Webwatch

Abstract

BioTechniquesVol. 46, No. 2 WebWatchOpen AccessWebWatchKevin Ahern†Kevin Ahern††Please send web site recommendations to E-mail Address: ahernk@orst.eduSearch for more papers by this authorPublished Online:25 Apr 2018https://doi.org/10.2144/000113060AboutSectionsPDF/EPUB ToolsAdd to favoritesDownload CitationsTrack Citations ShareShare onFacebookTwitterLinkedInRedditEmail Pro GenomeCNN is a good place to look when your need to know is centered on world events, but if your tastes are more oriented toward molecular biology, GNN (Genome News Network) deserves serious attention. A product of the J. Craig Venter Institute, GNN describes itself as a “lively and trusted online magazine” focused on genomics and its relation to human medicine, with additional interests in bioenergy sources as solutions to environmental problems. The territory covered by GNN is broad, ranging from educational material (“What's a Genome?”) to news on topics that include bioterrorism, stem cells, genomes, and technology. There's even an art gallery and a section related to bioethics. When it comes to happenings in genomics, GNN is a must see.[www.genomenewsnetwork.org]Going But Not ForgottenMass die-offs of amphibians (with an extinction rate 200 times greater than normal) are in the news, and with good reason. Some fear that their declining numbers portend an environmental catastrophe enveloping the Earth. Serving this diverse collection of organisms, the scientists studying them, and the public concerned about their welfare is LivingUnderworld, a non-profit educational Web project dedicated to preserving wild and captive amphibians. The stunning pictures on the opening page do a great job of illustrating the beauty of this important group of organisms and remind us of what we stand to lose if nothing is done. At LivingUnderworld, visitors will find tips on captive maintenance, significant educational content, and collections of organisms organized by phylogenetic order.[www.livingunderworld.org]High DefinitionA web site derived from a book of the same name, the Skeptic's Dictionary is a welcome source of information describing the foibles of New Age and pseudo-scientific ways of viewing the world. Subtitled “A Collection of Strange Beliefs, Amusing Deceptions, and Dangerous Delusions,” the Skeptic's Dictionary offers coverage that is more encyclopedic in nature than that of a dictionary, as it educates scientists and non-scientists alike about what other perspectives are “out there” in the world of ideas. Some of these (Hollow Earth) will amuse you, while others (Bach Flower Therapy) may simply astonish.[www.skepdic.com]Plants in PerilIf the banner at the top of this USDA plant page (Threatened and Endangered) doesn't catch your eye, the impressive list of species within this database certainly should. With a focus on at-risk plants in the U.S., the Threatened and Endangered Plants database provides visitors with an easy means of identifying imperiled plants geographically, by state. The search engine also permits users to drill down by name, category, duration (annual/perennial), growth habit, wetland status, and jurisdiction. If your browser is needing a bit of exercise, try selecting options that force it to give the complete list of all endangered species in the U.S.—each is returned with hyperlinks to additional information. Perhaps the only comparably impressive offering available is the image database, which overflows with 40,000 photos.©1989, Robert H. Mohlenbrock, USDA NRCS Wetland Science[plants.usda.gov/threat.html]Strings AttachedGenomics and proteomics would not have any meaning, nor would cells function if their macromolecular players did not interact on the playing field of life. Understanding the interactome is key, therefore, to understanding the molecular basis of living things. A player in this game is STRING, a database of known and predicted protein-protein interactions (over 2.4 million proteins from 630 organisms), supported by the EMBL, Swiss Institute of Bioinformatics, and the University of Zurich. Information from the database may be retrieved by searching multiple or individual protein names or amino acid sequence(s). Interactions returned by the program are depicted visually in three different perspectives based on confidence, evidence, or amount of interaction. Clicking on a “string” connecting two proteins yields published evidence reported for the link.[www.string.embl.de]Knockout ModelsYou can talk to a plastic surgeon or a genetic engineer, but don't be surprised if they say the same thing: knockout models are made, not born. Though the jury may be out on the approval of cosmetic enhancements for beauty, researchers of rat physiology, as a group, depend on the ability to delete genes from their test subjects in order to study the effects in the heart, lung, and blood. Serving the latter community is PhysGen, which aims to put into talented hands rats lacking selected genes, so the effects of their loss (and possible function) can be determined.[pga.mcw.edu]FiguresReferencesRelatedDetails Vol. 46, No. 2 Follow us on social media for the latest updates Metrics History Published online 25 April 2018 Published in print February 2009 Information© 2009 Author(s)PDF download