Small Things Considered

Why CRISPR Doesn't Work in E. coli

by Elio John Davison, French Institute for Agricultural Research, Versailles We received this query: »I enjoyed the article on your blog 'Six Questions About CRISPRs' by Merry Youle. I am an ex-lambdologist, having quit phage lambd...

Genome with the Wind...

CRISPRs reveal unknown dispersal mechanism by Jaime E. Zlamal Ancestors of our cousins, the chimpanzees and bonobos, were once one single primate species which split into two when the Congo River formed about 2 million years ago. N...

A Good Defense Is Worth Stealing

by Merry Youle Add phage ICP1 to the list. Source One widely-used tactic for defense against phage and other mobile genetic elements is to deploy a CRISPR-Cas system (click here and here) to recognize and chop them into pi...

The Phage Meeting Conferencing with Ice Cream in America's Dairyland

by Ananya Sen Figure 1. Phage meeting at the shore of Lake Mendota, Madison, WI. Source The "Phage Meetings" have a long tradition. The first one was organized by Max Delbrück and held at Cold Spring Harbor in 1950. The meet...

Active Lysogeny Regulatory Switches: Scars That Can Make Genes Whole

Scars are not injuries… A scar is a healing. After injury, a scar is what makes you whole.– China Miéville, The Scar by Daniel P. Haeusser Last year Small Things Considered was hurt by the loss of one of our regular contributors,...