Category Archives: cool science

Zelda (the coolest transcription factor ever) is a master regulator of embryonic adolescence

PLoS Genetics just published a paper from my lab describing our analysis of the binding and activity of a remarkable protein, known asĀ Zelda, that appears to be a master regulator of genome activation in the earliest stages of Drosophila development, and thereby plays a major role in shaping the form and function of the mature […]

Also posted in evolution, gene regulation, genetics, My lab, science | Comments closed

Unfortunate lack of links in the NY Times

I get very frustrated every time I see an article about a PLoS article in the popular press that doesn’t include a link to the article. One of our motivations for starting PLoS was to give the public access to the primary research literature, and readers of popular news accounts of one of our articles […]

Also posted in open access, PLoS | Comments closed

Regulatin’ Genes

Via John Tierney, this video about development is awesome:

Also posted in evolution, gene regulation | Comments closed

Was Jesus Haploid or Diploid?

A study published last week in the Journal of Fish Biology confirmed that an earlier report of parthanogenesis in sharks was not a fluke. Chapman DD et al. (2008). Parthenogenesis in a large-bodied requiem shark, the blacktip Carcharhinus limbatus. J. Fish Biol. 73(6):1473-1477. (No link – I only link to open access articles). This is […]

Also posted in genetics | Comments closed

A Nobel for GFP

Congrats to Roger Tsien for winning a share of this year’s Nobel Prize in chemistry. Tsien was honored for unraveling the mechanisms of green fluorescent protein (GFP), and more importantly for developing a dizzying array of GFP variants that work more efficiently and emit different colors of light. It’s particularly exciting to see scientists rewarded […]

Also posted in HHMI | Comments closed