Category Archives: Biology
Jonathan Badger’s T. taxus Blog
I spent this morning reading Jonathan Badger’s T. taxus blog (“Reflections on science, literature, and history by an American Badger”) and web site. Jonathan is a microbial genomicist at the J. Craig Venter Institute (JCVI) in La Jolla, California. Taxidea … Continue reading
5000 Plant Virus Genome Project
On 25 February 2008, Microbe World Radio reported on the 5000 virus genome project, a research project initiated by Professor Marilyn J. Roossinck at the Samuel Roberts Noble Foundation in Ardmore, Oklahoma. Dr. Roossinck’s objective is to use the high-throughput … Continue reading
Phylogeny of Human Populations
Separate analyses of genetic markers from the mitochondrial genome, the Y chromosome, and autosomes have revealed that all humans are descended from a small group of ancestors that lived in eastern Africa. In the 22 February 2008 issue of Science, … Continue reading
RNA-dependent RNA Polymerase II Activity
In a paper in the 15 November 2007 issue of Nature, Lehmann et al. explore in detail the RNA-dependent activity of RNA polymerase II from Saccharomyces cerevisiae. RNA polymerase normally transcribes RNA from a DNA template, but the ability of … Continue reading
1000 Genomes Project
On January 22, 2008, an international consortium of genome sequencing centers announced the 1000 Genomes Project. The goal of the project is to obtain the sequences of 1000 human genomes. Currently, sequences of three human genomes are publicly available. The … Continue reading
Bruce Merrifield
Bruce Merrifield, who won the Albert Lasker Award for Basic Medical Research in 1969 and the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1984, died on May 14, 2006, at the age of 84. Professor Merrifield, working at the Rockefeller Institute for … Continue reading
