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This week, the 18^th Annual International Conference on Intelligent Systems for Molecular Biology () meets in Boston, and ӳ����ý-minded bloggers are covering some of the talks. Jill Mesirov, the ӳ����ý's director of computational biology and bioinformatics, is one of the co-chairs of the conference and ӳ����ý core member David Altshuler will be one of the conference's keynote speakers.

This afternoon, Ira Flatow will be talking with medical educator Howard Markel about the word genome on and I can't wait to tune in! The word has a pretty fascinating 80-year history and we use it all the time in the stories we write and blog entries we post. As such, we've added "genome" as a term to our glossary.

Bruce Birren, Director of the Microbial Sequence Center and co-Director of the Genome Sequencing and Analysis Program, kicked off the ӳ����ý’s 5th Annual series.  During his talk, entitled “Meet your Microbes,” Birren explained the research and goals of the Human Microbiome Project (HMP) to an audience of peers, public visitors and inquisitive children.

Welcome to the new ӳ����ýMinded blog, a forum for disseminating the science, culture, and life of the ӳ����ý.

This blog is a place for interactive learning about the science underway here at the ӳ����ý. Our research spans an astonishing breadth and depth, from decoding the genetic blueprint of a fungus that’s decimating the world’s frog populations to screening thousands of chemicals in the hope of uncovering one that could become a drug to treat depression.

By now the name of Henrietta Lacks, unknown and unsung for decades, is practically a household word. And deservedly so. Although scientists used cells known as HeLa in groundbreaking work that led to the development of polio vaccine and leukemia treatments, among other discoveries, most knew little about the woman who unwittingly bequeathed them. All that changed earlier this year with Rebecca Skloot’s haunting book, The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks.