Coronavirus, scientific expertise, and knowledge infrastructures

Coronavirus news is dominating our mental and physical airwaves – I for one have eyes glued to virologists’ Twitter feeds and am constantly refreshing the Seattle Times daily updates. Scrolling through tweets the other night (I have self-diagnosed “Scrolliosis”), I saw a fascinating exchange in the comments. My favorite computational biologist, since that’s a thing Read More…

In support of anticipatory scholarship

Last week, a fellow PhD student and I were remarking how our dissertation topics have been tying into current public and academic discourse. Whether it’s media coverage or peer-reviewed literature, we’re seeing our areas of study get a little deserved time in the limelight. I said that’s why we do what we do: anticipatory scholarship. Read More…

Data transactions

We browse, therefore we’re data Chances are high you got here from a link on Facebook or Twitter. Or maybe you recently ordered a holiday gift from Amazon. If you’re like me, you use these social media platforms and web services with a hint of resign and possible distaste for the way your data is Read More…

Who cares if your genome is ready for prime-time, when it’s available on demand?

On Monday the consumer genomics company Helix launched a “DNA App Store:” a one-stop interpretation shop for your personal genomic information. Commercialization of personal genetic information has been gaining momentum for over a decade, mostly through direct-to-consumer testing companies such as 23andMe and AncestryDNA, but this announcement from Helix seems to represent a phase change. Read More…

Getting paid for your DNA

There’s a new genetic sequencing company that wants you to get paid for donating your DNA data to science. Launched in December, Genos’s service costs around $500 and gives customers the ~3% of their genome sequence that codes for proteins, the “exome.” Additionally, Genos’s platform allows users to share their exome data with (academic and Read More…

Is Genomics in a Bubble?

There has been a lot of election “post-mortem” talk about living in bubbles. Urban bubbles, academic elite bubbles, blue state bubbles — all out of touch with and perhaps at times dismissive of rural America, no college degree America, red state America.  [For a concise articulation of the problem, see November 8th New York Times Read More…