Mingling microbiomes

Cell mingling during mammalian embryogenesis.

Chromosomal Organization: Mingling with the Neighbors

C hromosomes, the packaged DNA carriers of heredity and instructions for proper cell functioning, undergo dramatic morphological transformations during the cell-division cycle. In metaphase, which includes the alignment of chromosomes before their separation between the two daughter cells, the 46 chromosomes in a human cell are condensed to such a degree that they can be observed by light micro...

Mingling: mixed-integer rounding with bounds

Mixed-integer rounding (MIR) is a simple, yet powerful procedure for generating valid inequalities for mixed-integer programs. When used as cutting planes, MIR inequalities are very effective for mixed-integer programming problems with unbounded integer variables. For problems with bounded integer variables, however, cutting planes based on lifting techniques appear to be more effective. This i...

Bioprospecting plant-associated microbiomes.

There is growing demand for new bioactive compounds and biologicals for the pharmaceutical, agro- and food industries. Plant-associated microbes present an attractive and promising source to this end, but are nearly unexploited. Therefore, bioprospecting of plant microbiomes is gaining more and more attention. Due to their highly specialized and co-evolved genetic pool, plant microbiomes host a...

Ancient human microbiomes.

Very recently, we discovered a vast new microbial self: the human microbiome. Our native microbiota interface with our biology and culture to influence our health, behavior, and quality of life, and yet we know very little about their origin, evolution, or ecology. With the advent of industrialization, globalization, and modern sanitation, it is intuitive that we have changed our relationship w...