DNA Sequence Data is Coming in!
The data is starting to pour in! We sent our samples of viral DNA for sequencing earlier this fall, and after some waiting our samples have finally been sequenced! We used a DNA sequencing techno...
Time to say goodbye to Maggie!
Maggie has been a central member of the team, from her work getting crowdfunding to her efforts in the lab. But Maggie has graduated and moved on to a new and exciting position at the National Hum...
Lots and lots of viruses!
Over the last several weeks we have been working to improve and finalize our procedure to get pure viruses from our samples. Here are some pictures of what we get at various steps of the procedure...
Bulk Viruses
With the Winogradsky columns ready, and a virus extraction procedure laid out, I did a trial run to see if I can purify viruses from the sediment. Although I have a procedure to get small amounts ...
Winogradsky columns are finished incubating
Finally our columns have completed their incubation, growing all kinds of fabulously colorful bacteria, and along with the bacteria come the viruses. Above are the three columns, and...
THE WORK BEGINS!
Summer in the lab has been pretty quiet. Maggie had a summer internship in Paris at the Institut Pasteur studying the mosquitos that carry Dengue virus. Now that the Fall semester has started, wor...
We're Funded!
The campaign is over and it's a success! Thanks to the support of 65 backers, we reached our goal, and we will be able to explore the viral diversity of this fascinating microbial ecosystem, the W...
Time is running out! Help us go viral!
We have reached 80% of our funding goal and are getting close to the deadline!We have Tweeted: https://twitter.com/daesteban1We have Reddited: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/36mw0z/i_am_...W...