Author: Jonathan Eisen

I am a Professor at U. C. Davis. My lab is in the UC Davis Genome Center and I hold appointments in the Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology in the School of Medicine and the Department of Evolution and Ecology in the College of Biological Sciences. My research focuses on the origin of novelty (how new processes and functions originate). To study this I focus on sequencing and analyzing genomes of organisms, especially microbes and using phylogenomic analysis (see my lab site here which has more information on lab activities).  In addition to research, I am heavily involved in the Open Access publishing and Open Science movements.

Training course in “Preserving, storing and maintaining microorganisms”

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured Culturing Training and Courses
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Of potential interest: Sept. 12-14 2017. Training course in Preserving, storing and maintaining microorganisms. From the site: Presented by staff from CABI, this course will be of interest to everyone involved in the handling, distributing and storing microorganisms. The course covers all aspects of culture preservation, maintenance and culture collection management and complies with the …

The Wild West of Self-Regulated Cosmetics

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured Food and Consumer Products
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So as more and more companies start marketing cosmetic products with supposedly probiotic microbes in them (see eg., Farris Jabr’s excellent article in the NY Times from two days ago), it is important to recognize that, as the article linked below says “the cosmetic industry is largely self regulated.” Definitely worth a read. Manufacturers are not …

U. Wisconsin Microbiome Initiative

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in Funding
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The University of Wisconsin at Madison has announced a new microbiome initiative. See below for more details. The initiative aims to position UW-Madison faculty to be more competitive when applying for federal funding. Source: New campus initiative targets microbiome research

Great article by Maryn McKenna on the hunt for new antibiotics w/ crowdsourcing help

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured Antimicrobials and Resistance Citizen Science
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This is definitely worth a read: Source: Could the Answer to the Antibiotic-Resistance Crisis Be Found on a Toilet Seat? – The Atlantic Or a listen to since there is an audio version of the story (see below).\ The article basically discusses work by Adam Roberts to survey the world for new antibiotics.  The best …

Legionnaires’ Bacteria Found at New York Police Station 

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in Air and Air Quality Urban Microbiomes Water Systems
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Just a quick post here.  Another story on Legionnaires Disease.  This time the bacteria behind it was found in the NY Police Station. Source: Bacteria Behind Legionnaires’ Disease Found at New York Police Station – The New York Times From the article Traces of the bacteria that cause Legionnaires’ disease have been found in the water …