{"id":2949,"date":"2012-03-30T10:39:13","date_gmt":"2012-03-30T10:39:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/?p=2949"},"modified":"2015-05-14T15:26:34","modified_gmt":"2015-05-14T14:26:34","slug":"best-of-nature-network-nature-com-blogs-and-scitable-24-30-march","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/2012\/03\/30\/best-of-nature-network-nature-com-blogs-and-scitable-24-30-march","title":{"rendered":"Best of Nature Network, nature.com blogs and Scitable: 24 \u2013 30 March"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>DNA Origami<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/network.nature.com\/profile\/U83A6E359\/profile\">Paige Brown<\/a> reveals in her latest <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/from_the_lab_bench\/2012\/03\/29\/origami-goes-nano\">post <\/a>that origami has gone molecular! She explains that nano-scale DNA\u00a0origami can be used to make super-cool three-dimensional shapes out of nanoparticles:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/dna-origami.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"alignleft size-medium wp-image-2958\" title=\"dna origami\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/dna-origami-300x286.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"286\" srcset=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/dna-origami-300x286.jpg 300w, https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/dna-origami.jpg 476w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/a>DNA origami, originated by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Paul_Rothemund\">Paul Rothemund<\/a>\u00a0at the California Institute of Technology, consists of folding long pieces of\u00a0DNA,\u00a0the genetic or hereditary material of our cells, into 2- and 3-dimensional structures. This would be similar to folding a thin strip of paper into a complex structure like a paper swan or a paper airplane.\u00a0DNA\u00a0is particularly good for molecular-scale origami because the 4 bases of\u00a0DNA\u00a0&#8211; Adenine, Guanine, Cytosine, and Thymine &#8211; pair up to help complementary pieces of\u00a0DNA\u00a0hybridize or stick together. With enough sticky pieces of\u00a0DNA,\u00a0researchers can create amazing 3-dimensional structures, like the cylindrical 24-helix bundles used by Kuzyk and colleagues to guide the self-assembly of helical nanoparticle structures (see multi-helix\u00a0DNA\u00a0origami bundles in image to the right).<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Continue to the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/from_the_lab_bench\/2012\/03\/29\/origami-goes-nano\">post <\/a>to hear about the latest applications of DNA origami.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Small Evolution in a big city<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Did you know that evolution works on small time scales and in small areas? <a href=\"https:\/\/network.nature.com\/people\/grrlscientist\/profile\">GrrlScientist<\/a>\u00a0 reveals that by using New York City&#8217;s newts, coyotes and mice as examples, we have learnt that animals can develop genetic differences, even within urban parks. <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/grrlscientist\/2012\/03\/29\/evolution-in-a-big-city-video\">GrrlScientist <\/a>looks at research by\u00a0Jason Munshi-South, an assistant professor in the department of natural sciences at CUNY&#8217;s Baruch College, who is looking at the DNA of New York City&#8217;s animals:<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ckGB5lHyzME?feature=player_embedded\" frameborder=\"0\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p><em>This <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/grrlscientist\/2012\/03\/29\/evolution-in-a-big-city-video\">video <\/a>was animated by the TED-Ed Animation Team (Jeremiah Dickey, Biljana Labovic, Celeste Lai, Kari Mulholland and Franz Palomares)<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Counting on Copper<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a title=\"Anne Pichon\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/author\/Anne-Pichon\">Anne Pichon<\/a>\u00a0on the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/2012\/03\/element-of-the-month-counting-on-copper.html\">Sceptical Chymist blog<\/a> reminds us about last year\u2019s\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/2011\/10\/essay_competition_and_the_winn_1.html\">essay competition<\/a>.\u00a0Anne explains that the winning\u00a0essay on copper, written by\u00a0Tiberiu Moga, appears in\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/nchem\/journal\/v4\/n4\/index.html\">this month&#8217;s<\/a>\u00a0\u201cin your element\u201d feature:<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<div id=\"attachment_2959\" style=\"width: 160px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/copper.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-2959\" class=\"size-thumbnail wp-image-2959\" title=\"copper\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/copper-150x150.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" \/><\/a><p id=\"caption-attachment-2959\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Source: Wikipedia<\/p><\/div>\n<p><em>Copper has been part of our lives pretty much for ever \u2014 the Copper Age started around 5,000 BC (give or take a couple of thousand years depending on whether you count the Copper\u2013Stone Age or not), made its way into epic poetry (read the\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/nchem\/journal\/v4\/n4\/full\/nchem.1315.html\">article<\/a>\u00a0to find out how it features in the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Kalevala\">Kalevala<\/a>) and copper-based materials are still virtually everywhere, from the humble penny to electrical wiring. So what exactly does copper do, apart from giving her copper(II) carbonate-green colour to the Statue of Liberty? Scientifically speaking, lots of things.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Find our more about copper and why we\u2019re still very much in a copper age, in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/thescepticalchymist\/2012\/03\/element-of-the-month-counting-on-copper.html\">post<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ecological Networks<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/network.nature.com\/people\/boboh\/profile\">Bob O&#8217;Hara<\/a> is thinking about ecological networks in his latest <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/boboh\/2012\/03\/29\/doing-stuff-with-ecological-networks\">post<\/a>. He explains that one common type is a bipartite network, for example a plant-frugivore network, where members of one group (e.g. frugivores) may interact with members of the other (e.g. plants). Bob explains that analysing this sort of data is difficult, because the current methods are designed for networks where the data is completely known, whereas his data has lots missing. In order to remedy this he has come up with some ideas, written a paper on the subject and composed a handy slideshow which you can view below:<\/p>\n<div id=\"__ss_12203438\" style=\"width: 425px;\"><strong style=\"display: block; margin: 12px 0 4px;\"><a title=\"Interaction networks\" href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/oharar\/interaction-networks\" target=\"_blank\">Interaction networks<\/a><\/strong> <iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/slideshow\/embed_code\/12203438\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" width=\"425\" height=\"355\"><\/iframe><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding: 5px 0 12px;\">View more <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/\" target=\"_blank\">presentations<\/a> from <a href=\"https:\/\/www.slideshare.net\/oharar\" target=\"_blank\">Bob O&#8217;Hara<\/a><\/div>\n<div style=\"padding: 5px 0 12px;\">If you have any questions, doleave them in the comments.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><strong>Long-fingered African frog rediscovered after 62 years!<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Since its last sighting in 1949, the Bururi long-fingered frog (<em>Cardioglossa cyaneospila<\/em>) is an unusually shaped creature \u2014 the males have a single finger on their feet which is longer than the others. The frog was thought to have become extinct, but herpetologists have managed to rediscover a single specimen in a recent expedition to Burundi reveals\u00a0Leila Haghighat\u00a0in the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/news\/2012\/03\/long-fingered-african-frog-rediscovered-after-62-years.html\">News Blog<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/news\/2012\/03\/long-fingered-african-frog-rediscovered-after-62-years.html\">:<\/a><\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/frog.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2961\" title=\"frog\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/frog.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"200\" \/><\/a>Curator\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/research.calacademy.org\/herp\/staff\/dblackburn\">David Blackburn<\/a>\u00a0and his colleague\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/eligreenbaum.iss.utep.edu\/default.htm\">Eli Greenbaum<\/a>\u00a0of the University of Texas at El Paso set out to this tiny African country to rediscover the amphibians and reptiles first described 60 years ago. The team concluded that habitats have remained more or less intact after identifying populations of new and rare species, including\u00a0<\/em><em>C. cyaneospila.<\/em><em><\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>\u201cIn a tremendous stroke of luck, I casually moved aside some grass, and the frog was just sitting there on a log,\u201d said David Blackburn in a press release from the California Academy of Sciences. \u201cI heard multiple calls over the next few nights, indicating a healthy population of the species, but I was only able to find this one specimen.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>You can continue to the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/news\/2012\/03\/long-fingered-african-frog-rediscovered-after-62-years.html\">post <\/a>to find out more.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Cancer databases <\/strong><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"><a title=\"Rebecca Hersher\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/author\/Rebecca-Hersher\">Rebecca Hersher<\/a>,<\/span> reporting for the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/2012\/03\/as-massive-cancer-databases-come-online-some-still-fret-about-target-validation.html\">Spoonful of Medicine blog<\/a>, reveals that the two largest databases of information about cancer cells were launched this week. These databases will help to test new chemotherapy treatments. Rebecca discloses that the new databases, compiled at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and Massachusetts General Hospital, both in Boston, boast 479 and 507 cancer cell lines, respectively:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>\u201cThis is going to enable us to realize the vision we have for personalized medicine,\u201d says\u00a0<\/em><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.hms.harvard.edu\/dms\/BBS\/fac\/garraway.php\">Levi Garraway<\/a>, a molecular pharmacologist at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute and senior author of the first paper. And, he says, such extensive cancer cell line data will speed up the preclinical process because in the future it will allow drug companies to predict the effectiveness of experimental compounds, decreasing their reliance on slow and costly animal studies. \u201cIf you have robust genetic or molecular indicators, that can be sufficient,\u201d he says. \u201cYou don\u2019t necessarily need mouse models.\u201d<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Some scientists say cell-line data cannot replace testing in animal models; continue to the <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/spoonful\/2012\/03\/as-massive-cancer-databases-come-online-some-still-fret-about-target-validation.html\">post <\/a>to hear the opposing thoughts.<\/p>\n<p><strong>LinkedIn tips for jobseekers<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>After attending the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.careerfair.acs.org\/job-seekers\/virtual\">American Chemical Society virtual career fair<\/a> and hearing a talk by social media expert and author\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/careerenlightenment.com\/\">Joshua Waldman<\/a>,\u00a0NatureJobs&#8217; blogger<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/author\/Rachel-Bowden\"> Rachel Bowden<\/a> has been sharing\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/2012\/03\/27\/linkedin-tips-for-jobseekers\">advice <\/a>for\u00a0jobseekers using the social networking site LinkedIn:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>Waldman says it\u2019s\u00a0<strong>safe to assume that potential employers will look you up online<\/strong>\u00a0and so you should have control over the information presented about you.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>To start with, make good use of your LinkedIn\u00a0<strong>headline<\/strong>. This gets attached to your name and photo in every communication that you send within LinkedIn\u00a0and\u00a0\u201dis probably going to be in many cases\u00a0<strong>your first impression<\/strong>\u201d, says Waldman. You can write up to 120 characters so instead of just listing your job title alone, consider crafting a statement that explains what you do\u00a0<\/em><em>and<\/em><em>\u00a0<\/em><em>what sets you apart from others who do the same. You can change your headline by clicking on the edit link next to your name in the edit profile section.<\/em><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>If you have any tips, why not share them in the<a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/naturejobs\/2012\/03\/27\/linkedin-tips-for-jobseekers\"> comment thread.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>FuturICT<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Scitable blogger\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/scitable\/view-profile\/khalil-a-cassimally-6217851\">Khalil A. Cassimally<\/a> is discussing the latest tool that promises to predict the future. Khalil explains that a huge project called\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurict.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\">FuturICT<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurict.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurict.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Knowledge<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurict.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/www.futurict.eu\/\" target=\"_blank\">Accelerator<\/a>\u00a0is one of the six projects in the running for a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u20ac1\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">billion<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">funding<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">\u00a0<\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/cordis.europa.eu\/fp7\/ict\/programme\/fet\/flagship\/\" target=\"_blank\">pledge<\/a>\u00a0by the European Commission. If selected, FuturICT Knowledge Accelerator will develop scientific models of global scenarios based on gigantic amounts of data which it plans to gather and analyze. In other words, it will simulate the future based on past and current observations:<\/p>\n<blockquote><p><em>The first aspect of FuturICT is to forge a deep understanding of how our societies work. To do so, FuturICT will set up a global network of hubs or &#8220;sensors&#8221; to gather enormous amounts of data about our social (and physical) world. Data from smart grid power meters, mountaintop weather stations, seafloor sonar beacons, smartphones, online social networks and eventually perhaps from every potential source of data, will be collected and thrown into one system. This system called the Planetary Nervous System will synthesize and analyze all the data collected to develop a high understanding of the intricacies and interconnectedness of our worlds.<\/em><strong><em><\/em><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>What do you think about FuturICT\u2019s goals? Feel free to <a href=\"https:\/\/www.nature.com\/scitable\/blog\/labcoat-life\/futurict_the_tool_which_promises\">join in the conversation.<\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong>Good news, bad news<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/strippedscience\/2012\/03\/28\/good-news-bad-news\">Viktor Po\u00f3r&#8217;s\u00a0<\/a>cartoon this week has been inspired by one of his colleagues currently developing a new protein purification protocol:<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/viktor.png\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter size-full wp-image-2962\" title=\"viktor\" src=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/files\/2012\/03\/viktor.png\" alt=\"\" width=\"250\" height=\"853\" \/><\/a><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>DNA Origami&nbsp; <a href=\"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/2012\/03\/30\/best-of-nature-network-nature-com-blogs-and-scitable-24-%e2%80%93-30-march#wpn-more-2949\" class=\"more-link\"> &hellip; Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":104,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[119,117,118],"class_list":["post-2949","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-weekly-round-up","tag-copper","tag-dna-origami","tag-evolution"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/104"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2949"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2949\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2949"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2949"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.nature.com\/ofschemesandmemes\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2949"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}