Best of Twitter - Week of January 17, 2022 - (biology supplement)
As I’m getting more and more into thinking about the science of biology and not just about institutions of science, I’m starting to an irregular (for now) bio supplement to best of twitter. See email right after this one. Feel free to ignore it if you are not interested in biology at all, but if you are starting to become interested and want to figure out how to get in, feel free to email me :)
If this supplement becomes regular, I’ll probably split it off into a separate newsletter.
It's officially published in the Journal of Theoretical Biology! An RNA-Based Theory of Natural Universal Computation.
free-access link for next 50 days: authors.elsevier.com/a/1eSX457im8GWD
In it, I raise a theoretical challenge that I believe is overlooked in neuroscience and biology...👇
Everyone loves a genetic association with a large effect size (particularly when it's protective). But it's not easy to find one.
Here I list few studies I read in 2021 that identified large effect rare variant associations leading to beautiful gene discoveries. 🧵
Neurons in the uppermost layers of the cortex are sparsely active, being relatively quiet even during sensory stimuli and behavior. 🤫 A new study in BioRxiv by Rikki Rabinovich shows that *surprising events* are potent drivers of layer 2/3 cortical neurons.
Truly epic whole cell simulation of a ✨living minimal cell✨ by Z. Luthey-Schulten & team (UIUC) with experimental input by Glass & team (JCVI)
👉doi.org/10.1016/j.cell…
🥳new pre-print!🥂
Clonal mosaicism is THE frontier in human genetics. But we know next to nothing about phenotypes of mutated cells in humans. Single-cell multi-omics allowed us to link genotype-phenotype directly in primary human clonal hematopoiesis🎉
biorxiv.org/content/10.110…
This is one finding that I would point to when people ask "what has single cell methodologies discovered this far?". Turns out neural crest cells know how to tune some of the Yamanaka factors to induce pluripotency.
Study led by @AntoineZalc & Rahul Sinha
Made a DNA generator inside of geometry nodes, but it quickly became complicated and I added in histones, with customisable chromatin that you can just 'draw' in the viewport #b3d #geometrynodes
What are some overlooked non-model complex organisms with extraordinary capabilities?
i.e. regeneration, survival in extreme environmental conditions
Thought-provoking critique from @NicholsonHPBio of useful #engineering metaphors (circuitry, machine...) in #SyntheticBiology & elsewhere. Based on huge disparity in size btwn cells & what they are compared to, with very different physical laws at play.
philarchive.org/archive/NICOBT…
Science-adjacent
A quick blog post here about the "talent liquidity paradox." When considering fast grants, I think the labs that are most likely to be able to perform quickly on fast grants may also be the ones that least need the additional funding. Thoughts appreciated.
I'm seeing a trend where PhD applicants want to work on an exceedingly narrow area almost directly in line with their past research exposure. I find this to be sub-optimal, and optimized for the short-term benefit of PIs, not the long-term benefit of science or trainees.
When people said doing a PhD would be difficult I was thinking more along the lines of "challenging math to be learned" rather than "the culture and bureaucracy of academia will demean you and wear you down day after day for 5+ years"
An excellent piece by Derek featuring Arc Institute, @ArcadiaScience, and us -- about the current efforts to reimagine how science is funded and organized.
Derek Thompson @DKThomp
The combination of the difficulty in getting NIH and NSF grants that are shrinking wrt inflation with all this billionaire money tossed around in already-rich areas very much feels like US science is reverting to renaissance patronage and abandoning 20th century democratization
^ thread with comments