We’d like to welcome The Finch & Pea‘s new Art Curator, Michele Banks. Michele is a talented artist, an irrepressible science enthusiast, and generally a joy to be around. In short, our kind of people.
Michele will be bringing us art that has been inspired by science, inspires us to think about science, and is just fun to look at.
Ready your eyeballs for a feast of awesome.
Needless to say (but I’m going to anyway), I am pleased as punch that my lab’s most recent offering unto the body of scientific literature (“Analysis of alternative splicing associated with aging and neurodegeneration in the human brain”) was put on the cover of the current issue of Genome Research. In this paper, we investigated the connections between alternative splicing profiles in the aging brain and in brains suffering from neurodegenerative disorders, like Alzheimer’s disease. It is important to note that we were characterizing the alternative splicing differences associated with aging and disease, not identifying splicing changes that cause the diseases or the symptoms. Such questions will require ongoing work, which this study will, hopefully, help guide. Continue reading “Coming to news stands. . .”
Apparently I am now a “droid you are looking for”*. Due to some combination of my rugged good looks**, insightful commentary, sparkling wit, and unerring nose for “the cool”***, the good folks at The Paltry Sapien have asked me to contribute to their site, which I shall be doing from time to time, starting today.
*As opposed to a “droid for which you are looking”. Hey, at least we know the editorial oversight won’t be too intense.
**At least one of my sisters has now wet herself laughing.
***Wait, now that is both of them.
I don’t think Daniel Arsham means the same thing when he says “Snarkitecture“*, but it looks interesting.
*In fairness, Arsham got there first. Snarkitecture was founded in 2008.
Genomycism – the unsubstantiated belief that the cataloging of the genomic sequence of an individual conveys useful understanding about their ancestry, current characteristics, and disease risk with high degrees of accuracy and predictive power.
An important policy forum article has appeared in the most recent issue of Science discussing the expectations for the benefits of genomics, the issues created when those expectations are unrealistic, overinflated, and over-hyped[1]. Continue reading “Genomycism: “Deflating the Genomic Bubble””
snarkitecht (snar-ke-tekt), n, a master of the subtle use of snark to make an argument or undercut an opponent’s argument. Contrasts with typical inelegant and counter-productive use of snark, especially amongst bloggers.
The Finch and Pea 