Erika’s Newsletter

An AI-ready lab notebook for life science doesn’t need to be complex or expensive

How-to: An ELN+LIMS built in Notion + Airtable

Jul 22 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

 and 

Pioneer Labs

27

4

February 2025

The primal desire for heavy things

An explanation of MIT undergrads

Feb 8 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

19

1

August 2024

How to make a microbe for Mars, one step at a time

Our engineering roadmap 🚀🦠

Published on Essays from Pioneer Labs • Aug 9, 2024

December 2023

What Biology Can Learn from Physics

Predictive models as billion dollar moonshots.

Published on Asimov Press • Dec 10, 2023

Erika's quick-start guide to research nonprofits

You do NOT need permission from a university to do research (!!)

Dec 7, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

60

3

August 2023

Erika Update #12: Traction is the key to curiosity-driven research

Traction = question + tool

Aug 22, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

5

July 2023

Erika Update #11: Finally a breakthrough! If you can’t beat it, measure it

Sanity is restored

Jul 25, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

8

2

June 2023

Erika Update #10: Honestly, it’s often faster to do it by hand

A cautionary tale of how scripting is not always worth it

Jun 20, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

9

3

Erika Update #8 & #9: A first solid result, this definitely doesn’t work!

The first step is admitting you have a problem

Jun 12, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

5

1

May 2023

Erika Update #7: Evolution is a tightrope walk

Success is a balance between extinction and complacency

May 16, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

10

April 2023

Erika Update #6: A taxonomy of emotions in science

Science is an exercise in acquired taste

Apr 26, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

7

1

Erika Update #5: DNA detective

The trials and tribulations of managing DNA maps

Apr 18, 2023 • 

Erika Alden DeBenedictis

7

2