bio optics and synthetic bio

Utrecht, 27 May 2016

e-super-coli

The antibiotic resistance factor MCR, which protects bacteria against the final remaining drugs of last resort, has been found in the United States for the first time—in a person, and separately, in a stored sample taken from a slaughtered pig.

Department of Defense researchers disclosed Thursday in a report placed online by the journal Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy that a 49-year-old woman who sought medical care at a military-associated clinic in Pennsylvania last month, with what seemed to be a urinary tract infection, was carrying a strain of E. coli resistant to a wide range of drugs. That turned out to be because the organism carried 15 different genes conferring antibiotic resistance, clustered on two “mobile elements” that can move easily among bacteria. One element included the new, dreaded gene mcr-1.

more:

http://phenomena.nationalgeographic.com/2016/05/26/colistin-r-9/

Basic skills in the lab - the fine art of pipetting

Those of us doing molecular biology wetwork in the lab are as much connected to pipettes as most of the general public are to mobile phones.

As any precision instrument, pipettors and tips must be handled gently and with care, of course paying attention to sterility.  Experienced biohackers who should know better often use improper techniques that cause one to cringe.  

There are basic pipette skills which are essential to learn, but it doesn't end there, it is really an art.

So in this post I'm putting in a few links to learning the fine art of pipetting, from the basics to more advanced techniques.  Please add any links or pipetting stories you may have to share.  

First, there is an advanced level webinar on May 31, 2016 

Protect your Cells with Proper Pipetting - How liquid handling influences your cell culture work

also an archived webinar:

The Tip of the Iceberg – How Pipette Tips Influence Assay Results

For the basics, there are a number of good videos

We get a lot of used pipettors, What needs to be done to make sure that they are accurate?  Calibration.

serial dilution - multi-channel

Happy pipetting, brothers and sisters!

Improving HIS tagged protein purification results

For those who missed this informative webinar by Marianne Carlsson:

Tips for successful purification of his-tagged proteins, it is temporarily archived here

If you have any other tips from your own experience with purification of HIS tagged protein, please share them here.

can the entire human genome be synthesized?

...and inserted into a cell?

http://singularityhub.com/2016/05/22/is-the-world-ready-for-synthetic-life-scientists-plan-to-create-whole-genomes/

Free equipment today for biology teachers in SF Bay Area

Yesterday found a group of volunteers and myself setting up for today's event at the Bio-Link Depot in San Francisco, California.
There are tons of donated equipment and supplies available to educational institutions and science teachers.  The event runs from 10AM to 2PM.
http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=78845e8a22189da7ed05a14f0&id=92335dfee8
I learned about a new group, the Chemical Exchange Network, The purpose of the Chemical Exchange Network is to facilitate the informal exchange of laboratory chemicals and information used in teaching biotechnology, biochemistry, chemistry, physics, and general science.

There is a link to it on the Bio-Link Page:
http://us8.campaign-archive2.com/?u=78845e8a22189da7ed05a14f0&id=92335dfee8

languages for bioinformatics

So my bioinformatician friends tell me that the two main computer languages they learn are Python and R.  If you are doing bioinformatics, which language do you use most and why?  For those of you who wish to learn, here are links for courses on  

1. Python
2. R





(The missing link for Learn the R statistical programming language has been fixed now)