Hola summer-lovers. This week as the sun shines down graciously on Queensland, very many scientific discoveries and traditional approaches faced the heat of scrutiny and re-investigation at various levels.
The therapeutic tug-of-war gets CrispR
CrispR companies respond and raise concerns over flaws in the data in a recent publication over the pitfalls of this popular genome-editing technique. Bench scientists might consider weighing the pros and cons of this technique as Nature discusses these concerns with the authors.
The HIV detection assay ‘Quantitative viral outgrowth assay’ is outcompeted by a gene-expression based novel HIV test –‘TZA’ that enables early detection of the dormant virus. The test is quicker than the traditional assay and might potentially be a step in the right direction for HIV diagnosis shows studies at Pitt Public Health’s Department of Infectious Diseases and Microbiology. On the other hand, the failure of anti-estrogen therapies in endometriosis is attributed to estrogen not being the causative hormone for the condition in the first place!! Scientists at National Institute of Research in Reproductive Health, Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) showed that presence of estrogen does not promote the growth of these tissues outside the uterus.
Mitochondria, also know as the powerhouse of a cell has always been known as the energy (ATP) production house. However, recent studies show that this organelle might be doing much more than that, as it produces metabolites and control hematopoietic stem cell fate. Now that’s what we call multi-tasking.
Tinder for science 😉
Yes that’s right! We now have a tinder-look-a-like app called Papr for the scientific community to show appreciation towards our fellow researchers’ work. It allows life scientists to rate fellow researchers work by swiping right on pre-prints as also make connection via twitter account that could be linked to the app. So people get ‘swiping right for science’.
Recently initiative by he NIH called the Grant Support Index (GSI) was a promising venture to cap funding at the top level and facilitate funding for new labs. However, this initiative has now been withdrawn. If you wish to support and wish to implement it for betterment of future scientist please sign the petition here.
Story of the week: Parenthood special
As we celebrate Father’s day this week, a new father talks about the challenges of balancing work and parenthood for working dads.
The science heroes for this week are also parents Sharon Terry and her husband Pat who turned citizen scientist to study a rare genetic condition PXE their children faced. In this TED talk, Sharon narrated the story of their journey of becoming a bench-scientists and making considerable contribution to understanding the condition. She urges the scientific community to focus coming together to make a difference than being a part of the rat race.
Also, read here various contributions of cancer cells from Henrietta Lacks to various key scientific breakthroughs from eradicating polio to mapping the human genome. The controversial HeLa cells have now made it to the silver screen- The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks in addition to being a household name among life-scientists.
BioSpace invite female life-scientists to share their unique experience in science while CSGian Viswa Nadham urges fellow CSGians to share your thoughts and experiences about biotech dreams and how the education system and opportunities a can be improved. Follow and contribute to the discussion here. Share your stories to inspire and educate the future researchers.
Immigration info-desk
For US post-docs, Kasthuri Kannan advises on green card policies in a CSG post in addition to the brief summary of the Immigration Info session held at Columbia University Postdoctoral Society.
CSG: the new Hogwarts
SciWri invites new interns to contribute to translating the statistical article to biologist-lingo while the current writers can improve their blogs using these tips and tools. Follow the discussion here. As the second round of applications open for the CSG Consulting Club, here are few tips for a strategic approach to solving case studies.
For the data science enthusiasts, CSG Data Science club hosts its first in-person classes by Kasthuri Kannan on July 22nd, from 2pm to 3.30pm at the Translational Research Building of NYU. The classes will be accessible on FB live as well. Also, for the self-learners heres an interactive tool to learn coding for free!!
A MSL discussion will be hosted by CSG for PhDs aspiring to follow this career path. Please join the discussion by signing up here while future policy makers can gather a few tips from Debra Cooper from the California State Senate Office of Research as she narrates her story of transition to Science policy while enlisting the various roles in that area.
For all the creative thinkers out there, CSG is looking for a ‘name’ for the first ever Asian-scientists networking event hosted by CSG: The Annual meet-up. So let your ideas flow in!!
CSGians in NJ area are invited to signup for a CSG-Meet up on June 24th 2017. And finally here’s some advice for our mentors at CSG as they gear up for the June-Dec 2017 cycle of the Mentor-Mentee program. Good luck and kudos to your effort!
Resume roadmap
This week in this section Ananda explains the importance of planning an effective post-doc application and how CSG can help you get your dream job.
A successful CSGian Richa Jaiswal writes about her transition as a Senior Scientist in the Protein Sciences division of a CR). Smita Salian Mehta points out a few differences in academia and industry while sharing a list of world’s most reputable pharma companies in 2017. If you are prepping to make the move, read how to gracefully walk out of your current position, but remember to plan your transition in advance and seek advise from our experienced fellow CSGians.
For those happily settled in your new job , do consider Individual Development Plans(IDPs) exercise with you PI or boss to identify career objectives and achieve professional development.
Funding calls
For data science fanatics, apply for the INSIGHT FELLOWS PROGRAM
We have some new funding opportunities for European scientists and Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology (LSP) Fellowship in Scientific Project Management at Harvard to learn project management while supporting a federal grant. Those with the entrepreneurial ambitions here’s an opportunity for ‘technopreunership’ from USA and India.
Opportunities from our Pandora box
Some of the opportunities featured this week were:
Jobs at Biogen
Proposal Development Manager New York
Scientist Biochemical Assay & Screening at Stratacuity, Houston
Leader of Biologics at Stratacuity, Boston
Sr. Scientist in Antibody research at Stratacuity, Boston
Director, New Products at Intellia Therapeutics
Project manager at Northern Biologics ,Canada
Technology Lead in US (Boston area) and Germany (Frankfurt) at Sanofi Biologics Research
Postdoctoral fellow at University of Cambridge
And signing off with a tickle to your funny bone with a song, Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), sang to graduating SMU students during his Commencement address at a graduating ceremony.
Have a productive week!!
About the cover image
This week’s cover image titled ‘CrispR : Good or Bad ’ is an illustration by Vinita Bharat at Fuzzy Synapse.
About the author
Nisha Peter is a Post-doctoral fellow at Sussex Drug Discovery Centre,UK and has done her PhD from Genome Damage and Stability Centre,UK . Her research interest involves cell biology (I’ve spend a lifetime admiring mitotic cells during my PhD!!) and oncology. She works for Club SciWri as a freelance writer to pursue her love for “words”. Apart from being bench scientist she actively participates in science communication events, enjoys teaching, globetrotting and experimenting with music.
