John F. Allen's Blog at jfallen.org

28th September 2016

2016 Nobel Prize in Chemistry

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 10:45 am

27th September 2016

2016 Nobel Prize in Physics

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 10:45 am

26th September 2016

2016 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine

Filed under: About science,Diary,Nobel Prize announcements — John Allen @ 2:00 pm

How Philosophy Drives Discovery – Sir Paul Nurse

Filed under: About science,Diary — John Allen @ 11:49 am

nurse-poster-website

LSE Podcast of the 2016 Sir Karl Popper Memorial Lecture

Sir Paul Nurse on Conjectures and Refutations

The Bucket or the Searchlight?

17th September 2016

The 13th International Colloquium on Endocytobiology and Symbiosis, Kyoto

Filed under: Diary,Not extinct — John Allen @ 4:13 pm

The 13th International Colloquium on Endocytobiology and Symbiosis was held in Kyoto from September 10 to 14, 2016. A fine poster advertised the colloquium.

The organiser was Junichi Obokata of Kyoto Prefectoral University. My painstakingly generous local host was Mitsumasa Hanaoka of Chiba University. I am so grateful to them both, as to the colloquium staff and fellow participants.

At Mitsumasa’s invitation I gave a seminar in his laboratory in Chiba, immediately after getting off the train from Narita airport on 8 September, and a longer and better version on 9 September at Kyoto University. Both seminars were entitled Mitochondria, ageing and separate sexes, and elicited excellent questions.

My plenary lecture at the colloquium itself was an account of progress with a consistent theme over a number of years and in different laboratories, countries, and universities, including recent results published in 2016. This lecture was entitled Why chloroplasts and mitochondria retain their own genomes and genetic systems: Co-location for Redox Regulation of gene expression.

The full programme of the Colloquium is available, and includes abstracts.

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Photosynthetic and Respiratory complexes: from structure to function

Filed under: Diary,Not extinct — John Allen @ 4:06 pm

Photosynthetic and Respiratory complexes: from structure to function in Verviers, Belgium, from August 13 to 16, 2016. A satellite conference organised by Egbert Boekema and Pierre Cardol. The programme was full of interest.

I gave a Plenary Lecture soon after arrival: Redox control of thylakoid protein phosphorylation and reaction centre gene transcription. Molecular recognition redistributes mobile light-harvesting antennae and adjusts the stoichiometry of photosystems I and II.

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The 17th International Congress on Photosynthesis Research, Maastricht

Filed under: Diary,Not extinct — John Allen @ 3:55 pm

The 17th International Congress on Photosynthesis Research. Photosynthesis in a Changing World took place in Maastricht, The Netherlands, from 7 to 12 August 2016. The organisers were Roberta Croce and Herbert van Amerongen.

My own contribution, in the session Evolution of Photosynthesis, was about photosynthesis in a radically changing world. It was entitled Conserved two-component transcriptional redox regulation in cyanobacteria and chloroplasts. Implications for the origin and evolutionary trajectory of oxygenic photosynthesis.

The full programme of the Congress.

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Photosynthetic electron and proton transport Arnhem 4-7 August

Filed under: Diary,Not extinct — John Allen @ 3:46 pm

Photosynthetic Electron and Proton Transfer in Plants and Algae took place in Arnhem on the 4th to the 7th of August 2016.

Many thanks to the organisers; Anja Krieger, Jeremy Harbinson, and Giovanni Finazzi; as to all participants.

My own presentation had the title Redox control of chloroplast protein phosphorylation and reaction centre gene transcription. Regulatory coupling between photosynthetic electron transport and gene expression.

Family holiday in Fleury d’Aude, 20 – 26 July

Filed under: Diary — John Allen @ 3:46 pm

A superb week with four of our children and three very welcome partners, in a villa in the centre of Fleury. Thanks especially to Nicholas for choosing the location.

A bonus for five of us was three days in Mirabeau, in the Luberon, as guests of my friend and colleague Wolfgang Nitschke, the most generous of hosts.

There are so many memorable incidents from these visits. The night sky from the high Luberon at around midnight. Is it not extraordinary, and regrettable, that our own galaxy is unseen by so many people today?

Thanks to all for a wonderful and memorable adventure.

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