Just this:
Friday, August 21, 2009
Saturday, August 08, 2009
Transformations
I haven't updated about the ants in ages, and you deserve to know how they're doing. Prepare yourself for some changes.
You may remember that I was concerned that they were bored (which sounds ridiculous, perhaps I'm no better than the kid with the perpetually runny nose, a stick and a nasty streak on a day at the zoo) and so decided to add some grass seed for them to gather up. I didn't manage to get my hands on a sensible quantity of grass seed so I figured that sesame seeds would substitute. The ants showed some interest and a few made it to the bottom of the tunnels and got tucked away, the remainder were left where they fell. Maybe they're picky and sesame seeds just don't cut the mustard, maybe when they're burrowing through a delicious, sugary gel they don't really need to be bothered with my paltry offering.
However, I wasn't just sowing seeds; along with them came an inoculum of fungi that liked the gel just as much as the ants.
And a fly-by (caution, my videography isn't for the car sick).
Not the nice, space-age blue gel I started out with. The ants didn't mind this at all, in fact they would pull off chunks of the blackened gel and carry it up to the surface of the tunnels to a pile that I started to view as a sort of midden. They would eat the fungus sprouting from individual sesame seeds and add these to the pile on the surface too. Eventually, when the mould became extensive they would feed happily on this large pile of dense, ant-farmed matter.
At any one time there was still a division of labour, with some ants on the surface browsing around and nibbling and the remainder down in the tunnels. Here's Humdiggler napping:
That's change number one, now for change number two and it's a sad one. I can only count eleven ants. Twenty-five went in, one suffered from a bad case of nominative determinism (any pet I have from now on is going to be called Methuselah) and the remaining unlucky thirteen...? I suspect they've gone to the great network of tunnels in the sky. In fact, I managed to catch Minus - Warrior Queen of the Ant People carrying the corpse of Adam and trying to give her a head start on the journey.
It's not unexpected, I've had them for five months now and they're supposed to live between three and six months, but so long Nigella, Splodey, Carlotta, Gertrude, Antoinette, Flip, Tweetspawn, Sickof, Cuddles, Omar and Squash D. Say hi to Squish D for me.
You may remember that I was concerned that they were bored (which sounds ridiculous, perhaps I'm no better than the kid with the perpetually runny nose, a stick and a nasty streak on a day at the zoo) and so decided to add some grass seed for them to gather up. I didn't manage to get my hands on a sensible quantity of grass seed so I figured that sesame seeds would substitute. The ants showed some interest and a few made it to the bottom of the tunnels and got tucked away, the remainder were left where they fell. Maybe they're picky and sesame seeds just don't cut the mustard, maybe when they're burrowing through a delicious, sugary gel they don't really need to be bothered with my paltry offering.
However, I wasn't just sowing seeds; along with them came an inoculum of fungi that liked the gel just as much as the ants.
And a fly-by (caution, my videography isn't for the car sick).
Not the nice, space-age blue gel I started out with. The ants didn't mind this at all, in fact they would pull off chunks of the blackened gel and carry it up to the surface of the tunnels to a pile that I started to view as a sort of midden. They would eat the fungus sprouting from individual sesame seeds and add these to the pile on the surface too. Eventually, when the mould became extensive they would feed happily on this large pile of dense, ant-farmed matter.
At any one time there was still a division of labour, with some ants on the surface browsing around and nibbling and the remainder down in the tunnels. Here's Humdiggler napping:
That's change number one, now for change number two and it's a sad one. I can only count eleven ants. Twenty-five went in, one suffered from a bad case of nominative determinism (any pet I have from now on is going to be called Methuselah) and the remaining unlucky thirteen...? I suspect they've gone to the great network of tunnels in the sky. In fact, I managed to catch Minus - Warrior Queen of the Ant People carrying the corpse of Adam and trying to give her a head start on the journey.
It's not unexpected, I've had them for five months now and they're supposed to live between three and six months, but so long Nigella, Splodey, Carlotta, Gertrude, Antoinette, Flip, Tweetspawn, Sickof, Cuddles, Omar and Squash D. Say hi to Squish D for me.
Monday, August 03, 2009
Jobs
Our group at UCSF is moving from Anesthesia to the Gastro-intestinal division (hooray, windows in the lab! Shiny benches!) and we're also expanding. Sue's advertising for three more postdocs (there are currently two of us in the group that also includes graduate students and clinical fellows) all in the general area of applying high throughput and molecular microbial ecology techniques to the human microbiome. Here's the announcement:
Postdoctoral Fellowships in Human Microbial Ecology and Culture-independent Diagnostic Development
Job Description: Three postdoctoral positions are available in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. Susan Lynch (Lynch Lab http://trmp.ucsf.edu/.
1. The first position will focus on the application of culture-independent approaches to determine the phylogenetic diversity and functional profile of microbial populations in clinical samples obtained from pediatric patients with irritable bowel disease.
2. The second will be primarily concerned with development and validation of a culture-independent diagnostic for rapid detection and antibiotic resistance profiling of a number of pathogenic species.
3. The third postdoctoral fellow will examine the airway microbiota of HIV-infected patients and the effect of treatment and disease progression on the phylogenetic diversity and functional repertoire of these microbial populations.
Individuals will be expected to design, with guidance from Dr. Lynch, and conduct experiments to interrogate the community and population ecology of microbes. They are also expected to publish research results and to engage in productive collaborations with other scientists at UCSF and other institutions involved in this project.
Minimum Requirements: Candidates must have received a PhD in microbiology or a closely related discipline within the past five years from an accredited college or university.
Qualifications: Technical expertise in both the application of molecular techniques in microbial ecology and basic microbial cultivation techniques is essential. Experience with culture-independent metagenomic or metatranscriptomic approaches, necessary statistical analyses tools, processing clinical samples and cellular level microbial physiology are highly desirable. The successful candidate will have strong written and oral communication skills and a proven track record in scientific publication.
These studies represent components of multidisciplinary efforts to investigate the host microbiome and examine antibiotic resistance evolution in bacterial communities; thus the ability to function collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams within UCSF and with external collaborators is important.
Salary is commensurate with experience. Please email curriculum vitae and names of three references to Dr. Susan Lynch (susan.lynch {at} ucsf.edu) before September 30th, 2009.
Equal Employment Opportunity: University of California San Francisco is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer and supports diversity in the workplace. Applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or sexual orientation. Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
We've got lots of things really moving forward and I think it's an excellent time to be joining the group. Plus I'm utterly charming - how can you lose?
Postdoctoral Fellowships in Human Microbial Ecology and Culture-independent Diagnostic Development
Job Description: Three postdoctoral positions are available in the Department of Medicine, Division of Gastroenterology at the University of California San Francisco in the laboratory of Dr. Susan Lynch (Lynch Lab http://trmp.ucsf.edu/.
1. The first position will focus on the application of culture-independent approaches to determine the phylogenetic diversity and functional profile of microbial populations in clinical samples obtained from pediatric patients with irritable bowel disease.
2. The second will be primarily concerned with development and validation of a culture-independent diagnostic for rapid detection and antibiotic resistance profiling of a number of pathogenic species.
3. The third postdoctoral fellow will examine the airway microbiota of HIV-infected patients and the effect of treatment and disease progression on the phylogenetic diversity and functional repertoire of these microbial populations.
Individuals will be expected to design, with guidance from Dr. Lynch, and conduct experiments to interrogate the community and population ecology of microbes. They are also expected to publish research results and to engage in productive collaborations with other scientists at UCSF and other institutions involved in this project.
Minimum Requirements: Candidates must have received a PhD in microbiology or a closely related discipline within the past five years from an accredited college or university.
Qualifications: Technical expertise in both the application of molecular techniques in microbial ecology and basic microbial cultivation techniques is essential. Experience with culture-independent metagenomic or metatranscriptomic approaches, necessary statistical analyses tools, processing clinical samples and cellular level microbial physiology are highly desirable. The successful candidate will have strong written and oral communication skills and a proven track record in scientific publication.
These studies represent components of multidisciplinary efforts to investigate the host microbiome and examine antibiotic resistance evolution in bacterial communities; thus the ability to function collaboratively in multidisciplinary teams within UCSF and with external collaborators is important.
Salary is commensurate with experience. Please email curriculum vitae and names of three references to Dr. Susan Lynch (susan.lynch {at} ucsf.edu) before September 30th, 2009.
Equal Employment Opportunity: University of California San Francisco is an Affirmative Action / Equal Opportunity Employer and supports diversity in the workplace. Applicants will be considered for employment without regard to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, marital status, or sexual orientation. Women and members of minority groups are encouraged to apply.
We've got lots of things really moving forward and I think it's an excellent time to be joining the group. Plus I'm utterly charming - how can you lose?
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