An article in today's New York Times revealed one of the secrets to the incredible success of Jasper Farm's award-winning cheeses: microbiologists in an on-farm lab! MIcrobes aren't just essential for turning milk into cheese, but they determine the texture, flavor and aroma of the cheese as well. To learn how and to see photos check out the article. And, of course, microbes are also responsible for the biochemistry that makes bread, wine and beer, all great accompaniments to cheese. Running an on-farm lab shows great commitment and a curiosity I really admire. Go microbes and Kehler brothers!
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When I've got a free moment I enjoy poking through science and art websites; I was a fine arts major for a brief shining moment in college. I've just come across this amazing collection of blown glass models of virus particles and it's stunningly beautiful! I spent years working on HIV vaccine research and know something about viruses. I always appreciated the efficient and sometimes lethal design of viral particles but Luke Jerram takes my appreciation to another level entirely. Visit his website to see what I'm gushing over. Here's one of his HIV sculptures.
Well, it's only day four of the Trump administration and science is already actively under attack. Sure, the new president and his cabinet appointees and allies have been denying and trash-talking science for some time. But today agency leakers reported that EPA and USDA scientists had been told not to communicate with congress, the press or the public. And EPA grants and contracts were frozen; most EPA work is done through grants and contracts so this effectively both muzzles EPA scientists and prevents EPA from doing the work they are paid to do. I'd expected these and other science-based agencies to be weakened. However, ordering publically-funded scientists from communicating their work to those who foot the bill - the public - shocks me. And there are reports that this 'gag-order' is much more widespread.
Learn more from: ProPublica; and the Union of Concerned Scientists. Daniel Kronauer and his lab at Rockefeller University in NYC are modifying the DNA of colonial raider ants to see which genes are involved in complex social behaviors like colony formation, raiding and hunting, defense and creating a very tightly controlled society centered on a queen. The NYT has a great article - with photos - describing how Kronauer uses transgenic techniques, injections of hormones and neurochemicals, and spots of bright paint to do this work. They've created anti-social ants and are beginning to understand the cues that cause ants to tend eggs, feed one another and defend their nests.
If you like reading about the coolest, most paradigm shifting science try Quanta Magazine. Their mission?
'Quanta Magazine's mission is to enhance public understanding of research developments in mathematics and the physical and life sciences.' They're online and cover physics, math, biology, computer science and more. Check it out! Chemists now believe that we will soon be able to use 3D printers to 'print' pure molecules. This might offer two huge advantages over synthetic chemistry: 1) fewer steps; and 2) higher yields of pure molecules. To learn more check out Lee Cronin's TED talk.
In my research life I spent a lot of time studying and thinking about infectious diseases. Many Americans think that medicine has this threat licked, but those of us in the business know otherwise. Here's a report of an American woman killed by a superbug that is resistant to all known antibiotic. We need radically change the way we use antibiotics: they are a rare, valuable and finite source. The most recent class of antibiotics was discovered in 1976. Antibiotics should only be used to treat existing disease when the source of the infection is known and vulnerable to the drug used to treat it!
Every January, just as our spring semester begins, I take time to listen to or watch Martin Luther King's 'I have a dream' speech. Though I've heard and read it many times, it never fails to move and inspire me. It seems very relevant today. And it amazes me that the famous 'dream' sections of the speech were not in MLK's written text, but were a riff inspired by Mahalia Jackson's shout of , 'Tell them about the dream Martin!'.
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. I have a dream today." Read more about the story behind the speech here. Over the past few years the Zika virus has become an epidemic that effects areas in the Caribbean, Latin, Central and South America and parts of Africa. The virus is spread by the Aedes aegypti mosquito that thrives in urban habitats and anywhere people live. When pregnant women are infected with Zika their babies are more likely to be born with microencephaly, extremely small and underdeveloped brains. At least 4,000 infants have been affected to date. Recently an article in the New Yorker magazine described the search for a vaccine to protect people from infection with Zika. And the news is good! There are at least three vaccines in development that protect mice and monkeys from the virus and human trails are being planned. I was excited to see that a DNA vaccine is working for Zika. I did my first post-doctoral fellowship with Harriet Robinson, one of the early adopters and developers of DNA vaccines, working on vaccines for HIV. Dr. Robinson now has an HIV vaccine in clinical trials.
As the fall semester begins there's a lot going on. Some of my chemistry students looked a bit overwhelmed on our first day of lecture. We talked about tutoring, studying skills and time management, but not sleep. This article in the Guardian's science section reminds us that sleep resets brain connections and is vital for learning, not to mention mental health and enjoying life!
Sleep 'resets' brain connections crucial for memory and learning, study reveals: discovery that sleeplessness causes neurons to become ‘muddled’ with electrical activity could help develop new treatments for mental health disorders |
About meI'm a professor of science working in the beautiful heart of rural Vermont. Archives
December 2017
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