Wonders of Life-What is life?

I will be the first to admit I was very excited about this new series and I can honestly say that this first episode did not disappoint.  Apart from the fact I got to watch Brian Cox walking around for an hour in very tight t-shirts and playing with orangutangs I felt that it combined the fields of Biology, Chemistry and Physics very well.  I also feel that he posed so very interesting questions, such as, "what makes something alive?"

Of course Cox is not the first physicist to ask these questions, Schrödinger asked the question "What is Life" 60 years ago and produced a series of lectures on the topic which were then published in a book, a book that I have since, fortunately read.

Starting from a definition of energy, my favourite Mancunian then produced enough energy from a proton fuel cell to power a motor. cox also provided me the way to isolate my own DNA using washing up liquid, salt and Vodka

From proton motive forces to thermodynamics to DNA and evolution Cox seems to explain all topics in a coherent, simple and, most of all, interesting way.

Perhaps though I think that the highlight of this episode was the fact that it is Eric Idle performing a rewritten version of The Galaxy Song for the Credits. :)

Since I enjoyed this episode so much I can hardly wait for the next one, and indeed the rest of the series.
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Wonders of Life

Just checked the radio times and there are only 3 DAYS until Brian Cox returns to our screens with his new show "Wonders of Life".  In this series he will combine to of my favourite things: Biology and Brian Cox himself.  As any of my friends could tell you I have been obsessing over this "Rock-star Physicist" for as long as I can remember.  My school yearbook even mentions this obsession.

From genetics to microbiology to ecology he covers it all in this new series.  Hopefully it will contain all the necessary shots of Brian walking and staring into the distance all the while excessively loud music plays.

I can't wait for this new series and, unsurprisingly I shall be reviewing each episode (you lucky people).
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Arabidopsis Experiment (part I)

Heyy, as part of my "Plant and Environment" module I have to perform a series of experiments, the longest and most important (as it is the only one that is graded) being my Arabidopsis experiment.

In short I must grow two sets of Arabidopsis thaliana, one as a control group and the other as the experimental group.  To the latter group I must provide a stress (which I still need to come up with) and see how this stress affects the growth rate of the plants.  Then I must write this up and draw a few graphs. The highlight of this experiment, for me, is the fact that we get to take our Arabidopsis home with us which means I will have some new décor for my otherwise, frankly stark room.

But first a bit of background, what is Arabidopsis and why am I experimenting with it?
Arabidopsis thaliana is a small flowering plant (essentially a cabbage) that has been used for many years as a model organism, that is an organism that is extensively studied to understand biological phenomena. Other examples of these include bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) and the  fruit fly (Drosophila melanogaster).  

The reasons why this plant (and other model organisms) is used are:

Under experimental pressures it behaves in the same way as crop plants whilst having no economic value itself

It produces many seeds and is a small and easy to cultivate plant

It has a small genome and few chromosomes so it is easy to identify any mutations, extensive genetic and physical maps of these genomes are available.

It has a short life cycle from germination to mature seed production and so genetic analysis is easy and there is a small experimental downtime

There are many genomic resources available and many mutant variations are available

My experiment (as well as hopefully giving me a good grade) aims to show how certain chemical compounds and elements affect the growth and general health of the plants.

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Tachinid Fly

Last April (2012), I photographed this metallic-green fly basking in the sun on the West Pennine Moors.  I first thought that this was a green bottle, but I later learned that it was a Tachinid fly (Gymnocheta viridis), a true fly belonging to the family Thachinidae. 

Tachinids are parasitoids, their larvae feeding on the immature or adult stages of invertebrates such as butterflies, moths or beetles.

"Lost in translation"

I read the other day a story in The Independent newspaper about the eminent geneticist, Prof. George Church, who was going to use a  modern human surrogate to bring a Neanderthal  back to life.  I read today that this was entirely untrue and apparently the confusion arose when the interview was translated (or mistranslated) from a German magazine.  It is hard to believe that a scientific interview could have been misinterpreted  so wrongly.

Does anyone know of any more interviews, scientific or otherwise that have been misinterpreted during their translation from a foreign language?
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In Print

As a university student I am required to write essays.  One such essay, my 1st essay of the 1st semester was on a topic that I find very interesting, Human Evolution.  After writing my essay about how mitochondria can help us to understand our ancestry, I dutifully sent it to a friend at Durham University who was studying Archaeology  and was writing an essay on a similar topic.

A few days later and she sent me a copy of her essay and highlighted one particular line of her bibliography, in it she had referenced my essay, my first ever citation, exciting times.

Hopefully this will be the first in a long line of bibliography references, we shall see.
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Careers Talk

Today, I was fortunate enough to be able to attend a life sciences careers talk by the Society of Biology (www.societyofbiology.org)  This, apart from making me miss lunch, allowed me to learn about loads of different careers that a graduate biologist (which I hope to become one day) can do.

Before this I did not realise the sheer breadth of jobs that were available to a science graduate, biological or otherwise.  As well as the obvious (academia, teaching and research) there is also : Consultancy, Communication, Patent Law and Policy and Legislation.  

This talk also gave me advice on what experience to do and I managed to sign up to become an affiliate member of the society.  As well as the obvious benefits (being able to claim that I'm a member of a science society) I am also able to receive a bi-monthly magazine "The Biologist", 20% life Science publications, free careers conferences, and access to research and travel grants, quite handy since I think this is what I want to do when I do eventually graduate.   All of this for only £15 a year, sounds like a bargain to me.

After the talk I was able to have a chat to the speaker where she gave me a handy leaflet with more info about bioscience jobs. Pictures to follow shortly

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Nina

Now, my first real post.  A friend of mine at uni recently told me of a project undertaken by the Jane Goodall  Institute in South Africa.  In a collaboration with Wild Earth they have set up a live stream  showing the progression of one of their Chimps, Nina, as she goes through pregnancy.  I was told that she gave birth to a healthy son in the early hours of this morning.  This is apparently the first chimp ever to be filmed giving birth from beginning to end.

More info can be found here:
http://www.chimpeden.com/

Hello there...

I'm Eleanor, a first year biologist at the University of Birmingham, and after reading through science blogs I have decided that I want one of my own.

I am here to ramble about all things science and technology, mainly so I can stop obsessing and annoying my friends.

Hopefully you will enjoy this and follow and comment and I assure you that my next posts will be more interesting :)
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