nice essay, well written, informative, uplifiting. But while I'll recommend it to my undergraduates interested in SynBio, I have to admit I miss the scientific depth of the previous newsletters resulting from all those cutting edge new papers; I feel you're addressing a different audience with the new format?
Awesome Substack! An ode to biology :)
Great read, glad I found this!
Regarding the world's largest organism: it's now considered to be a seagrass colony near Australia: https://www.science.org/content/article/world-s-largest-organism-found-australia
Also I'm a bit skeptical of that mushroom photo, I don't think the fruiting body itself is giant, the mycelium just is growing over a huge area.
Despite these nitpicks I think the alchemy analogy is a very good one. Indeed, my username is a nod to Paracelsus.
Loved this essay and found it very inspiring!
Hi Niko,
nice essay, well written, informative, uplifiting. But while I'll recommend it to my undergraduates interested in SynBio, I have to admit I miss the scientific depth of the previous newsletters resulting from all those cutting edge new papers; I feel you're addressing a different audience with the new format?
By the way, the photo of the mushroom is fake, not an ideal choice.. https://www.aap.com.au/factcheck/theres-nothing-magical-about-fake-monster-mushroom-pic/
Cheers