User:Scmohr

Revision as of 22:04, 29 November 2006 by Scmohr (Talk | contribs)

Registry “Issues”/Agenda

Scott C. Mohr (11/29/06)

1. The “Search the Registry” should have an option to BLAST any sequence against the total set of sequences in the registry. I think this will require a table of all the registry sequences in flat-file format compatible with BLAST. With this function, someone with a gene of interest might be able to find it (or a close homolog) among the BioBricks even if its annotations are confusing or absent. (11/29/06)

2. I have a problem with the term “plasmid backbone.” [See the HELP page: Plasmids/Construction Plasmids.] A plasmid is just a DNA molecule, and the “backbone” of DNA consists of deoxyribose phosphate groups held together by phosphodiester bonds. That’s very different from the complete DNA molecule of the uncut plasmid (lacking an insert), or the linear DNA with breaks in both strands (backbones!) at the cut site. If that object is also to be referred to as a “backbone,” there’s a significant source of semantic confusion….



(Suggested) Registry Style Sheet

Scott C. Mohr (11/20/06)

“A foolish consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.” – Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)


I’m putting my preferences down here and encourage people to use them – or give me a hard time about why something different is better. Note that Emerson did not say “consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds” (as the quotation is so often reported). Only a foolish consistency!


Capitalization


BioBricks

Escherichia coli (genus name capitalized, species name not capitalized, both written in Italics).

Hyphenation

single-stranded/double-stranded

Italics

e.g.

E. coli, also Escherichia coli