If you're looking for advice on real-time PCR, virtually any company hoping to sell you products will be happy to help. However, if you want assistance on the SYBR-based form of this technique “uncolored” by vested interests, you'll do well to check out realtimepcr.dk. Assembled by three independent researchers with extensive experience and no financial ties to any real-time PCR product, RealTime PCR Experiences offers a relatively short story covering several aspects of the technique (melting temperature, cycler capacity, capillaries, protocols, and reaction mixtures) and then concludes by naming names of the most useful products. The designers’ systematic approach to making choices will make the site a hit with visitors and a bane to a few equipment/material providers.
Good ChemistryProtocols for performing chemistry reactions are a dime a dozen, but given the number of them, that's still a lot of money! Enhancing the value and utility of these methods is feedback from practitioners, and it is with that philosophy in mind that SyntheticPages was created. Containing a freely available database of synthetic chemistry, SyntheticPages excels, thanks to input/output from registered users, who contribute comments based on their experiences with each method and, in doing so, help to improve it. Protocols cover organic, organometallic, and inorganic reactions and include both newer and older techniques. With over 230 pages of instructions for making chemicals, SyntheticPages is a valuable online resource for synthetic chemists everywhere.
Cytoskeletons in the ClosetThe best things in life are free, so they say, and it appears that some of the best images and videos of living cells are too, thanks to the American Society of Cell Biology, whose Image and Video Library (IVL) is a life scientist's dream. With content that mostly includes high-tech animations, IVL's offerings enliven modern biology topics, including cell-cell contact, cell division/growth/death, regulation, cytoskeletons, membranes/organelles, and gene expression. Sections focusing on education (Teaching/Training and BioEducate) are sure to be hits with instructors. Many of the videos are “live and in color,” and the admission price (free) for noncommercial use will put IVL in front of students around the world.
“If you could dissolve wood in a solvent, what could you do with that solution?” So goes one of the intriguing opening questions on the informative Polysaccharide Biobased Materials Center page, which aims to provide natural products for sustainable development and, in doing so, reduce both pollution and reliance on nonrenewable items. Centered on carbohydrates, the site's useful information and the occasional surprise make for engaging, informative reading. Were you aware that cellulose acetate is an important material in LCD screens, or that some naturally occurring polysaccharides can control biofilms? From ophthalmic drug delivery to inexpensive thermoplastics, biomaterials made from polysaccharide biomaterials offer sometimes surprising solutions to modern problems. Visitors will learn a lot from this informative site.
@ www.polysaccharidecenter.com
Bioethical DilemmasIt's hard to get through today's news without encountering some aspect of bioethics. From human cloning to stem cells to genetically modified organisms (GMOs) to doctor-assisted suicide, bioethics problems are especially daunting because they challenge not only our considerations of right and wrong, but also the ability of many people to appreciate their very technical aspects. Stepping into this void is BioEthicsNews, which paints the topic with a very broad brush. Focusing mostly on breaking news, the site employs a dozen writers and editors who do a great job of keeping visitors on top of “what's happening” in over 20 categories. Best of all, they write about these very technical matters in language that is easily understood by most readers. A welcome outpost in the wild western world of bioethics.
