I’ve updated my OpenGL DNA renderer to support amino acids, rather than just single nucleotides. I find these colorful DNA representations oddly aesthetically pleasing, so I’m pursuing it a bit further. It’s always possible I’ll find utility in being able to do some unique sequence rendering. I borrowed the color scheme for amino acids from [...]
Several months ago I posted a maze I generated in C++ with OpenGL. Being pre-occupied with molecular biology lately, I took my old code out and adapted the concept for rendering a bacterial plasmid. Specifically, this little beauty is: Borrelia valaisiana VS116 plasmid VS116_cp9, complete sequence. The generative sequence renders quads around in a spiral, [...]
PCR (polymerase chain reaction) and gel electrophoresis are the two building blocks of DNA analysis and they’re going open source! Here’s a quick roundup of some open source efforts that have been incubating. While you can’t decipher genetic code directly with these technologies, DNA sequencers which pump out the actual discrete code of DNA are [...]
This delightful quote was discovered on the very last page of my biology text. It so eloquently encapsulates why I participate in the hackerspace movement. There’s some poetry to this being on the page least likely to be read. We have a civilization based on science and technology, and we’ve cleverly arranged things so that [...]
What’s more New York than the corner bodega? I tracked down busy Queens-based vegan entrepreneur Eric Hopf to interview him on his plans to open a cruelty-free and aptly named Vegan Bodega in Manhattan’s Lower East Side. To get your juices flowing here’s a short video introduction, featuring Eric himself. [Daniel] Obligatory vegan story request. [...]