All posts by erin

Commercialized Space Flight

BioTechnology
NASA Space Shuttle Atlantis. Source: Wikimedia Commons

People have been taking about commercializing space flight for years, but according to the BBC article “Runway opens at worlds first spaceport” Sir Richard Branson (the Virgin group) is going to make it a reality within the next few weeks.

Of course you don’t get to spend any real time in space, they are marketing a three hour journey where you get launched into space and then come back. If you have the money though it would be pretty cool to be able to say that you’ve been to space. At least 300 people at $200,000 each think so, and have already signed up for the flight.

Blending In

New Research

The BBC is reporting new research on why certain species of wild cat have the color patterns in the fur of their coat that they do. Its long been claimed that the patterns (spots, stripes, etc.) help the animals blend into their surroundings, but the new study goes into more specific detail about how these new patterns actually help the cats blend in.

The research was published in Royal Society Journal, and conducted by a team from the University of Bristol. The BBC article by Katia Moskvitch is, “On how the leopard got its spots.”

Bait and Vaccinate

New Research
Island Scrub Jay. Source: Flickr

Researchers are working to save the island scrub jay, a bird native to Santa Cruz Island (part of California). By luring the birds with peanuts, and then trapping them under a wire basket the researchers are able to vaccinate the birds against the West Nile Virus. The virus has been deemed a serious threat to the birds, because they all live on a single island so an outbreak would spread quickly.

The LA Times article: Taking a rare jay under their wing, tries to get an interesting hook in by describing the simple way (like a Wile E. Coyote prank) the researchers are undertaking such a complex conservation effort. I think it draws you in enough, although the article is a little long, and I did find myself skimming toward the end. I was able to skim it though- which means that the writer did a good job of explaining the science in a clear way.

Sleepy Skyping

Grad School

This morning I got up at what I consider an un-godly hour (6am) to call a researcher in Wales for my last article for J800, before going to class. Business hours in the UK run from the very early hours of the morning here until around noon, which left before class as the best time to do the interview.

I wanted to just use Skype to call his landline, but when he found out I was using Skype, he suggested that we video chat. It is a good thing that I decided to get ready for class and got dressed before I contacted the researcher, otherwise he would have seen my pajamas. I do 90% of my interviews by phone, and probably the other 10% by email. I haven’t interviewed someone face to face in over a year. So compounded by the fact that it was really early, I was caught off guard with the fact that he could see me, and that I was talking about some really complex genetics – I am fairly certain I sounded like a babbling moron.

I think I got a few good quotes though, so at least it was worth it, though the more I write them, the more I dislike feature-length issues pieces. They are unruly to say the least, but I hope I am becoming better at wrangling information.

Rare Variants

BioTechnology, Genetics, Sequencing

My article from the October issue of BioTechniques is out! I reported this one back in August right as I was moving to Madison. It is exciting to finally be able to see it in print. It is also available online, which means you should be reading it right now.

Many thanks to the scientists who spent so much time talking to me about rare variants, and to the editorial staff at BioTechniques for editing, and editing, and editing some more. 
Posing with the October issue!

Before you dive into the article, I’m sure you are asking yourself what is a rare variant, and why do I care? Well – rare variants are specific mutations in the genome that only happen in a few individuals, in some cases even just a single person. These variants are important because any time that something is amiss in your genome, it has an effect on you. At times these effects include causing disease. So, studying rare variants can tell doctors important things about disease and possibly help come up with new treatments. But, studying these rare variants is extremely difficult. To learn why, read the article!