extended unprotected exposure to the sun damages your skin and eyes, a small daily dose is important for maintaining general health and wellbeing
Posted by Nick Anthis at 1:41 PM • 10 Comments •
More Trouble for the Schatten Lab, but One Potential Success
Category: stem cells
The U.S. Office of Research Integrity announced this week that it has found a former postdoc in Gerald Schatten's lab, Park Jong Hyuk, guilty of research misconduct for falsifying images in a manuscript on deriving embryonic stem cells from cloned...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:43 AM • 0 Comments •
My Second Scientific Paper: Matrix Protease Activity in Tumor Cell Invasion
Category: Life of Nick
The second paper from my undergraduate work at Texas A&M University was recently published in Molecular Cancer. The abstract can be found here, and the pdf of the full paper here. Molecular Cancer is an open access journal, so a...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 3 Comments •
More on Edible Cotton Seeds
Category: transgenic crops
Last month, I wrote a post about a research group at Texas A&M University that reported genetically engineering "edible cotton seeds" by using RNAi technology to stably and specifically knock out production of the gossypol toxin in the seeds of...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 3 Comments •
Congratulations to Daniel Rhoads
Category: blogosphere
Via A Blog Around the Clock comes news that Daniel Rhoads, who writes the informative blog Migrations (and formerly A Concerned Scientist), has successfully defended his dissertation. So, after a few minor revisions, it looks like it won't be too...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 2:57 PM • 2 Comments •
They Probably Won't Taste as Good as Cotton Candy...
Category: transgenic crops
But, a recent report in PNAS demonstrates that edible cotton seeds could be a real possibility, thanks to new transgenic crop biotechnology.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:39 AM • 1 Comments •
The Return of "Ethically Sound" Stem Cells
Category: stem cells
The "ethically sound" stem cell paper resurfaces this week, as it appears in the print version of the current issue of Nature.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 6:37 PM • 10 Comments •
NMR Blogs
Category: NMR
A list of blogs covering NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance)
Posted by Nick Anthis at 5:27 PM • 4 Comments •
Social Insects: More KGB than Brady Bunch
Category: behavioral genetics
Social controls play a surprisingly large role in encouraging altruism in insect colonies, according to a paper in last week's issue of Nature.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:43 AM • 5 Comments •
The Structure of the Living Cell
Category: structural biology
Oxford's Iain Campbell discusses the past and future of structural biology.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:20 AM • 4 Comments •
My First Scientific Paper: The Stabilization of Blood Vessels by Protease Inhibitors
Category: Life of Nick
My first appearance in the peer-reviewed scientific literature provides an opportunity to learn a little bit about blood vessel development.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:20 AM • 7 Comments •
2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry: Eukaryotic Transcription
Category: Nobel Prize
The 2006 Nobel Prize in Chemistry has been awarded to Roger Kornberg for his work on elucidating the molecular basis of transcription in eukaryotes.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:23 AM • 2 Comments •
2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine: RNA Interference
Category: biochemistry
The 2006 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine was announced this morning, with one half going to Andrew Fire and the other half to Craig Mello, both for the discovery of RNA interference (RNAi). The discovery of RNAi added a...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 9:38 AM • 0 Comments •
Where Do Babies Come From? Find the Answer and More in Coming to Life
Category: book reviews
Nobel Laureate Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard's Coming to Life: How Genes Drive Development is an understated primer that lays out the current state of the art of developmental biology, shocking the reader with just how much we know about how each one of us came to take our unique but fundamentally similar shapes.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 7 Comments •
Setting the Record Straight on Global Warming
Category: global warming
An April 2006 paper in Nature narrowed down the range of possible scenarios for how global warming may play out as carbon dioxide levels continue to rise. Although much of the press coverage treated it as a blow to global warming science, it was in reality quite the opposite.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 0 Comments •
A Hot Topic
Category: global warming
Global warming is certainly a "hot topic", and this post decribes some global warming research findings from January 2006: one that revises estimates of the expected increase in sea level due to global warming and another that demonstrates how certain important marine ecosystems could be vulnerable to changes in ocean currents due to global warming.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 0 Comments •
Amphibian Disease Heats Up
Category: global warming
What do global warming and epidemic diseases have in common? Apparently they have a lot, at least when it comes to amphibians.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 0 Comments •
Sixth Annual CCPN Meeting in Ambleside, UK
Category: conferences
On the weekend of July 28th-30th, about 150 NMR (nuclear magnetic resonance) scientists from the UK and Europe (and a few from the US) gathered in Ambleside for the Sixth Annual Collaborative Computing Project for NMR (CCPN) Meeting. The topic...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 1 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: Genetic Engineering's Next Challenge - The Smiley Face
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Genetic engineering holds a great deal of promise, but it can only be used on things that are "alive". Still, scientists have found other ways to make the stuff of genes, DNA, come alive in more artistic ways.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 0 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: Psychedelic Psilocybin Psychology
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Now here's an experiment I would have liked to take part in. Researchers from Johns Hopkins systematically test the psychological effects of the hallucinogenic drug psilocybin, and the results are pretty positive. Not only that, but a significant number of participants rate the experience as the single most meaningful one of their lives!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 9 Comments •
Celebrating Nikola Tesla
Category: Nikola Tesla
Since my Ph.D. research is on protein NMR, I would be remiss if, as we celebrate his 150th birthday, I didn't mention Tesla's connection to my field--particularly since the unit for the strength of a magnetic field bears his name!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:56 PM • 2 Comments •
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Cloning - Who Cares?
Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger
In 2006, cloning for cloning's sake isn't where it's at. Instead, the future of cloning lies in its applications to biomedical research. Today, that means, among other things, the prospect of using cloning to generate unique lines of embryonic stem cells.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:45 AM • 8 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: Partisan Neurons
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Now I have an excuse for my behavior the next time I get into a bitter political debate: I can't help being defensive--it's hardwired into me! Those are the findings, at least, of a study led by psychologist Drew Westen.
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:55 AM • 2 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: NMR Goes Natural, Baby!
Category: Fantastical Fridays
In NMR, bigger really is better, at least when it comes to magnetic field strength, and the entire field has in some ways become one big manhood size-measuring contest. One group, though, reported earlier this year in Nature Physics that sometimes it may be better to just go natural. Forget about all of the high-tech magnets--just use the big one right under your feet!
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:59 AM • 11 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: Funny (and Suggestive) Molecules
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Last week's Fantastical Fridays was a big hit, so we'll keep the momentum going with more chemistry this week. Instead of anthropomorphic molecules, though, this one is all about chemicals with downright ridiculous names. If you still have any doubts...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 7:59 AM • 5 Comments •
Fantastical Fridays: Organic People Chemistry
Category: Fantastical Fridays
Lurking beneath the surface here at ScienceBlogs is a force that compels people to do extremely gimmicky things on Fridays. Since I know that I'm no better than anyone else, I've decided to join in on the fun. Therefore, I...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:55 AM • 11 Comments •
Ask a ScienceBlogger: Alternative Careers
Category: Ask a ScienceBlogger
Each week, Seed magazine poses a question to all of its ScienceBloggers. This week's question, from reader Jake Bryan, is: Assuming that time and money were not obstacles, what area of scientific research, outside of your own discipline, would you...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 8:39 PM • 0 Comments •
Nobel Laureate Robert Huber to Give Talk at Oxford
Category: events
This is a plug for an event that the Oxford University Biochemical Society is putting together. This Monday, June 12th, at 4:00 pm the Oxford University Biochemical Society will be hosting a talk by Nobel Laureate Robert Huber in the...
Posted by Nick Anthis at 10:04 PM • 2 Comments •
