Andrew Hanson Lab at Univ. Florida/IFAS. Plant & microbe metabolism research, engineering, synthetic biology. Plus PhD/postdoc training & jobs. AMDG+
Gainesville, FL
Joined February 2016
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Or, as they used to say in the UK: “You Might as Well Be Hanged for a Sheep as for a Lamb”
The context is that the same Draconian punishment was handed out regardless of the animal’s value, so it made sense to steal the more valuable animal.
Andrew D Hanson Lab retweeted
blog.aspb.org/july-17-plant-…
Please join me and the rest of this great panel, discussing how we as a community should not oversell research outputs whilst at the same time demonstrating societal relevance. Lots to cover!
‘Ignorant learnedness’ might be seen as a pathology that has always menaced the academic enterprise. It’s when knowledge (or what passes for it) becomes disconnected from reality. Ungrounded, if you like. This also afflicts AI. Big-time.
An analogy is getting the skills to build cathedrals. At the start, much about physics & properties of stone was poorly understood.
Result:
-Some cathedrals collapsed (e.g. Beauvais ⬇️)
-Architects & masons learned
-Learning took *centuries*
-“Stay humble, biodesigners”
@SynBio1
An end to nicked ears!
@simon_dell_tog
By flipping an evolutionarily disabled genetic switch involved in Vitamin A metabolism, researchers in Science have enabled ear tissue regeneration in mice.
Learn more: scim.ag/44muTVr
This piece reports an interesting initiative but really doesn’t answer its question. Is a straightforward answer at this point “Because in principle we can & the technology might one day be useful”?
Also, this passage ⬇️ is boilerplate 🌱 hype, of which we have enough already.
Excellent, critical🧵 @MariosGeorgakis! BetaineS (there are various natural ones) have major benefits in plants. This has been clear for decades e.g. doi.org/10.1073/pnas.91.1.30…
Exactly.
weizmann-usa.org/news-media/…
Andrew D Hanson Lab retweeted
Excited to share the Hanson Lab’s @ADHansonLab new preprint! We used OrthoRep to evolve Arabidopsis HDH, a short-lived enzyme, selecting variants with up to 20× higher abundance. Mutations boosted lifespan, catalytic efficiency, or inhibitor resistance.
🔗doi.org/10.1101/2025.07.01.6…
I would be tempted to add “…yet” to your last sentence :)
Be that as it may, this is a good opportunity to say that I thought the ‘resurrection of a fossil scent’ idea from a few years back was brilliant pro-GMO messaging! I have used it as an example in teaching.
💯Ice made by refrigeration technology is chemically & physically essentially the same as ice formed during cold weather.
Whereas animal muscle tissue & lab-grown ‘meat’ are chemically & physically different & probably always will be.
Well, the forceful, ongoing anti-GMO backlash set off by Monsanto’s messaging style (which in hindsight seems almost milquetoast compared to Palantir’s) doesn’t augur well…
A key difference btwn CS & biology is that in biology there are far more ‘unknown unknowns’ (let alone ‘known unknowns’. We’ve had big-time biochemistry & mol biol only since WWII. Think of what we now know that we didn’t in e.g. 1960. Were not much nearer full understanding now.
See this opening statement for the prosecution ⬇️ (should read “There is a dire need for solutions….” BTW)
💯 some improvements in N use etc are possible. But another big energy use in ag is diesel. How to replace this? Animal traction? Which takes land..
doi.org/10.1007/s42994-025-0…
Ah, yes. Body painting. The very essence of modernity!
doi.org/10.1126/science.1211…
