On The Care And Keeping Of Your Scientist

Hot off the presses! Check out the cover of my new book: Women In Science. Thanks to ten speed press for sending me a copy! Very proud and excited. Hits stores July 26 but you can pre-order it here: readwomeninscience.com

Home is coming... Cob makes a deal.

While you see many varieties of the common mold in your house and garden, the scientific word to describe them has a fascinating history.  Aspergillus is a genus of 300 or so common molds found in all types of climates around the world.  The Aspergillus mold was first catalogued in 1729 by the Italian priest and biologist Pier Antonio Micheli. These molds are in the fungus kingdom and while almost all are microscopic, colonies of the mold are easily recognizable and can grow quite large. Viewing the fungi under a microscope, Micheli was reminded of the shape of an aspergillum, which is the Latin word for a holy water sprinkler, itself from Latin spargere meaning to sprinkle, and named the fungus for the shape of the sprinkler.

You can see the similarity above, in the image of a silver aspergillium next to a microscopic view of aspergillus mold next to a colony of aspergillus mold growing on a damp terra cotta pot.

Image of aspergillium courtesy of Andreas Püttmann under a Creative Commons 3.0 license.  Image of aspergillus and mold colony courtesy Kathie Hodge and the Cornell University Fungi team.  

Spidery crystals appeared after rotovap-ing. I think they look like dandelion fluffs.

Purification of the “bad blood” from yesterday. 6 hrs later, the column is done and clean, and I’m in bed with Netflix and pizza after 2 looooong days in a row. Thank goodness!

Ever wanted to jumpkick Isaac Newton as Albert Einstein? 

Science Kombat lets you do just that.

Device Rids Buses of Dangerous Pathogens The best place to enjoy a breath of fresh air may be a city bus, if Rice Univ. students have their way. A team of graduating seniors has created a system for public transit that would continually clear the air of pathogens that can lead to tuberculosis (TB), flu and pneumonia. The CityBusters – Joseph Spinella, Jerry Lue, Sundeep Mandava, Grace Ching and Shidong Chen, all seniors – have installed a $500 device on a METRO bus in Houston that has proven effective at killing 99.8 percent of the pathogens that circulate through the air-filtering system. The device, called FluProof, incorporates high-powered ultraviolet lamps that sterilize the air on the fly. Read more: http://www.laboratoryequipment.com/news-Device-Rids-Busses-of-Dangerous-Pathogens-043012.aspx

CRISPR/Cas Just Got About One Hundred Million Dollars Hotter

CRISPR Therapeutics and Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated announced  that they will be entering into a 105 million USD strategic research collaboration focused on developing therapeutics for genetic disease.

In more detail, what does that mean? A number of genetic mutations are responsible for inherited diseases, and two examples of this are cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia.

Cystic fibrosis (CF) is caused by mutations within the CFTR gene which lead to a broken or non-folding protein, this in turn prevents the proper dilution of mucosal secretions and thus leads to numerous pathologies. Sickle cell anaemia/disease, by contrast, is due to mutations within the gene coding for haemoglobin leading to protein aggregation and disruption of red blood cell structures. It is predominantly found in descendants from malaria-prone areas, as the mutation – at least in heterozygotes – provides innate resistance against malarial infection.

The collaboration between Vertex and CRISPR will initially focus on developing therapeutics for cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anaemia, with other unspecified genes also on the target list

Full Story: Syniobeta

A sculptor built “A Space Program” almost entirely out of items you can get at the hardware store.