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.

New paper of interest on “Phylotags” – High-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in Methods and Tools Scholarly Literature (Journals, Books, Reports)
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This seems like it could be of interest to microbial community researchers: The ISME Journal – High-resolution phylogenetic microbial community profiling Abstract (with bolding by me) Over the past decade, high-throughput short-read 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing has eclipsed clone-dependent long-read Sanger sequencing for microbial community profiling. The transition to new technologies has provided more …

Walls talk – or at least hold many secrets a wall whisperer can reveal

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured
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There has some coverage of new work from Maria Gloria Dominguez-Bello et al. about microbes in homes (across the world).  See for example CBS News: What bacteria may reveal about your home This is basically a reprinting of an Associated Press article by Lauran Neergaard: Urbanization leads to change in type of bacteria in the home Also see this …

The White House wants feedback from “All Microbiome-Science Champions” – give it – give it now

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured
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The White House OSTP is looking for input on microbiome work – plans, funding, resources, databases, fellowships, hires, and more.  They are collecting this information, I assume, to help guide their new microbiome related initiative(s).  I hope many many people comment including lots of people thinking about the Built Environment and its connection to microbiomes. …

Interesting new paper on green building water systems  

By Jonathan Eisen   Posted in .Featured Scholarly Literature (Journals, Books, Reports) Water Systems
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There is a new open access paper of possible interest to those working on water systems, green buildings, and/or microbial ecology: Survey of green building water systems reveals elevated water age and water quality concerns – Environmental Science: Water Research & Technology (RSC Publishing) DOI:10.1039/C5EW00221D By William J. Rhoads, Amy Pruden and Marc A. Edwards in Environmental …