Fog so thick I could cut it with a knife

Spring Roses?

A day before Thanksgiving; a rose blooms in the front of my house. Complete with ladder and garden hose.

Late night flight training?

Its 2:30AM, and I can hear the 9th or tenth pass of a helicopter doing what sounds like wide lazy-eights ABOVE MY HOUSE. I can think of no rationale for this other than some sort of training exercise, or maybe a manhunt.

Prolyl Isomerization

Doing a quick Google search did not turn up a good description of prolyl isomerization.

Why was I searching for this?

My research lead me to the modification of Peptidyl-prolyl cis-trans isomerase FKBP1A, which has the activity of prolyl isomerization. Franz X. Schmid's lab at the University of Bayreuth published a paper in 2007 entitled Insertion of a Chaperone Domain Converts FKBP12 into a Powerful Catalyst of Protein Folding in which they describe the insertion of a domain from an E. coli FKBP analog SlyD into human FKBP. This improved its prolyl isomerase activity.

This activity is important because when a protein is folding, it is highly dependent on the orientation between the peptide bonds. For the folding of some proteins, prolyl isomerization is a rate liming factor. A prolyl isomerase can enzymatically assist the switch from a cis- to trans- isomeration of proline residues. This site that most helped me to visualize what cis- and trans- conformations are in terms of peptide bonds, and the structure of cis- and trans-forms of proline bonds was http://www.cryst.bbk.ac.uk/PPS95/course/3_geometry/peptide2.html.

Its all about the alpha carbon.

Happy protein folding!

Directed Evolution of Martian Microbes

At an understated meeting called the "Astrobiology Science Conference" in April 2010, there were a number of talks about growing bacteria in model extraterrestrial environments. Would have been very interesting to see.

Here's a link to the morning session on the 27th, SURVIVAL, GROWTH, AND EVOLUTION OF MICRORGANISMS IN MODEL EXTRATERRESTRIAL ENVIRONMENTS, and one particularly simple and interesting experiment, DIRECTED EVOLUTION OF BACILLUS SUBTILIS TOWARDS HYPOBARIC GROWTH.

In this day and age of genetic engineering, perhaps we can set about terraforming our "dead" neighbor planets into places habitable.

Something ripped the clouds open...

and its breaking through, run!

Even better than the Darwin Fish

Pardon my reflection.

MAW HAUS!

Here you can see the maw house in its native environment. Sighted on the south side of La Jolla Village Drive just before the 805-S on ramp.

Something you don't see every day (here)

Hard to capture rain, but yes, it is falling (lightly), and yes, that is a puddle on the brick walk, glistening with wetness.

The cats I live with

Shima and Shanti. Old buggers.

One hot eppendorf

Check out the size of that melt crater!

Hypothetical Polarization of Society based on Evolutionary Principles

Without going into any debate about the inherent "good" or "bad" of the nature of polarization of human society, it is arguably an inevitable consequence of similar principles that act on speciation in biology. In its roots are the success of individuals.

Observation: Modern medicine allows for people with genetic diseases to survive and propagate.

Postulate 1: Since the advent of modern science and medicine, the rate of propagation of disease-inferring genes has likely increased. This is not due to a biological niche, but instead is economical access to therapeutic resources.

Postulate 2: Humans are becoming genetically "weaker", accumulating physical disadvantages that would have been selected against before the advent of modern science.

Therefore: The increasing and accelerating number of genetic diseases that appear drive the expansion of scientific research to address these biological shortcomings.

A positive feedback loop has been created.

There is not all doom and gloom. We may not become slaves to life-supporting machines.

The demand for more rigorous solutions for to the increasing complexity of accumulating problems drives the selection of brighter minds and stronger collaborative effort to overcome the roadblocks.

However, those that control the new technology easily become part of an elite relative to those who demand the treatment.

Our culture finds yet another way to polarize itself, as the despairity between those who need cures and those who develop them increases.

Who are the predators and who are the prey?

Protect The Unborn Child

City Art

Love it.

Layers

I distinctly recall as a child I had a solid opposition to the idea of wearing multiple layers of clothing. In the chill of Colorado winters, my clothing of choice was no more than a t-shirt and a hefty jacket.

Now that I'm much more self-aware, I have realized how convenient it is to have an extra layer, such as a sweater. It gives finer control over my sensitized, weakening-metabolism body temperature.

Probably started after going skiing many times, appreciating the extra clothing buffer. Perhaps as a kid, I was happy with the polarized hot and cold. Now that I begin to mellow with age, a moderate center is more agreeable.

Getting old, not much time left.

Chihuly Photographer at Salk

We caught the eye of Chihuly's photographer on the last day of his glass exhibit at the Salk 50th anniversary celebration. He snapped some shots of the lab and sent them to us. Priceless.

Yeah I Shop at Ralph's

...but it was only made obvious to me recently the verbage of their name.

He ralphs, she ralphs, we ralph.

Now I can't seem to forget it.