Lucene Revolution Conference 2010

I arrived late in Boston after my plane from Washington DC was delayed. On the agenda - the next four days the Lucene Revolution conference and a Solr application development workshop organized by Lucid Imagination. The conference promised a unique venue (the first of its kind in the US) to meet...

French Road Sampling Trip Saves Sorcerer II From More Rough Weather!

September 28th 2010 With one last sample to collect and the weather still rough in the Mediterranean, we made the decision to make the Banyuls sample a road sampling trip.  So Jeremy and I loaded up a rental car with carboys and headed out at 5 am to drive the 125 miles (200km) to...

A Week Long Beat Down At Sea, All In The Name Of Science!

September 27th 2010 We just arrived in Barcelona after 7 very rough days at sea! Lots and lots of rolling around, very little sleep, high seas and strong winds! We have seen worse weather in the past, but normally it only last a day or two…this lasted 7 days straight. The constant beating by...

Go To Greece!

September 20th 2010 We arrived in Crete today, bringing our Greek sampling leg to an end. We were very lucky to be able to sail in Greek waters, this place is truly beautiful. Not only did we get to see the natural beauty of Greece, but our hosts introduced us to the rich culture and extensive...

USA Science & Engineering Festival

What a great weekend! Thousands of people attended the USA Science and Engineering Festival. There were exhibits and performances for everyone, every age and every interest! The DiscoverGenomics! Mobile Lab was there - Pennsylvania Avenue with several other mobile labs from across the...

Second Leg of Greek Sampling

September 19th 2010 After we picked up our samples in Maliakos Gulf and changed Greek collaborators we sailed overnight to Psara Island to collect sample #30 on the sample map. Weather became an issue as we tried to collect samples site #26. The winds were blowing over 30 knots and seas were...

The Start of Greek Sampling and Rough Sampling Conditions!

September 15th 2010 Aegean Sea Map On September 10th we arrived in the northeastern Aegean Sea and docked in the city of Alexandroupolis. We spent a few hours dealing with customs which was not normal for the Mediterranean countries. Turns out that this area is well known for being an...

Tourist in Turkey

September 11th 2010 Our time in Turkey was relatively short, but we saw and learned a lot in that time. Our first stop was in Canakkale, it would have been an uneventful 1 night stop if it wasn’t for this…..Byron Hellespont Bicentenary Swim. This yearly race allows you to swim the 3 miles...

Turkish Transect

September 10th 2010 Tonight we arrived in the Greek town of Alexandroupolis, which is located in northeast Aegean Sea. In the last 3 days we have collected 10 samples from 5 sites; it has been a long couple days! In the last blog I talked about the 2 sample sites in the Black Sea, since then we...

Construction of an Escherichia coli genome with fewer codons sets records

The biggest synthetic genome so far has been made, with a smaller set of amino-acid-encoding codons than usual — raising the prospect of encoding proteins that contain unnatural amino-acid residues.

Public Health is the Next Big Thing at UC San Diego

Researchers have swapped the genome of gut germ E. coli for an artificial one

By creating a new genome, scientists could create organisms tailored to produce desirable compounds

Genetically modified bacteria-killing viruses used on patient for first time

Hair claimed to belong to Leonardo da Vinci to undergo DNA testing

Critics, however, argue that this effort is flawed from the beginning

Students learn about genomics, a life in science, at J. Craig Venter Institute