Tag: biology
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Sonogenetics – Controlling the Brain with Sound
My neuroscience colleagues have long been proponents of the technique known as optogenetics, a procedure that was named the scientific “Method of the Year” in 2010. For this method, brain cells are genetically engineered to respond to a specific wavelength of light. Typically this involves using a virus or other delivery system to augment brain […]
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Viruses: Intimate Invaders
My book on virology for the general public is now available at Springer as either an ebook or a softcover bound volume. It is also available on Amazon.
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The DNA Packing Problem
I think everyone can relate to packing problems – how to get a cart full of groceries into the fewest bags or how to strategically organize the needed clothes and accessories into one carry-on suitcase? Packing problems abound in life from our personal needs to manufacturing concerns about how to fit the most items into […]
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In Memorium – Luc Montagnier, The Discoverer of HIV
I don’t know how well-known Luc Montagnier is to the general public, but in my field of virology he was both a giant and a controversial figure. I only met him once as my wife and I had dinner with him and several other scientists at a small HIV meeting in Austin, Texas in 2012. […]
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The Origins of Life
As we contemplate the beginnings of a new year, an interesting paper by Wimmer et al. in Frontiers in Microbiology reexamines the beginnings of the first biochemical compounds. We know the Earth formed about 4.5 billion years ago and that life originated about 3.8 billion years ago, but a key question has always been how […]
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A No Tail of Two Alus
Nearly all vertebrate animals, including most mammals, have a tail, making tails an almost universal appendage and seemingly a very handy one. Clearly, instructions for tail development must be embedded in the genetic makeup of a diverse range of animals. A prominent exception to this developmental pattern is the great apes (gorillas, orangutans, bonobos, and […]
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A New Factor in Pancreatic Cancer?
Around 60,000 people in the United States will be diagnosed with pancreatic cancer each year. Unfortunately, about 75% of the newly diagnosed will live less than 1 year, leading to around 45,000 deaths per year. Overall, the 5-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer is only 9%. A big reason for this low survival rate is […]