Synthetic Biology - Jameson Dungan
Ignite Hampton Roads talk by Jameson Dungan on Synthetic Biology. October 19th, 2012. Synthetic biology is a new area of biological research and technology that combines science and engineering. It encompasses a variety of different approaches, methodologies, and disciplines with a variety of definitions. The common goal is the design and construction of new biological functions and systems not found in nature. Biology is Technology. Synthetic Biology includes the broad redefinition and expansion of biotechnology, with the ultimate goals of being able to design and build engineered biological systems that process information, manipulate chemicals, fabricate materials and structures, produce energy, provide food, and maintain and enhance human health and our environment. Join me on this epic adventure and quest into the world of gene splicing, biohacking, and a DIY approach to starting a wet lab where we can tweak the source code of life and turn microbes into hackteria. If you thought The Home Brew Computer Club of electronic tinkerers gave rise to big things (Apple and the personal computer revolution.) then come be a part of the future that will bring about the second industrial revolution. http://www.terasemjournals.com

By: Decomas

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Synthetic Biology - Jameson Dungan - Video

NASA Request for Information (RFI) on Development of Strategies for the Collection, Management, and Distribution, or access to, "Omics-type" Data Collected in the Course of Space Biology Research

RFI Number: NNH12ZTT001L Response Date: February 11, 2013

This is a Request for Information (RFI) only and does not constitute a commitment, implied or otherwise, that the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will take procurement action in this matter. The information gathered will be used by NASA to make decisions regarding the development of strategies and programs for the collection, management, and distribution, or access to, Omics-type data collected in the course of space biology research. The full RFI and submission instructions can be found at http://tinyurl.com/genelabrfi.

To respond to this RFI, a series of specific questions must be submitted electronically using the NASA NSPIRES web site by opening the NASA Research Opportunities homepage at http://nspires.nasaprs.com then clicking the link through the menu listings "Solicitations" to "Open Solicitations" and selection this RFI.

Background

Over the last 10-15 years the development of advanced throughput molecular and biochemical analysis technologies has revolutionized biology, medicine, agriculture, drug discovery, and environmental research. The human genome project was advanced based on the emergence and development of some of these new biotechnology approaches that now include high speed gene sequencing, DNA biochips, and the use of mass spectrometry for protein detection. Together these technologies have enabled the advancement of new subfields collectively referred to as "Omics" approaches. These include genomics, expressomics, (transcriptomics, epigenomics, and proteomics) and metabolomics. The massive amount of information spurred by these fields has also driven the merging of information science and computer engineering with biology and has spun off the field of bioinformatics. Until now NASA has not engaged these approaches at a programmatic platform level.

The recent Decadal Survey Report, "Recapturing a Future for Space Exploration: Life and Physical Sciences Research for a New Era," by the National Research Council

(http://www.nap.edu/catalog.php?record_id=13048), specifically mentions the need for NASA to utilize new Omics research technologies, and to promote multi-investigator research approaches. Most universities now own and operate central research facilities based on the latest available Omics technologies that are outside of the scope of operation for single Principal Investigator (PI) labs. NASA may benefit from a similar approach, developing an organized multi-investigator approach for omics research. This multi-investigator approach has worked for NASA in other arenas. For example, the astrophysics community has proven that large science initiatives, like Hubble Space Telescope, based on massive programmatic investments are successful in advancing the missions of the agency. Now NASA maintains centralized computational and research capabilities in the life sciences that may be applied to create a multi-user Omics research capability to support NASA-funded investigations in areas of space life sciences.

Information Sought

NASA is seeking information from all interested parties in two areas through a series of questions by accessing the NSPIRES web site listed above. First, NASA is requesting information from the space life sciences research community regarding the collection, management and distribution or access to, Omics type data collected in the course of space biology research. Second, NASA is requesting capability information from potential interested parties to develop a space life sciences Omics database.

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NASA Request for Information on Omics-type Data Collected in the Course of Space Biology Research

As a great relief to thousands of students from the science stream, the Maharashtra State Board of Secondary and Higher Secondary Examination (MSBSHSE) has postponed the Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) papers of chemistry and biology by nearly a month.

This has been done so students and teachers get sufficient time for revision under the new revised syllabus.

The chemistry paper has been rescheduled to March 26 from February 27 and the Biology paper to March 17 from March 4. All other papers will be held as per schedule.

The first batch of students to be appearing for their class XII exams under the revised syllabus from February 21 onwards had complained to the board that they were struggling to cope with the new syllabus for these subjects.

Also, the Maharashtra Federation of Junior College Teachers had threatened to boycott the HSC exams claiming that the upgraded syllabi for biology and chemistry, which are on par with the CBSE counterparts was too heavy and students did not have ample time to complete them. Despite the state having announced the timetables for both the class X and XII board exams well before July in 2012 itself, school education minister Rajendra Darda said the changes were made on humanitarian grounds.

I received a lot of SMSs and other messages from students across the state that they felt they would not have enough time to revise between the two papers. We are taking them into consideration as this is the first time the class XII students and teachers had to study the upgraded syllabus. Such changes will not be made every year, Darda said.

Darda and the state board chairperson Sarjerao Jadhav had met on Thursday to discuss and decide on this issue.

The timetable has been up on the boards website for a year now. The teachers should have come forth with this complaint earlier, Jadhav said.

Although some students are happy with the change, some are not.

The students are worried that postponing the chemistry paper to March 26 will not give them enough time to prepare for the MHT-CET 2013, to be held in second week of May.

Link:
Biology, chemistry exams put off

Applications are being accepted for a working group called the Evolutionary Biology of the Built Environment, according to Your Wild Life, an ecological website hosted by North Carolina State University.

The project leaders say they will select about 30 scholars from the applicant pool to meet in Durham, North Carolina this year from June 10th through the 14th, and develop a series of general audience and peer-reviewed publications about the evolutionary biology of the built environment, which includes houses, backyards, and cities.

Specifically, they'll work on developing a "framework for a comprehensive understanding of the evolution of the species we most intimately interact with, particularly in the context of considering how to build and design our environments so as to favor beneficial (rather than dangerous) evolutionary trajectories."

They'll also try to understand "how to prevent the extinction of beneficial species and to favor the evolution of lineages and species with beneficial attributes, whether those be ecological functions, health benefits or simply aesthetic value," the website says.

Applications are welcome from folks representing an array of disciplines including the 'organismal-ologies', engineering, architecture, anthropology, evolution, genetics, bioinformatics, art, and design.

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Buildings Have Biology Too