Blog Post

Re-Creating the Wheel

Originally published at: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052003336_pf.html

The other day, the J. Craig Venter Institute announced that it had created a man-made copy of the genome  of Mycoplasma mycoides. A bacteria.

After painstakingly linking over a million nucleotides in the right places to create the complete genome, they implanted this into a different bacterial cell.  Not only did it begin to immediately reprogram the recipient cell, but it began to reproduce those new cells.  Naturally.

This is, quite honestly, the coolest thing. Ever.

Blog Post

Oceans’ Health: An Ecosystem on the Brink

By Allen LaPointe, Vice President of Environmental Quality, John G. Shedd Aquarium

Ocean Acidification – carbon dioxide and its effect on Earth’s oceans

Since the first Earth Day was celebrated forty years ago, the focus has been on awareness and environmental action. However, most attention in the past has focused on “terrestrial earth”, even though most of the earth’s surface is covered by water.

Continue reading “Oceans’ Health: An Ecosystem on the Brink”

Blog Post

Asian Carp Invasion: Notes

Five experts, knee-deep in dealing with the controversy that has become “Asian Carp,” presented their research and views on April 6 at the Shedd Aquariums Phelps Auditorium.

In this venue, feet from living examples of the invasive species, the history of the Great Lakes water flows , the ecology, and policy perspectives of plans of action were discussed.

To put it into perspective, Duane Chapman of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) makes note that when the media refer to “Asian Carp,” they are actually talking about the Big Head and Silver Carp species.  These are but two types of carp species, out of hundreds, that exist throughout the world.

Continue reading “Asian Carp Invasion: Notes”

Blog Post

Notes on Women in Science

By University of Chicago Harris School of Public Policy’s Angie Zeich and Carol Hendrickson

Gender Differences in the Workplace

The low number of women in science careers has historically been a problem that remains pervasive today.  Women still hold proportionally low academic science positions compared to men, and the shortage affects the private sector too, particularly engineering, computer science, and management.  Continue reading “Notes on Women in Science”