links for 2010-06-28

"The good PhD programs are the ones that let you explore and change your mind and let you work in any lab that will take you. The good labs are the ones that let you explore and define your own path, support you through thick and thin while still allowing you to establish your own scientific independence. The good new fields are the ones that grow from collaborations between people with new ideas and different backgrounds."

"As the first film about synthetic biology, Synbiosafe is a great introduction and hopefully the start to something bigger. Indeed, the filmmakers are now sponsoring a film festival for new films about synthetic biology called Bio:Fiction, with awards for best short fiction, best documentary, and best animation."

One more thing I missed by being too too slow. At least I've gone through this year marking things I need to remember for next year and can (slowly) put into motion.

"It is possible to do everything in washable, reusable glass test tubes with reagents made from scratch, but kits with disposable tubes and pre-mixed chemicals can save hours a day, time that adds up when you're a grad student."

"By defining arbitrary standards early on in our understanding of how these genetic elements work in their rich biological contexts, and early in our ability to engineer novel functions, we lose sight of much of the complexity of biology and get stuck in what could become difficult and useless technological cycles."