Blog Comments

Kinetica Online is pleased to provide direct links to commentaries from our senior editor Dr. Steven Pelech has posted on other blogs sites. Most of these comments appear on the GenomeWeb Daily Scan website, which in turn highlight interesting blogs that have been posted at numerous sites in the blogosphere since the beginning of 2010. A wide variety of topical subjects are covered ranging from the latest scientific breakthroughs, research trends, politics and career advice. The original blogs and Dr. Pelech’s comments are summarized here under the title of the original blog. Should viewers wish to add to these discussions, they should add their comments at the original blog sites.

The views expressed by Dr. Pelech do not necessarily reflect those of the other management and staff at Kinexus Bioinformatics Corporation. However, we wish to encourage healthy debate that might spur improvements in how biomedical research is supported and conducted.

Origin Life

Arsenic? Yes, Please!

NASA researchers reported that the bacterial strain GFAJ-1 of the Halomonadaceae family of Gammaproteobacteria, when grown for months in a lab mixture containing arsenic, could swap its phosphorous content out for the more poisonous element, and have proposed that arsenate may replace phosphate in DNA in early life and potentially alien life forms. S. Pelech provides a lengthy critique of these findings that challenges these assumptions and provides alternative explanations for the study's results. Read More...

Lynn Margulis Dies

Lynn Margulis from University of Massachusetts has died. She originally developed the endosymbiotic theory for the origins of some cellular organelles, and was also known for her contributions to James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis that the living and non-living components of the Earth together comprise a self-regulating system. S. Pelech comments further on the role of mitochondria in the origin of eukaryotic cells and their symbiotic/parasitic relationship. Read More...