Molecularist

"Growing meat without the animal sounds like a simple idea. Certainly much simpler than manipulating the genetic code. In reality there are hidden practicalities which only become apparent when you deal with the real materials and processes of biotechnology, or at least work closely with people that do. The experience of working in the lab was inspiring, but it also made me reassess the way I should work as a designer engaging with biotechnology. I realised that I couldn't keep the science at arm's length but should instead take every opportunity to get into the lab and, as Oron Catts likes to say, get my hands wet."

Great review article on synthetic meat from a guy who has his a sharp eye and creative imagination on the implications of synthetic biology.

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"“Eliminating plastic is one of the greenest actions you can do to lower your eco-footprint,” one noted while participating in a recent online challenge to be plastic-free. Is this true? Shunning plastic may seem key to the ethic of living lightly, but the environmental reality is more complex."

Really clever article questioning anti-plastic trends. The main point is not that plastic is bad but that the most harming uses of plastic have to do with behavior not the plastic (such as single use bags).

This is a good read.

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This review brings together the research that counters the fallacy that proteins need to have a defined structure (as seen in crystal structures) to have a function. There has been a range of interesting findings regarding the requirement of disorder in protein structures. And folks are starting to tease out where and how disorder is useful.

To me, I see proteins as jiggly string with a propensity to have a certain shape. If there's a part that hangs out there, it's not necessarily totally disordered – the stretch has a conformation space it prefers, even if that space is large. And in that sampling of conformational space, that "disordered" stretch is honing in on its function.

So, no, I'm not surprised or worried bout the disorder and this paper does a great job in giving disorder its due.

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