Here’s one more story for you out of Justin Gallivan’s laboratory at Emory University. Gallivan has been using bits of RNA called riboswitches to turn gene expression on and off. At the conference, he reported he could turn on E. coli’s propeller in the presence of a pesticide, giving the bugs chemical-following properties that look a lot like what bacteria naturally do with external receptors on their front grille.

Gallivan says motility is a good way to find the best riboswitches, which could then be modified to turn on the gene of your choice. You can read more about it here.

Here’s one more story for you out of Justin Gallivan’s laboratory at Emory University. Gallivan has been using bits of RNA called riboswitches to turn gene expression on and off. At the conference, he reported he could turn on E. coli’s propeller in the presence of a pesticide, giving the bugs chemical-following properties that look a lot like what bacteria naturally do with external receptors on their front grille.

Gallivan says motility is a good way to find the best riboswitches, which could then be modified to turn on the gene of your choice. You can read more about it here.

Microscopic cogs and miniature turbines are fairly easy to make out of silicon, but getting them to move is another matter. Ordinary oil won’t work at that scale, and solid coatings rub off in minutes. But now there might be a solution. Check out the story in Nature News.

Microscopic cogs and miniature turbines are fairly easy to make out of silicon, but getting them to move is another matter. Ordinary oil won’t work at that scale, and solid coatings rub off in minutes. But now there might be a solution. Check out the story in Nature News.

There’s no rule that says scientists can’t be a bit superstitious, especially when it comes to sensitive laboratory equipment. Take, for example, students at Zhan Chen’s laboratory at the University of Michigan, who have created a shrine to one of the lab’s two sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy lasers. Chen presented a picture of the shrine, replete with labels, at the introduction to his talk Sunday. I think my favorite part of the shrine is one student’s ponytail, although the inclusion of the thesis defense poster for a student who defied expectations and succeeded in graduating is a runner-up. Click on the image to enlarge.

Chen writes: “Even though our systems are commercial products, for my chemistry students, it takes some time for them to learn how to run experiments. Furthermore, it is not easy for my students to fix problems the SFG systems sometimes have. Therefore, they developed this ‘shrine to the lasers’ in hope that the SFG systems, including a pico-second laser, some nonlinear optical components, and a detection system, would be ‘happy’ to behave ‘normally’ all the time.”

Chen’s group uses SFG to study complicated surfaces and interfaces, including polymers and biological materials. They’re eyeing questions like biocompatibility, polymer adhesion, and anti-microbial peptide activities. The shrine continues to grow.

There’s no rule that says scientists can’t be a bit superstitious, especially when it comes to sensitive laboratory equipment. Take, for example, students at Zhan Chen’s laboratory at the University of Michigan, who have created a shrine to one of the lab’s two sum frequency generation (SFG) spectroscopy lasers. Chen presented a picture of the shrine, replete with labels, at the introduction to his talk Sunday. I think my favorite part of the shrine is one student’s ponytail, although the inclusion of the thesis defense poster for a student who defied expectations and succeeded in graduating is a runner-up. Click on the image to enlarge.

Chen writes: “Even though our systems are commercial products, for my chemistry students, it takes some time for them to learn how to run experiments. Furthermore, it is not easy for my students to fix problems the SFG systems sometimes have. Therefore, they developed this ‘shrine to the lasers’ in hope that the SFG systems, including a pico-second laser, some nonlinear optical components, and a detection system, would be ‘happy’ to behave ‘normally’ all the time.”

Chen’s group uses SFG to study complicated surfaces and interfaces, including polymers and biological materials. They’re eyeing questions like biocompatibility, polymer adhesion, and anti-microbial peptide activities. The shrine continues to grow.

In the spirit of our swampy environs, the first press conference Sunday morning was on the special anti-microbial/fungal/viral properties of alligator blood. Biochemist and alligator rassler Mark Merchant of McNeese State University in southwestern Louisiana wasn’t on hand to field questions, but two of his colleagues filled in, describing some progress on testing the blood’s ability to kill microscopic invaders

Alligators aren’t the friendliest creatures around. They like to fight and sometimes sustain serious injuries; they also live in marches and swamps full of opportunistic microbes. But, the researchers say, alligators seldom get infected.

In 2006, the Sun-Sentinel in south Florida covered Merchant’s work. By then, he had found alligator serum killed off all 16 strains of bacteria tested. Now, the number of bacterial fatalities has since gone up to 23, and includes the dreaded MRSA. Human serum is only effective in killing eight of those 23 strains.

No one is quite sure what it is about the serum that works so well, although there was some speculation that lysine and arginine-rich peptides may be responsible. Merchant’s colleagues are in the process of looking into this.

Still, I’m left wondering whether alligator blood will ever yield useful clinical treatments. At higher concentrations the serum is very effective at killing cells — including healthy human ones. I wasn’t able to get a clear answer from the presenters as to what the toxicity is like for human cells. It could very well be that alligator blood is an indiscriminate killer.

In the spirit of our swampy environs, the first press conference Sunday morning was on the special anti-microbial/fungal/viral properties of alligator blood. Biochemist and alligator rassler Mark Merchant of McNeese State University in southwestern Louisiana wasn’t on hand to field questions, but two of his colleagues filled in, describing some progress on testing the blood’s ability to kill microscopic invaders

Alligators aren’t the friendliest creatures around. They like to fight and sometimes sustain serious injuries; they also live in marches and swamps full of opportunistic microbes. But, the researchers say, alligators seldom get infected.

In 2006, the Sun-Sentinel in south Florida covered Merchant’s work. By then, he had found alligator serum killed off all 16 strains of bacteria tested. Now, the number of bacterial fatalities has since gone up to 23, and includes the dreaded MRSA. Human serum is only effective in killing eight of those 23 strains.

No one is quite sure what it is about the serum that works so well, although there was some speculation that lysine and arginine-rich peptides may be responsible. Merchant’s colleagues are in the process of looking into this.

Still, I’m left wondering whether alligator blood will ever yield useful clinical treatments. At higher concentrations the serum is very effective at killing cells — including healthy human ones. I wasn’t able to get a clear answer from the presenters as to what the toxicity is like for human cells. It could very well be that alligator blood is an indiscriminate killer.

Greetings from New Orleans, where an anticipated 15,000+ chemists have descended on the ever-resilient Morial Convention Center. Last month’s American Physical Society meeting passed under the city’s radar, but this meeting is so large, the welcome mat extended all the way to the airport, which boasted a “Welcome ACS” sign at the baggage claim area. I’ll be covering the conference’s first three days, from Sunday to Tuesday. Stay tuned for more dispatches as well as links to online news coverage.

Greetings from New Orleans, where an anticipated 15,000+ chemists have descended on the ever-resilient Morial Convention Center. Last month’s American Physical Society meeting passed under the city’s radar, but this meeting is so large, the welcome mat extended all the way to the airport, which boasted a “Welcome ACS” sign at the baggage claim area. I’ll be covering the conference’s first three days, from Sunday to Tuesday. Stay tuned for more dispatches as well as links to online news coverage.