ENCODE DECODED

Mainly Microbe - by Joe Hanson

I had the privilege of meeting Joe Hanson at Science Online 2013. He continues to produce some of the best explainer videos I know of out there on the tubes. Here's one on a topic I've covered before - the microbiome!

Hacking the Family Tree

Thank to Aatish Bhatia for sharingthis video on Twitter. As I prepare to make my genome fully open access and attached to my name it is worth knowing what can be done with the information.

The Immortal Genome of Henrietta Lacks

What is MicroscoPARTY?

A MicroscoPARTY is an informal gathering of curious people observing and discussing various specimens under a microscope.

The idea to have an online MicroscoPARTY was born in my head while attending the annual Science-Online Conference in Raleigh, North Carolina in February, 2013.

At the conference a gentleman named Fraser Cain showed the group how he is using Google Hangouts (free video-conferencing available through Google) to point different telescopes around the planet at different windows onto the night sky and have them all stream into a single video chat!

The people at Google were so enthused about Fraser's use of Google Hangouts they sent a team to him to make the video below about his endevor.



Watching this video at Science Online 2013 was a highlight for me. When the image of Saturn comes on the screen goosebumps run up and down my whole body.

Only a few weeks before I attended this conference did I start work as a Postdoctoral Researcher. For my dissertation I strictly worked with proteins. I could never actually see with my eyes the objects of my investigation. So when I fist got to look at plants under the high powered dissecting scope I was like a kid in a candy shop.  I could not believe all the richness I had been missing and I wanted to share that excitement with everyone. And there I was hearing Fraser Cain tell me exactly how I could do it!

Last Friday I put together the first ever MicroscoPARTY that I know of. Though the conversation veered far and wide from the microscope it was still one of the coolest events I have ever participated in. Having a team of minds all sharing their collective knowledge in real time.  Just a taste of what is to come.

Here is the recorded portion of the inaugural MicroscoPARTY



Keep in mind this was a session to work out the interface kinks and to brainstorm about future events. If you want to keep track of future gatherings you can follow us on twitter using the hashtag #MicroscoPARTY or visit our Facebook community page here.  If you have a great idea for a future topic or specimen let me know in the comments.

The next MicroscoPARTY will be held Friday April 12th at 7PM EDT with video available live and recorded on You Tube after the party is over! The topic is Food and Fungus! Help us hype the hyphae!!!

Party on Wayne... Party on Garth.

Shattering Prince Rupert's Drop

Thank to Dustin from @SmarterYouTube aka "Smarter Every Day" for putting together this mind-shattering explanation of the mysterious Prince Rupert's Drop.

Bridging the gaps in science communication

In this Google+ Hangout organized by the illustrious @DNLee5 a wonderful group of people discuss the methods to most effectively communicate science to a wider audience. A big thanks to Danielle for inviting me to participate in such a significant and timely discussion.

Problem with the Trolley Problem

#MicroscopyParty

Social Creatures

The individual vs. group-selection debate is a "can of worms" as Frans de Waal recently put it.

Do I think there is a genetic component to cooperation? Yes, probably. Is there a special set of genes in ants, ambrosia beetles and human beings that make us uniquely social creatures? I don't know.

When I first read Richard Dawkins' The Selfish Gene I took away much inspiration. The clarity with which he writes leads the reader to a sense of certitude on how genes proliferate and persist. In an era of rampant disparity in global science literacy it is good to have sure-footed thinkers at the forefront of science communication. As my friend John Romano said recently "Evolution is a theory like gravity is a theory." It is a good thing to have people shouting this from the rooftops.

But, as Jacob Bronowski echos in my mind "science is a tribute to what we can know, although we are fallible" I can not help but think that giving people certainty instead of training them in the ability to think critically for themselves may be more harmful to the spread of science in the long run. The kind of in-fighting that happens about the details gets interpreted by the public at large as - there is no scientific consensus on evolution. When it comes to "paradigm-shifts" in evolutionary biology you often see the tribal side of scientists come out. Camps are formed, lines drawn, fires lit.

E.O. Wilson makes a valid criticism of Dawkins - he has not practiced research science in decades, nor has he had a peer-reviewed paper published in quite some time.

The counter-criticism of Wilson is that his recent switch to embracing a form of "group-selection"  the as-yet-to-be defined "Multi-level selection" may be unwittingly urged by dollar signs in the form of Templeton Foundation money funneled toward his in silico collaborator Martin Nowak. Not to mention the potential to bump up book sales when a book is branded "controversial." (Read more about the Templeton Foundation here.)

Whenever we try to put words on top of natural phenomena there are certain aspects of the concept that get lost in translation as words are by their very nature metaphors. I think this is what is happening to concepts like "inclusive fitness" and "group selection." They are fuzzy all-encompassing terms for broader processes evolutionary biologists are trying to reconcile through observation. This phenomenon of chasing catch-phrases is harmful to science in my opinion. It predisposes researchers to pursue sexy but poorly defined buzz-words rather than novel questions.

If you want to read more about the academic brawl surrounding E.O. Wilson and Richard Dawkins and "group selection" fellow Blogger Eric Michael Johnson has a wonderfully comprehensive piece on his Scientific American blog.   I have also attempted to cover this before.