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Alex Palazzo is a postdoctoral fellow working in the Department of Cell Biology at Harvard Medical School.

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August 31, 2006

Another Immigration Horror Story

Category: Misc

A couple of days ago I wrote a rant about how painful it was to deal with the Massachusetts and the federal government. In contrast, civil servants in the Quebec and Canadian governments have often gone out of their way...

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August 30, 2006

Daniel Dennett on NPR

Category: Science & Society

I have mixed feelings about Dennett. I really liked his book, Darwin's Dangerous Idea, but in public appearances he tends to give off a patronizing air. But earlier today I heard him on WBUR (NPR in Boston) and he did...

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August 29, 2006

"The Root of All Evil" Parl II

Category: Science & Society

A couple of comments. I totally agree with Richard Dawkins, but I feel that in many instances he confronts the interviewee too abrasively, in an unproductive way. On the other hand I enjoyed Ian McEwan's two minutes and Dawkins'...

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New Nucleating Strategy for Crystallography?

Category: Pure Biology

I've often brainstormed with one structural biologist in the lab (he does both crystallography and NMR) on how to solve all of x-ray crystallography's problems by forcing proteins to rearrange themselves in regular arrays. But we haven't come up with anything good strategy yet. BK points to a new theoretical technique that may help.

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August 28, 2006

Are Phosphoinositides "the center of the universe"?

Category: Pure Biology

(This is an intro to a n upcoming entry.) When I was an undergrad, working in a lab at McGill, my then boss Morag Park would joke that Phosphoinositides were at the center of the universe. What did she mean...

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Dawkins in "The Root of all Evil" Part I

Category: Science & Society

Yesterday's video clip was taken from "The Root of all Evil". So without further ado, here's the whole show (I'll post part II tomorrow). [HT: Simon]...

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August 27, 2006

Video of Dawkins on Teapot Atheism

Category: Science & Society

(via Migrations)...

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Inner Nuclear Membrane Proteins are Actively Imported

Category: Pure Biology

This is the newest from the Blobel lab. Note to all "they've discovered everything" types: this finding shows how much we know about how cells operate. Background: As I've described before the nucleus and the cytoplasm are two cellular compartments...

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August 25, 2006

One More Thing Harvard Postdocs Can't Have

Category: Lab Life

OK I live 30min away from the Longwood Medical Center by foot. Most days I walk to and from work but on rainy/blizzard days I take the M2 Shuttle, a free service provided by Harvard to ship people between the...

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Map That Campus XII

Category: Map that Campus

This week it's an easy one. Click here for a blowup. Hint: The debate stems from work done here. What the hell am I talking about? You tell me. (P.S. Ignore the arrow.)...

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August 24, 2006

What's Inside of a Microtubule?

Category: Pure Biology

Microtubules are long hollow polymers. They are also polar. Their minus ends are inert and are found towards the cell center while their plus ends grow and shrink and are found towards the cell periphery. Question: Why are microtubules hollow? Now a few recent papers have surfaced that report inner-microtubule densities.

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Non-science entry

Category: Misc

Just an update for those who know me. This past week has been a little crazy. We just bought our first car (my wife needs it for her new job). Having lived close to 10 years in Manhattan and then...

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August 22, 2006

A little bit on Microtubules and Actin

Category: Pure Biology

The Cytoskeleton. Now that's what you call a misnomer. It is one of the most fascinating, yet misunderstood, macromolecular assemblies of the cell. Yes, the cytoskeleton can act as a scafold onto which the rest of the cell is drapped...

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August 20, 2006

Slogans for the Zeros

Category: Misc

What decade are we in? I've always wondered, are we the in the Zeros'? The study of Biology is a cross between Occam's Razor and Murphy's Laws. "I don't believe in evolution" is like saying "I don't believe in algebra"....

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August 19, 2006

Colbert Trashes Other "Planets"

Category: Misc

I just saw this on the Scientific Indian. Enjoy:...

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More on piRNA

Category: Pure Biology

Not so long ago I wrote about piRNA. After reading a bit more, there are some points I'd like to make: - It would seem that piRNA (read this for background) are required for proper spermiogenesis. - The argonaute family...

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August 18, 2006

Shameless Self Promotion

Category: Science & Society

So look what I saw: Yes this current issue. Midway down, you'll bump into this paragraph: Yeah I know mostly frivolous stuff. It kinda pisses me off that its always the S&S entries that get lots of comments and the...

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Map That Campus XI

Category: Map that Campus

In celebration of the 11th edition (and because I enjoy presenting my hints in doublets) I present this week's mystery campus as a dialogue. Have fun: X: [thinking to himself] Going out during evenings ... lovely. I: Hello X, what...

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August 17, 2006

Centrosomes Centrosomes Centrosomes

Category: Pure Biology

Wow, centrosomes attract a strange crowd. Strange theories about centrosomes are plentiful. Some quacks have claimed that they are , "the eyes of the cell", some sort of quantum pulse generator that secretes consciousness and now a turbine. Ian Musgrave...

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Nomenclature

Category: Science & Society

Everyone is all up in arms about whether Pluto (+ other massive objects at the far end of our solar system) is a planet. It would seem like every ScienceBlog blogger expounded his/her opinion on the subject. I thought this...

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August 16, 2006

Steve Block is Crazy

Category: Pure Biology

(in the best possible way) I'm scanning through Science when BAM: He's imaging RNA polymerase as it transcribes DNA .... nucleotide by freakin' nucleotide ... it's sequencing at the individual molecule level. (To all those thinking about the future of...

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No comment

Category: Lab Life

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The Centrosome and the Spindle Pole Body

Category: Pure Biology

They share genes. They both duplicate. And signals that activate the final act of cell division interact with the SPB. But what is the final proof? Blast the damn thing with a big ass laser.

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August 14, 2006

ACA CGT TAC ACT CAC ATT AGT

Category: Misc

what's this?

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August 12, 2006

New Evidence for the Endosymbiotic Origin of the Centrosome

Category: Pure Biology

A new paper provides evidence that certain RNAs associate with centrosomes and may represent a centrosomal RNA genome. Furthermore this potential genome includes an enzyme that could copy the centrosomal associated RNA.

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August 11, 2006

Map that Campus X

Category: Map that Campus

Can it be? Number ten? OK time for a real challenge. Here is a little twist, I'll present two aerial photos, and you tell me what is the connection? (that's a big hint) View larger photo View larger photo Leave...

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August 10, 2006

Weird Chemistry

Category: Misc

This has to be one of the funniest/strangest blogs:blog.tenderbutton.com He recently performed NMR and TLC on his earwax. I love his rant on old crappy bottles of reagents. (Great graphics too!) And his love for dirt cheap reagents with...

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What happens when I don't rant about how crappy things are in academia?

Category: Lab Life

Others write about it. So apparently some rant by a Physicist has been making the rounds (and it's not the first time). Lots of bloggers have commented on it. Should students be discouraged from going into science? Do we have...

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August 9, 2006

Calling out all Cell Biologists

Category: Lab Life

In the world of science blogging, it would seem, that there ain't many cell biologists (as far as I can tell). What is a Cell Biologist? Well lets just say that one of the main tools of your trade is...

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The Parable of the Doctorate Rabbit

Category: Lab Life

I got this funny/cynical email from a good friend. What do you think?...

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August 8, 2006

Something for You RNA World Enthusiasts

Category: Pure Biology

New research into RNA Polymerases' proofreading activity demonstrates that every step in the central dogma is mediated, in part, by RNA. Wow.

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Nucleosome Binding Sites

Category: Pure Biology

A paper from a week or so, describes a method for detecting regions in the genome where DNA wrapping takes place. So what (you may asked) is DNA wrapped around? Nucleosomes! Each nucleosome (red balls in the cartoon) contains 8...

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August 7, 2006

Monday Links

Category: Misc

I haven't done this in a while: Below the fold you'll find links to an interview with Alan Parker editor of Nature Genetics, Boltzmann and entropy, Big Biology, Tanzanian society (as seen through a medstudent from the west) and a...

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August 6, 2006

Quote on Ideology

Category: Science & Society

What a nice day. Sitting on the esplanade, reading Colin McGinn's The Making of a Philosopher (a personal memoir + thoughts on 20th century philosophy). And I come across this: Nowadays psychology has pretty much the shape that Chomsky advocated,...

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August 5, 2006

Saturday Morning Video - Mitosis

Category: Pure Biology

You can find almost anything on Youtube. Here is a video from Nikon (maker of great microscopes) of mouse fibroblasts (connective tissue cells) dividing and migrating around a coverslip. Ah, this is why I became a cell biologist. Look at...

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RNA classification

Category: Pure Biology

Well two weeks ago in Science, two reports came out about yet another species of small RNA ... rasiRNA ... uhm ... piRNA (OK they haven't harmonized their nomenclature yet). So here is a brief review of the types of...

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August 4, 2006

Nerd Fashion: Sandals with Socks Edition

Category: Lab Life

The why, who, what, when and how of this odd behavior.

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Map that Campus IX

Category: Map that Campus

What will it be this week?

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August 3, 2006

Nature Cell Biology on Postdoc-hood

Category: Lab Life

Another "We support the postdocs" editorial at Nature Cell Biology: The days when one could imagine starting a laboratory following a short postdoctoral position, or even with no postdoctoral training at all, are long gone. Nowadays, extensive postdoctoral training is...

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Well if the government won't do it ...

Category: Science & Society

The Lemelson-MIT Awards, launches a new prize "to inventors whose products or processes are viable and sustainable, and have high potential to improve the quality of life for future generations".

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August 2, 2006

More on Postdoc Unionization

Category: Lab Life

As I've written before, things are happening in California. I also learned that postdocs at University of Connecticut Healthcare Center (UCHC) joined (formed?) a union, University Health Professionals (UHP), in 2004. From the PRO/UAW site (PRO=Postdoctoral Researchers Organize): A recent...

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Eye Candy

Category: Pure Biology

Heatwave = sitting inside a dark room and doing some work. It's funny I'm laptopless, and my life still revolves around computers (this one is attached to my microscope). Since I haven't been keeping up with the latest, all I...

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How hot is it?

Category: Misc

... so hot that the cable on my laptop's AC adapter MELTED. (If any of you is expecting an email from me - this would explain the delay.) Last night I was typing a summary of the recent rasiRNA/piRNA papers...

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