When Given Colored Construction Paper, Wasps Build Rainbow Colored Nests

Happy ‪#‎CincoDeMayo‬! Here’s some avocado science to mark the occasion: http://wp.me/p4aPLT-p9

This is very cool and a pretty big deal. Find out why.

Sometimes I get lucky on the rotovap and end up with beautiful crystals.

(I am now realizing that all of my coolest chem lab pictures are related to crystallization...)

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

hey, your blog is super great and you seem like a beautiful human being. i find you to be super inspiring! i know you get a lot of these questions, but is it okay to punch boys who tell me that i "can't can't be an engineer because I'm a girl"?

Not that I’m advocating violence, but if hypothetically you were to punch a shitty dude for being sexist, you should aim for the solar plexus or the stomach, not the face, because you’re less likely to hurt your hand and you’ll do more damage. Hypothetically of course. 

if you give me a task with no deadline i will literally never do it but if you give me a deadline i will get it done exactly 1 hour before the deadline even if the deadline is in six years

Double, double toil and trouble;

Reaction stir and oil bubble.