Gene Yang

The Sangers dideoxy sequencing method uses the dideoxynucleotide triphosphates (ddNTPs) as DNA chain terminators. For this method to work effectively, it requires the following: a DNA primer, a single –stranded DNA template, radioactively or fluorescently labelled nucleotides, a DNA polymerase, and modified nucleotides that play a role in terminating the DNA strand elongation. The DNA sample is divided into four separate sequencing reactions, containing the DNA polymerase and all four standard…

The peat bogs at Lindow Moss date back to the last ice age and were formed by holes of melting ice; they are now a tenth of their original size. Bogs often lead to the preservation of organic materials, particularly human remains, being acidic, cold, and devoid of oxygen. The brown colour of the skin, leathery texture, and appearance of human remains preserved in a bog are due to a type of moss that grows in bogs and when dead, lets out a substance that causes a tanning process. During 1980s CE…

and its function (Trigueros-Motos et al 1286). It is highly unlikely for HGPS to be inherited, because most individuals who possess HGPS do not live to the age of reproduction. Because this condition is known to be heterozygous, this means that the gene that expresses the phenotype for HGPS is a dominant allele. The mutation at codon 608 is on chromosome one, meaning that the mutation is autosomal, and not an X-linked trait. The reason this genetic disorder is not more common for a dominant…

5. How does Leishmania tropica evade the immune system? Leishmania tropica surface molecule glycoprotein 63 (gp36) is found throughout the parasite surface and has the potential to degrade immunoglobulins, complement factors, and lysosomal proteins (Olivier et al. 2005). Gp36 can cleave C3b into an inactivated form and C3bi will appear on the surface of the membrane and hinders the formation of C5 convertase (Gupta et al. 2013). It is also able to use C3bi to bind to complement receptor 3…

Recently, mycobacteriophage has become an increasingly popular source of research in the western world. Phage was first discovered in 1910 by Felix d’Herelle who saw a series of plaques on a bacterial lawn [3]. After five years had passed he decided to further investigate the material contained in the plaques, which he named “Bacteriophage” [3]. Bacteriophages are a family of viruses that's main function is to infect bacterial cells. Bacteriophage contains basic physical features including a…

The Structure and Function of Monomeric Actin Caroline Lussier The Protein Data Bank is a free, updated archive and resource containing information about the structure of macromolecules including proteins and nucleic acids. This material allows users to better understand and compare the building blocks of life. More specifically, this database can help users to draw conclusions about how large molecule conformations help to determine the direction of drug development. The Protein Data Bank has…

Neurologic and retinal diseases There are many different types of degenerative neurological diseases. The brain is a complex system and this makes the use of stem cells difficult to differentiate to the right cell type. The myriad connection between nerve cells and the complex interdependency with macroglia, which is made up of astrocytes, oligodendrocytes, and glial progenitor cells create a problem with creating precise structural reconstitution with stem cells. Neurological diseases including…

In the article Male pregnancy a real possibility, found at http://bioedge.org/ , they talk about the possibility of a biological male giving birth. Researchers have came to this conclusion because the University of Gothenburg in Sweden has successfully transplanted a womb in to a women. Then two years later the women gave birth to a healthy boy. If the procedure can be done on a female then, with some refinement, it could possibly be done on a male also. There is an ethical conflict with this.…

Biological parameters were evaluated for the early diagnosis of neonatal sepsis . The most useful are enumeration of white blood cells (WBC ), total number of neutrophils (TN), the immature relative to the total neutrophils (I / T) and C-reactive protein (CRP) . [ 4-7] However, despite the number of available tests, none of them is absolutely reliable for early and accurate diagnosis . Several cytokines, such as IL -1B , IL-6 , IL- 8 and TNF -a are important mediators in the systemic host…

Walter Glannon Walter Glannon believes in genetic equality and equal opportunities. He thinks that genetic enhancements are morally wrong and unnecessary. He differentiates gene therapy and gene enhancements and says that gene enhancements are morally objectionable because it goes above the normal baseline. He prefers gene therapy because its main objective is to return a person’s function to a sufficient baseline. He provides four premises for his conclusion. Firstly, it provides an unfair…