Research, art, and science communication
DNA amplicons that I generated inside HT1080 cells via the CRISPRmap method developed in the Gaublomme Lab. Different colors indicate different fluorescently-tagged hybridization probes bound to the amplicons, the color patterns of which correspond to subsets of a knock-out perturbation-identifying barcode.
“We make our living by catching electrons at the moment of their excitement by solar photons, swiping the energy released at the instant of each jump and storing it up in intricate loops for ourselves. We violate probability, by our nature.
To be able to do this systemically, and in such wild varieties of form, from viruses to whales, is extremely unlikely; to have sustained the effort successfully without drifting back into randomness, was nearly a mathematical impossibility.
Add to this, the biological improbability that makes each member of our own species unique. […] Each of us is a self-contained, free-standing individual, labeled by specific protein configurations at the surfaces of cells, identifiable by whorls of fingertip skin, maybe even by special medleys of fragrance. You’d think we’d never stop dancing.”
-Lewis Thomas, The Lives of a Cell (1974)