星期六, 03月 29th, 2008
Positon 1:
The new DOE Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center (GLBRC) has
three
openings for postdoctoral research on the identification
and
characterization of Arabidopsis genes and proteins involved
in
secondary cell wall biosynthesis and deposition. The positions
begin
as soon as April 2008 and are located at the University of
Wisconsin-
Madison.
Candidates should have a Ph.D. and a strong record of publication
in
peer-reviewed journals. Position 1 will be located in the
Department
of Biochemistry. Candidates for this position should have
experience
with plant tissue culture manipulation, subcellular
fractionation,
protein analysis and mass spectroscopy. Positions 2 and 3 will
be
located in the Departments of Botany and Genetics. Candidates
for
these two positions should have experience with
bioinformatics,
molecular genetics, and plant cell imaging (microscopy).
Applications should be submitted as single pdf files
to
humanresources@greatlakesbioenergy.org.
They should specify the
position that they seek, and include a statement of interest,
vitae,
names and contact information for 3 professional references.
For
further information, please contact Drs. Sebastian Bednarek,
Marisa
Otegui, Patrick H. Masson or John Sedbrook. Application review
will
begin by March 28, 2008. The University of Wisconsin-Madison is
an
Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer.
Position 2
We will have a post doc position opening up next month on a
BMGF
funded project that involves mapping and pyramiding stem rust
resistance genes for the new Ug99 stem rust threat to global
food
security.
http://www.globalrust.org/
The position has considerable flexibility and will involve
collaboration with UC Davis and the Univ of Minn.
If you or anyone else you know is interested, please have
them
contact me for details.
Best regards
Mark
–
*******************************************
Mark E. Sorrells, Professor of Plant Breeding
Chair, Department of Plant Breeding & Genetics
240 Emerson Hall, Cornell, Ithaca, NY 14853-1902
607-255-2180
(PB&G)
607 255-1665 (Lab)
607-255-8092
(Fieldhouse)
607-342-5015 (cell)
607-255-6683
(fax)
e-mail: mes12@cornell.edu
Web sites: http://smallgrains.cit.cornell.edu/
http://plbrgen.cals.cornell.edu/people/profiles/sorrellsmark.cfm
The Cornell Small Grains Breeding & Genetics
Program
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星期五, 03月 28th, 2008
CNN也无耻到这个程度,算见识了.
世界上没有一个真正独立和公正的媒体,CNN一样用有色的眼光看中国.这次他没有获准去XZ采访,让他每天只能用老图片来报道每天都要抱的新闻,也算一招.
裁减图片的伎俩和”华南虎”照片有什么差别?
问：我是德新社记者，现在我们只能从一些“流亡藏人”那里获取有关信息，我们也不想这么做，但因为我们没法从中国有关部门获得更多的信息，我们也希望向当地政府核实有关信息以进行客观报道，但这很难。
答：我们打个比方，如果有一个人他饿了，没有钱去买吃的，他就能去偷，去抢，去抢银行吗？这是一种强盗的逻辑。
秦刚的这个回答有力量
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星期五, 03月 28th, 2008
PollyMatzinger，从会问问题的女招待到世界闻名的科学家
mdoctor
第一次听说Polly的故事，是在研一时免疫学的课堂上。何维老师在讲授
“危险模式”理论时，特意卖了个官子：“大家知道提出这个理论的是谁吗？在
国际免疫学界可是一位传奇人物啊！”
Polly是一位极具个人魅力的女人。每次学术会议，只要有她的演讲，会场
总是爆满。而且，她曾经为Playboy工作过。当年她做学生时曾向JEM（国际权威
的免疫学杂志）投稿，只署了自己的名字。编辑认为这篇论文只有一个作者并不
可靠，怎么也得把老板的名字也属上吧！文章修回后，增加了一个作者。不久，
论文发表了。后来，Polly的一位同学，也是JEM主编的女儿拿着这篇论文，去找
她老爸说：“您知道Polly后边的那个名字是谁吗？”主编说：“不是她老板
吗？”女儿哈哈大笑：“那是Polly养的小狗（一只阿富汗猎犬）的名字！”此
后，Polly被禁止作为主要作者在JEM上发表文章，直到那位编辑去世。
那篇发表在JEM上的论文：Polly Matzinger and Galadriel
Mirkwood.
(1978). In a fully H-2 incompatible chimera, T cells of donor
origin
can respond to minor histocompatibility antigens in association
with
either donor or host H-2 type. Journal of Experimental Medicine,
148,
84-92.
就是这么一位传奇的女科学家，在1994年时提出了“危险模式”理论，引发
了免疫学界一场新的“革命”，堪称近10来免疫学最重要的理论突破。随着网络
的不断发展，能从网上搜集到的有关Polly的资料也越来越多。
Polly的经历非常特殊，在成为一名科学家之前，做过各种各样的工作，包
括爵士乐手、实验室技术员、训狗员以及Playboy俱乐部的“兔女郎”（Playboy
bunny）等。在她看来，“兔女郎”是一项“伟大的”工作（a great
job）。而
在Playboy俱乐部的网站中，Polly也被列入著名的前兔女郎名录：
http://mysite.wanadoo-members.co.uk/explayboybunnie...
Dr. Polly Matzinger - world renowned immunologist.
Denver Playboy Club, 1969
不过，Polly的这些工作都干不了多久，她很快就会感到乏味。1972年她来
到加州Davis做酒吧服务生，同时也使自己有些时间来阅读、写作和从事动物工
作。
一天，Davis加州大学的两位教授来到这个酒吧。和往常一样，他们喝着啤
酒，讨论着动物拟态的问题。Polly问：“为什么没有动物模仿过臭鼬呢？”
Robert Swampy
Schwab教授，也是野生动植物、鱼类、菌类学系主任，竟然被问
得哑口无言。Schwab教授断言，这个“会问问题的女招待”应该成为一个科学家。
于是，他花了9个月的时间，到酒吧给Polly送去各种科学著作，使她相信科学是
永不令人厌倦的工作。1974年，Polly回到了学校，这年她已经27岁。2年后，
Polly获得了迟来学士学位。1979年，获得博士学位，终于开始了她永不觉得厌
倦的科学研究工作。她说，她终生感激那个（引导她走上科学道路的）人（I
owe that man my life）。
Polly目前在NIH（国立卫生研究院）的NIAID（国家过敏和传染病研究所）
领导着细胞和分子免疫学实验室的T细胞耐受和记忆研究部门。Polly给自己的实
验室取了一个奇怪的名字：“幽灵（GHOST）”。
http://www3.niaid.nih.gov/labs/aboutlabs/lcmi/tCell...
ion/matzinger.htm
作为一名国际知名的科学家，Polly的文章并不算多，迄今为止在PubMed上
只能检索到不足70篇，但大部分发表在Nature系列（23篇）、Science（4篇）、
JEM（10篇）、Annu
Rev（1篇）等顶级学术杂志上。Polly的研究性论文不多，
而大都是综述、评论、讨论，这也是理论免疫学家的一个特点。
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/entrez/query.fcgi?cmd=s...
m=(matzinger%20p[auth])
Polly的传奇经历，给我们太多的启示和思考。我们可以赞扬Schwab教授的
伯乐识马，也可以感叹Polly的的特立独行，还可以赞扬那个自由、平等、开放
的学术风气。如果没有Schwab教授，Polly恐怕永远只是芸芸众生中的一员，唯
一值得骄傲的，恐怕就只是曾经做赤戴着可爱的大耳朵和小尾巴的兔女郎。
其实，通过网络，我也有幸与Matzinger教授有过几次交流。研究生时，曾
将自己的实验与“危险模式”理论结合，用Email与Matzinger教授讨论过中其中
一些问题，很快就收到了她的详尽的解答和有关实验方向的指导。可惜，由于时
间和条件有限，我没能继续相关研究。
前不久，看到Matzinger教授在Nat
Immunol上最新的一篇关于“危险模式”
理论的文章，于是再次向她去信，希望获得这篇文章的reprint。第二天，
Matzinger教授便给予了回复。显然，Polly已经不记得我这位3年前曾向她求教
的学生。她说：“我对一位外科住院医师能对免疫感兴趣觉得非常惊讶。”同时，
她还附上另一篇几年前发表在Science上的相关的文献，供我参考。虽然实际上
我已经读过阐述“危险模式”理论的大部分文献，包括Science上的那篇，但是，
Matzinger教授此举，着实让我感动。她在用自己的行动，影响着每一个正在或
尚未走上科学之路的渴望科学的年轻人，就像当年Schwab教授带她走上科学之路。
Matzinger教授给我的回复：
From: “polly matzinger” <pcm@helix.nih.gov>
To: “**” <**@hotmail.com>
Subject: Re: a reprint (or pdf) of your paper
Date: 2007年8月28日 18:22
hi
i am also sending you another paper about the danger model of
immunity
(and the web supplement that went with it), just in case you have
not
seen it. i am surprised that a surgery resident is interested
in
immunity. good work!i hope you enjoy these, let me know if you
can’t open
them.
cheers polly
科学，对某些人来说，可能只是枯燥乏味的工作，而对另一些人来说，则可
能是永不令人厌倦的快乐的源泉。
我想，不管从事什么工作，只要能从中获得快乐，那便是成功。
说明：本文最早于2007-11-03发表于我的博客
http://blog.sina.com.cn/u/1401213573
http://xinguancha.blog.tianya.cn/
(XYS20080327)
◇◇新语丝(www.xys.org)(xys.dxiong.com)(xys.dropin.org)(xys-reader.org)◇◇
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星期五, 03月 28th, 2008
100亿,应该是迄今最大的农业项目了!
小初中的时候,老读的政治条目,”无农不稳,无商不富”…,
今天是真切体会到了.
然后是科技兴农?
|
Genetics News
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March
27, 2008
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China: Big funding for GM
research
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By
Hepeng Jia
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BEIJING, China - China is
to launch a huge research programme on genetically modified (GM)
crops by the end of the year, according to top agricultural
biotechnology advisors.
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Huang
Dafang, former director of
the Chinese Academy of
Agricultural Sciences’ (CAAS) Institute
of Biotechnologies, says the programme could
receive as much as 10 billion yuan (US$1.4 billion) over the next
five years - five times more than the country spent on GM research
in the preceding five years.
A member
of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference
(CPPCC), China’s upper house, and a key government
advisor on biotechnology policies, Huang revealed the news at a
briefing on the annual report of the International Service for the
Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications (ISAAA), a non-profit
organisation promoting agricultural biotechnology.
The ISAAA
report indicates in 2007 a total of 114.3 million hectares of GM
crops were cultivated worldwide - an increase of 18.3 per cent from
2006.
The most
widely adopted GM crop is Bt cotton, engineered to produce a toxin
from Bacillus thuringiensis (Bt) to fight
bollworm. China has developed GM petunias,
tomatoes, sweet peppers, poplar and papaya, and several varieties
of rice but to date policymakers have only allowed GM cotton to be
marketed.
Huang says
that yield, quality, nutritional value and drought resistance will
be major targets of the new research programme. As well as rice and
cotton - which have been the focus of GM technology research in the
past - corn and wheat will also now be priority crops for
research.
Receptive farmers
Hu Jifa is chief research fellow at the the Chinese Academy of
Sciences (CAS) Center for Chinese Agricultural Policy (CCAP),
China’s chief think tank on food policy
issues.
He
confirms the programme is set to go ahead and says that funding for
research on safety and environmental monitoring will be included in
the programme.
The GM
seeding programme was mentioned in China’s 11th Five-year science
and technology development plan (2006-2010) but decisions on the
funding and scope of the programme have been delayed for two years
due to the sensitivity of the area, Hu
says.
But
policymakers are now more receptive to GM technologies, says Hu,
and that could lead to more GM crops getting the go-ahead for
commercialisation.
Judy Wang
of Croplife China, an organisation representing
agricultural biotech firms, welcomes the news, and says that the
research programme could help make GM crops more acceptable to
Chinese farmers.
Liu
Xuehua, an associate professor of environment planning
at Tsinghua University, says that
while she is not opposed to GM technologies, policymaking in the
area should be more cautious and transparent.
‘Stakeholders, rather than scientists alone, should be involved
in the policy-making process concerning GM commercialisation so
that more potential risks can be identified,’ Liu says. ‘The
decision to commercialise them should not be based simply on the
fact that there is now big government funding for the area,’ she
adds.
© Royal Society of Chemistry 2008
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Source:
RSC
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星期三, 03月 19th, 2008
20克基因武器可使60亿人死亡 2010年前问世
这条新闻竟然放在SINA的科技版块,也成了SMTH
的10大,GOOGLE了一下,有超过2600条相关新闻.
比较的结论是:
SMTH网友的水平要远远高于SINA科技编辑和其他报刊如北京日报编辑的水平.
最为搞笑的是,配发的图片的说明是”显微镜下的人体基因”,
恩,明年的诺贝尔奖就是它了!…
Posted in 其它 | 1 Comment »
星期三, 03月 19th, 2008
短小精悍的一篇综述,
对产量这样复杂的数量性状，我们了解多少?或者我们应该如何理解?
水稻的研究无疑给我们打开了一扇窗户.
其中的参考文献,有相当一部分我都推荐过,都是基因尤其QTL克隆中的经典…
对产量的遗传操作,不是梦想,在可以预见的将来将是事实…
Sakamoto T, Matsuoka M. Related Articles
Identifying and exploiting grain yield genes in rice.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2008 Mar 14; [Epub ahead of
print]
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星期六, 03月 15th, 2008
我的PPT已经放到公共信箱,有兴趣的可以去下载!
http://www.maizegdb.org/maize_meeting/2008/
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星期四, 03月 13th, 2008
欢迎有志青年积极报考国家玉米改良中心研究生！
玉米中心有志于提供于优良条件（生活和工作条件）和发展空间（包括与国际知名大学或研究机构的合作机会，可以预期这个在不久将来将成于常态）于有志青年！
请直接联系玉米中心相关老师！
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星期二, 03月 11th, 2008
一作是中国人。。。
By Patricia Wen, Globe Staff
A 2004 Nobel Prize winner retracted a study yesterday that was
published in a prestigious science journal, after she learned of
discrepancies in data gathered by a junior colleague who worked in
her lab at Harvard Medical School.
According to the journal, Nature, Linda Buck and her co-authors have retracted a
2001 paper that mapped nerve connections between smell receptors in
the noses of mice and their brains. The paper was not part of the
body of research for which Buck and Richard Axel
of Columbia University shared the Nobel Prize in
medicine and physiology.
Buck, who left Harvard in 2002 for the Fred Hutchinson
Cancer Research Center in Seattle, said she and other
researchers from her current lab became suspicious when they were
unable to replicate the findings from the 2001 paper.
“Moreover, we have found inconsistencies between some of the
figures and data published in the paper and the original data,”
Buck and her co-authors wrote in the retraction published by Nature
yesterday. “We have therefore lost confidence in the reported
conclusions.”
According to the journal, researcher Zhihua Zou, who is now an assistant professor
at the University of Texas Medical Branch in
Galveston, was “solely responsible” for providing data and figures
for the 2001 paper. He did not return a phone call to his office
yesterday. A statement by the school said Zou agreed to join in the
retraction, but was disappointed. The school said that Zou defends
his research and is confident in the published results.
Buck could not be reached for comment, but a statement from her
Seattle lab referred all questions to Harvard Medical School,
“since the research in question was conducted seven years ago” at
that institution.
A spokesman for Harvard Medical School, David
Cameron, said the school has formed an internal committee
to review the 2001 paper. If the panel finds sufficient cause to
believe “scientific misconduct” occurred, the school will begin an
official investigation into the research. Cameron said he does not
know the timetable for this investigation.
According to Nature, Buck has asked the Seattle cancer center to
review two later publications in which Zou was the lead author.
Buck was very distraught about the inability to replicate the
findings and the need to retract the paper, said Catherine
Dulac, one of Buck’s former Harvard colleagues who spoke
to her at a conference about a week ago. Dulac, a Harvard professor
of molecular and celullar biology, said that when she met Buck at
the conference and asked how she was doing, Buck replied,
“Horrible.”
Dulac said many top researchers have to rely on and trust the
data provided by junior collaborators.
“This is our worst nightmare,” she said.
Dulac said that this retracted paper, however, should not take
away from Buck’s outstanding work. The Nobel was largely based on a
pivotal paper she co-authored in 1991 with Axel, which showed how
humans recognize thousands of individual scents and how these
smells can trigger distinct memories of the past.
Buck, 61, is a native of Seattle and received her bachelor’s
degrees in 1975 in psychology and microbiology from the
University of Washington in Seattle, according to
a biographical sketch on the Nobel Prize website. She earned her
Ph.D in immunology in 1980 at the University of Texas
Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. She spent the next
two decades conducting research at labs at Columbia and Harvard,
before returning to Seattle.
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星期一, 03月 10th, 2008
Doi K, Yasui H, Yoshimura A.
Genetic variation in rice.
Curr Opin Plant Biol. 2008 Mar 1;
短小精悍的一篇综述，探讨了自然变异研究的前景，尤其新测序技术发展对这一领域的深远影响！
几个关键词：NIL/CSSL/QTL cloning/association mapping
Posted in 每周推荐 | No Comments »