New
Genomics, With
an Eye on Ecosystems
By
Andrew Pollack
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Banfield |
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Determining
the complete DNA sequence of a single species
has become almost commonplace. It has been done
for humans, mice, rice plants and a host of microbes,
among others. Now some scientists are moving to
a more audacious challenge, sequencing "metagenomes,"
the DNA of entire ecosystems. Many scientists
still doubt that it can be done. But success is
already being seen on more narrow communities.
Jill Banfield, with Berkeley Lab’s
Earth Sciences Division, is studying the microbes
found 400 feet underground at Iron Mountain, an
abandoned mine in Northern California. Full
story (registration required).
A
Bridge Too Far:
A Man, a Plan, a River
By
Steve Mirsky
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Smoot |
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How
can you be reasonably sure you’re in Cambridge,
MA? The clincher is the strange and thrilling
discovery I make upon consulting a map entitled
"M.I.T. and Its Environs." While checking
the legend to see if a destination is close enough
to walk, I notice that the distance scales in
familiar feet, meters and miles have been joined
by an interloper: the smoot, a unit specific to,
and well known at, M.I.T. Now meet George Smoot,
an M.I.T. graduate, and Berkeley Lab physicist.
Full
story.
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