Brenner’s kidding
South African biologist Sydney Brenner is a scientific icon of the “Golden Age” of molecular biology. The 2002 Nobel prize laureate was one of the first people to see the Watson-Crick model of the structure of DNA in 1953 (he was working at the nearby Oxford University’s Chemistry Department at that time). In the course […]
Harvard “EXPERTS” blow away 16 billion
Ever toyed with the idea of sending your spoiled offspring to a US-based elite academy, say Harvard University?
Forget it. Harvard, the oldest institution of higher learning in the US (world-renowned for its multi-billion foundation and its 43 Nobel laureates!), is setting its sights lower.
Most laureates are still aboard, but many billions vanished recently. Blown away! […]
Be a record holder (and a Nobel Price winner, too)!
How’s work going? For my share, experiments have been going awry for weeks (and still are) while my demanding lab taskmaster is becoming more and more bad-tempered (and so am I!).
Tons of failed experiments in mind, my research grant running out at lightning-speed and the next sensational blockbuster paper out of reach, I brainstormed about […]
Dachshund, Werewolf, and other crazy genes
Have you ever wondered about the origin of strange and notable gene names, such as hedgehog or swiss cheese? Most of the current genetic nomenclature has meaningful origins, while other genes were named on a mere whim.
Take the above mentioned hedgehog gene discovered in the 1970s by Nobel Prize laureates Edward Lewis, Christiane NĂĽsslein-Volhard and […]
Blue Pill Anniversary
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the event that revolutionized consumer pharmaceuticals. Sadly, we are not referring to the Schweinsohr (Swine’s ear a.k.a. Gomphus clavatus), the 1998 German “Fungus of the Year” winner.
You would be getting fairly close if you’ve guessed the 1998 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine awarded to Ferid Murad, […]
welcome
Dear visitor,
welcome to Mr. Gene’s Blog.
Please fasten the lid of your lab centrifuge and make sure that the tubes are well balanced. Then relax. As an appropriate inauguration of this blog, we should first clarify a very special term.
This term is, ahem, gene (click here to view a cute animated sequence on it).
Ok, well… G-E-N-E […]
