New paper available: An ant-based algorithm for annular sorting

Oliver Don and Martyn Amos (2005 ) An ant-based algorithm for annular sorting

In this paper we describe a minimal model for annular sorting by Leptothorax ants. Simulation results are consistent with the structures observed in actual ant colonies.

(Paper available via link above)

What don't we know?

Free access Science feature to celebrate their 125th anniversary. In it, they pose 125 of the biggest questions facing science today, including "How Will Big Pictures Emerge from a Sea of Biological Data?", "How Far Can We Push Chemical Self-Assembly?", and "What Are the Limits of Conventional Computing?" These should keep us busy for a while....

Congratulations!

Hearty congratulations are due to Toby Mundy at Atlantic Books (publishers of my forthcoming popular science book). At the British Book Awards, Toby and Atlantic were awarded the "Imprint and Editor of the Year" Nibbie.

NEMS

News article about a cantilever device sensitive enough to detect the mass of a single DNA molecule.

New PNAS papers

Two papers of note from this week's issue of PNAS (subscribers only):

The use of oscillatory signals in the study of genetic networks

Ovidiu Lipan and Wing H. Wong

The structure of a genetic network is uncovered by studying its response to external stimuli (input signals). We present a theory of propagation of an input signal through a linear stochastic genetic network. We found that there are important advantages in using oscillatory signals over step or impulse signals and that the system may enter into a pure fluctuation resonance for a specific input frequency.

Controlled fabrication of hierarchically branched nanopores, nanotubes, and nanowires

Guowen Meng, Yung Joon Jung, Anyuan Cao, Robert Vajtai, and Pulickel M. Ajayan

Here, we report a generic synthetic approach to rationally design multiply connected and hierarchically branched nanopores inside anodic aluminum oxide templates. By using these nanochannels, we controllably fabricate a large variety of branched nanostructures, far more complex than what exists today. These nanostructures include carbon nanotubes and metallic nanowires having several hierarchical levels of multiple branching. The number and frequency of branching, dimensions, and the overall architecture are controlled precisely through pore design and templated assembly. The technique provides a powerful approach to produce nanostructures of greater morphological complexity, which could have far-reaching implications in the design of future nanoscale systems.

Slime mould genome

Nature have made freely available an analysis of the genome of the social amoeba Dictyostelium discoideum (slime mould). "The slime mould Dictyostelium discoideum has been an important laboratory model for over 50 years. These social amoebae normally live in forest soil where they hunt bacteria and yeast, and have therefore excelled in studies of how cells sense and move towards attractants in their environment. When hunting is not successful, the unicellular organisms become one multicellular entity and form a fruiting body to disperse spores, shown on the cover image." There's also a link to archival material.

Follow up: Bacterial pattern formation

News story about the Weiss Nature paper referenced on Friday.

DNA Computing 11: preliminary program

The program has been announced for the 2005 International Meeting on DNA Computing. It looks like the most exciting meeting to date, and I'm annoyed at having to miss it! The ever-increasing profile of experimentalists, doing real wet lab work, can only be good for this emerging field.

A synthetic multicellular system for programmed pattern formation

Excellent Nature article (subscribers only) on programmed cellular differentiation; we have a proposal currently being refereed which describes something similar, so it's reassuring that others are thinking along the same lines.

Followup: Reith lecture

A transcript and audio recording of the Reith lecture on nanotechnology is now available (link above).

Micro- and bio-fluidics

Useful website on micro- and bio-fluidics, including links to papers. One is of particular interest to me: Darnton, N., Turner, L., Breuer, K.S. & Berg, H.C. "Moving fluid with bacterial carpets". Biophysical Journal. 86. pp. 1863-1870. 2004.

Theoretical and Experimental DNA Computation: update

I've just been told by Springer that the camera-ready copy for my forthcoming book Theoretical and Experimental DNA Computation (see book website above) is being sent to the printer, and the finished product should be available to buy in mid-June.

BBC Reith Lecture on nanotechnology

The BBC Reith Lecture (on Nanotechnology) will be on Radio 4 this evening at 2000 BST. Details from the link above - you should be able to listen to it live here.

Dynamic microcompartmentation in synthetic cells

PNAS (subscriber only) article: "This work represents a bottom-up approach to understanding cell biology, in contrast to the top-down approach often adopted in biochemistry and perhaps best exemplified by efforts to generate the "minimal cell" through gene disruption in already simple organisms".

EPSRC Novel Computation panel

If you're waiting to hear the result of an application to the third round of EPSRC Novel Computation funding, you may like to know that the panel will be held at the end of July.

Image manipulation in biology

Interesting discussion in Nature concerning the increasing use of packages such as Photoshop in presenting biological research (subscribers only).

Intel money claimed

A British man has claimed the $10,000 prize offered by Intel (see previous post) - BBC news story.

Nanotubes vs. silicon

News article on the drive to build nano-scale transistors with carbon nanotubes.

Self-assembled DNA fractals

News article on Erik Winfree's work on designing DNA strands to self-assemble into a Sierpinski triangle. The original article was published in PLOS Biology, along with a commentary article (open access).

Intel offering $10,000 reward

Intel are offering $10,000 for a mint-condition copy of the April 19 1965 issue of Electronics magazine containing the article that gave rise to "Moore's Law". See the relevant eBay page for details.