Gene Machine: The Race to Decipher the Secrets of the Ribosome

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A thoroughly sublime read. Dr. Venki's humility and honesty shines through in each chapter. His perseverance in his work despite failure and competition is a true testimony to the nature and spirit of science. Here are some of the quotes I highlighted while reading the book: The na_rn cookie is used to recognize the visitor upon re-entry. It allows to record details on user behaviour and facilitate the social sharing function provided by Addthis.com. The use of labelled DNA probes that can be used to screen patients for heritable conditions, drug responses or health risks. That curve is arcing toward guiding cancer treatment. Illumina's Flatley has had his own genome sequenced and learned that he has a gene for a condition that causes people to get a rash when they are cold. His company is seeing "a stream of infants and cancer patients" who want their genomes sequenced. Life Technologies has signed up a network of cancer centers to probe tumors with its current mainframe system. If a DNA scan of a tumor can predict which treatment will work best, insurers will likely pay up, even though treating cancer patients can be hugely expensive.

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Gene expression and DNA repair, one molecule at a time

When we have a clear goal in mind, we think we are struggling to reach a summit. But there is no summit. When we get there, we realize we have just climbed a foothill, and there is an endless series of mountains ahead still to be climbed." Also, not because he wrote an excellent book explaining how the structure of DNA came to be. Many scientists, before and after, have written essays or books about how they came to the ideas that made them famous. It's well worth reading, just for that, but that is not what was special about James Watson, and if he had not existed then whoever else took his place would likely have told the story somewhere, just as Ramakrishnan has told his story here.

When did you realise that you wanted to write this book? Or did you want to write a book and then decided that it was going to be this one? We are recruiting for a Machine Learning specialist to join our Oxford Martin School funded project on rapid detection of antimicrobial resistance. More information here and here.Rothberg's machine could change all that through speed of analysis and wider dissemination of tools. He says that only 400 labs are currently doing this sort of genomics, and he wants the PGM to open the field to 4,000 research groups that are not participating. That will multiply the number of minds working on genetics problems and unleash lots of experiments that now languish on the sidelines. "I can create a fanatical user base, and people will start coming up with more and more applications for the technology," says Rothberg. "The demand is going to be enormous," predicts UC, Davis researcher Jonathan Eisen. "You're going to see a huge number of people buying it." George Church--a Harvard gene researcher, sequencing pioneer and Ion Torrent adviser--predicts the PGM will be "like an iPad" for geneticists. Everyone will want it "big-time, even if there are warts." One element of this story that impressed me most was Dr. Ramakrishnan’s unfailing generosity to his collaborators and his competitors alike. In fact, one of the key themes in this book is that most contemporary science is not about individual achievement; rather, it’s a synthesis of ideas and progress by teams of highly dedicated individuals who devote their lives to solving questions they find compelling. Top: Drill a dozen or so ¼-inch holes into the top of a slanted adapter (to hold the vials), fit a pipe inside the adapter’s base, and cut a square hole in the exposed pipe to match a computer fan’s exhaust port.

I remember reading Craig Ventner's book about racing to sequence the human genome. It read like a novel. I couldn't look away as Ventner spilled all the secrets about his personal life as well as all the nasty, behind the scenes antics that arise when scientists compete. I remember thinking he seemed a bit bitter, but I didn't care because I wanted to know everything I could about this usually hidden side of scientific discovery. Ramakrishnan's book is very similar in that it allows the reader to witness the arguments, insecurities, and questionable tactics scientists engage in when trying to outdo each other.

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Well, that’s one reason I wrote the book: to educate the general public which hopefully will include decision makers. A former science minister in Britain has read my book and liked it. People in all walks of life need to understand how science is done. What is the process of science like? How do discoveries emerge? It’s not like turning on a tap and discoveries flow out. It’s more like planting seeds. That would be a better analogy. You plant seeds, you nurture it. Some of the seeds will flourish and become great big trees. Others may not. But if you don’t plant widely, you’re not going to get anything. That’s the way I would look at it. He founded his first company, Curagen, in his basement in 1991 soon after getting a doctorate in biochemistry from Yale. It was one of the first biotech firms to automate the search for new genes with robots and easy-to-repeat experiments. He lives in Connecticut with his wife, Bonnie, a physician, and five children. His main motivation for his work is his family; he works only on companies that will directly affect someone he loves. Bioinformatics is a field of study that combines biology and computer science. It is used to analyze large and complex biological data like DNA or amino acid Sometimes, the simplest questions are the most difficult to answer. One such is that of how many Indians have won the Nobel Prize so far. The figure can be as high as twelve, if you count Ronald Ross, Rudyard Kipling, Dalai Lama, V S Naipaul and Mother Teresa. Some or of Indian origin, or been born in India or left India too early in their career. Venkatraman Ramakrishnan was a graduate of Physics from Baroda but immediately migrated to the US for further studies. He won the Nobel in Chemistry in 2009 for ribosome research along with two others. Ramakrishnan’s research strengthened our understanding of the fundamental processes of life and provided a clue to the evolution of modern species of life. This book is a combination of popular science and an autobiography with a seamless blending of the two. His life is devoted to research and learning.Ramakrishnan never bragged about his abilities and always spoke very respectfully of his fellow scientists. However, some chapters did feel a bit long-stretched, particularly when mentioning many of his graduate students and postdocs throughout the years and then referring to them by their first name, which might confuse some readers.