I thought I might take an opportunity to update readers on some recent and planned activities that are keeping me busy.
I have been working under the aegis of my John Templeton Grant on an analysis of the dynamics of model gene regulatory networks. The goal of this work was to see if it might be possible to formulate new laws that could be applied to how real biological gene circuits work. The answer (as is often the case in biology) is: yes, and no, depending. I have written a manuscript describing my findings, which was recently accepted for publication in the Journal of Theoretical and Computational Science, a peer-reviewed, online journal. I will post a link to the paper when its available along with the abstract, here.
In two weeks, we will be traveling to Golden Colorado for the annual meeting of the American Scientific Affiliation. I will be speaking on “The Biochemical Teleology of Evolution” and chairing a session on Biological Sciences. I expect to meet up with lots of friends, including some I haven’t met in person before.
A couple of nights ago, my wife and I went to a dinner and conversation at a Washington DC restaurant sponsored by the Trinity Forum. The topic was “What does it mean to be human?”. It was a follow-up of a lecture we went to in June by Praveen Sethupathy in Washington, also sponsored by the Trinity Forum, and Biologos. Praveen gave a fantastic talk, and the follow-up discussions at the restaurant were exciting, with a great group of people. I was asked to put on my geneticist hat, and had fun being my old pedantic professorial self.
Speaking of genetics, on August 17 at 4 PM, I will be speaking at the Smithsonian Museum of Natural History, Hall of Human Origins about “The Biology and Theology of Race and Diversity in Modern Humans”. If you will be in the Washington DC area at that time, I would love to see you. Here is a link to the event.
I also have some church based activities planned for August, including delivering the sermon while our pastor is away on vacation. Please pray for me on that one.
So, not a dull moment in sight, as I just celebrated the second anniversary of my retirement, and the third anniversary of my marriage to my wonderful bride, Aniko. I am truly blessed. Peace to all, and thanks for your indulgence in reading this unusually personal post.
The Book of Works 
Sy, this all sounds wonderful. I wish so badly that I could come to the conference in Colorado or the Smithsonian Lecture (you should swing through Texas on your way to Colorado and say hey). I started watching Praveen’s Trinity Forum presentation but have not finished it yet. I always admire his thoughts and presence. That follow up dinner sounds so awesome; wish I could have sat in.
Due to my encyclopedic memory (and the fact that I’m going through highlights in my life from last summer on my own blog) I was just thinking as I saw the date of this post that one year ago today was when you posted “The Reasonable Ineffectiveness of Mathematics in the Biological Sciences”, a post I greatly enjoyed. I was playing worship at the college ministry of the church I was attending at the time, and I remember seeing that you had replied to my comment just as I walked out on stage to begin service. Ah, nostalgia. It’s been great getting to know you over this past year.
I will definitely be praying for you these coming months as you travel and speak. And happy anniversary to you and Aniko. It’s truly a blessing to be know you both.
Thank you Ethan. It is certainly mutual, and your support and friendship have been very important to me for some time. Either I will make it to Texas, or you will come east (maybe on tour?) some day. If God wills. Peace.
Either on tour, or if my screenplay ever gets turned into an actual series, hopefully it will be made on location in New England and I can be in closer proximity to come visit.
Heello nice post