Barack Obama has picked Steven Chu, director of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory at Berkeley as his Secretary of Energy. This will be interesting–what happens when you put a Nobel-prize winning scientist in charge of a government department? Here’s one prediction: expect a lot of synthetic biology. Practically nobody has heard of synthetic biology today, but that will probably change.
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"Celebrated curiosity monger"
Carl Zimmer writes about science regularly for the New York Times and magazines such as Discover, where he is a contributing editor and columnist.
He is the author of twelve books, the most recent of which is Science Ink: Tattoos of the Science Obsessed. His website is carlzimmer.com and his address is blog at carlzimmer dot com .
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December 11th, 2008 at 4:12 pm
Federal appendages have goals of growth, invasion, and metathesis (e.g., Homeland Severity). Process not product! An advocate makes virtue of failure. The worse the cure the better the treatment – and the more that is required. America’s vast renewable fuel resource is bio-spermaceti. Restore and harvest the Grand Banks,
http://www.mazepath.com/uncleal/coel.htm
If all roads sloped downhill fuel consumption would be drastically, permanently reduced. It is an engineering and public works problem independent of science. No Chu-Chu train for America. Prayer and filled collection plates will save us. Test of faith!
December 11th, 2008 at 6:44 pm
This is going to be great. It s
December 11th, 2008 at 6:47 pm
I’d like to think with an Obama administration there will be an increase in positions in the sciences available…so hopefully finding a job after graduation this year will be a piece of cake.
December 11th, 2008 at 8:12 pm
[...] Zimmer on his Discover Magazine blog predicts that Obama’s choice of Steve Chu as Energy Secretary will be a boon for synthetic [...]
December 11th, 2008 at 10:32 pm
This is so exciting! A slightly off topic comment: There has been speculation that this scientist will not be able to deal with the politics in Washington. But any PI in a any big university or in a position such as Director of Lawrence Labs has most certainly had to deal with plenty of politics. I say good luck, Dr. Chu.
Love your site, Mr. Zimmer!
December 12th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
Do you think Chu himself will somehow advance synth bio from his perch in Energy, Carl? Will he pull strings elsewhere? Will other folks do it?
December 13th, 2008 at 8:35 pm
A good start point for Obama and friends to learn synthetic biology and evolutionary theory basics: evolution, review from Biology Questions and Answers.
January 6th, 2009 at 12:50 pm
[...] turning their attention to energy. Obama’s pick for Energy Secretary, Steven Chu, has been a big supporter of making fuel through synthetic biology for years now, so I would expect that he’ll continue to champion it in his new [...]
January 13th, 2009 at 4:19 pm
[...] expected this. Unfortunately, nobody asked Chu to estimate how much land would be required in Alabama and [...]
January 17th, 2009 at 2:41 pm
[...] lie somewhere in there. Check out the background of our incoming Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu: Secretary of Synthetic Biology | The Loom | Discover Magazine [...]
April 15th, 2009 at 10:58 am
[...] "synthetic biology" for some of the answers to these questions. Here’s a start for you: Secretary of Synthetic Biology | The Loom | Discover Magazine The Secretary of Energy, Steven Chu, is an expert in synthetic biology. This stuff has been around [...]