by Roberto — Second semester, senior year at Carnegie-Mellon. Newly minted Assistant Professor Bill Brown, with whom I was learning to do peptide mapping, runs into the lab with a huge smile holding a deep blue book with a mesmerizing structure on its cover: "Look at what Stryer has done, this is so beautiful!!" Read more →
Never a Dull Enzyme
by Roberto — The tricarboxylic acid cycle enzyme citrate synthase from Synechococcus elongatus has the remarkable feature that it self-assembles into multimeric fractal shapes, specifically Sierpiński triangles. As Arthur Kornberg would have said: "Never a dull enzyme!"... Read more →
A Solar Eclipse (and the Weight of Paper)
by Christoph — Last week I had in mind to write a short hommage to a venerable lab instrument, the flatbed chart recorder, but then the solar eclipse got in the way. More precisely, not the eclipse, but the map of the USA that went viral on social media, with the booking numbers... Read more →
SIMPLIFY Science Writing
by Roberto — Writing is an essential part of all scientific endeavors. Yet it is rare to find a scientist that finds it easy, not to mention joyful. I am not much different. But after many years at it, I have learned to take certain steps that make the process at least less daunting, even simple. Read more →
Coley's Toxins Revisited
by Roberto — In the last few years, immunotherapy has quickly become the emerging "fourth pillar" in cancer treatment, joining surgery, radiation therapy and chemotherapy. The basic concept behind the development of immune checkpoint inhibitors as anti-cancer therapeutics is that activating the immune system can sometimes result in the body ridding itself of malignant cells. Read more →
Requiem for an Apparatus
by Roberto — Have you ever seen the type of apparatus that Carl Woese and colleagues used to obtain data to support their conclusion that Bacteria and Archaea were so distant phylogenetically as to merit being different domains of life? Read more →
Gut Microbes and Exercise
by Roberto — These days there seems to be an ever-growing number of studies aiming to associate diverse human behaviors with gut microbiome composition. My curiosity has been particularly piqued by studies involving exercise. Read more →
Women: An Unfolding Story
by Mechas — International Women’s Day, celebrated on March 8, commemorates women's struggle for equality, celebrates achievements, and raises awareness about discrimination and disparity. Read more →
Inactive Ingredients Meet Gut Microbes
by Janie — Among all the human microbiome's kaleidoscopic effects on human health, one likely less frequently thought about by prescribing medical professionals is the ability to chemically alter the medications we take. It's well-established that our gut residents are teeming with enzymes... Read more →
Serendipity in Science
by Roberto — Serendipity. I feel it is one of the most beautiful words in English; it's so melodic and loaded with meaning. Perhaps I'm fascinated by it because it is difficult to translate into my native Spanish. Regardless, it does seem that quite often scientific discoveries happen serendipitously. Read more →