in vivo, in vitro, ex vivo
These three latin terms are used in various ways by scientists. However, in biology "in vivo" is used to mean "in a living organism". In other words, all we need to do in supply food and water and the organism is self-sustaining.
Neuroscientists use the term this way. Thus, in vivo experiments will involve entire breathing animals. These are most often worms, zebra fish, fruit flies, mice and rats. Aplysia was a very useful animal in past, but is not much used these days.
Living brain cells isolated from these animals are not self-sustaining, thus are normally called "in vitro" by neuroscientists. This is because we need to supply oxygen and sugars, and this is done in a glass container. Hardly ever are they referred to as "ex vivo". A survey of the two leading neuroscience journals, Neuron and Nature Neuroscience proves this point. Pubmed searches of the text words "in vitro" and "ex vivo" show that the former term is used in 50-fold more articles.
Miuccia Prada doesn't have a computer
October 1917
The "October Revolution" was celebrated by many art museums in Switzerland this year. The Swiss National Museum of Anthropology in Zurich has a huge exhibition that had a history focus. Of course Lenin lived in Switzerland before returning to Russia.
It still does not really explain why so many great exhibitions were organised by great Swiss museums (and so few American!). The amazing Paul Klee Museum in Bern filled their main exhibition space with radically abstract paintings and sculptures centered of artists who part of the Revolution, along with related art from the next 40 years (up to Donald Judd!).
the central dogma
In the week of prizes, we should recall a lecture by the great Francis Crick in 1957. "Famous" for the structure of DNA, his subsequent contribution on the 3-letter code is more important. The lecture does not exist, but a fuller exposition was published later. Crick suggested:
"I shall…argue that the main function of the genetic material is to control (not necessarily directly) the synthesis of proteins. There is a little direct evidence to support this, but to my mind the psychological drive behind this hypothesis is at the moment independent of such evidence."
Try saying that to a study section.
Peter Hall
A giant of the English stage died 11 September 2017. Known for the RSC (founder) and NT (first director on the South Bank). Less well known is that his first wife was the great Leslie Caron, whom he met whilst he was directing Gigi in the West End in 1956.
Later today (12 Sep 2017) BBC Radio 4 made a tribute to Hall with folk who knew and worked with him. This is available as podcast. Richard Eyre says on this programme that Hall's 4 most important productions were Wars of the Roses (his condensation of the History Plays); The Homecoming (by Pinter at the RSC); Anthony and Cleopatra (with the NT); and Benjamin Britten's Midsummer Night's Dream (Opera at Glyndebourne).
Barcelona
I visited the great Spanish city of Barcelona in the autumn of 2016. It is hard to express how lovely it is as a Mediterranean city.
The old part of the city, the Gothic Bari, (where the Cathedral is, and the Ramblas) is simply an interlacing of tiny passages which no cars can pass. It remains a quite remarkable, often eery place. There is one exquisite square with a C13th church (S Felip Neri) on one side:
Very close to the Opera house, there is a more famous large square (Place Reial) which is near to where the terrorist van stopped. Even in the rain it was fun to visit and very beautiful.
But outside of the old area of town, there is street after street of loveliness, all built on the modern grid. Often lined with London plane trees, this area is very restful.
And from the amazing Museum of Catalonia, which overlooks the city, there is a most splendid view.
