Category: Blog
The microbial march continues! I’ll be in Seattle today, giving two talks on Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life. The first is a 1:30 talk at Microsoft Research. Then I’ll be giving a public talk at Town Hall at 7:30 as part of their science series.
Originally published June 3, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
One of the most important experiments in evolution is going on right now in a laboratory in Michigan State University. A dozen flasks full of E. coli are sloshing around on a gently rocking table. The bacteria in those flasks has been evolving since 1988–for over 44,000 generations. And because they’ve been so carefully observed all that time, they’ve revealed some important lessons about how evolution works.
The experiment was launched by MSU biologist Richard Lenski. I wrote about Lenski’s work last year in the New York Times, and in more detail my new book Microcosm.
The French biologist Jacques Monod once famously said, “What is true for E. coli is true for the elephant.” At the time, he was referring to the universal rules of molecular biology–of DNA and proteins, for example, that are the same from one species to another. As scientists in the mid-1900s figured out the workings of E. coli, they were also figuring out the workings of life in general. In my new book Microcosm, I make the case that Monod’s words were more true than even he realized. In the Boston Globe today, I explain how scientists used to think that there was one big difference between E. coli and the elephant (and us)–we get old and E. coli doesn’t.
Continue reading “Microcosm in the Boston Globe: You Get Old, I Get Old, E. coli Gets Old”
The E. coli epidemic spreads today to the Bay Area. Please come out to Kepler’s to hear me talk about Microcosm: E. coli and the New Science of Life.
Originally published June 2, 2008. Copyright 2008 Carl Zimmer.
One of the best things to come out of blogging is the blog book club. (See, for example, the book club at Talking Points Memo.) In the bad old days, the only way writers could respond to books was with a one-shot book review. A blog book club, on the other hand, allows writers to have public conversations about books and the issues they raise. It also makes room for readers to get into the discussion as well.
Unfortunately, until now blog book clubs have mostly been dedicated to politics. Scienceblogs is now rectifying this imbalance with the launch of the Scienceblogs Book Club. And, oh frabjous day, the first title they’ve chosen to discuss is my new book, Microcosm.