Posted 6:19 AM by Blah blah

My New Interests: Bioinformatics and Biotechnology (Biology)

I'm taking classes in molecular biology and genetics, starting this week. My new career goal: bioinformatics (i.e. computational biology)! Advances in modern biology have really reinvigorated my interest in science. I like the whole idea of this field because it would integrate my previous background in chemical engineering and software. Since I'm also very interested in using science to help society, I could use this knowledge in helping to solve crimes (forensics), in drug development, and in better understanding the human genome.

I'd like to meet more people in bioinformatics, biotech, and data warehousing. Please let me know if you have friends or acquaintances I can talk to!

I'm going to Pei-Lan's birthday dinner this weekend and meeting some of her fellow coworker "nerds." She and I have been having very interesting talks recently. Originally from Taiwan and National Taiwan University, she got her PhD in plant biology in N. Carolina, and she works as a postdoc at UC Berkeley. She studies how plants react and adapt to stress. Pei-Lan loves molecular biology.

Saw this April 2001 NOVA science program "Cracking the Code of Life" on Sunday. Loved it! You may watch the full program online on this site. It "chronicles the race to capture one of the biggest prizes in scientific history: the complete letter-by-letter sequence of genetic information that defines human life -- the human genome."

Transcript of the episode.

Watch these four NOVA TV programs online in full, in streaming video.

Likewise, PBS's Frontline, the best documentary and investigative journalism TV program, lets you watch 23 of its programs online in full. All are excellent.

Watch their heartbreaking episode "Burden of Innocence."

"After years of wrongful imprisonment, what awaits men who are released after their innocence is finally proved?" This program covers the sad tales of five men who were imprisoned for years for crimes they did not commit. After their happy days of release, it tells how they could not find jobs, were socially shunned, and suffered huge psychological, economic, and other problems readjusting to society.

See the Innocence Project:

"The Innocence Project at the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law was created by Barry C. Scheck and Peter J. Neufeld in 1992. It was set up as and remains a non-profit legal clinic. This Project only handles cases where postconviction DNA testing of evidence can yield conclusive proof of innocence. As a clinic, students handle the case work while supervised by a team of attorneys and clinic staff.

Most of our clients are poor, forgotten, and have used up all of their legal avenues for relief. The hope they all have is that biological evidence from their cases still exists and can be subjected to DNA testing. All Innocence Project clients go through an extensive screening process to determine whether or not DNA testing of evidence could prove their claims of innocence. Thousands currently await our evaluation of their cases.

DNA testing has been a major factor in changing the criminal justice system. It has provided scientific proof that our system convicts and sentences innocent people -- and that wrongful convictions are not isolated or rare events. Most importantly, DNA testing has opened a window into wrongful convictions so that we may study the causes and propose remedies that may minimize the chances that more innocent people are convicted.

As forerunners in the field of wrongful convictions, the Innocence Project has grown to become much more than the 'court of last resort' for inmates who have exhausted their appeals and their means. We are now helping to organize The Innocence Network, a group of law schools, journalism schools, and public defender offices across the country that assists inmates trying to prove their innocence whether or not the cases involve biological evidence which can be subjected to DNA testing. We consult with legislators and law enforcement officials on the state, local, and federal level, conduct research and training, produce scholarship, and propose a wide range of remedies to prevent wrongful convictions while continuing our work to free innocent inmates through the use of postconviction DNA testing.

We hope that this site will raise awareness and concern about the failings of our criminal justice system."

FAQ about DNA evidence, by the Innocence Project.

"Burden of Innocence" covers the distressing reality of what happens after the Innocence Project does its work.