The device is called the MinION. I would imagine that the samples of DNA still need to be prepared in the lab, then the samples would be dropped into its little sequencer chamber where they be sequenced continuously as a DNA strand is pulled through a small hole and inside the machine. The sequencing requires some sort of enzyme solution and inside the device is a small bio-mechanical sieve.

MinION will cost about $900(USD) when it comes to market sometime later this year, however it sounds like that it’s a disposable device which would be used for just a single experiment.

I wonder if this tiny device is the start of a society like that in the movie Gattaca where DNA determines everything you can do. Probably not, but this should make it much cheaper for companies and educational institutions to get into DNA sequencing, assuming the device is accurate.

[via EverythingUSB]

This intricate 3D model was done by Visual Science and it’s based on X-ray analysis and data that was published in the last twenty years. Some of the protein structures were predicted using computer modeling techniques.

This new model is 10 times more complex than the last one they did of HIV, which is kind of astounding. Where can I print mine?

[via designyoutrust]

This is really cool. LEGO fan Dave Kaleta has constructed a dissected frog completely out of LEGO bricks. The frog is splayed open and its innards and outards are all made out of the little plastic bricks. It took quite a vision and a keen recollection of what a frog looks like on the inside to pull this off.

The person reportedly built the LEGO frog for the MOC Olympics anatomy competition. The builder even made the dissection tools and tray out of LEGOs.

[via Brothers Brick]

Artist Jason Freeny appears to have studied his plumber physiology well, and has cut open Mario for us to see all his bones and internal organs. I was assuming that we might see some 1-up mushrooms making their way through his lower intestine, but no such luck. He’s also not 100% anatomically-correct, if you know what I mean – unless Mario is a Eunuch – and we have proof that’s not the case.

You probably don’t want to show this one to your kids unless you want them to have nightmares for a really long time.

[via Popped Culture]

Seriously though, it turns out that parts of our brain – specifically the amygdala and the fusiforn face area (FFA) – are responsible for “encoding race information” and as a side effect, make us biased towards our own race. It seems that Williams Syndrome causes “reduced activity and… impaired interactions” between these two parts. It’s sad that we’re kind of inclined to be racists by nature, but I’m pretty sure we can easily outgrow it. Maybe in the future scientists can pluck that racist gene from our DNA. (Or at least let us choose to be elves – Ed.)

[via Science Blogs via Neatorama]

The frog up there is hand knit from a silk/wool blend, while its innards are needle-felted out of 100% pure wool. It even comes pinned to a dissection tray for that added morbidity!

The poor lab rat above is made from an acrylic/mohair blend with wool innards. Both the frog and the rat can be taken out of their trays (they’re only pinned down, not glued to their trays) and… cuddled. Wednesday Addams approves. There’s also a dissected Easter Bunny, which has Easter eggs in place of innards.

All of the creations sell for $125 (USD) at The Crafty Hedgehog’s Etsy shop. Quite expensive eh? If you know how to knit, you can purchase the knitting patterns for the frog and the rat instead for only $4 each. Too bad there are no knitted dissected catfish. That would have done it for me.

Warning! Do not scroll down if you have a weak stomach.

You have been warned…

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I’m serious. It’s pretty nasty…

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Ok, last warning before your retinas will be indelibly burned with this image…

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No turning back now…

If the lamb was alive it would have grown up to become a terrible level boss, stoppable only by a man who is mega. Or rock, depending on where you live. Seriously though, the poor lamb would have been killed by horrified or disgusted neighbors anyway – which, according to the Daily Telegraph, is exactly what happened to a baby goat  in Zimbabwe that was born with the exact same abnormality. Or perhaps it would have been carted away to a lab and subjected to all sorts of tests. Go straight to heaven, Sheep Man Lamb Kid. We hardly knew ewe. Sorry.

Then again, this may be a hoax. Photoshop wizards, check out the original picture at the Daily Telegraph and see if it’s legit or not.

Apparently the cells on the stumps of a salamander “only” need to revert to a “less mature” state instead of a day 1 embryonic state to differentiate and turn into the cells that will make up the new limb. Dr. Elly Tanaka, one of the biologists behind the study, said that this bodes well for us, because it means that tissue regeneration is much more probable than previously thought. But this is future-future tech, and further studies are needed before any human tests will be performed. I recommend that Dr. Tanaka and her colleagues read this document, published in 1963, so that we may avoid having to deal with the likes of this:

*shivers* Dr. Tanaka, please conduct research on radioactive spiders as well. It’ll be fun I promise.

[via Wired via Neatorama]

Geeky jewelry is common, but it’s usually restricted to the realms of science fiction rather than actual science. The collection has all sorts of cellular-inspired items that you can hang about your person.

Petri dish-inspired earrings: better than wearing actual petri dishes on your ears. Trust me on this one.

[via Etsy]

The toys above are just four of the 65 available microbe models that Giantmicrobes are selling. Nerds, all together now! From left to right, we have Syphilis (Treponema pallidum), Stomachache (shigella), E.coli (Escherichia coli) and Athlete’s Foot (Trichophyton mentagrophytes)! Yaaaay! Did everyone get it right? Good job! Now go away.

Giant microbes come in three sizes: Original (5″-7″) that sells for $7.95 (USD), Gigantic (15″-20″) for $24.95 and mini packs of three for $12.95.

[via ForeverGeek]

The “I Survived the Large Hadron Collider” shirt celebrates the fact that we’re still alive even after the LHC was turned on. If you’re going “whaaaaaat?” right now then you might want to try this shirt, which explains the fundamental sciences in uber-layman’s terms:

What’s that? It’s way too corny?  So you want something more offensive? Then slay your Physics professors with this insult ala particle physics shirt:

Okay so it’s still corny. But at least you got the joke. All of these shirts – and other designs – are available at Neatorama’s shop. They’re all on sale too, down to $10 from $15. If you don’t want them, maybe your teachers will. *wink wink*