Logo expirement, and news we like

Trans-NIH Grants Issued for Xenopus Genomics.

Frog Facility (near) Wildlife

Fawn!

July 20, 1969

It is common knowledge that frogs paved the way for this. OK, a few chimps too. Apart for the hip hip hooray for the contributions to science frogs have made let's refer to what seems to be a dramatic Op-Ed piece in the New York Times.

Researcher in focus: Dr. Joseph Pomerening

Dr. Joseph Pomerening, cell biologist at Indiana University has been named a 2009 Pew Scholar. Article here. The Indiana University news brief cites Dr. Pomerening's work as focusing on "how specific enzyme systems that control cell growth and division are regulated. Pomerening's research takes advantage of single-cell approaches along with cell sorting and live cell imaging of mammalian cells, as well as biochemical studies using Xenopus laevis egg extracts and embryos. He is specifically investigating the role of cyclin-dependent kinases, proteins that modify other proteins to alter their expression and that allow for dynamic changes that ultimately direct the cell to complete the complex and elegant process of division". Pictured from left to right are members of his lab: Joseph Ipe, Dr. Yan Ma (postdoc), Dr. Joe Pomerening (PI), Xi Yuan, Qing Kang. We thank Dr. Pomerening for the picture and salute him and his great team!

News We Like

An April 2009 Scientific American article dramatizes the new focus on Science education.

Xenopus1 Frog Facility Wildlfe

This is a spring highlight. Sandhill Cranes.

New Xenopusone Lab Shoes?

Get these flippers

Brain imaging

Previous post showed how science made art with Photography. There's also a field called Nuerofinance that explores the rationality of investing decisions.

Anesthetic binding to gramicidin A

P Tang, R G Eckenhoff, and Y Xu in Biophys J. April; 78 (4) 2000 Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care Medicene, Univ. of Pittsburgh, ABSTRACTHigh-resolution (1)H nuclear magnetic resonance and direct photoaffinity labeling as the process. Dr. Eckenhoff's recent work here. Some of the coolest stuff in science! As you judge from the sometimes rambling tone of our humble frog blog, we love where things intersect. Here we have a juncture of art and science. And it is for sure deep science. The whole idea of "putting people to sleep" and how that works, shown in photo of a tadpole.
A Greatest frog on earth™story.

Intermediate pItuitary melanotrope cells

BMC Cell Biology, 2009 The Greatest Frog on Earth™

xenopusone.com

Our new social network program invites all commentary. We love highlighting labs and "people in the know" on our blog. If you follow twitter/xenopus1 will get you publications updates, facility news and more to come.

Twitter, Facebook

On twitter.com/xenopus1, on facebook.com/xenopus1. We look forward to these to bridging our facility with the people and institutions that are our clients.

Xenopus revisted

Kelly Evans' (Xenopus 1 Biochemist) handy guidlines for Xenopus Frog maintenance.

Outside the Tank

When will we become a real frogblog? Meanwhile, this snippet Paul Cohen editorial item in the New York Times may be the definitive counter-balance to our nation's present course:

"Churn is the American way. Companies are born, rise, fall and die. Others come along to replace them. The country’s remarkable capacity for innovation, for reinvention, is tied to its acceptance of failure. Or always has been. Without failure, the culture of risk fades. Without risk, creativity withers. Save the zombies and you sabotage the vital.

If America loses sight of these truths, it will cease to be itself."

Twitter

As one skips over the creek here let's note the Big Rocks and Fast Stream. I'm now taking a midstream pause on a sunny Michigan Day.....

Big Ideas

The topic of the day comes in the afterglow of Obama's first press conference, or speech. Timely enough given his attempt last night to de-mystify some very complex economic concepts. The sense is that we're in some very uncharted territory that many are trying to get their arms around. So here we are with the big ideas post. First one here. Second one here. let's close with a frog pic to keep it real.

Research

This appears to be a game changer. Will the true triumph of Obama be the opening of the American Mind? (Allan Bloom's 1987 book outlines its closing). There was debate years back on Harvard's endowment-at that time 20 billion-and the shear weight of it being able to have great influence for the better. In fact, the discussion was on the moral responsibility Harvard may have in the endowment's final use. Time to connect trends:
Green, do good in the world. Obama's triumph as one of the intellect. Bad karma on going into wall street jobs. This means....
SCIENCE gets the brains and a new moral high ground!

Skin Cancer Drugs

Developmental similarities from a 350 million year old ancestor, the xenopus frog, may lead to new drugs for the effective treatment of skin cancer. Cell movement in frog development is similar to humans. Researchers caution that drug treatments may be ten years away. See article.

Xenopus frogs, tadpoles, tropicalis, albino frog FACILITYBLOG

Welcome. We'll not pretend to be the definitive FROGBLOG, but would like to have a fun forum. I invite all comments-this will keep things interesting. If things get wacky or go off topic, please don't be alarmed. Your faithful editor has been involved, in varied degrees, with xenopus frogs for almost 30 years and witnessed most of "what can happen will happen" highlights of frog husbandry. Quite to the point: My father, Robert D. Weymouth started Xenopus 1 in 1977 or so. So, let the posts begin!