I’ve long thought that university administrations had difficulty with the concept of running their “business” efficiently. Now I have proof.
Someone that I know very well (snicker) has had some funding for a few years to develop software infrastructure for next-gen sequencing data. This is important work, since next-gen data poses quite a challenge. The work was done through NC State funds for cancer research.
After spending a lot of time and money building a great team, and getting ...(read more)
How dare you to “speculate” about what your results might mean?
That’s the attitude I’ve received twice now, from two different reviewers, on two different papers.
In the latest case, we did some work related to antibiotic resistance, and we found interesting new pathways activated in one resistant strain.
At the end of the paper, we speculated about what these pathways might be doing. We even came up with a model for it.
We didn’t claim that this was “the correct answer” – ...(read more)
Over at The Scientist, there’s a fruitful discussion about women in science.
I have very mixed feelings about wading into this, because it is fraught with issues.
But I’m not the timid sort, so I’m going to – in order to help you.
I get a bit tired of the rehashing of “its harder for women,” because, frankly, that conversation is not going to help you in your career.
Yes, it is harder for us women in science. My own life experiences have ...(read more)
The headlines are in: “Craig Venter creates synthetic life form” (from the Guardian)
One would look at the comments and think that humans are playing “God”.
Sorry folks, we’re not there yet.
The genome is just a blueprint.
The genome itself isn’t “life”.
If you happen to think that a genome = life, try this experiment (it is simple): extract DNA from a cell, and go put it in a test tube, and see what happens.
Does it create cells that grow?
Nope. It does nothing.
What ...(read more)
OMG, Your Model Is Speculative! How Dare You!?
by morgan · 0 comments in Politics of Science,Social commentary
How dare you to “speculate” about what your results might mean?
That’s the attitude I’ve received twice now, from two different reviewers, on two different papers.
In the latest case, we did some work related to antibiotic resistance, and we found interesting new pathways activated in one resistant strain.
At the end of the paper, we speculated about what these pathways might be doing. We even came up with a model for it.
We didn’t claim that this was “the correct answer” – ...(read more)
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