Episode L: I am a Molecular Biologist

The purpose of this post is to update you on my teaching duties, and to prevent the following conversation from occurring:

“So what kind of research do you do?”

“Well, I do molecular biology”

“Ooohh… sounds hard… boy, Microbiology, that’s impressive!”

Believe me, numerous conversations like this have in fact occurred. So the purpose of this brief post is to explain the significant difference between Microbiology (which I taught last semester) and Molecular Biology (which is what I research, and what I am currently teaching).

Microbiology

Microbiology is in essence the study of microscopic, often single-celled, organisms, such as bacteria, fungi (including yeast), and even viruses. Interesting experiments in microbiology could include things like: what makes Salmonella bacteria so pathogenic, and how can its outbreak be prevented? Or: how do I identify this unknown infectious organism that was found in this patient? Or: what are the ideal conditions for using yeast in bread making?

Molecular Biology

Molecular Biology, on the other hand, is concerned with biology at the molecular level, and processes that are involved at the cellular level, such as DNA, RNA and protein synthesis, and the interactions among these molecules. My lab, for instance, is interested in how various genes and proteins are involved in maintaining the cell’s ‘skeleton,’ and how these proteins can be persuaded to reorganize and induce the cell to move. The techniques in molecular biology are many and varied, but some of the most ubiquitous and important are DNA gels and Western blots (protein gels), shown here.

Caveat

Of course it is possible that one could perform Molecular Biology on microbes, in which case one would be studying both Molecular Biology and Microbiology. This, however, is not really the case for me. Therefore, I am merely a Molecular Biologist. Thank you for asking.

Episode XLIX: Road Trip!

Last weekend my friend Thomas Kuhn and I decided, while it was still summer, to take an unrehearsed, unstructured tour through the heart of Kansas. Here are some highlights.

The first stop, and the only stop that would really be considered a “conventional” tourist attraction, was in Abilene, Kansas to view Dwight D. Eisenhower’s memorial library, museum, resting place and childhood home. It was a very nice place in a fairly small town. I really came out of the museum admiring the man as both a general and as a President.

For the rest of the journey you must understand that we were in the middle of Kansas, and that the middle of Kansas does not have much in the way of natural wonders, historic places or cultural significance. Therefore, most of the places we visited were either oddball, weird, kitschy or a combination of the three.

For instance, in Minneapolis, KS there is a place called ROCK CITY (!) where one can pay three bucks to play among these natural oddities of large granite rocks strewn about a field the size of a couple of football fields.

Or take the town of Lucas, Kansas, which houses the Folk Art Museum, displaying only oddball pieces of art, such as an exhibit inspired by toilet seats and outhouses. Meanwhile the most famous attraction in Lucas, and inarguably the weirdest attraction in central Kansas, is a place called the Garden of Eden. Basically, this guy owned a house in the middle of town, and he decided to start building a bunch of large (maybe 30-foot-tall) concrete sculptures around his house, inspired by themes from the Bible and populist politics. The “garden” itself is quite a work, but the kicker (on the weirdness scale) is that the guy built himself and his wife a mausoleum in the backyard, where visitors can view his body in a glass coffin.

We camped at a lake with a lovely view and lots of privacy. We managed to grill ourselves some delicious meat and enjoy the lovely evening. Unfortunately, around 3 am, a ridiculously powerful storm came through and pounded us, so much so that both Thomas and I had to stand up inside the tent and push against it for over a half-hour to prevent it from completely collapsing upon us. When there was finally a lull in the storm, we abandoned our soggy ship and spent the rest of the night in the car. When we woke up in the morning, it was another beautiful day.

Finally: the event around which the whole trip was planned. It pretty much speaks for itself, no commentary needed. For in the small town of Cawker City, my friend, can be found the WORLD’S LARGEST… ball of twine!

Episode XLVIII: Where Are They Now?!

This post approximately marks the end of my second year of living here in Lawrence, Kansas. In some ways it feels like these two years have gone by very quickly. But in other ways they seem to have packed in many years’ worth of experiences, responsibilities, events and adventures. So, if you average the two feelings together, I suppose it feels like the past two years have lasted for exactly two years.

So to celebrate, here is a “Where Are They Now?” post, looking back at previous episodes of The Ballade and bringing them up to date.

Shoes

To begin with- a sad note. I tried very hard, and I appreciate the efforts of a number of you who attempted to track down a pair of my favorite shoes in response to a September 2007 post of mine. Unfortunately, the feat seems to have been impossible. Instead I had to buckle down and buy a different pair of shoes from Adidas, which is rather a nice pair, but nothing compared to my old And-1s.

Vehicle

One of the more popular stories of the last two years was from November 2006, where, as an addendum, I posted about a little pink scooter that I had won, known as The Thugmobile. It seems now that nearly everyone who knows me also knows about the scooter, and some people who don’t know me also know about the scooter. Where is it now? Well I sold the thing through Craigslist (the response was huge) and I believe it is now used by some 11-year-old girl.

On an unrelated note, the previous month (October 2006) I had posted a quick note about the relatively moderate price of gas in the Midwest. (Prices have since increased at least 75%).

Music

In March 2007 I posted about how a song of mine had made it to National Public Radio (!) and was grateful for the support of all my friends and family in promoting it. While it did not win the contest, it did catch the attention of a local Lawrence student journalist who wrote up a story and produced a short video about my music “career” and my Presidential Project. She even managed to track down (and get a quote from) my childhood piano teacher! In other news, the Theme & Variations for piano that I posted in August 2007 has recently surpassed 5,000 views on YouTube.

Teaching

Finally, my first semester of teaching (microbiology lab) went quite well. Next semester I will teach genetics lab (which is much more in line with my specialization). I recently received the student evaluations from my micro lab, and they were all very good comments. The biggest (and funniest) critique was from this female student: “I wish that my TA would not spike the ball so hard at my face when we play intramural wallyball”. Ha!