Thursday, May 26, 2011
Computational Design of Virus-Like Protein
"we describe a computational approach whereby the surface properties and symmetry of a targeted surface define the sequence and superstructure of surface-organizing peptides. " Full article @ Scence
Wednesday, May 25, 2011
A Lesson of Genealogy - Looks Can Be Deceiving
"The surprising stories of king crab and squat lobster evolution from hermit crab ancestors are examples of a frequent lesson in the era of DNA-based genealogy — looks can be deceiving. Very dissimilar forms can evolve from a given type of ancestor, and similar-appearing forms can evolve entirely independently from unrelated ancestors."NYTimes.com
Thursday, May 12, 2011
Even Robots Can Be Heroes
"Evolutionary biologists have struggled to explain self-sacrificing behavior, which seems to defy survival of the fittest. Simulations of “evolving” robots have now confirmed an explanation posed by biologist W. D. Hamilton in the 1960s: We tend to help those who are more closely related to us because they can pass on more of our genes." Full news piece @ Science. Also see full article:
Waibel M, Floreano D, Keller L, [2011]. "A Quantitative Test of Hamilton's Rule for the Evolution of Altruism". PLoS Biol 9(5): e1000615. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000615
Waibel M, Floreano D, Keller L, [2011]. "A Quantitative Test of Hamilton's Rule for the Evolution of Altruism". PLoS Biol 9(5): e1000615. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1000615
