1. The Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Library & Archives invites applications for a Project Historian/Researcher in the History of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology. We are seeking a highly motivated candidate with diverse experience in the history of science and technology. The candidate is expected to have a graduate degree in science or a BA with a year or more of experience in the History of Science. Working with extensive archival collections covering CSHL’s 100-year history, the successful candidate will be responsible for researching the history of biotechnology at CSHL as well as joining a team to organizing an international meeting on biotechnology. As a result of the project a publication will be considered.
The position offers a competitive salary and participation in the CSHL health insurance program. CSHL is a world-renowned research andeducational institution recognized internationally for its excellence in ground-breaking research and educational activities. The project historian will join the CSHL Genentech Center team, the members of which are working on a variety of historical projects including the organizing meetings, processing and digitization of collections, oral histories of prominent scientists, and the creation of exhibitions.
A highly collaborative environment at CSHL provides a unique opportunity for the project historian to interact with scientists at all stages of their careers as well as journalists and historians. For more details see: https://cshl.peopleadmin.com/postings/3515. For further information please contact Mila Pollock, Executive Director, CSHL Library & Archives at [log in to unmask]<mailto:[log in to unmask]>.

Ludmila Pollock, MLS
Executive Director, Library and Archives
The Genentech Center for the History
of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology

2. Chance at the heart of the cell

A conference on stochastic gene expression from an experimental, theoretical and philosophical perspective.

21-23 november 2011 –Lyon - France

See the conference website: http://cgphimc.univ-lyon1.fr/CGphiMC/CHC2/Site/Front_page.html

Stochastic gene expression (SGE) is involved in an evergrowing number of aspects of cellular life. It is typically an area of research needing modelization and interdisciplinary collaboration between biologists, bioinformaticians, physicists and mathematicians. SGE is an important aspect of cellular physiology that has to be integrated into systemic approaches and as such it is now the object of much attention of the international community. It raises a number of questions regarding its role in organisms, notably in developmental biology and could have profound consequences for biological theories: is it a "noise" that disrupts the operation of the genetic program, does it fits into a vision based on the theories of self-organization, or does it implies a conceptual framework change such as cellular Darwinism ?

This conference brought together experimental and theoretical biologists, modelers, epistemologists and philosophers who addressed all those issues. This conference attracted a large audience and was a successful interdisciplinary exchange.

The following topics will be addressed:

Philosophy:

- Overview of determinism and probabilism

- What is chance?

- Objective and subjective probability

- Determinism in biology (from an historical and philosophical perspective)

- The example of physics (probability and indeterminism in statistical and quantum physics)

- Sociological and epistemological obstacles to probabilism in Biology

Biology:

- Overview of stochastic gene expression

- What are the causes of stochastic expression (diffusion of molecules, chromatin effects, etc.)

- Does stochastic gene expression contradict the genetic programming theory?

- The role of stochastic gene expression in cell differentiation and embryo development

- The modelization of stochastic gene expression and stochastic cell differentiation

-The role of stochastic gene expression in cancer

The meeting will be followed by an “Atelier d’approfondissement des questions ouvertes” (in French), that will be organized on the 23rd of November.

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