biotechnology
sporte | July 10, 2006How did the human genome ever get finished if every one of the three billion bases had to be reviewed by human eyes?
In the early days of the human genome project, laboratory personnel routinely scanned printed copies of chromatograms, editing and reviewing all DNA sequences by eye. For more background, see the post on qualitative measures of DNA quality.
Later on, when the genome sequencing turned into a race, and the pace of DNA sequencing began to increase, some genome centers realized that it was too expensive and time consuming to have Ph.D. scientists, or even technicians, review all…
sporte | July 8, 2006I mean phone call. Because, if I thought he remembered me, I would call and say "thank you."
Because of the time I spent in his lab, I know that cloning started long before Dolly. The first vertebrate animal was cloned over 50 years ago.
And it wasn't a sheep.
Raising Rana pipiens
Several years ago, I had the good fortune to work as a student intern for one of the kings of cloning, Robert McKinnell, now an emeritus professor in the Cell Biology and Genetics Department at the University of Minnesota. Reminiscing on history a bit, reminds me how grateful I am that he gave me the chance to…
sporte | July 5, 2006What do genetic testing and genealogy have in common?
The easy answer is that they're both used by people who are trying to find out who they are, in more ways than one.
Another answer is that both tests can involve DNA sequence data.
And that leads us to another question. If the sequence of my mitochondrial DNA is only two bases different from Cleopatra's, am I really a distant relative? And how do I really even know that my mitochondrial DNA is only two bases different in the first place? What does having a DNA sequence really mean?
Students sequencing mitochondrial DNA
I wrote earlier…
sporte | June 27, 2006Yet 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 to anyone from just about any other part of the country. This presents a dilemma for local companies.
If there aren't enough trained people nearby, and you can't get people from elsewhere, what do you do?
The City College of San Francisco may…
sporte | June 16, 2006Blogging 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 the class, it's SCIENCE, in all capital letters! Other teachers choose the haughty law professor, from "The Paper Chase," as a role model, even though a post-law student friend of mine thought it should be banned from…
sporte | June 5, 2006Blogging 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 in the group of people that converge on this place from around the country.
Who would have thought that biotechnology education could inspire this kind of odd combination of family reunion and revival meeting?
Why would anyone hire your graduates?
When I…