Epithelial cells

Down syndrome or trisomy 21 is caused by having an extra copy of chromosome 21 and it is a developmental disorder which means having three copies of each genes rather than two, this extra copy changes several characteristics and leads to physical and mental issues for the child. Anyway, what are the signs and symptoms of Down syndrome? Different complications at different times of lives may happen to people with Down syndrome as well as the signs of Down syndrome can vary from one person to…

Being able to craft a new organ out of a patient’s own cells that is guaranteed to be a perfect match and could be made to order, sounds like a beautiful, unmanageable fantasy especially to those like me who have watched a loved one go through the never-ending process of getting an organ transplant. Bioprinting could one day turn that seemingly impossible dream into a reality and completely revolutionize the world of organ transplants. I can imagine the years of my father having to deal with the…

the function of a channel that is used to move chloride ions in and out of cells. It specifically codes for a gene called the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator. If the gene is mutated, cells cannot effectively transport chloride ions which, in turn, affects the cells’ abilities to control the movement of water in tissues. This lack of capacity to regulate chloride ions and the movement of water within cells results in thick, sticky mucus that is dangerous to many of the…

Scientists have shown that there is a development in polyploidy, which means that you have more than two sets of chromosomes. As polyploidy is somewhat confusing, there is two articles of explanation on this subject. I want to start by explaining gene doubling in an easier sense due to its confusion. Polyploidy can occur when organisms self-fertilize or through sexual reproduction. Through research, it's said that this process can possibly create a new species after being done. Although,…

Biology plays quite a lot on personality, people can be more likely to develop certain personality traits because they inherited them genetically. That is what biological psychologist’s study’s. There is an entire field of science called epigenetics that is all about how changes in behavior due to experience can affect people on a biological level and cause changes in genetics across generations. It’s far from the only thing that influences personality but it plays the part. Heredity plays a…

Finger nails are made up of keratin protein (the same keratin found in hair), which is formed by amino acids, and produced by living skin cells. The main components that make up a nail consists of; the nail plate which is located at the top of the nail. It is held together by protein fibers. The nail plate needs blood flow, oxygenation, and nutrients to grow. This is why an injured nail sometimes turns bruised or falls off. Oxygen penetrates through the nail plate. The nail bed is the skin…

This week’s articles, Bovine Abominations: Genetic Culture and Politics in the Netherlands by Karen-Sue Taussig and Bodies, Commodities, & Biotechnologies by Leslie Sharp illustrate the “tie between genetics and identity” (Taussig 2004: 309). It is in human nature to believe that we all have a personality, thoughts, and emotions that make us human. Anything that is not of human origin is considered to be a tool for dehumanization. That is why this idea of xenotransplants and biotechnologies does…

Previous works have established that RA functions in the patterning of the anterior-posterior positional identities of central nervous system (Holland and Holland, 1996, Escriva et al., 2002, Schubert, 2004, 2005, 2006 and Koop et al., 2010). It can be depicted from the results that the p-test indicates a significant difference between the experimental and control subjects. This means that the retinoic acid, which was added to the experimental group only , have adversely affected the…

partial amounts of the toxicity are due to a gain in function by the protein. When this occurs, the TDP-43 protein has usually shifted its location from the nucleus to throughout the cytoplasm of the cell. This abnormal accumulation of TDP-43 in the cytoplasm is not only found in neurons and glial cells of the primary motor cortex but as well as in brainstem motor nuclei, the spinal cord, and in certain associated white matter tracts (Mackenzie et al 2010). It is at this point that TDP-43…

to old age has been theorized to target developmental genes, including those associated with disease risk factors and cancer itself. Hypomethylation has also been observed in the genomes of cancer cells, with the only instances of hypermethylation occurring in genes controlling tumor cell invasion and cell cycle control. Based on current research, it would…