In honor of the tenth anniversary of the human genome project, here are a couple telling images, courtesy of Mihaela Pertea and Steven L Salzberg.

First: a visual history of the estimates of the number of genes in the human genome.
And second, a warning to anyone who believes in an iron law that the more protein-coding genes in a species, the more sophisticated/complex/cool/human that species is: I for one welcome our grapey overlords.

[Update: Biochemist Larry Moran takes issue with the very high numbers for early gene number estimates. Steven Salzberg defends the graph. Read it all here!]

Originally published June 15, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

Could E. coli some day take the place of deep sea oil wells? In my latest podcast I talk to James Liao of UCLA about engineering microbes to churn out high-performance fuel. Check it out.

Originally published June 13, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

Ariel writes, “I am happy to see that other science dorks like myself have inked up our passions. This is the molecular representation of glutamic acid, the amino acid associated with the Umami flavor, the proverbial fifth taste. I am a former chef turned public health major and fell in love with the elegance of chemical compounds but never forgot my unctuous roots.

Click here to go to the full Science Tattoo Emporium.

Originally published June 12, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

I’ve moved on to the final round for the 2010 prize in science from 3 Quarks Daily. Now it’s in the hands of Richard Dawkins. Congratulations to everyone who has made it this far (including my fellow Discover bloggers Sean Carroll and Ed Yong). Stay tuned for the decision on June 21.

Originally published June 11, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.

I’m in Beijing for a few days on assignment. I have (selectively) great Internet access. So I’ll be blogging, but I won’t be immersed in social networks. More anon.

[Image: d’n’c/Flickr]

Originally published June 7, 2010. Copyright 2010 Carl Zimmer.