With this in mind, here’s a few more interesting life science related apps that I have recently added to my iPhone and iPod Touch which may be of some interest.

I was amazed that this took so long but Nature.com only recently came out with an iPhone app that is free for download and gives you access to their latest content (Don’t mind the pay-wall :) ) and provides you with an easy way to search and save content.

While using Nature.com’s app, I found Promega’s app (also free) that although needs some design work, it does come packed with great content. Protocols of all type, video media and a simple BioMath calculator which helps with unit conversions.

Another app that’s just recently become available is made by the folks at Invitrogen. Their app called Daily Calcs helps with routine calculations like Molarity calculations, Molecular weight, dilutions, unit conversions and interesting cell culture references. And it’s also free.

If browsing genomes on the go is your thing, then I must recommend you download the GenomePad which basically provides you with UCSC’s Genome Browser on your iPhone. I find it to be a bit difficult to navigate and parse all that data on such a small screen, but it’s great for quick look-ups. Did I mention it’s free?

The last two apps I’ll mention are not so much tools but didactic apps in the sense that they are awesome learning apps. One called Mitosis provides an interactive way to learn about the process of cell division and the other is a science glossary packed with science goodness. Once again, free and free.

As you can see, I’ve only mentioned a hand full of free apps this time as I haven’t had or required to purchase any other science apps. However, if there’s a scientific app out there that you think is worth spreading the word (free or not!), please let me know.

More life science apps for iPhone and iPod Touch

So, what does it do? Compounds is a stoichiometry “grams-to-moles” calculator and works like a charm:

1. Add compounds to the beaker.
2. Rotate iPhone to enter the formula.
3. Type in the formula for each compound using the Period Table as a keyboard.
4. Enter the coefficients (or ratios).
5. Shake! to solve.
6. Adjust the amount in grams of any compound and see the results immediately.

I’ve had the privilege of giving it a test run and I must say it’s pretty cool. The “shake to solve” feature is great!

Keep in mind that it’s not a Periodic Table app, it just presents the periodic table as an easier way to type in your compounds. Nice touch, if I must say so.

It’s not yet available for download at the App Store so I can’t provide a direct link, but be sure to find the link here when it does become available.

Compounds brings chemistry to your iPhone or iPod Touch

I wrote about a couple of other video and screencast websites related to life sciences a while back (and even a science video search engine) but this is different.

This isn’t just a website where you can see a video or two of people extracting DNA from a banana peel, it’s an amazing resource that combines video to real research and even published work (here’s where PLoS kicks in!). You can hear it from the actual experts as they explain their work and findings. It’s devided into most of the PLoS categories we are all used to finding and above all, it’s open to all!

What isn’t so great is the site’s web design and color scheme. Starting from the forced web2.0 glossy logo to the bright colored links on white background, it is screaming for a quick redesign. What do you think? Do you share my opinion?

SciVee brings more video to Science

Although there are plenty sites to pick from, I’m accepting any suggestions or requests. Feel free to drop me a line.

I’m going to kick this off with a website that I think needs a complete redesign. It belongs to a company called Genelex.

Started in 1987, Genelex is a comprehensive, licensed and accredited provider of DNA testing services to medical professionals and the general public.

THE HOMEPAGE
First impression is a biggy, right? Well, not in this case. The first page we get after typing in www.genelex.com is rather old-school and in need of help.

There is a list of things that could and should be changed:

• The top group of links can not be distinguished from normal text (everything is white!)
• The chromosome layout with section links is presented in a low quality beveled button fashion, very 90′s
• The text that follows once again shows no difference between normal text and links, a definite no-no.

THE SECTIONS
Although Genelex has a huge amount of information over the many many pages of the site, it is very unorganized and the layout changes from section to section which is rather misleading sometimes.
The flow of information is not always straightforward, leading the visitor to click at random keywords, which is not always a good thing.

FINAL NOTES
Maintenance for this large website must be very complicated due to the fact that all pages seem to be static (plain html files).
A complete content management system could improve the overall navegation throughout the website and all the different sections.

What could help a lot with navigation is a sitemap where one could see all there is to offer on the website. But I couldn’t find one. So, that’s another no-no.

The overall web technology and graphics employed are out-dated and in need of a major redesign and development.

Keeping in mind that Genelex has been around since 1987 and has been at the front-line of DNA testing for medical professionals and the general public, it’s interesting how there has not been more interest in maintaining an up-to-date web presence.

Genelex – MBL Site Review #1

The website still only has a dozen or so articles available but there are some good ones. I also enjoyed the Editor’s picks with links to external articles of great interest.
Hopefully there will be more content rolling in over the next couple of weeks and that they are made openly accessible.

Like all things Web 2.0, it’s also in beta but doesn’t seem to have other things required by that status such as RSS feeds for the articles or podcasts.

Anyone want to tell Biotech360 and TJoLS that RSS feeds are all the rage nowadays?

UPDATE: Feeds are up and running, go get your fix here.

The Journal of Life Sciences

It focuses on a number of subjects ranging from genetic testing, biotechnology, gene patenting and gene ownership.

Although it was an interesting read, I found it to be sort of a rush job. About 80% of the book is composed of small stories based on different areas of the biotech industry and the remaining 20% is a quick story to make it look like you were actually reading a novel of some sort.

I was expecting the stories to crossover and intertwine but no such luck. It was sort of like a textbook of biotech facts and oddities.

I did enjoy the fact that the stories are based on true facts or almost, like Crichton claims in the following way:

“This novel is fiction, except for the parts that aren’t”

Overall, it’s a quick read that keeps the reader interested and goes into some subjects that have a controversial component, be it ethical, legal, financial or all of the above.

I’m not sure if it is just my (hardcover) copy of the book but I noticed the pages seemed to be roughly cut and sort of unaligned. Is your copy like that?

If you want to watch an hour long interview of Michael Crichton on Charlie Rose’s show, you can watch it here. (via Genetics & Health)

Is it just me, or is Crichton’s voice rather irritating? And while I’m at it, is it just me or is Charlie Rose a not-so-good interviewer?

Michael Crichton’s NEXT

I know, you’re probably saying: “Why did you get an account in the first place?” or “If it bugs you so much, just stop using it!“. Well, that’s all good and true, but there is more to this whole Twitter commotion than one may think.

It mixes a couple of concepts that ultimately lure people towards it in pure curiosity. There is the voyeur aspect of following someone’s (a crowd!?) daily motions, the ever spurring of information you think the world should know about – in a sense that it needs validation – and then the community aspect that is more about you (the individual) than the actual group of people (hoards!) that use the website (service!?).

I’m not one to speak because I have in fact registered an account. I did so a few weeks back when I heard about this new fad, but am still trying to conjure up a useful function for this crazed web service.

At the moment, I can find only one function that Twitter actually features: procrastination. And to better illustrate this, here’s a graph I stole borrowed from Creating Passionate Users:

NOTE: It took me a little longer to finish this post cause Darth Vader had something to say and Chewy wouldn’t shutup.

Twitter feat. Procrastination – Work no more (web2.0 remix)

SuperPro Designer facilitates modeling, evaluation and optimization of integrated processes in a wide range of industries (Pharmaceutical, Biotech, Specialty Chemical, Food, Consumer Goods, Mineral Processing, Microelectronics, Water Purification, Wastewater Treatment, Air Pollution Control, etc.). The combination of manufacturing and environmental operation models in the same package enables the user to concurrently design and evaluate manufacturing and end-of-pipe treatment processes and practice waste minimization via pollution prevention as well as pollution control. (in Intelligen.com)

I used it last year, along with my work group, to project an industrial plant capable of producing Vitamin B. From raw material through all the different processes involved right down to the final product and all calculations needed in between.

This year, I’m starting it up again and we’re planning out a Cephalosporin C industrial bioprocessing plant. Calculations are done on the side using Microsoft Excel and a little brain power and the information is then introduced into the program and we go from there.

I’ll most probably spend some more time explaining my experience with this great application in the future, but for now I’ll just leave it up to you to check it out at Intelligen‘s website.

Oh! Yeah… it’s extremely expensive (~13k!) for a students pocket change but luckily we have it running on some computers at the university, even though it is an older version… (we’re using v4.9 and the latest release is 6.1 I think…)

SuperPro Designer – Making life (a little) easier

Well, yesterday I sat down with her to watch Gore’s “An Inconvenient Truth” and it hit me. Although I knew things were bad, I had not read anything scientific enough to make me open up my eyes… and mind.

Although the documentary was made to sensationalize the whole ordeal, it has an underlying truth. That if we don’t do something about the way we are sucking the Earth dry of resources, we will most probably have to think about moving nextdoor. Oh yeah… there is no nextdoor!

And today, I woke up and while rolling through my feeds and emails the titles just popped into my sight as if one of those “Beautiful Mind” moments! Ice retreat, hydrogen economy, sustainable energy, solar tax, etc.

I’m actually an avid reader of a few websites and blogs that talk about these issues like Physorg.com and Clean Break, among others.

Global Warning: You have been warmed!

Well, here is a book I purchased this last summer and only finished now. It took me longer to finish the last 2 chapters than the rest of the book. Lately time is just too scarce…

I have to say that I loved this book. Bill Bryson’s style is just so delightful and the subject at hand is just so ample that I was curious to see how things would role out. It was a great journey right to the end.

Although I have a strong scientific background, I think this book is great for anyone that would like to know a little more about their surroundings, namely our planet Earth.

The side stories that follow along the history of science, such as the behavioral attributes of the inventors, the backstabbing, the dooms day theories and the blind annihilation of species by Man, just keep the reader turning the pages.

I definitely recommend this book to anyone with thirst for general knowledge.

Bill Bryson’s “A Short History of Nearly Everything”