Cell biology

Most importantly, we have tools like stem cells to help science advance many medical researches that could lead to break through in medicine. I know that anti-abortion groups will want us to believe that abortion is wrong and evil, we should disregard their arguments because they are solely based…

external modifications to DNA that turn genes “on” and “off”. Although modifications don’t change the sequence per se, it changes the way the cells “read” genes. Essentially, this is what differentiates genetics from epigenetics. Going further into detail, genetics conceptually deal with gene and gene function. This focuses on how DNA sequences make changes in the cell. However, epigenetics refers to gene regulation. Instead, it focuses on the way DNA is regulated to attain those changes. …

to the future by creating a new organ to those in need or be a total disaster because of the baggage it brings like overpopulating the world or malpractice. The first demonstration of cloning was in 1885. The first cloning of a human embryonic stem cell was in 2013 (Citation 1). There are two way that cloning can happen, the first one is called Artificial Embryo Twinning. Artificial Embryo Twinning is very similar to the natural process…

within a cell, they can be expressed in response to external stimuli. This external stimuli can be sub lethal heat shock (SLHS) hence the name heat shock proteins (Baneyx, F. 2008), this stimulus causes more of the proteins to be produced (Pugsley, A. 1989). In addition to being expressed due to SLHS they can also be expressed in response to amino acid analogs, heavy metals…

Epigenetics, a contemporary and often misunderstood topic in the field of biology, was first defined in the early 1940s as “the branch of biology which studies the causal interactions between genes and their products with bring the phenotype into being” (Dupont 2009). Since then, as understanding of the human genome has developed and grown, a complex array of errors and dysfunctions in the processes of gene regulation, expression, and replication have been shown to cause, or correlate strongly…

thought-out the world. The objective is to genetically engineer the perfect child using a new technology for editing DNA, called CRISPR-Cas9- or germ-line editing. One main topic covered in this article is that Scientists are currently working on cell editing, which could make it possible to correct diseased or imperfect genes and pass those genetic fixes onto future generations. As a result of these adjustments, someone who has a history of illness in their family, could have that strand…

being in awe the first time I learnt that every living thing was made up of the same basic unit - cells. Some organisms have one cell, some have billions upon billions. They all look very different and have evolved to have vastly different behaviours, but amazingly, underneath it all we are all the same. From the evolutionary changes in human behaviour and physiology, to the neuroscience behind it, biology has always captured my interest. I remember even as a kid, I had a keen sense of curiosity…

were to be any mutations within the stages of replication, the life created could have abnormalities which may decrease quality of life experienced. Sickle cell anaemia is a hereditary form of anaemia in which a point mutation causes the formation of haemoglobin which distorts the erythrocytes into a sickle-shape (Appendix 1). The sickle cells are not able to flow through blood vessels as easy as the disc-shaped erythrocytes (Appendix 2) resulting in blocked blood vessels which could, therefore,…

Cloning has already revolutionized biology and medicine with the appearance of Dolly, “the first mammal ever cloned from a sheep’s adult cell” (Rhind et al. 855). Since then, scientist have tried to clone human cells even though it hasn't been legalised due to moral and religious values. Specialists say is not a matter of whether it should be legalised or not, but a matter of when is it going to be legalised. The question of whether to clone individuals is one that does not require a reply. Now…

a relic of pre biotic conditions or an artifact of the life process. One theory holds that when life appeared in the primordial soup, the first cell formed containing all L- amino acids. This would have been extremely improbable, however, if the soup were composed of an equal mixture of left and right enantiomers. Another possibility is that the first cell randomly formed with a slight excess of L-amino acids, and evolutionary selection favored life based on just one enantiomer. Some have…