Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “DNA”
The whole reason I got into software development was to improve the way in which biology is researched, understood and presented. I have always wanted better ways to explore the subject and understand how the whole complicated system works. This article is an attempt to plan, develop and deliver on that vision. It is not a complete or organised article …
Oh my am I loving this lecture from the royal institute and Daniel Dennett. It is bringing to life so many of the thoughts and ideas I have had over the years of learning how humans work. How the brain works is just such a fascinating topic and Daniel has taken a unique and engaging approach to presenting his ideas. …
I’ve always wanted to understand how the body works. The more I understand my body the easier my life gets. That’s what I’ve found. I’ve always wanted to share this knowledge but I’ve found it really difficult because the tools to do so just aren’t there. For example I always like to show how a little activity each day helps …
TWIV is short for This week in Virology and is a podcast I have been listening to for years. Hosted by Vincent Racaniello it covers any thing related to viruses and this episode with Cedric Feschotte specifically explore the latest research on horizontal gene transfer which Cedric is calling mobile DNA. Horizontal gene transfer is now considered a key part …
Here is another approach to exploring horizontal gene transfer If you have created some simple bacteria in a virtual world like Unity3d. They don’t have to be complex, just cells or even just spheres. Get them to move around a petri dish. They could have a nucleus and inside that they have genes as scripts. Each script has an effect like: glow in …
How do you express the concept of Horizontal Gene Transfer in a way most people could understand and also see where it could be useful? In fact I have several related concepts and questions I think I can express in one idea: Is horizontal gene transfer natures software update? Can viruses can do good? Can programming teach you about biology? Is biology …
This article Communication between bacteria and their hosts is the kind of thing I look for to support my dream of a virtual body. It builds on the finding that Bacteria communicate with each other. My interpretation is essentially simple. I consider bacteria and viruses to be to the human body like plugins are to software. The body is an entire organism but …
My idea in a paragraph I want a virtual body to facilitate research, teaching and general understanding of how we all work. The more we understand how we work the better prepared we are to maintain our bodies given the daily challenges we all face. I want to see a human body exercising, zoom in to see the heart pumping, …
My interest in biology runs so deep I enjoy coming up with my own theories. If you’ve read my blog you’ll find many. Of course what is most exciting is when I find that a theory I have developed from my own experience and logic turns out to be real. The process of horizontal gene transfer is just that and is becoming more …
Just had to log this nugget. Exercise actually produces immediate changes to DNA. The amount of detail in this article is fascinating. Recording the epigenetic changes to muscle after exercise. Learn more about the effect of physical inactivity on disease worldwide References
Just logging a fascinating new insight from the Royal Society that Bacteria ‘hijack’ the human immune system. It’s no real surprise to me. I’ve talked about how we are made from bacteria and this can both benefit and harm us The lesson from this article is that bacteria are continually evolving. Most live within us and help us. But we are …
The evolution of learning is a fascinating topic. Learning is my strength because I was brought up to think that learning is innate and every challenge is surmountable. In fact learning is never really changing, only the tools and processes we use to learn will change. The education industry has been struggling to figure out how these new tools can …
A dream of mine is to create a game or piece of software incorporating evolution and cellular development. So I was very excited to read Spore: My view of the Elephant written by someone who actually worked on the game Spore. It is a highly worthwhile read. Capturing both the complexity of the task and also the lessons learned that doomed …
I have always loved simulations for their ability to put concepts into the context that makes most sense. I am developing such respect for David Attenborough as I see his ability to take this relatively niche medium and bring it to the mainstream. Using it with his usual attention to detail. The show fascinates me because it shows the progress …
Following on from a previous article on 21st century learning I feel we’re moving to an area where learning on demand will be as normal as Video on demand (VOD). I see the emergence of 24-7 tutorials and motuto as early attempts at this. I can’t vouch for the quality and economic viability yet but I do see that the learning market is biased towards young …
Building on a blog post ive written discussing the notion that flow of resources is key to life. A colleague helped me understand how the same can be said for business models and can explain how to make money in this new connected age. How services like google docs could make good money and education could scale itself. In this …
I’ve had this idea floating in my head for weeks now. So I’m finally getting round to putting down into words. I’m excited to finally express it but I hope I do it justice. Here goes. We’re all aware of the theory of evolution. It makes perfect sense to me how pressure for resources has lead to so much diversity in …
Nice to see IBM is pushing out new data analysis tools for tennis. They’re debuting the pointstream service at the US Open 2010. I played with it a little. Boy does it have a lot of data. From a momentum meter to a representation of every single point in the match. You can easily see serves, rallies, break points, double …
It’s fascinating to visualise just what we’re actually made of. Below is a pie chart showing the percentage of total body mass for each element. Seeing this, for me, puts into perspective what we eat and drink. It makes me realise just how much I should drink compared to what I should eat. Just an excuse to try the graphing …
Just came across this excellent post by Chris Anderson of long tail fame. I particularly like the references to nature and evolution. I can’t help but see that us humans are playing out evolution through what we produce. Scarcity leading to abundance seems a part of that.http://www.wired.com/techbiz/it/magazine/17-07/mf_freer?currentPage=1