Minus malum quam bonum
The four simple rules to run an efficient meeting. The Problem is communicated in advance and understood by all parties The Exit Condition is clearly stated Is Time Limited and starts on time The Actionable Tasks are recorded, when they will be done, and who they will be communicated to. When the meeting’s Exit Condition is...
In my first post on a possible solution to COVID-19 I hypothesised that there would be gene deletion mutants to be found in the SARS-CoV-2 viral strains out in the world and that we would find them if we looked. Unfortunately, when I posted there were very few full genome sequences in the public databases...
One aspect of the Search for an Attenuated Natural strain via Epidemiology (SANE) that I have not discussed in depth is the use of an attenuated SARS-CoV-2 strain as tool to accelerate the development of a vaccine for COVID-19. There are now nearly 100 different SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in various stages of development, although only 5...
I was invited this week by the Foresight Institute to give a talk on how we could search for an attenuated natural strain of SARS-CoV-2 using genomics and epidemiology. A lot of interesting questions were asked by the audience.
My previous post on a possible solution to COVID-19 has attracted quite a bit of interest on Twitter and Hacker News, but I have noticed that many people are having difficulty understand how it might work in practice. So how exactly would we go about looking for a naturally attenuated (weakened) SARS-CoV-2? The answer is...
Notice. Since this seems to be such a common question I think I should describe my background. I have a PhD in molecular microbiology and I was once a tenured academic (professor). I now work in the biotech sector. I have published a number of peer reviewed papers in virology. If you really want to...
One of the great things about having children is it reacquaints you with things you have not thought about for a long time. The old Chicken or the Egg paradox is one of those classic brain teasers that children of a certain age love. It is a really good one since the answer depends on...
People have been arguing if free will exists or not for millennia with little progress. You have the Incompatibilists on one side arguing that free will and a deterministic universe can’t both be true, and the Compatibilists arguing that they can. While the heavy artillery appears to be on the side of Incompatibilism (the universe does appear...
For something so simple as creme brulee I wondered why so many recipes turn four ingredients and few basic steps into a cooking challenge. Here is my easy recipe for creme brulee adapted for Australian conditions. The key to success is to use high quality ingredients and avoid curdling the custard by overcooking. Vanilla bean...
Bitcoin is all the rage at the end of 2017. The interesting question is not why it has risen so high and so fast, but why it has not been made illegal. The most impressive observation about Bitcoin (and its block-chain brethren) is it has been allowed to run free, sucking in all and...