Archive for 23. March 2010

Sulfur Based Microbes on Mars

No mission to Mars has ever found complex carbon-based molecules, from which life as we know it is built. But sulphur is everywhere on Mars - it is more abundant there than on Earth - and it could contain one of the signatures of life. On Earth, the activity of some microbes converts one class of sulphur-containing compounds, the sulphates, into another, the sulphides. The microbes prefer to work with the lighter sulphur-32 isotope, so the sulphides they produce are relatively deficient in the heavier isotope, sulphur-34. Planetary scientists have long wondered whether we could use this pattern to discern signs of life on Mars. Now the prospects for this technique look better than ever.

Brain-Machine Interfaces

Futures in Biotech 49: Dr. Justin Sanchez walks us through the technology of brain machine interfaces.

Focus In Biotech - LowPower BioElectronics Pt 1

Here’s another fantastic FIB program (<-at least it’s not posted on April 1st.. lol).

Speaking with : Rahul Sarpeshkar, Ph.D., associate professor of electrical engineering and computer science at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and author of Ultra Low Power Bioelectronics: Fundamentals, Biomedical Applications, and Bio-inspired Systems

 http://www.cambridge.org/catalogue/catalogue.asp?isbn=9780521857277

I think I’ll have to pick that text up…

This is a two part-series (FIB 52 & FIB 55) you can link through and follow it if you’re interested.

Focus In Biotech - Drew Endy Interview

Just came upon this older webcast interview with Drew Endy of SynBERC on the Focus In Biotech webcasts. Nice series, link up to check out additional audio tracks.

SynBERC’s Keasling highlighted in Scientific America

Scientific America Highlights SynBio in this April 2010 Article, which reviews Keasling’s experiments that use E. Coli to transform biomass into Diesel.

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