It has been a couple of weeks since the ECFG meeting in Edinburgh, but there were a few things I wanted to share from my visit.

I presented some interesting data on strain distribution at the 5th International Aspergillus Meeting	I got to run a fair bit, including one memorable run up the Salsbury Crags to Arthur's Seat	I learned that not everyone shares the same ideas.
Some of those people had a nice drum circle going outside McEwan Hall during our Sunday Plenary sessions	Not everybody seemed to understand and appreciate genetic engineering	There was also the sentiment that blood need not be exchanged for oil.
Moreover, people seemed to appreciate places where blood was favored over oil.	And of course, the Scot Nationalism was in evidence.	Finally, there was an opportunity to broaden one's horizons beyond just Fungal Genetics.

This all made Edinburgh a nice place to visit. The weather was what one would expect for April in Scotland but we never got completely rained out. The science was good, even if we had to squeeze in for the poster sessions. I tried Haggis a number of times. The vegetarian Haggis was also quite nice. We also had some nice beer. Not being a Scotch drinker, I did not go in for the Whiskey tasting.
I enjoyed visiting with some people including Mikael Andersen of DTU, Scott Baker of PNNL, Daren Brown of the USDA, Geoff Turner of Sheffield, Susanna Braus-Stromeyer from Georg August University, Jon Palmer of Wisconsin, as well as the whole crew from Rhodes College in Memphis and many others.

Several people promised to send strains. You know who you are. Remember: when you deposit materials at the FGSC you are not enabling competitors, but rather people who can build upon your contribution and make it more meaningful.

One last note, I was talking to my twin brother and mentioned the famous quote from Issac Newton, who said that in making our contributions to scientific progress, "we stand upon the shoulders of giants." In his uniquely insightful way, my brother added, "and midgets too."  This reminded me that all progress, no matter how incremental, is important in moving science forward.

4/1/08

I have just returned from the Neurospora 2008 meeting at Asilomar and was profoundly impressed with how far the community has come in just two years. The quality of research, both in terms of the depth and the breadth, shows the impact that high quality research materials can do in a field of dedicated people. Another important thing I noticed was the large number of young people coming into the system. This can only bode well.

 

Happy April Fools Day!