What are my research interests???
Sometimes as a scientist you’re asked to state your research interests. So, what are mine? I have no idea.
I think I just like too many things. That’s kinda why when applying to college, I chose computer science as a major… you can use computer science to study pretty much anything.
I’m going to start making lists of “stuff I think is cool” and analyze the resulting data. So here are a bunch of articles from ScienceDaily (no paywall!) that sound cool to me. (Non-exhaustive.)
The scary, yet promising world of phages, the pathogen’s pathogen
“‘The bacteria had taken a phage and repurposed it for warfare with other bacteria, now using it to kill competing bacteria.’”
“Tailocins on the other hand, have greater specificity than most modern antibiotics, killing only a select few strains of bacteria, suggesting they could be deployed without laying waste to entire biological communities.”
Algae offer real potential as a renewable electricity source
“‘Photosynthesis produces oxygen and electrons. Our model traps the electrons, which allows us to generate electricity. So more than being a zero-emission technology, it’s a negative carbon emission technology: it absorbs carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and gives you a current. Its only byproduct is water.’”
New technique reveals how gene transcription is coordinated in cells
“MIT researchers have invented a new technique that allows them to observe the timing of gene and enhancer activation in a cell. When a gene is turned on around the same time as a particular enhancer, it strongly suggests the enhancer is controlling that gene.”
eRNA (enhancer RNA) has no poly-A tail and exists at low concentrations in the cell. The researchers used “click chemistry” to capture eRNA, designing nucleotides tagged with click handles.
They hope this approach may reveal the function of some non-protein-coding regions associated with disease.
As an aside, biomolecular condensates (a hot topic right now in the cell bio world) composed of enzymes and RNA may play a role in regulating transcription.
Giant viruses found on Greenland ice sheet
I previously wrote about giant viruses here, which I learned about from a Kurzgesagt video.
In the Arctic spring, “Algae lying dormant on the ice starts blooming in spring blackening large areas of the ice.” The consequence is that the ice absorbs more heat and melts faster.
“She suspects that the viruses feed on the snow algae and could work as a natural control mechanism on the algae blooms.”