tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post1216551745128539894..comments2024-03-28T00:36:36.460-07:00Comments on The Tree of Life: Arsenic revisited: discussing arsenic story with a #UCDavis biology writing class next weekJonathan Eisenhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comBlogger8125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-46545479538334166172011-03-03T20:38:38.339-08:002011-03-03T20:38:38.339-08:00Thanks Tabitha - too late for my appearance in cla...Thanks Tabitha - too late for my appearance in class which was Wednesday but not too late for them to seeJonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-66336562119213470872011-03-03T20:25:40.554-08:002011-03-03T20:25:40.554-08:00I hope it's not too late to suggest my own pos...I hope it's not too late to suggest my own posts--which may be particularly relevant because they were actually written for science writers and posted on the NASW site.<br /><br />http://www.nasw.org/science-blogs-week-alien-abductions<br /><br />http://www.nasw.org/science-blogs-week-arsenic-bugging<br /><br />http://www.nasw.org/science-blogs-week-truth<br /><br />http://www.nasw.org/science-blogs-week-fraudTabithahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00528885884895366127noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-6007530516232297862011-03-02T07:36:01.963-08:002011-03-02T07:36:01.963-08:00Matt Kane pointed out that we should have the stud...Matt Kane pointed out that we should have the students read the original NASA press release - see http://science.nasa.gov/science-news/science-at-nasa/2010/02dec_monolake/Jonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-22651502869448039022011-02-28T10:21:56.186-08:002011-02-28T10:21:56.186-08:00I've been keeping an eye on the Science Expres...I've been keeping an eye on the Science Express list. Judging by the progression of other papers, the Wolfe-Simon paper should have appeared in the paper copy of Science a couple of months ago.<br /><br />The only paper older than it is one from July 1, which Retraction Watch points out will probably be retracted because of methodological problems.<br /><br />I suspect the authors of the Wolfe-Simom paper are arguing about whether it should be retracted, or waiting to see if the first author can come up with any evidence that suggests it shouldn't be.Rosie Redfieldhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06807912674127645263noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-61171260225824716302011-02-27T12:47:06.108-08:002011-02-27T12:47:06.108-08:00Well, I do not even know what exactly Science expr...Well, I do not even know what exactly Science express is - I guess maybe they use it when they want to put out something before the print edition/final version comes out? 2.5 months is probably not that long. Time from original acceptance to publishing many articles is probably a few months.Jonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-87563548150729344662011-02-27T12:44:34.789-08:002011-02-27T12:44:34.789-08:00Is the paper still in Science Express? Isn't t...Is the paper still in Science Express? Isn't that a remarkably long period of time before "official" publication?Richhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14750331563019761742noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-4481800997762296442011-02-27T10:32:16.203-08:002011-02-27T10:32:16.203-08:00http://bytesizebio.net/index.php/2010/12/06/extrao...http://bytesizebio.net/index.php/2010/12/06/extraordinary-claims-attract-extraordinary-blogging/<br /><br />On the emerging culture of informal yet impactful post-publication review. (Yeah, yeah, shameless plug).Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-10781944.post-56149378044242607162011-02-27T10:25:48.613-08:002011-02-27T10:25:48.613-08:00Jamie Fraser on Facebook pointed to a new peer rev...Jamie Fraser on Facebook pointed to a new peer reviewed paper discussing the story. See <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21214261" rel="nofollow"> Arsenate replacing phosphate: alternative life chemistries and ion promiscuity. </a> Not open access but it is out there. Their abstract is:<br /><br />"A newly identified bacterial strain that can grow in the presence of arsenate and possibly in the absence of phosphate, has raised much interest, but also fueled an active debate. Can arsenate substitute for phosphate in some or possibly in most of the absolutely essential phosphate-based biomolecules, including DNA? If so, then the possibility of alternative, arsenic-based life forms must be considered. The physicochemical similarity of these two oxyanions speaks in favor of this idea. However, arsenate-esters and arsenate-diesters in particular are extremely unstable in aqueous media. Here, we explore the potential of arsenate to be used as substrate by phosphate-utilizing enzymes. We review the existing literature on arsenate enzymology, that intriguingly, dates back to the 1930s. We address the issue of how and to what degree proteins can distinguish between arsenate and phosphate and what is known in general about oxyanion specificity. We also discuss how phosphate-arsenate promiscuity may affect evolutionary transitions between phosphate- and arsenate-based biochemistry. Finally, we highlight potential applications of arsenate as a structural and mechanistic probe of enzymes whose catalyzed reactions involve the making or breaking of phosphoester bonds."Jonathan Eisenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07953790938128734305noreply@blogger.com