Bio-Based Ideas

Example of how ciliates look (Source: http://www.woodrow.org) This week, DW Radio covered an interesting topic in their science news radio show. In light of the recent EHEC outbreak in Germany, experts have been trying to trace the source of this deadly outbreak. For those who do not know what EHEC is, it stands for Enterohaemorrhagic Escherichia coli. In other words, these special strains of E. coli are very tough bugs that can cause intestinal bleeding - obviously not desirable and potentially dangerous. The search for possible sources has lead back to water treatment plants because the majority of water treatment plants treat water according to ecological aspects only, that is to say, they ensure that nutrients and waste in the water do not exceed certain levels. Many German water-treatment plants do not specifically try to reduce the number of bacteria in the water. That part is left to water companies that produce drinking water. The result is that high concentrations of...

With my thesis defense coming up this Monday, I really did not have as much time to share all the interesting things I came across lately. But I did not want to miss the chance to make a quick note to myself and the readers of this site of an interesting paper, titled "DNA-based programming of quantum dot valency, self-assembly and luminescence" just published in Nature Nanotechnology . Grigory Tikhomirov et al. report "the self-assembly of quantum dot complexes using cadmium telluride nanocrystals capped with specific sequences of DNA. Quantum dots with between one and five DNA-based binding sites are synthesized and then used as building blocks to create a variety of rationally designed assemblies, including cross-shaped complexes containing three different types of dots...Through changes in pH, the conformation of the complexes can also be reversibly switched, turning on and off the transfer of energy between the constituent quantum dots." In other w...

This is just a quick note on what's caught my eye in the last day or so: Two researchers from Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston successfully created what they call a "living laser". How did they use a living cell as a laser? I realized that I didn't exactly how a laser worked so I looked it up on Wiki. According to Wikipedia , "Laser" stands for " L ight A mplification by S timulated E mission or R adiation". To build a laser, you basically need a light source, some device that absorbs the original light source and then emits an amplified signal also called "gain medium". The key to lasers is that the light is uniform and does not scatter all over the place - it's one bundle of light. This is performed be some complicated sets of optical mirrors. Normally, crystals (like ruby) are used for the gain medium, but in this case, a kidney cell expressing GFP was used. So technically, a cell does n...

This is a brief post while I am still mostly writing my thesis. I found another TED video with an interesting way to combine fashion with bio-based products - very interesting indeed.

It's been a while again since I last posted here. Writing my thesis and preparing for the actual defense in July are taking most of my time. However, I wanted to at least share an interesting idea I came across in the last couple of months before this month is over. And so today, I'll write about the artificial leaf which Professor Nocera at MIT was researching. It's been all over the science news: an alloy made of nickel and cobalt acts as a catalyst to split water into hydrogen and oxygen similar to what plant leafs do when they perform photosynthesis. After the coolness of the words "artificial leafs" wore off, I started to wonder what is so special about an artificial leaf. After all, doesn't an artificial leaf just do electrolysis ? Couldn't I just achieve the same by connecting solar panels to a container with water and two electrodes? Apparently, the answer is yes and no. By applying a current to water, electrolysis could indeed be performed p...

I recently watched another great NOVA episode on "How to make things cleaner". This is a great episode containing many ideas that could fall into one of our often discussed "bio-based" ideas. It's a bit long, but totally worth it, so bring some time! Watch the full episode . See more NOVA.

I recently attended a panel discussion on career opportunities in the Biofuels business sponsored by the Los Angeles Chapter of AWIS. There were 2 representatives from Ceres, and 2 representatives from Sapphire Energy. The following are general meeting notes I took of that panel discussion. First Richard Hamilton, President of CEO of Ceres, spoke. He started by outlining the challenges of the current fossil fuels. Oil prices are increasing because of increased demand from emerging countries (including India and China), reduced supply as an increasing number of known oil reserves have peaked in their oil production and not enough new sources start production. Furthermore, increased regulation due to environmental concerns and decreased political stability in key oil producing regions all contribute to the increasing oil price. Lastly, Dr. Hamilton pointed out that oil prices are also increasing as the dollar becomes more and more devalued. When we consider that oil is also one of the ...