Biotechnology Expert, Synthetic Biology Futurist & Keynote Speaker
Vertical skateboarding was borne of drought and creativity. In 1976 and 1977, Southern California suffered an extreme drought. The water shortages were so extreme that agricultural activities in some parts of the Central Valley were ceased. Reservoirs ran dry. Homeowners drained their swimming pools. Fires raged. Homes were abandoned. At the time, skateboarders had just … Continue reading [Three by Five].12 Blue Tile Obsession
Pedro Paramo is the book I’ve most given away. It's a thin, easy to read, very influential novel. It will haunt you. The second book I've most given away is Legs McNeil and Gillian McCain's Please Kill Me: The Uncensored Oral History of Punk. Through a series of alternating interviews, PKM traces the history of punk. From … Continue reading [Three by Five] 12. Please Kill Me
When I speak with non-technical, non-biotech audiences, I'm always looking for a place where we can start the conversation. These days, it's with brewing. Most people, remember, know little-to-nothing about the way biology is impacting their lives. Most people, I believe, want to know. So these days, I start the conversation with beer and wine. Both … Continue reading [Three by Five] 11. Brewing Biotechnology Stories
Hagrid, Hogwarts' groundskeeper, always wanted a pet dragon. [Alert: Spoilers ahead.] He mentions it in passing early in Harry Potter and The Sorcerer's Stone. Later, he goes on to win a huge black dragon egg from "some stranger during a game of cards." He reads Dragon Breeding for Pleasure and Profit and heats his prize … Continue reading [Three by Five] #9 | Dragon: Norbert the Norwegian Notchback
This week I've been thinking a lot about this MIT Technology Review article on writing the yeast genome. The article profiles NYU's Jef Boeke, one of the founders and leaders of Genome Project write (GP-write). Writing a genome, which is still expensive, will drive advances across many fields (I've written about this project in the … Continue reading [Three by Five] 7. Yeast Engineering and Apple Clinics
Netflix just started airing Altered Carbon. It's a rad take Richard K. Morgan's 2002 cyberpunk novel. One of my favorite genres, cyberpunk typically explores how the street repurposes tech, life in cyberspace and off-planet. Last fall, I reread William Gibson's Sprawl Trilogy - Neuromancer, Count Zero, and Mona Lisa Overdrive. (Neuromancer, BTW, is credited with … Continue reading [Three by Five] 4. The Sprawl Triology