Category Archives: Genomics

AI, AMR, and Data Ownership: Blessed Are the Data Generators

Posted on November 14, 2023 by mikethemadbiologist

Our tech overlords are upset that they actually might have to pay people for their labor (boldface mine): Andreessen Horowitz is warning that billions of dollars in AI investments could be worth a lot less if companies developing the technology … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Bidness, Genomics | 20 Comments

We Could Have Effective COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance, Even with the Crappy U.S. Healthcare System

Posted on October 21, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

I’ve been meaning to get to this Washington Post article about how genomic sequencing of COVID-19 is being used in the UK to assist in tracking outbreaks, and in the U.S…. not so much. What got me off my posterior … Continue reading →

Posted in Conservatives, COVID-19, Fucking Morons, Genomics | Comments Off on We Could Have Effective COVID-19 Genomic Surveillance, Even with the Crappy U.S. Healthcare System

New Myxococcus Species: Myxococcus WTF?

Posted on October 15, 2020 by mikethemadbiologist

OK, it’s not Myxococcus WTF, it’s called Myxococcus llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogochensis (boldface mine): Members of the predatory Myxococcales (myxobacteria) possess large genomes, undergo multicellular development and produce diverse secondary metabolites, which are being actively prospected for novel drug discovery. To direct such … Continue reading →

Posted in Genomics, Microbiology | Comments Off on New Myxococcus Species: Myxococcus WTF?

Something Genomics Does Need To Confront: Anti-Vaxxers

Posted on April 2, 2019 by mikethemadbiologist

Last week, a Canadian arbitrator ruled in favor of a parent who wanted to prevent the vaccination of her kids (the father had gone to court to get the kids vaccinated). This from the article leapt out of me (boldface … Continue reading →

Posted in Genetics, Genomics, Vaccination | Comments Off on Something Genomics Does Need To Confront: Anti-Vaxxers

AMR Genes In Space. BOOGA BOOGA?

Posted on November 29, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

I really try to avoid giving scientific papers the full Mad Biologist treatment, so I was going to let this paper about antimicrobial resistance in space (BOOGA! BOOGA!) lie. And then I saw RT (not a big fan in general … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Genomics | 1 Comment

The Real 23AndMe Bidness Model

Posted on July 30, 2018 by mikethemadbiologist

Back when 23AndMe, a company that charges people to have their genome sequenced and interpreted, was making every possible move to piss off the FDA, some asshole with a blog noted (boldface added): The thing that hasn’t been discussed: why … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Genomics | Comments Off on The Real 23AndMe Bidness Model

A Potential Problem For The Business Of Genomic Prediction

Posted on December 15, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

Hopefully, Gwyneth Paltrow won’t get involved in this (boldface mine): Recently, Vitaliy Husar received results from a DNA screening that changed his life. It wasn’t a gene that suggested a high likelihood of cancer or a shocking revelation about his … Continue reading →

Posted in Bidness, Genomics | Comments Off on A Potential Problem For The Business Of Genomic Prediction

The Clinical And Bioinformatic CTX-M Problem

Posted on September 7, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

We’ll get to what CTX-M is in a bit, but first some biology background. Let’s talk about some game theory carbapenem antibiotics (also referred to as carbapenems): Before we get started, let’s do a quick biology review. A serious health … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Genomics, KPC | Comments Off on The Clinical And Bioinformatic CTX-M Problem

PacBio Finally Makes A Move It Desperately Needed To Make

Posted on February 17, 2017 by mikethemadbiologist

While everyone hunts for the Holy Grail of human genomic sequencing (and other large genome critters), I’ve noted before there’s an obvious, if less sexy, market: …microbial genomes are cheap, fast, and you can provide epidemiological relevant information to clinical … Continue reading →

Posted in Genomics | 5 Comments

A Failure Of Data Transmission: The CRE Edition

Posted on December 9, 2016 by mikethemadbiologist

There’s a very interesting article that came out recently describing the first public report of carbapenem resistance in E. coli from the U.S. food supply. Maryn McKenna provides a good overview: Bacteria containing a gene that confers resistance to a … Continue reading →

Posted in Antibiotics, Data Stuff, Genomics | 1 Comment